PH Testing

[Bhodi_22]

No ones responding to some of my questions at the end of the vinegar thread and since the questions have nothing to do with vinegar any how I suppose they warrant a new thread.

Question/Issue #1

I was having a lot of trouble diagnosing my girls sadness until I read a "diagnosis for dummies" article and decided among other things it was probably calcium toxicity. I know our towns water is loaded with it and probably other minerals as the water comes from an underground river.
So now "mama shiska" and her babies are mostly happy since I started lowering the Waters PH to 6.5 or so (hard to be 100% with die test kits) before adding my organic plant food.

Do you think my main problem is now solved by fixing the PH or do I actually have to remove the minerals from the water. I'm a low budget personal only closet guy who's pretty reluctant to invest in a reverse osmosis filter or start buying all my water.

Question/Issue #2

Of course I know one should test PH after adding plant food and before adding PH down however this to me has always seen to be impossible when I consider that the PH test relies on color and I use organic food that turns the water all brown.

So does anyone know how much fertilizer will lower PH. I know it would vary but a ballpark figure or rule of thumb. I always guessed about half a number or degree....i.e. I put my water to 6.5 guessing the food will push it down closer to 6, is this too low? I use Pro mix (or sunshine #4 when I can get it) Does anyone think food lowers it more than I expect it to?? Also I wonder if actual Litmus Paper would still work with brown compost tea water or if digital PH meters have become cheap enough yet for someone like I.

 

[Hammerhead]

Check the TDS of your tap water 300 would be my max. If the TDS is not to high and the PH is 6.5 when your feeding should be fine.

The nutrients used very but most are very Acidic and require the use of PH up after there use. IMO it's very important to know what the PH and TDS of the water u use is. If you have a ph of 6.5 with TDS of 2000 or more thats not good could kill your plants in 1 day. TDS is not as critical as PH. If you follow the directions and know what the PH your good to go.


PH PEN 30$ OR LESS
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/milwaukee-ph-meter-pen-ph600.html

 

[Blueshark]

Bhodi, I know you are on a budget, but a ph tester is critical. I have well water that tastes fantastic, but the ph was 7.8....not good, nutrient lockout. I use apple cider vinegar to lower the ph. My ratio is to add 1 tsp per gallon of well water and it gets me down to 6.3 to 6.5 which is fine for soil grows. Hydro is usually lower, about 5.6 to 6.0...the higher acid keep pathogens from infesting the liquid nutes in hydro. Some nutes are put up to not change ph at all. City water sucks, but alternatives are a pain in the ass. Hammerhead is right on with TDS (total dissolved solids) and be careful of the build up of associated salts. But if you can swing it, get a simple ph meter...no need to get fancy. They are weeds so growing them isn't too hard. Keeping them healthyand top line productive, now that is the challenge. Lots of good info on this site and the community is most helpful. Good luck

BTW, have you thought about catching rain water? Its free and essentially distilled...probably around 7.0 to 7.6

 

[Bhodi_22]

thanks guys,
I do test PH but with Dye kit (2 drops per 5ml water compare with chart...)

As for TDS I have tested the mineral content but the "old fashioned way". From 1 liter of water after evaporation I scraped up .2 g of minerals. Of course this was weighed with a scale that only show one decimal so its plus or minus.

.2g of solids from 1Kg of Water -- I think that works out to 2000ppm however -- either I'm figuring this out wrong or your statement that water like this will kill you plant in one day is a massive exaggeration considering I've been living here for over a year...

 

[farmdalefurr]

PHuck those cheap ass meters. do yourself a big favor and get a nice one with calibration you do with buttons.... NOT BY SCREWDRIVER ! ! ! ! ! ive had nothing but horrible luck with those. bought a milwaukee ph51.... $80 and the calibration screw fucked up in not even 2 weeks and i took tip-top care of it.

 

[Hammerhead]

Some people just have the crappiest luck with those chepos dont they. I have 2 One is a 3 in 1 and the other is cheapo. Both have worked for years no issues.

 

[touringfunkband]

Bhodi-
To answer part of one of your initial questions i quoted below, the degree of how nutrients lower your pH depends on the the type and brand of fertilizer itself, as well as just how much of the solution your mixing in. I just started using a pH pen and have been discovering a lot of pH issues i'm now correcting. For example, my well water runs a pH of 7.8 and when I mix a batch of 25% strength Grow Big it can drop to roughly 7.2 and then I drop it a bit more with pH down. Now I mixed a gallon batch of 25% strength Tiger Bloom last night with unadjusted well water and the pH dropped all the way to 4.0! and that's just at 25% strength! Just shows you how different nutrients can cause different pH fluctuations.

So does anyone know how much fertilizer will lower PH. I know it would vary but a ballpark figure or rule of thumb. I always guessed about half a number or degree...

 

[Bhodi_22]

thanks "touingfunkband", (shit I wish I had a touring funk band but thats besides the point unless you need a new woodwind player?? of course you'd probably want to tour the US - and like i'm ever gonna go there again LOL just kidding)

I knew it would vary - but thanks for the examples as I didn't realize it could be by that much.
Your example suggests that its the High P that drops it so much...