I never water with chlorine or 8.0 water but anything you add to the water normaly brings it down to the perfect range around 7. And like you said about it coming up after an hour, it doesnt it stays at 4.0 thats why I think there is something wrong with my bottle. I have been doing this for awhile I am not a new grower I am just new to this site. When I first got the bottle everything was fine, any other ideas.
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Bigtymer930.... If you live in or near a large city, more & more municipal water systems are switching from chlorine gas (injected into the water stream) and to a new pour in, chlorine replacement, that does not evaporate from the water.
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A pH of 7 is neutral, I only water - with water with a pH of 6.5 or under (5.8 pH) lower limit with soil. If it is too low or too high, I oxygenate my fert or SPT mix, using a cheap aquarium air pump / air stone overnight. If that does not correct the pH, I correct it, by adding in a natural pH up or pH down solution.
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If your water has the new pour in chlorine,
it has to be removed using a de-chlorinator liquid, like used for aquariums.
Seamaiden is the expert when it comes to these matters. Send her a private message, she's real helpful & knowledgeble.
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I've used about a dozen bottles of SPT to date, they do lower pH for a short time, but if your water is hanging at a pH of 4. I'd check the water for the presence of Chlorine (chlorine test kit - sold at pool supply stores - measures the concentration of chlorine).
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In the short term, I'd get some cheap bottled water from Walmart. Flush my medium and check the soil pH the following day (24 hours later - in order to get a true reading). Since, whatever is happening is in that soil, affecting Mary.
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Just a thought - what are you using to measure your pH of ferts or SPT ? A low pH meter battery, or an uncalibrated meter can cause false readings.
Another grower on this site, had a meter that gave him bad readings, he based what he did, relying only on what that pH meter said & it was wrong. I never trust one meter to tell me everything, meters sometimes fail. Double check the info being presented, using a another input or source.
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I's also phone the water company and ask what type of chlorine they use to be sure. If it's not the gas (that is injected) it will have to be removed chemically (aquarium de-chlorinator solution).
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Hope this helps...
Keep it Real...Organic....