Urgent Water

Hi Everyone

I'm growing some Himalaya Blue Diesel (AF Dwarf) in uruguay and have been using (big mistake) Swimming Pool PH Down.

I had been using two day old tap water and then using this PH Down to lower the PH from 7.5 to 6.5

Yesterday by accident some got onto the leaves and now they have white blotches on them that look a little bit salty and crystalized but the plants seem ok - it was then I realized I HAD TO STOP using Pool Ph down immediately. The grow is 3 and 4 weeks old.

I'm in Uruguay and so can't get 'proper' PH Down (or import it) but I do have a water distilling machine.

So here's the question.....

All the pots are organic (ie peat Moss, perlite, worm casings and Bat and SB Guano with Dolomite Lime) so...If I just use Distilled water from now on without PH'ing it will that be ok ??

I have the 'probe' type ph meter, but am unsure if this is ok to put directly into water to get an accurate reading or if its only meant to be used in the soil ?

also - do you think there is a problem with these 'blotches' - the underside of the leaves are fine so I'd like to know if anyone thinks its a major problem or not ?

Its hard not to love your plants to death sometimes.

why do you think you need to lower your ph? Aside from the spots you bleached into your leaves, they look very healthy. Use rain-water for lower ph water if you feel you need to, but they look pretty good!

thanks are the spots a problem long term and will affect the grow or not (as you say they are very healthy otherwise) ?

you can use citric acid for pH down, or even lemon/citrus juice concentrate.

you need to order some pH drops or test strips. You really need to know what the pH of your runoff is in order to know what pH the water needs to be.

This is why I love organic soil...

Just bubble & go

The citric acid will work to lower pH temporarily...

i dont see whats wrong with 7.5... what is the ec read of your tap water after its sat for 2 days? maybe try some lime lemon juice like others have said

thanks - I just put a oil probe into the soil and tested the PH and the soil PH is 7.5 so I'm pretty happy and will now switch to distilled water as mentioned

Anyone got any thoughts on the white spot's - problem or not ???

You don't need distilled water, you don't need to test your runoff. Distilled water is for growing drosera.

You need to stop measuring and start looking.

If you want to get technical, overall and runoff pH do not predict the pH in the area immediately surrounding the roots (a few micrometers).

Unless you are growing synthetic (post was cross posted - I'm not trolling), your soil biology will regulate pH to some degree. This is why people say pH is not important on organic soil. Not true! It's just it's not your job to fix it.