pHing my water?

Auggie said:
Nope. No "problems" evident.

But ... would you like it if the weight was 15% more?
For an investment of pennies?

No?

Then ... carry on.
Settle for 'good enough', no problems.

~ Auggie ~


PS: Momma is wrong. I KNOW what I'm gunna get when I grow - at or over a gram per watt.
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I get the message Auggie! Hard headed but it sinks in. I calibrated my new pen yesterday to start PHing my tent. I will do both water and nutes.
Ok, my yard grow.... would you PH your yard grow? My hard headedness says yes!! I need to stop being lazy!!!!
I will learn PPM soon.
 
Cheese and rice Spart! The yard grow is difficult to ph because so many plants, I got to crawl in to feed. with reg water feed I just turn the hose on and reach in, so much easier.
Auggie my laziness side wants to listen to Spart
Wait..... since I got the new PH pen the tent gets PH'd. Cant hurt and F**k Ive got some yellow leaf tips starting and dont know why
 
This topic is more contested than if you should warm your car up before driving or not.

Personally I think the no pH proponents typically have logic, evidence and sound theory in their corner, whereas always pH proponents typically rely on anecdote and "Well I pH'd and I got bigger yields so you should always pH," type thinking. No offense intended to the "always pH" crowd, it's just something I have noticed.

That being said I still pH my water. Why? Because I'm a creature of habit, I did it originally, I got good results, and I don't want to change. I also know my water source is highly alkaline and probably pretty hard water. It takes 3-4 drops of GH pH down to take a gallon at 7.5-8 pH from the tap down to 6.5 for me.


There's another thread around here I read once about this topic, "Adjusting your plants pH in soil is damaging your plants," or something like that. Good information in that thread.
 
Auggie said:
PS: Momma is wrong. I KNOW what I'm gunna get when I grow - at or over a gram per watt.
Click to expand...

That she may be at times depending on our own understanding as we all have slightly different views/methods at the end of the day.

Auggie do you have a grow journal at present to follow been chasing the fable gram per watt tale for years, it is more like a urban legend to some of us :thumb:
 
Spitz said:
Nice plants Fuzzy! What's your water source and how does it measure before adjusting? My tap measures at 40ppm and a PH of 7.2. A single drop of GH PHdown will move a Gallon of tap to the mid 5s. If I add nutrients, all bets are off and I need to adjust.
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I did check it out for a hempy bucket grow some years ago tap water was PH 7 & PPM 300 i only adjusted PH for the hempys any thing else has never been measured in any way.


Most domestic water supply is alkaline as if it was acidic in nature it would slowly dissolve/corrode the copper pipe work/soldering joins over time polluting with heavy metal traces !

Spitz add nutrients first then PH correct if need be.

One of the nutrients i use Hesi Bloom says it is self buffering once added to water or adjusts PH value, i've never tested it tho let alone measured EC or PPM for any thing at all !


I'm pretty sure Auggie will raise an eyebrow at my madness :high-five:
 
LoL.

This kind of reminds me of the discussions around the campfire of a hunting camp arguing over 30-06 over .270 -- passing a bottle of whiskey around and talking about ballistics ...

Getting to the holey grail of a gram per watt was a long journey, and I don't hit it every time. Everything, but EVERYTHING has to go right, and that just doesn't happen every time because I am not perfect, and because sometimes shit just happens. A power outage, a bug attack at the wrong time, an error in measuring nutes, AC failure ... just about anything goes wrong and it has an effect. My journey started with no testing of water or soil. Then I got a pool test kit for ph, and that helped a little. then I got a Ph pen, and that helped a little more. Then I started a pest management program - and that helped a little. Then I upgraded lighting - and that helped a little bit. Then I added CO2 and that helped more than a little bit. Pretty soon -- all those "little bits" added up.

I don't do a 'grow journal' per se. And, ya know, that may be a change that will make a little bit of difference. Maybe I should consider it. Hell, I should consider it. I do have a calendar that I make notes on. "Scanned flower room, no bugs". Or "Prophylactic spray Spinosad", or "CO2 tank change." Most recent note: "Tricks cloudy, few amber."

I am about two weeks from harvesting under 3600 watts. Those girls are HOT. I mean, you get sticky just walking into the room. It is half attention to detail, and half luck. But when all the stars align - a gram per watt happens. And, in my mind the marginal improvement has to be economically sensible. For example: If I can get an increase in weight of a half oz by adding some magic sauce, but that concoction costs $100 - it's not worth it. But, if I can get a half oz increase by buying a piece of equipment that costs $100 and has a life of two years it IS worth it. I get a half oz ten times over two years - that's 5 oz with a market value of about $600 (seasonally adjusted spot market prices). So I'm spending $100 to get $600.

Now, somebody asked about Ph'ing outdoors. I never did it. And never saw a need to do it. I think that there is nothing but nothing better than growing outside. It is the way it's supposed to be done. I think that there is natural Ph'ing when outdoors, the soil does the job. Indoor grows must be micro managed because it is not an ideal environment. When growing outdoors the farmer can allow Mother Nature to do a lot of the heavy lifting. But, most of the outdoor grows I have done were gorilla grows - with about a 50-50 chance of being discovered, so there wasn't a lot of investment in an individual site.

