Ph Water or Ph Soil?

Hello,
In next few days I am starting to grow. Because I am newbie in this, I read a lot and in theory it is pretty easy and I hope that it will be the same practically .
I have question because I am totally confused with pH.
Lets say that I have water with pH=6.7 and that I don't know what is the pH of the soil. I irrigate the plant and pH of the water (run off) which coming out from the drainage holes of my container is pH=5.9. This means that pH of my soil is about 5.1 (This is not the really case, but this is just a sample for better understanding).
In many videos I saw that they just looking pH of water, in many tuts I read that people talk about pH of soil and pH of water. Which water is really question, run off watter or water for irrigation?

1. Do I have to increase the pH of my irrigation water to get run off watter 6.7? This means that my pH of soil will be about 5.9 and pH of source water will be about 7.5.
2. Do I have to irrigate with water which pH is 6.7, no matter what is the soil pH?
3. Do I have to increase the pH of my irrigation water to get soil pH=6.7? It means that my source (irrigation) water will be 8.3 and pH of run off water will be 7.5?

What should I do? Which of these 3 questions/answers above is correct?

just ph you water to what you normally do. 6.0-6.8 for your soil grow. I dont start looking at runoff unless my plants look like they are in trouble.

I've asked around and gotten different answers on this. Some say ignore runoff and only be concerned with the PH of what you're putting in, others say runoff matters. I've done ok just adjusting what goes in. When I flushed before harvest last year tho, I checked the runoff and it was very acidic, but the plant was fine, so I dunno

In coco I've been checking my runoff (cause I hear rumors it fluctuates to the acidic range pretty badly) And it comes out 8 tenths to one and half points higher actually. But plants look great, so I dont worry.

I saw in movies that they speak about pH of the irrigation water, but I saw that other speak about run off, and because of that I am totally confused.

I check the pH of my water.

I would never check the run off because it's just too much work, as stated before, unless they look as if they are in pH related troubles.

The most important thing is the PH of your SOIL. If there is a good buffering agent in there then you don't have to worry about ph'ing your water but I would do it anyways. The runoff does not give your an accurate reading of what your soil ph is. If your soils ph is too low, the first lockout that your most likely gonna get is a magnesium def. And don't listen to anybody if they say to just run higher ph'd water thru your pots to raise your ph, cause that simply won't work. It might work right after you do it but your ph of your soil will eventually go down again. You can counter this by adding dolomite lime to your soil, the lime will keep your ph (of soil) around 6.5-7.0 and thats what you want.

Forget runoff, as said above you only check the runoff if there's suspected something wrong with the plant itself.. Even then checking the runoff would be the last thing i'd be checking.

Allow me to confuse you a little more... don't even bother with pH. At least don't worry too much about it. You're growing in soil; pHing everything is more of a hydro mindset. Liquid pH Up (like the GH brand) just doesn't go great with soil growing.

So long as you're not using water that is very basic (well over 7) there shouldn't be many issues growing in a good soil without worrying about the pH of what you put into it. Consider getting some dolomite lime and working that into your soil mix instead. That will neutralize acidity over the long term, as opposed to pH Up which will likely just lead to a viscous pHing cycle. Dolomite also provides Ca and Mg. With these things in mind it really isn't prudent to have everything at 6.5 or whatever before it goes into the soil. I routinely apply fertigation solutions with a pH of 5 or below to my soil, and the run-off tests fine (6-7).

Does it mean that if I irrigate soil with water pH=6.3 - 7, that soil will be in the same range? If yes, than pH of the water is what I have to check.

No and re-read my last post and Nullis's post

Nullis said:

Allow me to confuse you a little more...

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You were very successful

I conclude that the most important pH is pH of my soil and if I put dolomite lime in my soil I wont have any growing problems no matter what I watering with.

I wouldn't go as far to say anything you put in there will be fine but your headed down the right path.. good luck dude

max316420 said:

I wouldn't go as far to say anything you put in there will be fine but your headed down the right path.. good luck dude

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Thank you.
I would like to ask you, can you suggest me what to put in my soil to keep pH between 6.3-7. I think that I can not find here dolomite lime. I prepared potting soil, perlite, worm castings and some fertilizers. I have to mix potting soil, perlite, worm castings now. Can you suggest me what I can add to keep my soil suitable, something like dolomite lime?

Just wondering why you can't find lime? is there any garden centers around?

I have visited more then 10 flower shops and I didn't find it. Maybe there are somewhere, but that require long time to find it.

Check a garden center, or a plant nursery. Flower shops usually only sell flowers and such.. What part of the world do you live?

max316420 said:

What part of the world do you live?

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South-East Europe

just google " plant nursery" and then type in your cities name after it and something should come up