The Oregon Weed Thread -Grows, News and Laws and Whatever

[OregonBorn]

And if it turns out to be 0.2% THC? And what are they testing? The whole plant by volume, or the tippy tops? Seems a good lawyer is needed. It could all be sensationalized news flap and police reports. No results from the lab yet. But why wait? They should just spark one up and see if they get high. I have 0.2% THC weed that smells like the best and highest potency OG Kush. But no high to it at all. Seems odd that they report it as Cannabis "plants" and not marijuana in the bust. As such, it is likely hemp. Lots and lots of hemp being grown in Oregon. Also they state that it is "Cannabis" and not hemp. But... hemp is Cannabis. Stupid is as stupid does.

Trump and the feds made hemp legal last year. My lawyer is looking into the fact that Cannabis seeds have little if any THC in them, and thus seeds should be considered as legal hemp now. Untested in the courts, yes. But by federal law, legal.

Snow may be on the way to Oregon in the early part of next week. Being sensationalized on the news here already. OMG! Snow! When I was a kid growing up here, it snowed a lot more than it does here now.

 

[Robrites]

With industrial hemp still illegal in Idaho, truckers hauling load through state face

With industrial hemp still illegal in Idaho, truckers hauling load through state face

With industrial hemp still illegal in Idaho, truckers hauling load through state face marijuana trafficking charges



Production of industrial hemp is legal in 41 states and all those surrounding Idaho — but not here. So two men with no criminal records who say they were hauling immature hemp plants from a legal farm in Colorado to one in Oregon were arrested in Boise — and face possible mandatory minimum prison terms for drug trafficking, write Idaho Press reporters Tommy Simmons and Emily Lowe. “You can’t smoke hemp. The best you’re going to get out of that is a horrible headache,” George Patterson, the attorney for one of the two men, said in court. “It’s not worth anything on the street, but it has many, many industrial uses.”
In fact, the new Farm Bill that passed the Senate yesterday, with support from both of Idaho’s senators, would legalize industrial hemp production nationwide. The two men face a January jury trial; you can read our full story here at idahopress.com (subscription required), or pick up today’s Idaho Press; it’s on the front page.

Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell.

 

[Robrites]

Oregon marijuana regulators fail to meet even basic standards, state audit finds

Oregon marijuana regulators fail to meet even basic standards, state audit finds

Oregon’s marijuana program has failed to keep up with mandatory inspections, its weak testing system threatens to expose consumers to contaminants and regulators have done little to address black market diversion, according to an unsparing new audit from the Secretary of State released Wednesday.
The audit represents the first detailed examination of Oregon’s regulation of the legal cannabis market since voters said yes to legalization in 2014, when supporters promised that state oversight would rein in an industry that had flourished for decades in the underground market.


Marijuana black market
The report offers an unvarnished view of both legal and illegal marijuana production in Oregon at a time of uncertainty for marijuana policy nationally.

Auditors concluded that regulators have failed to meet even basic promises. It found, for instance, that just 3 percent of recreational marijuana retailers had been inspected and only about a third of growers. It said the state’s medical marijuana program, long a source of black market diversion both in the state and nationally, has “structural weaknesses” that “greatly increase the risk of diversion.”
The audit also found an inadequate testing system. For years, Oregon has struggled with its pesticide testing regulations, which are intended to ensure that products meet certain standards before they land on retailers’ shelves.
In 2015, The Oregonian/OregonLive exposed critical gaps in the state’s pesticide regulations that resulted in tainted product entering the regulated market. The series tested cannabis products and found they contained a total of 14 chemicals, including a common household roach killer.
A tainted high
The state has since imposed tighter regulations, but the audit found that it lacks a way to verify the accuracy of test results. It also said that while the state requires certain tests for recreational cannabis, testing isn’t required for most medical marijuana.
And while other states require tests for heavy metal and microbiological testing, Oregon does not.
“Oregon’s marijuana testing program cannot ensure that test results are reliable and products are safe,” the audit says, adding that the Oregon Health Authority, which regulates marijuana labs, has “limited authority, inadequate staffing and inefficient processes.”
It found that pressure in the highly competitive cannabis industry “may affect lab practices and the accuracy of results.”
-- Noelle Crombie
503-276-7184
ncrombie@oregonian.com
@noellecrombie

 

[Robrites]

Snapshot of legal pot in Oregon: Sales, taxes, prices

Snapshot of legal pot in Oregon: Sales, taxes, prices

Oregon Secretary of State audit

Some interesting numbers noted in the Secretary of State’s audit of Oregon’s recreational and medical marijuana programs:

• The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the state’s recreational marijuana regulator, had a total of 2,038 active marijuana licenses as of October 2018 – that’s retailers, growers, processors, wholesales and testing labs. Growers make up the largest group, at 1,094 active licenses.

