water question?

[BBWluva]

does anybody mix their tap water with distilled water?i was thinking if my tap water has a ph of 7.2 and the distilled water around here has a ph some where around 5.6 -5.8 .if you mixed the 2 50/50 you would get a nice ph around 6.5-6.8,and you won't have to add any chemicals to lower it.and it would be like the best of both.what do you guys think? oh yea this is for a soil grow too.....

 

[vonforne]

Even better collect rain water. It is acidic and it is free.

V

 

[BurnOne]

Don't worry about the pH of your water (or anything else) if you have the proper soil mix.
Burn1

 

[Guest]

I'm with Burnone on this one....

If you add 1tbsp of lime (dolomite NOT hydrated!) per gallon of soil you could pretty much dump 8.0pH water into it and the runoff will come out 6.50 on the nose. Remember that soil isnt the same as hydro when it comes to pH, soil can actually correct it if mixed up right....

So throw some lime in there water it in and test that runoff - you'll be pleased.

 

[Blackvelvet]

does anybody mix their tap water with distilled water?i was thinking if my tap water has a ph of 7.2 and the distilled water around here has a ph some where around 5.6 -5.8 .if you mixed the 2 50/50 you would get a nice ph around 6.5-6.8,and you won't have to add any chemicals to lower it.and it would be like the best of both.what do you guys think? oh yea this is for a soil grow too.....

It does not work like that. It depends on how the water is buffered. Distilled water has no buffer so the ph changes easily. Your tapwater should have a buffer and will resist change. Adding distilled water to it will not change its ph very much.

As far as dumping in 1 tablespoon dol. lime per gallon of soil mix and thinking you can add ph 8 water to get a runoff of 6.5, hahahaha. That would be luck.

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

Dolomite lime helps to buffer acidic conditions, It will not ensure correct pH by any stretch of the imagination. pH is less important in soil, but not much less...

 

[TokenBlackGuy]

so if im using RO water with a quality soil mix like msm mix with dolomite lime.. I wont have to worry about ph or calmag definicency?

 

[BBWluva]

so you guys are saying that i don't need to adjust the ph of my 7.2 tap water? i am growing in the msm mix also...right now i have been adjusting it to 6.5 with the ph down from the hydro store,no good????

 

[OriginalMan]

PH down is no good in an organic garden

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

I'm saying that you should use pH down/up to adjust your runoff to around 6.

 

[BBWluva]

in order to adjust the run off,the water going in has to be adjusted correct?what should i use to adjust the ph then??????

 

[BurnOne]

Question: What good is it to measure the pH of water that runs out the bottom of your grow medium container? That water isn't in your medium anymore.

A medium rich in humus (humates or humic acids) will buffer the pH of your liquids so the plant can take them up at extreme pH rangse. I've used liquid nutes with a pH anywhere from 4 to 8 without any problems what so ever.
Powdered dolomite lime can not be mixed with water and used. It MUST be mixed into the grow medium and remain moist to be effective. Dolomite tries to bring the pH of the medium to somewhere around 7. Then the humic acids "buffer" the pH so the plant can use them. The liquids must be suspended in the medium to be "adjusted".

You see, it's what happens at the root level that matters in organics.

Burn1

 

[BBWluva]

wow!!!!!!!!!! i just want to know if i should adjust my water or not and if so what can i safely use........

 

[Guest]

hahahah... NO do NOT adjust your water. If your soil has 1-2tbsp of dolomite lime per gallon of soil then you are fine. Dont worry about pH as the root zone is not like Hydro where pH up/down are affective.

Again - do NOT adjust your water. ADJUST YOUR SOIL if the plant is showing signs of bad pH. If it's not, stop worrying about pH and worry about other things like lighting/temp and co2.

 

[Guest]

I'm with Burnone on this one....

If you add 1tbsp of lime (dolomite NOT hydrated!) per gallon of soil you could pretty much dump 8.0pH water into it and the runoff will come out 6.50 on the nose. Remember that soil isnt the same as hydro when it comes to pH, soil can actually correct it if mixed up right....

So throw some lime in there water it in and test that runoff - you'll be pleased.

Hydrated lime will work though if that's all that is available to you. The plants you see in my current grow( and the new seedlings I have) are growing in a soil mix that has 2 tablespoons of Hoffmans Hydrated lime per gallon in it.

Do you have to be a little more careful with hydrated lime? Yes. It will work though.

 

[Suby]

does anybody mix their tap water with distilled water?i was thinking if my tap water has a ph of 7.2 and the distilled water around here has a ph some where around 5.6 -5.8 .if you mixed the 2 50/50 you would get a nice ph around 6.5-6.8,and you won't have to add any chemicals to lower it.and it would be like the best of both.what do you guys think? oh yea this is for a soil grow too.....

No I do not mix it distilled but it can't hurt.
In organics the soil biology is what keeps things in check, if you have a good water source, a healthy soil mix, a an environment rich in humates and buffers such as dolomite lime and resonably hard water, then relax and water mother nature take over.

In short it depends on these 3 factors but if these are in check then no do not.

Suby

Use rain Water

yup!