I've read that the water I use should have a PH level of 6.5 Can I use distilled water? Otherwise how do I determine PH level? Also, how do I determine the PH level of the soil?
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I've read that the water I use should have a PH level of 6.5 Can I use distilled water? Otherwise how do I determine PH level? Also, how do I determine the PH level of the soil?
PH for plants is 5.5 to 6.5. The water I use is tap water that has been sitting in milk jugs for a few days. The way you find your PH in soil is to water your plant and with the run off test that.
The cheap way to test your PH is to go to Hobby Lobby and they will have a litmus ph test kit. All it is, is some paper with a spot you get wet and it will tell you your PH. If you want to play like the big boys do they have meters you can buy. They run from $50 to &1000's.
I went ahead and bought a PH tester from ebay for 10 bucks and it works fine. They come with a pack of some chemical that you put in water and on the packet it says what chemical it is and exactly what it's ph level is, so you can adjust the ph meter's sensitivity if for whatever reason it is off a little bit.
Buying that meter was definitely worth it, especially because I found out my tap water was at 8.5. I didnt know what to do and i didnt want to leave jugs sitting around to distill either, so i thought about what i could do to alter the ph...
BRITA! what happens when the water goes through the filter? Who cares! But it comes out at 6.3 ph every time! one filter has lasted me about two months now, spanning 4 flowering plants and +-8 vegetating
i have not experienced any problems that i would be able to relate to the water quality i've used so far.
hope this helped!
Distilled water has no trace elements (zinc, sulfur, phosphates, copper, sodium, iron, etc.) unlike tap water and a neutral pH. It's pure water. I bought a pH pen from Amazon for $24 and works perfectly. No need to buy complex pH tester w/electrodes for over $50-$100.
Distilling is more than just sitting in a jug.
My grandad was a dis-stiller got me started in chemistry.Quote:
Originally Posted by tlranger
Distilled water absorbs nutrients and minerals, and may rob you plants of what they need. Let tap water rest for a day to rid the chlorine, and adjust pH with natural ingredients, not chemicals