Beth Nakamua/Staff

• The recreational marijuana system in Oregon is expected to generate more than $540 million in sales in 2018. Recreational marijuana sales are subject to a 17% tax. Cities and counties can also vote to place an additional local sales tax of up to 3% on recreational marijuana.

Beth Nakamua/Staff

• From January 2016 to November 2018, the state Department of Revenue collected about $207 million in state tax revenue from retail sales. By law, all state marijuana tax revenue is distributed using the following formula:

• 40 percent to the State School Fund

• 20 percent to the Mental Health, Alcoholism, and Drug Services Account

• 20 percent to cities and counties

• 15 percent to Oregon State Police

• 5 percent to the Oregon Heath Authority, for drug treatment and prevention.

Oregon Secretary of State audit

• The state Department of Revenue requires licensed retail shops to file marijuana tax returns every quarter. Retailers are also required to make monthly deposits of the taxes they have collected. According to the Department of Revenue, about 60 percent of deposits are made in cash.

• The Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s recreational marijuana program is funded solely by fees and fines paid by marijuana license holders. For the 2017-19 biennium, the agency expects to collect about $19 million in licensing fees.

• The Oregon Liquor Control Commission also receives up to $1.25 million in marijuana tax revenue per quarter to cover tracking and inspection costs for some medical growers. Apart from licensing fees, no agency revenue is dedicated to marijuana licensing or compliance.

• 22 labs in Oregon have been accredited and licensed to perform marijuana compliance testing as of October 2018.

• The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program had a total of 65,805 registrants and 13,959 registered grow sites as of October 2018.

• The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program is expected to operate at a $4.6 million deficit in fiscal 2019.

• The Oregon Liquor Control Commission says the average price per gram for usable marijuana flower has dropped from $9.73 in October 2016 to $4.62 in June 2018.

• The Oregon State Police Drug Enforcement section has seen a dramatic increase in clandestine butane hash oil labs: 64 from July 2015 through January 2018. Over the same time, the Legacy Oregon Burn Center treated 71 people for butane hash oil burns.

• The Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program report says Oregon can produce between 440,000 and 911,500 kilograms of marijuana a year (up to 2 million pounds). Consumers in Oregon are estimated to use between 94,000 and 169,000 kilograms a year.

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

20 percent to the Mental Health, Alcoholism, and Drug Services Account

Why do potheads have to subsidize the booze industry? Shouldn't alcohol taxes be used for alcoholism troubles? I'm pretty sure prescription drug abuse is the fault of doctors making mistakes with the prediction pad, but once again potheads are forced to pay.
What sin did we commit? Jumpstarting the state's tourism industry? Putting something noteworthy on the map where before there was just cows and wheat?
Did the craft brew industry have to pay for marijuana addiction treatment back when weed was still illegal?

 

[geneva_sativa]

^ yeah exactly this,,, great point and insight PDX

herb smokers get treated like ne'er do wells

 

[OregonBorn]

This is pathetic of Idaho. Even Utah is more progressive.

With industrial hemp still illegal in Idaho, truckers hauling load through state face marijuana trafficking charges



Production of industrial hemp is legal in 41 states and all those surrounding Idaho — but not here. So two men with no criminal records who say they were hauling immature hemp plants from a legal farm in Colorado to one in Oregon were arrested in Boise — and face possible mandatory minimum prison terms for drug trafficking, write Idaho Press reporters Tommy Simmons and Emily Lowe. “You can’t smoke hemp. The best you’re going to get out of that is a horrible headache,” George Patterson, the attorney for one of the two men, said in court. “It’s not worth anything on the street, but it has many, many industrial uses.”
In fact, the new Farm Bill that passed the Senate yesterday, with support from both of Idaho’s senators, would legalize industrial hemp production nationwide. The two men face a January jury trial; you can read our full story here at idahopress.com (subscription required), or pick up today’s Idaho Press; it’s on the front page.

Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell.

 

[OregonBorn]

Here is the long version of today's report being sent to the state by the OLCC. The short version is that supply greatly exceeds demand and they want to develop methods to keep the oversupply from getting onto the black markets. Also they want to reduce supply, and hence a proposal by the Oregon governor would allow the OLCC to place a moratorium on all marijuana licenses. You can click on the hyperlink to get the full blown version in a PDF file. This is just the cover letter.

January 31, 2019​

​

OLCC Provides Oregon Legislature with Recreational Marijuana Supply and Demand Study

Portland, OR -- Today the Oregon Liquor Control Commission provided the Oregon Legislative Assembly with the 2019 Recreational Marijuana Supply and Demand Legislative Report required by ORS 475B.548.



2019 Recreational Marijuana Supply and Demand Legislative Report
A Letter from OLCC Director Steve Marks
Oregon’s Public Policy Approach to Support Legal Marijuana Production and the State’s Abundant Supply: The Course for Seeking the Right Balance

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is grateful for the opportunity to produce for the Oregon Legislature a comprehensive examination of the amount of marijuana accounted for and contained within Oregon’s regulated recreational marijuana market.
Let me first acknowledge that we have a considerable supply of marijuana in our state’s recreational marijuana system. That licensed Oregon cannabis growers have become successful in producing this volume of marijuana is due in no short order to the intentional choices made by Oregon voters and policy makers. Now we find ourselves at a crossroads where our state’s history with marijuana and the future of cannabis commercialization meet.
Oregon’s unique geography and climate are qualities that have enabled generations of Oregon farmers to produce copious amounts of cannabis. The illegal export of Oregon cannabis has been taking place for decades. For Oregon, producing a lot of marijuana is not new news; producing a lot of marijuana that is tracked in the legal system is.
Recognition that cannabis is woven into the state’s cultural fabric initially emerged as institutional tolerance when Oregon became the first state in the country to decriminalize marijuana possession in 1973. Greater acceptance of cannabis occurred in 1998 when Oregon, following California’s lead two years earlier, established a medical marijuana program. A broader embrace of cannabis took place when Oregon voters approved Measure 91 in November 2014, and became the 3rd state to legalize recreational marijuana.
With the debate around legalization largely settled, Oregon’s elected officials began making annual adjustments during legislative sessions beginning in 2015. Each legislative modification to Oregon’s regulated cannabis system has attempted to improve the industry’s economic stability by removing barriers to entering the market while at the same time enhancing regulatory compliance to address public safety concerns while withstanding federal scrutiny.

