Wow I must of been tired last night. Nothing I wrote made any sense at all. Ideal soil ph is 6.8 correct? My tap water is 8.2 (at least in my 55 gallon drum it is) Runoff of my G13 Haze is between 5.3 and 6.2, before it was diluted with alot of runoff water the ph was 5.5 then when the runoff filled up some more it went up to 6.2. I checked the runoff of one BlackJack plant that looked really healthy and the ph was 7.3. When I mix nutrients into tap water the ph is usually between 5.3 and 5.8. I have alot of testing to do. I believe a good starting point is my BlackJack plants they are all very healthy and I have added no nutes at all to them. So I have been just using straight soil and tap water from seed. And the ph is staying really close to 7 I am not sure how considering my tap water is ph'd in the 8.2 range. I have added nutrients to the G13 plants 2x only since seed, and I believe I probably got nutrient lockout on the first nutrient watering. I have lots to learn about ph levels. I have read alot but in all reality every time I have ever added nutrients I have had problems. Probably a lot to do with the fact that my tap water is ph'd so high, or the fact that whenever I added nutrients I have never got a successful ph reading of what I was adding or the runoff.
Again bro, hard water will cause nute lockout. The calcium and magnesium interferes with up take. It sounds to me , with a starting PH of over 8, that your water is pretty hard. Some strains are pretty forgiving and won't be harmed or stressed as much as others. It may be worth your while to experiment with one of the affected G13 girls and go get RO water flush her really well and then use the RO only. I had this prob on my second soil and first hydro grows. The Culligan water dispenser in Wally World will work for ya. I bought the 1 gal because it was cheaper to do that than the 5'ers. It was 1.37 a gal first time with buying the jugs too. Refills are .37 a gal.. Hell do all of the girls it won't hurt anything and may just be the solution you are looking for. I thinkit is better to spend a couple bucks on it now than fuck up the grow and end up with a shitty harvest.
P.S. THe first thing I did when I moved ythis last time was to test my tap water. It works fine for me now in both the soil and hydro..
My tap water is 8.12. I tested it 4x this morning. And I know it has a lot of chlorine in it, that is why I let it sit for 3 or more day in a 55 gallon drum. I cannot imagine filling buckets of water up in my flowering period. I have got to get a filter of some sort.
I would still get a read out on TDS from my water co. Chlorine is a prob but will gass off but the cal and mag in suspension won't. I can relate to not carrying buckets o water so you can check into getting a RO filter system for you house. A small one on an out of the way tap or bib will do about 8-10 gal a day and on ebay they are about a hundo
Yeah I would like to find something I can screw onto my garden hose on the side of the house, that is what I use to fill the 55 gallon drum of water. But any filter like that is only going to filter out the chlorine. Yeah about 1/2 of my strains I have grown at this house have done fine with the tap water. But there are a few strains that cannot survive this water. I am glad I found this out. I simply didnt know. My other ph meter must of been busted for quite awhile before I noticed the crack in the probe.
Something like this isnt going to help anything but the chlorine right? Its not going to change the ph, of make the water any softer. http://www.freshwatersystems.com/p-...ium=Feed&utm_campaign=Product&utm_term=RV-600
Hey bro, can you send me a link to the kind of filter you are referring too? I have never bought this type of filter, the only filter I have is on the refrigerator water line.
Amazon.com: 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System With Storage Tank Removes Fluoride: Home Improvement something like that. I've seen used ones on craigslist for under $100 I've been thinking of getting one myself, but in the meantime, I've been purchasing distilled water by the gallon. I probably use about 5 gallons a week atm though. I water 1/2 distilled, and 1/2 tap water to lessen my trips to the grocery store. check the ppm of your water supply. most likely you can find a water quality report from your local municipality's website. this will list the hardness of your water, the pH, the TDS level, etc. btw, pH has very little to do with ppm. having a high tap water pH doesn't mean your water is super "hard" pH measures the acidity/alkalinity of your water; hardness is referring to the amount of trace minerals/compounds in your water such as calcium, fluoride, etc. the two are pretty unrelated.
Shit at this point I am almost considering picking it up. However isnt there some additive that I could just mix into my 55 gallon drum once topped off, that will take care of the hard water issue, then I could just use ph down to correct the high ph once treated? http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm
General Hydroponics has a series of ferts that will counteract hard water. Just ask about it at your hydro shop. Nothing I know of or ever heard of will remove minerals as an additive. Going half and hlaf with the water will cut it pretty well if you are not extremely hard. Culligan RO water is cheaper than distilled once you have the jugs.
