Question about water

Levinthelyf

Active Member
Ph drops after adding nutes. One gallon of RO at 6.5ph after adding nutes drops my ph down to 4.1. I have to add 2.75ml of ph up to get it to 6.3-6.5. PH is easy to fix. You need to know you EC/ppm for your well water. That is what is important. Not the PH. Seeing that high of PH in well water is just on the very high end.
 

Douglas.Curtis

Well-Known Member
Cannabis is a hyper/dynamic accumulator, not a veggie. Use the cleanest water you can (preferably r/o) and add only the nutrition the plant needs, this includes only adding cal-mag if your nutrient profile is low in nitrogen, magnesium and calcium. Any extras are packed away into new growth and do NOT flush/fade out. Period.

Significant differences in quality between r/o and even 100ppm tap/well water.
 

pop22

Well-Known Member
Dilute your tap water 50/50 with distilled or RO water, then check ph and ppms. if ppms are less than 100 add cal/mag, if over, your water probably has enough. If ppm of water after dilution with distilled is still above 160ppms add more distilled to get ppms below 150, ph to 6.7-6.9 that gives room for ph to stabilize

My tap water is at 8.4 my neighbor said. Haha
 

pop22

Well-Known Member
8.4 is VERY high! each 0.1 increase or decrease mean the level is 10 times stronger or weaker! One full point is 100 times stronger ( or weaker ) anything above 7.4 can damage your plants.

Ph drops after adding nutes. One gallon of RO at 6.5ph after adding nutes drops my ph down to 4.1. I have to add 2.75ml of ph up to get it to 6.3-6.5. PH is easy to fix. You need to know you EC/ppm for your well water. That is what is important. Not the PH. Seeing that high of PH in well water is just on the very high end.
 

Snucks

Member
8.4 is VERY high! each 0.1 increase or decrease mean the level is 10 times stronger or weaker! One full point is 100 times stronger ( or weaker ) anything above 7.4 can damage your plants.
I got some ph down. I tested my water at 600ppm out the tap. So I do not believe the tap is the route ill be taking. I'm probably going to source my water at Wal-Mart. Getting those big jugs and refilling them. Only thing that sucks... I don't know how I should flush when I have to source water like that and I live 40 minutes away from town. >.>
 

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
Ph drops after adding nutes. One gallon of RO at 6.5ph after adding nutes drops my ph down to 4.1. I have to add 2.75ml of ph up to get it to 6.3-6.5. PH is easy to fix. You need to know you EC/ppm for your well water. That is what is important. Not the PH. Seeing that high of PH in well water is just on the very high end.
Reason for dropping your ph to 4.1 please...???

Ive been waiting for such a number to pop up here for a long time hmmmm
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I got some ph down. I tested my water at 600ppm out the tap. So I do not believe the tap is the route ill be taking. I'm probably going to source my water at Wal-Mart. Getting those big jugs and refilling them. Only thing that sucks... I don't know how I should flush when I have to source water like that and I live 40 minutes away from town. >.>
600ppm is crazy high to grow pot with. With a pH of 8,4 it's obviously very alkaline and will need lots of pH down to get it to stay down which will just add more ppm and more problems too. Anything over 100 will eventually cause problems without a flush every 5 waterings or so and at 600 you'd have to flush every two or three to fend off toxic salts buildup and would run into lots of other problems that would strip the fun out of growing your own.

Take your ppm pen with you to check out the water where you want to buy it as some places don't change their filters often enough and the RO can be crap. Should be 20ppm at most. Paying a premium price so you should be getting premium water. The jugs cost a bit but last for years. $15 new here with a free 1st fill and we have a dozen at least. I just plugged a small hole in the bottom of one with 2-part epoxy and it sealed it fine. I use two that I measured out water into and marked with a felt pen every liter to make mixing nutes easier. Did the same with 4L milk jugs and 2L pop bottles too. Wife just got home with 6 jugs and like usual tested out below 10 at 7ppm. Sweet like Tupalo honey. :D

I'm selling my distiller and using the money to get my own RO unit. Going thru 2 jugs/week now and ramping up the grow so will be needing 5/week in a month or so. Plus we use 2/week for ourselves.

The grief you save will make it worth the effort and expense and your plants will show their love with better buds. :)

:peace:
 

Snucks

Member
600ppm is crazy high to grow pot with. With a pH of 8,4 it's obviously very alkaline and will need lots of pH down to get it to stay down which will just add more ppm and more problems too. Anything over 100 will eventually cause problems without a flush every 5 waterings or so and at 600 you'd have to flush every two or three to fend off toxic salts buildup and would run into lots of other problems that would strip the fun out of growing your own.

Take your ppm pen with you to check out the water where you want to buy it as some places don't change their filters often enough and the RO can be crap. Should be 20ppm at most. Paying a premium price so you should be getting premium water. The jugs cost a bit but last for years. $15 new here with a free 1st fill and we have a dozen at least. I just plugged a small hole in the bottom of one with 2-part epoxy and it sealed it fine. I use two that I measured out water into and marked with a felt pen every liter to make mixing nutes easier. Did the same with 4L milk jugs and 2L pop bottles too. Wife just got home with 6 jugs and like usual tested out below 10 at 7ppm. Sweet like Tupalo honey. :D

I'm selling my distiller and using the money to get my own RO unit. Going thru 2 jugs/week now and ramping up the grow so will be needing 5/week in a month or so. Plus we use 2/week for ourselves.