Oregon is not creating a new industry, it is converting an illegal cannabis production economy, and a loosely-regulated medical program, into a well-regulated legal market
Oregon oversupply is a sign that policy choices made to attract illegal and grey market producers into the new commercial system have been successful; this was a start-up challenge Colorado and Washington didn’t have to face. Oregon medical marijuana growers had long been suspected of diverting into the illegal market so it was important to attract these well-established producers into the OLCC’s new regulated recreational marijuana program.
To entice medical as well as formerly illegal growers into Oregon’s legal market the state lowered the barriers to entry with low license fees and taxes and chose not to limit the number of licenses. This approach fulfilled the immediate objective to absorb medical marijuana providers into the OLCC market, but it has led to industry churn as businesses face mounting cost pressures and attempt to position themselves for the long term.
The ongoing objective is to account for and contain legally produced cannabis within Oregon, create consumer confidence in the legal market, and establish compliance performance boundaries for marijuana licensees.
By requiring the tracking of marijuana flower and marijuana products, CTS has provided the most reliable accounting for legally produced cannabis in Oregon. For the first time, the state’s production of marijuana is accounted for and there are consequences – criminal and administrative – for licensees that divert product from the regulated system.
Oregon’s legal market has created a new growth industry with quality product, a diversity of choices, and transparent information for consumers
Oregon’s successful transition to a regulated adult-use market has provided customers an unprecedented degree of consumer safety confidence. Oregon’s testing program and packaging and labeling requirements are considered best-in-class and are being replicated by other states that have legalized adult use cannabis. This confidence has contributed to consistent growth in retail activity as evidenced by the $198 million in state and local sales tax revenue generated since legalization.
On the demand side the establishment of a legitimate market has resulted in consumers shifting their purchase activity away from the illegal market to licensed retailers. The conversion of most OMMP dispensaries to OLCC retailers, coupled with the OLCC’s deliberate effort to allow medical grade products for sale at retail, has established a statewide retail network, in which medical marijuana patients are also able to obtain tax-free products.
Industry innovation has continued since the OLCC’s establishment of and oversight over the marijuana supply chain in January 2017; today consumers are able to find a selection of products reflecting a marketplace with 2,100 licensees. As more consumer choices have been introduced and prices have decreased, sales have seen a corresponding increase.
A context for change
Oregon’s current supply in the legal market is a reflection of successful policies to move production into the legal system. The adoption of the legal system by recreational consumers and medical patients for the purchase of branded and tested cannabis products is a strong indication that the legal system is winning the battle against the illegal market.
At the same time, Oregon regulators and law enforcement, with support of the licensed industry, are developing and utilizing new resources and tools to confront illegal market activity. Now that the legal system has successfully taken hold, policy makers can make adjustments combined with market forces to work towards a sustainable economic balance between supply and demand.
The economic condition of the market that the OLCC will be regulating in the next two years remains uncertain. Just as it took time to establish legal alcohol markets after the repeal of alcohol prohibition, the development of the legal marijuana industry will require patience. In less than three years Oregon has made substantial progress toward creating a controlled, economically viable and well-regulated cannabis industry. While regulations to control and manage this new industry will continue to change, no matter the future course, the ability to support existing and aspiring licensees and take enforcement against those that don’t follow the rules will be a crucial function for the state and the private sector businesses that have entered this industry.
A primary objective of establishing Oregon’s regulated market was to contain cannabis legally produced in Oregon from diversion into the illegal market. Oregon’s legal cannabis market and its framework for accountability and containment indicates the system is performing as it was designed.
At this point we have another opportunity to make intentional choices. With market mechanisms and thoughtful public policy, the state of Oregon and the OLCC can continue to control what we’ve created – to reinforce and strengthen the regulatory system we’ve built in just three short years. One corrective policy tool proposed by the Governor would allow the OLCC to place a moratorium on licenses. As the 2019 legislative session progresses other ideas may emerge.
We expect any guidance that the Governor and Legislature may develop during the 2019 legislative session will strengthen the continued implementation of a regulated marijuana system that balances public safety concerns with the vision of Oregon voters.
The 2019 Recreational Marijuana Supply and Demand Legislative Report is more than just about numbers. Its substance and specific methodology reflect a state-of-the-art approach for evaluating use and demand and normalizing values and equivalencies of differing cannabis products as produced and sold in the Oregon marketplace. While not infallible, this study provides a sound base for the discussion and debate of policy development. The OLCC appreciates the work and time its talented staff and outside peer reviewers have spent to bring forward this public data on legal marijuana production in Oregon.
A copy of the 2019 Recreational Marijuana Supply and Demand Legislative Report can be found on the OLCC on the Recreational Marijuana main page under the Government Resources column.

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

allow the OLCC to place a moratorium on all marijuana licenses

All they need to do next is take away our right to grow the measly 4 and they've got the WA system all locked up an in place. And of course part of the demand bottleneck is that they're not issuing licenses to new retail and processing operations, so the state is exacerbating the problem and the using the issue to demand new powers.
Since they don't need to go to the effort to process all those new licenses, maybe they can dump a few employees and cut our taxes some.

 

[Robrites]

All they need to do next is take away our right to grow the measly 4 and they've got the WA system all locked up an in place. And of course part of the demand bottleneck is that they're not issuing licenses to new retail and processing operations, so the state is exacerbating the problem and the using the issue to demand new powers.
Since they don't need to go to the effort to process all those new licenses, maybe they can dump a few employees and cut our taxes some.

Many of us that grow four now
Grew fifty when it was illegal


If they fuck up
Crack down too much
The price will go up

 

[Robrites]

The list of cities or counties in Oregon that have prohibited the establishment of licensed recreational marijuana producers, processors, wholesalers, and/or retailers has been updated to include Brownsville, Dufur, and Turner.