These are unscientific observations. No claim of results is made or implied.
Your mileage may vary.

Grow on.

~ Auggie ~
 
As an aside ...

About six months ago I noticed a spike in the Ph of my water. I called the city and talked to the gal at the counter and told her "Hey, the Ph has jumped to almost 8, and usually you guys are closer to 7. What the heck?

She laughed and said, "Yea, two things happened. This drought has affected the Ph of our intake water, sent it up. And, the guy that tests and Ph's the water went on a months vacation. He'll be back next week and it will take another week for the system to flush." Then she said, "You just have to do a little more adjustment for your plants till then. Sorry. Be careful though, that much of an adjustment should probably sit for a day or so to stabilize before you water." She knew why I checked Ph - I'm not the only one growing in N. California. Hell, she probably grows herself.

~ Auggie ~
 
Auggie said:
As an aside ...

About six months ago I noticed a spike in the Ph of my water. I called the city and talked to the gal at the counter and told her "Hey, the Ph has jumped to almost 8, and usually you guys are closer to 7. What the heck?

She laughed and said, "Yea, two things happened. This drought has affected the Ph of our intake water, sent it up. And, the guy that tests and Ph's the water went on a months vacation. He'll be back next week and it will take another week for the system to flush." Then she said, "You just have to do a little more adjustment for your plants till then. Sorry. Be careful though, that much of an adjustment should probably sit for a day or so to stabilize before you water." She knew why I checked Ph - I'm not the only one growing in N. California. Hell, she probably grows herself.

~ Auggie ~
Click to expand...

Good point about water source, it happens where i am as well :thumb:


Auggie i did check out some of your posts the other evening & nice set up be the way that is a fair size scrog plus the Co2 helps !
 
Great posts Auggie. Great train of thought.
Im PHing everything except the water feed of my yard grow.
I strive for perfection too. Have you seen my thread? Ive got some good people helping me and sure would be nice if you (and fuzzy) were there too! I dont see nothing under your signature for me to follow you. Im not sure who started this PH thread but Ive learned all I need to know. Thanks so much to all!
 
Glad to help Dutch. I sure don't know everything about anything, but I know a lot about a few things.

I come here for help all the time. When I really am stumped - there is ALWAYS somebody here thats been here before. Glad to be of service.

And, Fuzzy, yea ... it is a fair sized SCROG. That plus the other two larger ones I am currently "managing" keep me running. I am currently battling The Borg in all three grows. Those little bastards are trying their best to eat all my hard work. I am keeping them at bay though.
And, yes, C02 is the bomb. But, what I found in regards to that is 1) bottled is better than a burner, and 2) it should be the LAST thing that you add. In other words, everything else has to be right. Nutes, Ph, Rh .... everything has to be right or it has little effect. But once everything else is tuned in - C02 gives a major bump (like 20%). I get between 0.98 to 1.01 grams per watt (depending on genetic).
I did one grow of CBD Canatonic for a special patient who is fighting the good fight against lung cancer, and only got .76 grams per watt - but it was worth it as we got over 5 lbs of flower, and another 2 lbs of sugar trim -I gave it to another helper who made some great RSO for her. I will do another when she gets low on meds. I promised I'd keep her in medicine with no cost to her till she was either dead or cured. Either way.

~ Auggie ~
 
TropicGrow said:
You've read all the posts so I won't be redundant. Just know not to be lazy and use the PH meter its the most important tool in your belt for this hobby.
Click to expand...
A quality soil is more important IMHO...
Better tell the rain water outdoors to check it's pH before going on your plants as well. :rofl::rofl:
 
Spart said:
A quality soil is more important IMHO...
Better tell the rain water outdoors to check it's pH before going on your plants as well. :rofl::rofl:
Click to expand...
I appreciate the sarcasm. Yes a quality medium is important Im not downplaying that (and i wasn't really considering medium a tool in my belt for that matter but anyway). if that medium happens to be an inert medium I'd say yes a PH tool would be very handy. By PH'ing your water you are only giving it whats absolutely perfect for it to absorb every nutrient available. So yes, if you want to just allow water that fluctuates into your soil, or allowing nature to do its thing then you may just end up with dirt weed like nature intended. Theres a reason why man perfected this, but hey everyone is entitled to their opinion right
 
if they could to be honest i couldn't care fluctuations in pH are what make a good ecosystem randomness is what makes the world go around. As far as I know rain waters pH can switch depending on life and so can my tent. As for my sarcasm it's more realism to be honest pH in rain water can change as rapid as pH in tap water few points is nothing one point is a manageable 2 points is a bit extreme. My whole growing experience has been random pH and my plants have always been fine. I dunno i feel as though a set and steady pH actually makes it for a more pH unstable plant.
 
I think there is an apples and oranges comparison going on here.

I grow in coco, and pH is incredibly important to me. I've never grown soil or organic, but I feel like pH of the water is less important because the soil content itself does so much buffering and controlling the pH.
 

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