The grief you save will make it worth the effort and expense and your plants will show their love with better buds. :)

:peace:
The only thing that sucks is going to Wal-Mart every time I need to refill jugs. I plan on doing 3 to 4 plants at 5 gallon per pot. I don't even want to think about flushing these guys at the end with those jugs. I love in a apartment and can't really install a ro filter
 

Levinthelyf

Active Member
Reason for dropping your ph to 4.1 please...???

Ive been waiting for such a number to pop up here for a long time hmmmm
I don't drop my ph to 4.1. The PH of my RO water is 6.5 everytime (I have my own RO water system) after I add all my nutes to my water my ph becomes 4.1. I then have to add ph up to my water to bring the PH back up to 6.5ish before feeding.
 

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
My bad i miss read, water (not ferts) ph4.2 at 25°c is quite a magic number for water but i have yet to see many utilize its application. The wait continues


I don't drop my ph to 4.1. The PH of my RO water is 6.5 everytime (I have my own RO water system) after I add all my nutes to my water my ph becomes 4.1. I then have to add ph up to my water to bring the PH back up to 6.5ish before feeding.
 

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
You feed at 4.2ph? I was always told 5.5-5.8 for hydro and 6.0-7.0 for soil.
I dont ph anything as i run soil, canna start always dropped my ph down that far but id only ph it for hydro not soil.

4.2 is waters ionization constant which is why i asked but turns out i miss read what you said.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
The only thing that sucks is going to Wal-Mart every time I need to refill jugs. I plan on doing 3 to 4 plants at 5 gallon per pot. I don't even want to think about flushing these guys at the end with those jugs. I love in a apartment and can't really install a ro filter
If you get a jug here and there as you go along you'll have 5 or 6 by the time you move into the 5 gal pots. I find 4 gal to be big enough as they go 4 - 5 days between waterings and take 5L each time each and they are not small plants but nor are they huge.

You can get a tap adaptor and a counter-top model of RO unit for under $100 these days. 5gal/day output is enough if you have some storage and a new plastic garbage can would work tho the 5gal jugs would be better and easier to move around. Lots cheaper than buying it from a store but that's what I've been doing as I need extra fine filtration and should get a UV sterilizer too. My tap water comes from a large dugout on my property and has lots of stuff like algae in it. 240x100 and 12 ft deep so lots of free water at hand. 80x50x4m so 16,000 cubic meters or about 18,000 cubic yards worth.

I never flush. Just feed water only the last couple weeks. A slow dry with a long cure is the secret to smooth tasty smoking. :)

I did a partial flush recently as I was getting some nute burn with just a couple weeks to go.

:peace:
 

Snucks

Member
If you get a jug here and there as you go along you'll have 5 or 6 by the time you move into the 5 gal pots. I find 4 gal to be big enough as they go 4 - 5 days between waterings and take 5L each time each and they are not small plants but nor are they huge.

You can get a tap adaptor and a counter-top model of RO unit for under $100 these days. 5gal/day output is enough if you have some storage and a new plastic garbage can would work tho the 5gal jugs would be better and easier to move around. Lots cheaper than buying it from a store but that's what I've been doing as I need extra fine filtration and should get a UV sterilizer too. My tap water comes from a large dugout on my property and has lots of stuff like algae in it. 240x100 and 12 ft deep so lots of free water at hand. 80x50x4m so 16,000 cubic meters or about 18,000 cubic yards worth.

I never flush. Just feed water only the last couple weeks. A slow dry with a long cure is the secret to smooth tasty smoking. :)

I did a partial flush recently as I was getting some nute burn with just a couple weeks to go.

:peace:
I did not know they had countertop to systems that you don't have to install. Which would you recommend I get.?
 

Uberknot

Well-Known Member
I have high ppm water here and just use 5 gallon water jugs and buy RO water at Kroger. I have not used 5 Gallons of water in a week with two plants in 5 gallon pots. Those filter things you put on the faucet do not work.....If you are going to make your own RO get something decent. I use less than 5 gallons of water a week with 2 plants in 5 gallon pots. Anyhow the cost of RO water from Kroger $1.95 for 5 gallons so if you do not need that much it's an option.
RO Water has been testing around 8-15 ppm from the Kroger I go to.
 

Snucks

Member
I have high ppm water here and just use 5 gallon water jugs and buy RO water at Kroger. I have not used 5 Gallons of water in a week with two plants in 5 gallon pots. Those filter things you put on the faucet do not work.....If you are going to make your own RO get something decent. I use less than 5 gallons of water a week with 2 plants in 5 gallon pots. Anyhow the cost of RO water from Kroger $1.95 for 5 gallons so if you do not need that much it's an option.
Well the thing is i live so far from town. And my apartment is too small to store a bunch of jugs of water lol. I will have 4 five gallon pots and such. Why do you say the counter top ro systems are a no go?
 

Uberknot

Well-Known Member
Well the thing is i live so far from town. And my apartment is too small to store a bunch of jugs of water lol. I will have 4 five gallon pots and such. Why do you say the counter top ro systems are a no go?
My son bought one of these filter systems you plug onto the faucet...it never really filtered much and the filter clogged up so fast.

I would just make sure you are getting a Legit RO system that works.
 

Snucks

Member
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