 

[Robrites]

Company sues over seizure of product it says is hemp

Company sues over seizure of product it says is hemp

BOISE — A company has filed a lawsuit against the Idaho State Police and Ada County after authorities seized nearly 7,000 pounds of cannabis from a truck headed to Colorado.
The Idaho Statesman reported Friday that authorities say the product seized was marijuana but Big Sky Scientific LLC says it is industrial hemp.
Hemp is a non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana and is protected under the recently passed 2018 Farm Bill.
The Idaho State Police has sent a sample of the product to a lab for testing.


Idaho State police make 3.5-ton pot bust
The truck from Portland was stopped on Jan. 24 as part of a routine, random commercial vehicle safety inspection.

The truck's driver, 36-year-old Dennis Palamarchuk of Portland, Oregon, has been charged with a felony.
Palamarchuk told authorities he was on his way to Colorado with the shipment.
Big Sky wants its product returned and wants an admission of wrongdoing from the Idaho authorities.
-- The Associated Press

 

[OregonBorn]

Idaho will likely just say that hemp is not legal in state and proceed with the bust and not give anything back. So it may have to go to the supreme court to determine which law trumps in this case: US law vs Idaho state law. Idaho classifies any Cannabis with ANY amount of THC as a felony. So it could be 0.1% THC and they will continue with the bust.

Do not go to Idaho... boycott their spuds!

This from another site:

As far as state police are concerned, we don’t worry about the difference between hemp or marijuana we're looking for the presence of THC and anything with THC in it, is currently illegal in Idaho,” Idaho State Police Deputy Director Sheldon Kelley said.Hemp does carry trace amounts of THC but is under the legal limit set in the 2018 federal farm bill.

“Under Idaho law hemp with any THC or any product with THC is classified as a controlled substance and illegal to possess or transport,” Former Attorney General and Lt. Gov. David Leroy said.

The issue came back in the spotlight earlier this week after Idaho State Police say they made their largest drug bust in known agency history. The truck driver though says he was carrying hemp.

“Federal law trumps state law in this regard and if it is a legitimate hemp product, grown in a state where it's legally grown, it is allowed to be transported through Idaho to another state where it can be legally processed or sold,” Jonathan Miller, the United States Hemp Roundtable General Counsel, said. He says, because of the Interstate Commerce Act, Idaho is in the wrong. “In this situation, the law states that no state should prohibit the transportation or shipment of hemp or hemp products through their state,” Miller said. KTVB reached out to Leroy to better understand the law.

“The county by county enforcement over our criminal laws and the fact that our criminal laws in Idaho remain on our books does not allow a trucker or anybody else to break criminal law in Idaho, despite what federal law might say about a particular topic,” Leroy said. He says under the constitution when federal and state laws conflict federal law generally take control but not in this case.

“As a matter of criminal law, Idaho can still enforce its prohibition against hemp, as a matter of interstate commerce in terms of enforcing or trumping a criminal law the constitution does not do that,” Leroy said. “So, at this point, Idaho is entitled to enforce its law in Idaho as to making hemp and transportation of hemp, a crime.”


But that would mean that Idaho could still have slavery laws on the books, and claim that they can enforce slave ownership in state, when in fact they cannot. This will very likely get a lot of press and be overturned at he federal level. And the poor driver will have to sit in jail in the meantime. Which is a load of complete crap, but Idaho seems to be digging in for a fight over this "big drug bust".

 

[art.spliff]

The criminal justice system in the US, the position of jailer has a history descending from slavery. Targeting the victims of slavery is written into the language of the law and has been normalized by police. As if elementary school history books taught a positive or accurate story. This affects all of us whether calling for the civil rights of those arrested, or auditing the police on their money grab, enforcing inappropriate superseded laws. Oppression is still oppression even when it isn't what some might understand as slavery.

Cannabis legalization in the form of 4 individual plants or hemp appears disruptive to one economy or another. Alcohol and tobacco with potentially oil companies and the closely linked pharmaceutical industry to follow. I think public opinion will change on this. It isn't right to have cannabis effectively legalized federally with selective enforcement still occurring. Seizure and fines is the first step but jail time for growing a plant after it is federally legal should be appealed or overturned by the supreme court. I hope they are released whether thc is 0.0 or any other number.

 

[SGS]

I saw all this unfold the other day... its absolutely why i moved to East Oregon last fall... i was a victim of Idaho's cannabis laws... they are outdated!!! I was lucky to get my charges dropped cauae they messed up... but many people i know from there now have a criminal record for weed and nothing else... its sad to see how people can be so narrow minded about a plant that does so much... its more than "POT" grandpa! Die already and take all the old views with ya!

