Question About Water pH Outdoors

[HempyBogart]

I'm going to be putting some plants outdoors in 40 gallon containers behind my pond and was wondering about watering. I can run a hose and sprinkler back there, (it's only about 150' from my back door). My water is around 8.0-8.4 depending on time of day and so on.
Should I make the soil a little more acidic to counter the high pH of the water or am I relegated to carrying buckets of pH'd water back there?
Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

if your growing organic soil and water only system imo you should go with an evenly balanced mix verses an acidic one.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

you can also brew feeds or Teas rather of a slightly more acidic nature giving it the dip you want. always use a balanced soil imho. the water will work itself out especially if your bubbling and brewing feeds/Teas

 

[HempyBogart]

if your growing organic soil and water only system imo you should go with an evenly balanced mix verses an acidic one.

Here's my soil mix; OF, a local compost company's raised be mix, EWC, dolomite, and ProMix Organics. I'm going to mulch as well.
And that begs another question; should I use pine needle mulch to counter the water pH?

 

[HempyBogart]

I'm just kinda freaky about pH since i've had issues on my indoor grow. (before I got an actual pH pen)

 

[blowyourmind]

Tap water is in Holland 8.6 and Rain water 6.2 I always use Rain water

 

[Eyes on Fire]

yeah PH typically doesnt belong in organics. I never talk about it or test for it. thats a modern chemical standard is where we learned that. that belong in a Lab or something. not on an organic and/or natural plot of healthy land that produces nor in a decently decent organic mix in the pot indoors either within organics. My aquifer tends to run from 8.0 to around low 6 i believe over the course of any year. I never use anything other than non PH'd water and rain water too is awesome. I personally wouldnt use a woody substance just simply for the fact those as well as leaves that are thicker and the like tend to take N and other macro foods from the soil and hold it for extended times and if churned up into the soil or moistened on the top. it could happen. just a keep in mind kinda thing. but if you lay it on there and move it around keeping it on the drier side it'll be fine.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/mulch/pine-straw-for-mulch.htm

i think most any mulching works fine just shuffle it about from time to time letting it dry out a touch and your in business.

 

[HempyBogart]

Cool beans. Thanks for the input. I do have a few barrels I can use as a rain barrel.

 

[EnkiTheBarbarian]

Ag-lime and pH 8 water aren't going to mix well, seeing the results of this may take time. When I was younger I would extract 5 gallon buckets of soil from various forests for grows. Alaskan "top soil" rides from pH 4.5 to 6. (Alot of spruce forests) I learned real quick up here that even with organics, pH can matter. (As an aside Alaskan "top soil" is typically around one to six inches thick((or less)), below is stone, gravel, clay, silt, or some combination of those, so finding good forest floor was as close as I could come to free compost). I learned well the use of ag-lime and calcium carbonate in gardening to counteract this. As @blowyourmind said, rain water is your best friend right now. Otherwise a simple organic pH shift may be necessary with your ground water. A bit of real lemon or lime juice, or most effective is distilled white vinegar(typically around pH 2.5 so go easy!). It can take weeks for the ag-lime to become activated by organics but a synergistic effect from pH 8 water and ag-lime can add up, and fast, typically around the worst time. On the flip side, good organic medium with lots of active microbes rides, by nature, around 6.5 to 6, regardless of organic additives(unless it's wild Alaskan soil -_-). So you may yet end up with pH 7 soil. Testing runoff might be necessary.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

well to dissect this correctly I need a few questions answered please. your using native earth in your pots here? if not it wont matter,very different make ups in the construct of soil and regions. instead of using Lemon juice why not add a specific set of foods to drop and buffer the PH well.more aggressive of a buffering. I use un PH'd water from an aquifer.Im curious as how I manage to grow all the time with PH higher and lower throughout the season. but again native soils are the key or the Built soil thats been fully optimized from composting and adding to the mix. of course it takes time with organics LOL Im not saying to add this five things and Lime and voila. its a balance of adding certain things in a balance with Lime and water to break down the acidic components to balance out the medium their-in. once its done add some more lime and another cpl stuffs and the PH wont be an issue for quicker flowering photos and autos. and runoff is a garbage way to know Soil PH too btw. it'll give you a ball park idea but again can still be skewed.

are you growing in native soil or buying soil and adding to it? water rain water is always best. but if its clean and higher PH it can still be used.