PH level

[phenom420]

Ok I mixed a litle over a teaspoon of Neptuen's Fish Fert )pictured) with a gallon of dist. water and used a ph test from my hydro setup and it came back like 3, wtf? Will this hurt my plants? Or is the test no good this way?

Thanks Much,
sorry if this is a stupid question, I looked before I asked.

phenom420 Reviewed by phenom420 on 06-20-2009. PH level Ok I mixed a litle over a teaspoon of Neptuen's Fish Fert )pictured) with a gallon of dist. water and used a ph test from my hydro setup and it came back like 3, wtf? Will this hurt my plants? Or is the test no good this way? Thanks Much, sorry if this is a stupid question, I looked before I asked. Rating: 5

[HARDDON]

1. I would NEVER use distilled water UNLESS it has then be reverse osmosised afterwards.

Anyhow, DO NOT water with pH of 3!!!!

Simply buffer it up back to the 6.0 - 7.0 range.

[Hempfester]

What Harddon said.

Don't use distilled water. Your plant likes the micro nutrients in regular water anyway.

3 is WAY too low for your ph. I would use regular tap water. Mix it up and let it sit out over night and see if the ph creeps back up. The ph buffers in the tap water might stabilize your mixture over time.

If the ph is still too low the next day, then use ph up to raise it. But make sure it's within scope before you use it on your plants.

To test your meter, try testing some normal tap water. Normal tap water should be neutral...about 7.

[phenom420]

yeah on RIU someone told me to use tap that dist. will do that.
BUT I've tested the dist. and it had a ph of 7 before I added Neptune.
So you really think I should let tap water set for a day or 2 rather than usign dist water. it does say that it was filtered dist and rev osmos.

[sergentjunk]

1. I would NEVER use distilled water UNLESS it has then be reverse osmosised afterwards.

Not to hijack Phenom's thread, but what if my tap is 700PPM??? After adding nutes it will bring the PPM up pretty high. Is my only option RO water?? Using municipal tap water, I have no idea what "parts" are in the PPM of my tap. Is it not better to get low PPM distilled water (if I have no access to RO) where I can control what parts are actually in the water? I am wanting an RO system and will get one soon. I do understand in more mature plants, a higher PPM is more desirable, but is that a safe PPM mixture for younger plants?

Sorry for all the questions, and like I said...I don't want to hijack a thread. I'm just trying to nail this PPM thing down.

*junk

[LordDrow]

Getting water to my reserve is hard to do, so I run a hose and use a Mr. Clean Spray filter for cars. With a new filter I can fill up my 30 gallon reserve and get my EC count to .2 which seems to be just fine for my girls.

You can find one at Wallyworlds for $20.. Just be sure to put it on "Rinse" or it does not go through filter.

[Rusty Trichome]

water and used a ph test from my hydro setup and it came back like 3, wtf? Will this hurt my plants? Or is the test no good this way?

What are your nutes made from...battery acid? Not only would 3.0 ph water harm them, it'll kill 'em.

But doubtful it's an accurate reading.
...7.0 before adding 1 tsp of nutes? No way the ph can drop to 3ish with only 1 tsp:gallon of nutes, regardless of the maker or brand of nutes used.
...What color does the nutrient change the water to?
...What kind of ph test kit is it? A color-coded one will get skewed results if teating a colored liquid.
No other additives that may affect ph?

[phenom420]

Yeah I dunno if it was right or not, but I threw it out and used tap water after 24hrs.

Thanks for the advise every1else I stopped using dist, it's cheaper anyway.
I'm a noob what can I say.

I used the ph drops and it went to orange after 2 drops.

Happy 4th everyone.
I mostly post in RIU I only come here every now and then now.

[ForgetClassC]

not to mention, a ph of 3 is prolly unhealthy for you even, seeing as costic soda i think is 2.3 or something like that. I know there is a big jump when in the lower spectrum of the ph scale in terms of dissolving strength, but i bet it wouldnt feel good in a cut.

-C

[phenom420]

Yeah seems that Neptunes will do the same if you mix it with other nutes as well.

I finally got better nutes and some real experience now