LEGALIZATION IN IDAHO!!! VOTE!

SGS

 

[Oregonism]

The criminal justice system in the US, the position of jailer has a history descending from slavery. Targeting the victims of slavery is written into the language of the law and has been normalized by police. As if elementary school history books taught a positive or accurate story. This affects all of us whether calling for the civil rights of those arrested, or auditing the police on their money grab, enforcing inappropriate superseded laws. Oppression is still oppression even when it isn't what some might understand as slavery.

Cannabis legalization in the form of 4 individual plants or hemp appears disruptive to one economy or another. Alcohol and tobacco with potentially oil companies and the closely linked pharmaceutical industry to follow. I think public opinion will change on this. It isn't right to have cannabis effectively legalized federally with selective enforcement still occurring. Seizure and fines is the first step but jail time for growing a plant after it is federally legal should be appealed or overturned by the supreme court. I hope they are released whether thc is 0.0 or any other number.

Well the state created an entirely new criminal class for those age 18-21 over legalization and EVERYONE glosses over it it, fucking grade a bullshit to even call this legalization. Narrow interpretation with a small exemption of the law is a little better....

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

Well the state created an entirely new criminal class for those age 18-21 over legalization and EVERYONE glosses over it it, fucking grade a bullshit to even call this legalization. Narrow interpretation with a small exemption of the law is a little better....

People gloss over the fact that the state government just willy nilly decides to stop issuing licenses whenever it feels like it. Imagine if they did that with drivers licenses or they declared that there was too many restaurants in Oregon and they were going to take away everyone's opportunity in that sector of the economy, everyone's except those few who already have licenses and pay for expensive political lobbying and campaign contributions to the single party ruling government. Measure 91 is still state law that supersedes all other cannabis law. M-91 says that the state can't spend unreasonably large sums on cannabis law enforcement, meanwhile their annual spending on just that could approach 9 figures if you start to factor in the lifetime cradle-to-grave free everything the employees of the single party state government awarded themselves. Even if the feds made weed as legal as candy those leeches would still be there threatening, nitpicking and claiming they own half of every penny that ever changes hands.

 

[Dankwolf]

Canal water ph issue

Canal water ph issue

So maybe not a oregon question but this should be relevant to most in central oregon that utilize the canal system for there water .

So the on of supply through canals here in central oregon vary greatly from time to time . not to mention its seasonal. so many of us store water in systerns over winter and with this water's ph is siting at a ph of 7.4- 7.8 . this is not working well for my system and I would guess thia would be help for local hydro guys .

What are the best ways to lower water ph ?

 

[OregonBorn]

What are the best ways to lower water ph ?

Are you growing hydroponic or in soil?

I use water soluble plant food to lower the pH. The acid loving plant food for Camellias and Rhodies. Not much is needed here to change my well water which is about 7.4 over to 6.8. Just a pinch per gallon. Not enough to burn the leaves or even fertilize them much. But this way I am adding trace nutrients and not sodium ions. Another way to get around alkaline water is to use acidic soil medium. The acid in things like pine needles and decomposed leaves will neutralize the higher pH in the water. You can also use phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid to lower the pH and add phosphates or sulfur for the plants to use. Phosphoric acid is rather weak. Sulfuric acid can be really strong, so be careful using it. Sulfuric acid is what most golf courses use to acidify water for turf grass management. I would dilute it before adding it to any water supply. You can also use vinegar to lower pH of your water.

A bad way to change plant water pH is use pool chemicals. Most pH down pool chemicals are made of sodium bisulfate, and adding sodium to plant waster is not good. Sodium in water causes plants to think that they have taken up more water than they really have, and so they dehydrate. This is the same as using softened water for plants. Soft water is also lower in pH than the hard water that is softened. Most water softeners have sodium salts to create an ion exchange in the water, removing magnesium and iron and other elements that are actually good for plants in exchange for sodium. Another bad idea is using muriatic acid (which is really hydrochloric acid). Plant roots do not like chlorine.

 

[OregonBorn]

Also for those that have overly acidic water (not common in Oregon, but possible) use lime or wood ashes to raise the pH levels.