PH for soil grows?

[SHRED]

With a soil grow I'm running into two schools of thought as far as pH of water, nute mix, and/or teas. Any liquid essentially.

The first is that liquids should be at 6.0 to 6.5 with 6.2 as ideal and that it's very important.

The second is that soil grows have an incredible ability to buffer pH and not to worry about the pH of liquids.

Which one do you follow?

Here's my test results:

pH Readings:

R/O - 6.3
Scrubbed tap water - 7.7 *
Straight tap water - 8.1
Purified water store - 6.5
Distilled - 6.0

TDS readings

R/O - 0
Scrubbed tap - 230 *
Straight tap - 230
Water store - 0
Distilled - 0

*This is thru my 2 stage RV water filter system.

 

[Bill.de.Cat]

I run the 6 to 6.5 rule in my mixes...

 

[automan2]

I'm in bio bizz light mix, using well water. I ph every feed/water after mixing nutes to 6.5.

 

[Badfinger]

3 drops of phDown puts a gallon of my tap water in the 6.2 to 6.7 range, and that's what I been using.

 

[DCLXVI]

Some bag soils have a suggested range on either the bag itself or their website. Might be worth a peek if you're using a particular brand.

 

[Growtogrow]

With a soil grow I'm running into two schools of thought as far as pH of water, nute mix, and/or teas. Any liquid essentially.

The first is that liquids should be at 6.0 to 6.5 with 6.2 as ideal and that it's very important.

The second is that soil grows have an incredible ability to buffer pH and not to worry about the pH of liquids.

Which one do you follow?

Here's my test results:

pH Readings:

R/O - 6.3
Scrubbed tap water - 7.7 *
Straight tap water - 8.1
Purified water store - 6.5
Distilled - 6.0

TDS readings

R/O - 0
Scrubbed tap - 230 *
Straight tap - 230
Water store - 0
Distilled - 0

*This is thru my 2 stage RV water filter system.

View attachment 1468530

Looks like you got your hands full for a soil grow.?
You know, I threw the pH pen out about 7 or 8 years ago. I haven't pH nothing in a very long time. I gave up on it. I didn't see any significant difference growing organically in living soil, to deal with all the fuzz and work it seems to take to pH the doggone water up and down. if I was feeding deaddutrients i.e. (synthetic nutrients) I might be more concerned about my pH. But since I'm a organic grower and I farm microbes to feed my plants I don't worry about the pH if I know what the base is. And the base being between here 6 to 7.5 ph.
I also use rain water as often as I can. I collect it from my roof gutters into a 250-gallon IBC Tote and a 55 gallon plastic drum. I use this in my inside garden and my outside garden. As often as I can. I have the capability to collect as much as 700 gallons of water. Which last me quite a long time running 12 plants outside and 12 plants inside.
I know what my pH is for my city water. It runs around 6.8 to 7.5 I run that through a regular Walmart brand RV filter that can filter up to 3,500 gallons. And I let it sit in a 55-gallon drum for at least 24 hours before I feed my plants that water.

Well anyways that's just my two cents worth.
In case anybody cared. But good luck and happy growing my friend

 

[olbobcat]

With a soil grow I'm running into two schools of thought as far as pH of water, nute mix, and/or teas. Any liquid essentially.

The first is that liquids should be at 6.0 to 6.5 with 6.2 as ideal and that it's very important.

The second is that soil grows have an incredible ability to buffer pH and not to worry about the pH of liquids.

Which one do you follow?

Here's my test results:

pH Readings:

R/O - 6.3
Scrubbed tap water - 7.7 *
Straight tap water - 8.1
Purified water store - 6.5
Distilled - 6.0

TDS readings

R/O - 0
Scrubbed tap - 230 *
Straight tap - 230
Water store - 0
Distilled - 0

*This is thru my 2 stage RV water filter system.

View attachment 1468530

Make sure you have plenty of storage fluid for the pen. It is easy to knock over the lid. That pen is my favorite just because you store it in a tub.

 

[Talonxracer]

If you use distilled water don't forget the fact that it's Ph will change as it is exposed to the atmosphere and it absorbs CO2 and forms carbonic acid within your distilled water dropping Ph from 7 down to 5.5 in short order.

 

[SHRED]

Make sure you have plenty of storage fluid for the pen. It is easy to knock over the lid. That pen is my favorite just because you store it in a tub.

What storage solution do you recommend and do I fill it to this line?

 

[automan2]

I use apera storage solution. I fill to line.