My water's pH

[311]

Hello my Bro's & Sis'. Been questioning my water for a few months. I just moved from the city to ur neck of the woods.

Here's the deal. My last place, my pH was 120PPM and a pH of 8.0. And may I add..... Tasted HORRIBLE!

Now I use well water. We don't feel we have to filter this water, like we did last place, Because it doesn't have any nasty taste, or bubbling. It actually looks and tastes pretty damn good!
With that being said, I'm at 30 PPM, yes 30! and a 5.2-5.3 pH.

So I just started using coco(for this grow), and everyone recommends using Cal-Mag during flower because in coco u need it. Now so everyone knows, I do use CES nutes, but I use the Mel Frank/Lucas guidelines of 100-100-200-60. I have have some issues where ALL my fan leaves went yellow, immediately at 5 weeks of flowering. 1 week after introducing Cal-Mag.
Now I do/have noticed that when I use Cal-Mag, CES Mag Amp, or CES Plant Amp(Calcium chelate) my pH goes down drastically. I am also startin to think about my girl having def. because of too much Mag/Cal.

Here's my ????????, can the 30 PPM in my water, possibly be Mg or Ca? And would that be the reason my pH is sooooo low? It is a good thing cause I don't have to pH my nutes. Normally it comes out right. But should I just stop using Cal-Mag? Thanks. 3-11, 3-3-11!

 

[Scrogerman]

I would of thought it to be Ca maybe a bit of mg too, but its soo low its not important imo, your PH is a problem though & is real acid, thats not contributed to the small amount of solids as far as i know! No i would not stop using the Cal mag!Especially as your growing in Coco!
Sounds like your nutes are too strong or you have a bacterial infection, the most common issues causing PH to drop, my moneys on the EC too hot! speak to Coco growers being the best bet though!

You are starting your plants on a low EC like 0.6 or 0.4 even & then as they gro gradually building it up. ?

 

[311]

I would of thought it to be Ca maybe a bit of mg too, but its soo low its not important imo, your PH is a problem though & is real acid, thats not contributed to the small amount of solids as far as i know! No i would not stop using the Cal mag!Especially as your growing in Coco!
Sounds like your nutes are too strong or you have a bacterial infection, the most common issues causing PH to drop, my moneys on the EC too hot! speak to Coco growers being the best bet though!

You are starting your plants on a low EC like 0.6 or 0.4 even & then as they gro gradually building it up. ?

Hey Scroger, I'm sorry. I pretty much made it seem like I was wondering about my plants. I'm actually not. Though they started to yellow in week 5, it is now almost week 7, and chop is only a couple of weeks away. She is still bulking with massive dense, just dripping and oozing with trichs, nugs.

My actual ?????? is...... Can that 30 PPM in my tap water be Mg or Ca. Cause I already add a Mg and Ca additive. I just add Cal-Mag to make the proper N-P-K-Mg ratio of 100-100-200-60. So if that 30 PPM is Mg or Ca, that means my target ration is off, and I would/should back off of the Cal-Mag.

I figured since Ca an Mg make the pH drop, then that might be Ca or Mg in my tap water, and that's why my tap water has a pH of 5.3.

Is that possible? Or wat can be causing my Tap Water to have such a low PPM(which means there's not as much metals as my city water had right? Or am I wrong) I really don't know about well water), and acidic pH. Thanks.

 

[Scrogerman]

Dude i aint that much of an expert myself i was just giving you my opinion bro!
More like the Lack of carbonates(Ca&Mg) in your water, but that dont explain such a low ph as 5.2, this is very low. rain water for example has very little if any soilds and has a ph of 7, does around me anyway, as rain water is supposed to have a neutral ph, but industy has changed all that and it depends where you live, could be a factor here actually. i bet your Rain water has an acid PH too, but thats justa guess, i cant say for sure! Do you live in the country away from industry? where does your well water source come from exactly? is it treated at all, softeners added etc?
30ppms is such a small amount its not worth considering really, its barely anything & if anything its not a contributing factor to your PH being sooo low, but im not 100% on that issue bro, if you had more carbonates, Ca &Mg in your source water then im sure your PH would be higher, so im not sure mate!. My tap has a ppm reading of under 120ppm but has a ph of 8.2+, my water is soft btw.
This link will give you a better idea, i use this thread as a point of reference, Its by 'Bigtoke' and its a great thread & worth bookmarking! heres the link:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=23357 Theres alot to read but ive read that thread a hundred times and counting, i'll always keep it about & i hope it helps you as much as it has me bro! Good luck!

 

[FreezerBoy]

The only way to know what's in the water is to have it tested. Before I started adding or subtracting nutes or trace elements I'd concern myself with proper pH levels as pH controls what the plant will and wont eat. Adjusting your formula wont help if you've locked nutes out with bad pH and your pH is very, very bad.

 

[miltonchitlin]

Water that has a 30 ppm has no buffer capacity. Water at 130 to 150 ppm has a perfect buffer. Without the buffer your nutrients will change ph rapidly, and small adjustments will have large results.

You should mix cal mag into the water until it is 140 ppm and see if the water is near 7 ph. Cal mag should raise your ph levels, if it's near 7 them mix your nutes and then ph to the desired 5.8 or whatever.

If cal mag doesn't raise your levels you have other issues I can't explain but freezerboy is proper with you getting the well water analyzed.