london water PH levels

[doobydoobydo]

This is the cheap ph meter i got, i am a small grower and i cannot afford the expensive ones unless i have to!
Cheers

 

[doobydoobydo]

The photo of the meter didn,t work hope this does

 

[KonopCh]

I've got the same, but it's not working. Save 30€ and buy better pH meter.
This on picture is only good for moisture readings, but I stick finger in pot or weight pot.

 

[doobydoobydo]

cheers, i am in the UK so if you or anybody can suggest a decent one under £50 i would be happy.
a

 

[doobydoobydo]

For a change this is not a question!. I just went to my local hydroponic shop, i have been using it for a while so we both know what the score is but as this is the UK we have to talk about growing "chillies" He suggested using a lot less of the biobizz grow nutrient, using plain water every other water AND if you leave the water out for a day then the chlorine evaparates which may help with my problems. As far as not needing to PH when using bobizz products, everybody i have spoken to agrees with this except waira? i know a few people using biobizz and none of them have had to test for PH
or have had problems. Anyway i would like to thank you all for your replys and input and i will keep you posted on my new feed regime.
stay well and high
a

 

[Cat]

Hi, I am having a few problems at the moment, iron deficency and maybe my PH levels. I am growing in Biobizz allmix and using Biobizz Grow and Bloom. Because i am using those pouch pots i cannot get a run off so i bought a PH meter, a cheap £10 job that you poke into the pot. I am not sure how accurate it is because somebody told me today in my local grow shop that london water is high ph maybe 7.5 even 8.
The instructions on my PH meter say to take some soil, mix it with water into a mud then use the meter, obviously if london water is high ph then that will faslify the results?
SO my question is this. Should i treat my tap water each time i water the plants?
cheers
a
i have a couple of more questions which may get answered here so i will wait
ps I was told to fill my watering can 24 hours in advance and that helps with the PH, does it?

I can tell you that the Ph of London tap water is always around 7.8 to 8.0 and I would agree with @Waira about lowering Ph before the water goes in. I bought a cheap Ph meter from ebay for £10. They're not the best, but in my experience, its reliable, although you will need to buy calibration fluid and calibrate it every now and then. I mix my nutrients the night before and adjust the Ph just before watering the next day. I bring the Ph down using a "Ph down solution". I'm growing in coco, so need the Ph to be as low as 5.8.

 

[Cat]

For a change this is not a question!. I just went to my local hydroponic shop, i have been using it for a while so we both know what the score is but as this is the UK we have to talk about growing "chillies" He suggested using a lot less of the biobizz grow nutrient, using plain water every other water AND if you leave the water out for a day then the chlorine evaparates which may help with my problems. As far as not needing to PH when using bobizz products, everybody i have spoken to agrees with this except waira? i know a few people using biobizz and none of them have had to test for PH
or have had problems. Anyway i would like to thank you all for your replys and input and i will keep you posted on my new feed regime.
stay well and high
a

Definitely allow London water to sit for at least 24hrs. It helps dissolve or evaporate the chlorine. The water is also very high EC or ppm value and doesn't leave a great deal of room for adding nutrients to younger plants, so you could easily burn the hell outa your plants by adding too much nutrients. I don't know anything about biobizz, but I do rinse a lower nute solution through my plants each week, it helps flush out a salt build up

 

[doobydoobydo]

Thank you, will adjust my feeding as i said earlier and see how it goes. I have purchased a bucket so i can always fill it a day before i am due to feed. Strange thing is all the plants are getting the same treatment but only 2 are showing a problem?
A

 

[Waira]

what does that meter say about the soil pH? Did it come with a scrub pad to clean the tip? Dirty/corroded metal surfaces will lessen accuracy even more,... I don't know enough about your mate to make a call on that, beyond sheer dumb luck or enormous amounts of run-off water preventing mineral/salt build-up,... I need pics of the plant too,.. if you're truly getting Fe defc., a likely cause is you soil pH is near or beyond 7.0, where Fe quickly locks out, followed by other micronutrient metals, like Zn, Cu, Mn; this would make sense if your water is that hard (mineral heavy)... Biobizz is very mild, and of all the nute lines I see Infirmary visitors using, this one is the most common for defc.'s, so it could be a plain lack-of issue as well,... A very easy and common solution is to dilute you water with RO/DI water, even drinking/bottled water, most of which are very low ppm, or soft, type waters,... I do this myself, but you'll need a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, or EC meter, to dial the ratio in; I like the water at 150-170 ppm's... Using Ca-Mg weekly is fine, but with your hard water, it may not be necessary due to high Ca content already... Epsoms salts (MgSO4) can add Mg and S nicely,...(1/4tsp/L)..... As for the meters, some shopping around will find you one for about $20-25 equivalent.. HM makes a nice inexpensive model,... I know your cash strapped, but certain pieces of equipment are necessary for good growing, particularly when trouble comes! Without the right gear, your flailing in the dark at a solution, and doing the wrong thing can FUBAR the plant! If anybody told you growing quality canna' is easy,... they lied! That shop guy is wrong IMO, if you start using even less nutrients, on a weak nutrient conc. product like Biobizz, you plants will suffer even more, poor growth, defc. issues,... That line is made to used all together in conjunction, to cover all the nutrient bases.. reducing the Grow may cause further defc.'s, and with low N input, plants will be smaller and eat their fans like crazy during bloom... that soil is also very mild, and doesn't have the chops to support the plant with minimal inputs,... Yes- about the chlorine,... and pH'ing a nutrient solution after all inputs are there is a common practice, if it needs it; it may not after the acidic nutes go in,...Again, without a meter, or even a test kit of some kind, you're blindly acting on faith,... ditto for the soil pH, which is no reflection of the liquid pH's going in,.. this helps keep pH from swinging too much....

 

[doobydoobydo]

hsoil:Cheers for that waira i have grown 5 or 6 grows in exactly the same way using all biobizz products with no problems until now? and i have never used a PH meter? As i said only 2 plants out of the 8 are showing problems? All the rest look good.
Nobody told me it was easy, did i say that? As i am sure you know most questions on here will get contradictory answers
sometimes there are no easy answers just opinions, but i will take on board everything in your post and make a few changes.
I will get the problem plants out from the room when i do the next water in a couple of days and post a picture.
Thanks for the input.
A