OrganicLuv
New member
Dear friends,
I am a newbie here and have been growing for couple years now.
Luckily I had some really awesome runs and friends admired my weed, but at the moment its hard to reproduce that quality.
Since I moved to another flat I have some problems obviously related to the pH of the tap water.
In the area I live the tap water has high bicarbonate concentration and we officially have "hard water".
When I start with seeds, everything goes fine for the first 6-7 weeks (organic soil).
But then the growth stagnates somehow.
I measured the drainage from soil which i used for couple months and the pH was over 8.
at the beginning its something under 7.
I dont give no fertilizers (chemical) und just water the soil with tap water.
Had different runs with different soils. But always the same problems.
Of course I know that organic soil buffers the pH really good but every soil has a limited buffering ability.
So I read a little about soil sience.
Roots produce acids themselves depending on which ions are set in the soil. If anyone's interested i can try to go further a bit.
However, if you steadily use water with low bicarbonate the soil will tend to get more sour. If you use high bicarbonate water, the soil will get alkaline.
If you have a certain concentration of bicarbonate in the water, the soil is able to keep a constant pH for a long time. I guess that might be the right way?
pH can also be influenced by feeding the plant with nitrogen in the water.
Also the pH buffering depends on the EC.
All in all pH is a very complex thing to understand.
Thats why I disagree with people saying "throw away your pH meter when growing organic".
Maybe if you live in an area with "good" water you might never have problems.
But for people like me - we have to deal with it.
And if we deal right we might learn a lot in terms of plant/soil science...
Anyone has similar experience and answers to their probs?
I am really curious....
Thanks in advance for any constructive contribution.
PEACE!
OrcanicLuv
I am a newbie here and have been growing for couple years now.
Luckily I had some really awesome runs and friends admired my weed, but at the moment its hard to reproduce that quality.
Since I moved to another flat I have some problems obviously related to the pH of the tap water.
In the area I live the tap water has high bicarbonate concentration and we officially have "hard water".
When I start with seeds, everything goes fine for the first 6-7 weeks (organic soil).
But then the growth stagnates somehow.
I measured the drainage from soil which i used for couple months and the pH was over 8.
at the beginning its something under 7.
I dont give no fertilizers (chemical) und just water the soil with tap water.
Had different runs with different soils. But always the same problems.
Of course I know that organic soil buffers the pH really good but every soil has a limited buffering ability.
So I read a little about soil sience.
Roots produce acids themselves depending on which ions are set in the soil. If anyone's interested i can try to go further a bit.
However, if you steadily use water with low bicarbonate the soil will tend to get more sour. If you use high bicarbonate water, the soil will get alkaline.
If you have a certain concentration of bicarbonate in the water, the soil is able to keep a constant pH for a long time. I guess that might be the right way?
pH can also be influenced by feeding the plant with nitrogen in the water.
Also the pH buffering depends on the EC.
All in all pH is a very complex thing to understand.
Thats why I disagree with people saying "throw away your pH meter when growing organic".
Maybe if you live in an area with "good" water you might never have problems.
But for people like me - we have to deal with it.
And if we deal right we might learn a lot in terms of plant/soil science...
Anyone has similar experience and answers to their probs?
I am really curious....
Thanks in advance for any constructive contribution.
PEACE!
OrcanicLuv