Hey tommyarmour, you definitely need to get a TDS meter. When I first started growing I was just using tap water with really bad results, but the water where I am is really hard. I've been taught that you need to use water that is RO. RO water has close to 0 PPM solids and no chorine or anything in it. The main reason you want 0 PPM water or close to it, is so your water has "room" for nutes. All of those solids in your water is taking up space that could be filled with nutes instead of salts/minerals. I don't even know how I would feed my plants without a TDS meter. I hope I'm not repeating stuff you already know, but this is what I do. My RO water reads about 15ppm with nothing in it and the PH is about 8.2. I then add in "Cal Mag" use my TDS tester to measure PPM untill I get up to 300 PPM, then add in my Base nutes (botanicare pro blend) and get it up to a total of 800-1000 (depending on how far I am along), then add in my ripener/bulker (I think it's Big Bloom) and go up to 1100-1200. Then for my additional additivites such as Liquid Karma and Floranectar I just follow the instructions on the bottle because the TDS meter doesn't read those type of nutes the same way. Then I test my PH and it's usually around 5, and then I break out some PH Up and add drop by drop till I get it to 6.5. I have never had to test the PH of my runoff, or had any problems at all using this method. This is what I was taught by a local hydro store owner who has over 20 years of experience. Just my .02.
Wow jaime that is some good info. And crazy at the same time. I knew there was something wrong with my water. Some strains do pretty damn well, others are simply screwed as soon as I start to flower, or in latter stages of veg. I have a PPM meter that came with my Control Wizard 24/7. The ph meter part of that is busted but I could still test ppm. I also have a good ph meter now. I am going to just invest in this water filter system today, Do you have any suggestions on if I should pick up this specific filter system. Or is there another one that might work better, for around the same price. Amazon.com: 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System With Storage Tank Removes Fluoride: Home Improvement This was suggested by blakeshouse. I feel like I am such a newb now. I have been pulling off some pretty successful grows but wow I am not sure how after checking my water. I have splurged on all the best equipment and nutrients, and soil, and light, and all along my water has been total garbage. Thanks for the info. I need to have perfect water and if this filter system is going to do it, then I am going to buy one tonight.
I water about 5 gallons of water a day. Especially during flower. I have Cal/Mag. LOL dont know when to use what. At this point I am stumped. I am not sure what to do except order the filter system. Like for instance where should I start with the plants currently in flower. Should I try to treat my ordinary tap water, or just lower the ph and get some water softner until my tds meter, and water system arrive. Any Idea on a good TDS meter.
Leave the cal-mag alone.. If it is hard water (not sure we have determined 100% that is what it is) That is what is causing the prob. Either get the filter system and get it hooked up yesterday or bite the bullit and buy the RO water. Five gals seems like a lot to me IDK. Must be a huge amt of runoff from what I see in the pix. The best that will happen with the RO is in a week you will see a vast improvement in health, the worst (if that aint the prob ) is a few bucks down the proverbial drain. Either way the plants will love that water
Yeah, I should go pick up a cheap TDS meter from True Value tonight. I have 7 plants, I use a 1/2 gallon jug to take scoops from my 55 gallon drum. Unless I over water and get actual runoff. I use 1/2 gallon per day per planter without a single drop of runoff. My plants simply drink 1/2 gallon of water a day and are pretty much dry to the bone towards the end of the day. No Bullshit, since I had to test runoff, I watered all 7 with 2 scoops 1 gallon per pot. 7 pots. Now I have some runoff and I have not had to water for a few days, I judge my simply lifting the pots off the ground. It is really easy to judge a dry planter.
Hey bro, I wasn't doubting you or calling you a liar it just seemed like an awful lot of h2o. My hydro grow don't use near that much. Peace
I found this for 120 free shipping. Any ideas? Oceanic Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System 5 stage - eBay (item 140448647714 end time Oct-02-10 19:41:48 PDT)
Oh hey guys what TDS meter are you all using? I am taking all idea's there are a million of em to choose from. I just got this PH meter it's awesome, Extech, Exstik, ph100 Extech PH100 and RE300 ExStikâ„¢ pH and ORP Meters, Extech PH100 RE300 - on Sale at the Test Equipment Depot
I would find out if there are pdf files for it from the mfgr/seller and figure out if you can easily bypass the storage tank and go straight to your 55 gal drum. That storage tank is tiny and you may find it more of a hassle than it is worth filling that drum 2.5 gal at a time. Other than that it is EXACTLY what ya need. If you get it find out if they offer replacement filters and get an extra set