ok i am growing indoor i get my water from a water store they have r/o water i tested the ph and it is 6.0 now when i test my runoff water it says its 5.0 i know thats not good so what should i do?
not digital ph it is a chemical ph test kit and it is saying ph of 6.0 is yellow and when i test it it comes out yellow when i test my tap water its blue 8.0 i go to the water store for water and i can see the huge r/o they have
Get some distilled water from wally world it comes with a ph of 8.0 that should help bring it up a lil
Sprinkle some lime on the soil. 1 tbsp per gallon of soil. Then do a light flush to water it in. You can use hydrated lime for faster results but don't use as much if its hydrated. Next time find some pulverized limestone at lowes or sunleaves soil sweetner(powdered dolomitic lime) from the hydro store and use about 1tbsp per gallon of soil and mix it in real good with the rest of your soil mix. should keep your soil at around 6.5-7.0 through out the grow without much maintenance.
I think you should start with a real pH measurement, those strips are crude and definitely are not the diagnostic tool you need when you are facing an actual pH issue.
it is a glass bottle u fill with water and then u put 3 drops in shack and hold it up to the card. could i just leave sum tap water out for like 2 days them pour maybe a cup to a gal of r/o water to raise the ph i tested it in a cup by pouring r/o water in it then a tiny tiny bit of tap water it moved the ph of the water to 6.5, ppms r kool even with my nutes in water so would that work?
Give it a shot. You need to see what works for YOU in YOUR situation. Use the powdered dolomite lime, it solves a lot of problems. "I" pretty much use double what Nissty said, 2tbl/gallon of mix. 1cup/cf of mix. Whatever amount, get some and use it. You will see results. Wet
ok about the dolomite lime ru saying if i water my plants with r/o water ph 6.0 water it will come out as runoff at 7.0? can u even water with tap water and it will still come out 7.0?and will u even need a ph tester if thats how it works?
Pretty much, yes. I only use tap water. RO creates its own set of problems and if your tap water isn't awful, I would use it or, at least spring water. I like having some dissolved minerals in the water, especially with organics. Runoff should be ~6.5-6.8 using the lime. I have a very nice meter (Milwaukee SM-101) and suggest you have some sort of digital meter. That being said, I haven't used mine in a couple of months. There just has been no need for it. But, if something starts getting sideways, that's the first thing I check. At the least, get one of those $20 pH pens off eBay. You will need it at some point. Wet
ok i will get sum garden lime thats all they got a homedepot so do i sprinkle 1tbl or 2tbl per gal of soil or dose it even matter?
Try Lowes. It's labeled 'Ground Dolomite Lime' and is usually right next to the pelletized. Pellets take too long, you need powdered and around here, only Lowes has it. Start with 1tbl. It's easy to add more. Wet
Check your tap water it's probably closer to 7pH and once you add your nutrients it should be at a 6.5pH. Also it's free!