Brita filter.

[JakeTheBaked]

I am currently almost two months into my first grow, I have had some issues so far but have learned lots already from this website and the actual grow itself. One of my first problems I encountered was the PH level of my selected water source, I had read that tap water is alright to use if left out for a day or two to de chlorinate and what not. Well in my rush to start growing and limited supplies in a small town, I did not do any ph testing for the first 3-4 weeks. I finally got my hands on a pool testing kit, which entails of two test tubes and ph scale and some red drops to put in the water to be tested. Even with this meager testing equipment I could very well see the difference in the water acidity.

The tap water I get out here comes out at an approx. value of 8.0-8.2 which i know is way way to high for cannabis plants. Now, even my water that was left out to "distill" had a equally high ph. So just by chance I decided to test the water that came out of my brita jug/filter. Low and behold i got a 7.2 out of my filtered tap water. I promptly replaced the filter and retested only to find a comfortable 6.8 (roughly) ph level in my water. I immeidately flushed my plants with the new water and began noticing results.

Not sure if anyone knows this but it seems like a cheap easy way to lower your ph without other solutions and what not.

I do have a grow journal going and a thread in indoor growing, like i said this is my first grow and all feedback is appreciated and welcomed. I love to hear frome everyone. Take it easy guys!!


I snapped a pic back when i realized all this aswell, left is clearly straight from tap whereas the right is brita'd

 

[Dirty Harry]

Since you said you immediately flushed your plants, so I assume your growing in soil? If so, 6.8 ph is good enough. If your doing hydro that is still too high and will still need to make changes to the water in your reservoir from time to time.
Your filter is removing something that PH high and thus your water is PH lower with it removed.
This is a good tip if the filter holds out for awhile. If your constantly needing to change it, it may be cheaper to use PH adjusting chemicals.
Interesting though.

 

[frmrboi]

lemon juice is a cheap & safe way to lower ph, it's raising it that's tricky.

 

[Jack Harer]

Do not worry about the pH of what goes into the soil. The soil itself will buffer any variance to it's pH. You can't tell by the run-off either, as that water isn't in contact with the soil long enough to be affected. Check the pH of you SOIL. You can either take it down to most any nursery, or just dig a bit out of the middle area (gently, of course) along one side. Put that into a container with enough distilled water to make a loose mud, or slurry, and let it sit for a half hour or so. Then check the pH of that. That will be the pH of your soil.
Raising the pH of the soil is a lot easier than lowering it. Add lime to raise it, or elemental sulphur ("flowers of sulfur" at the nursery) to raise it, but make any adjustments slowly.

 

[Dirty Harry]

lemon juice is a cheap & safe way to lower ph, it's raising it that's tricky.

Baking soda will raise PH when in a pinch. I need to lower my hydro most of the time. I only need to raise PH when I over do it.
I don't recommend it if your always needing to raise PH because of the build up of sodium, but it works if only needed from time to time.
I use sulfuric acid for PH down...yes battery acid from the auto store. Before anyone asks WTF with that, fish tank PH down in those expensive little bottles state right on the bottle, Warning contains sulfuric acid... It's cheaper to buy a container from an auto shop store than spend the money for the fish tank stuff. But that is just me and MHO.

 

[JakeTheBaked]

Yeah I am growing in soil. I've been using the filter for about 2 months now and havent noticed the ph go up, so the longevity of the filter is adequate (and it should be for 21 CDN).

I cant really do a soil ph test I dont think because I'm using these drops that change the color in relation to the ph, so if I use muddy water im not sure if ill be able to get a very accurate soil ph.

 

[Jack Harer]

Then take a sample down to any local nursery, they should check the pH for free. At least here they all do. Soil pH will be stable for the duration of the grow. See my journal entry for more on pH and soil.

 

[JakeTheBaked]

honestly this small town has shit for supplies, and i dont think there is any nurseries here. But next time im in the city im going to a hydro store, my buddy was telling me about these strips you can get that do, temp, ph and ppm all in one, so i want to try those out, i dont know if you have any experience with these??

Also i would like to get a digital ph testing unit, so ill be doing that as well as any other goodies i see!

 

[Dirty Harry]

I agree that soil self buffers itself. I don't grow in soil, I tried and can't grow that way to save my life. I started with hydro, tried soil and epic failure.
If your putting in the proper PH water, it should all work out in the end.

 

[Jack Harer]

Forget the strips,they are not real accurate, go straight for the digital meter. Hanna make a great pen for around $80. It's a one time investment, and worth every penny. If you are gonna stay in soil, forget PPMs or EC. pH will do ya.

 

[JakeTheBaked]

Yeah once I realized my water ph was like 8.2 and I started using proper water the yellowing on my leaves stopped and my plants started looking ok. Then when I fed em some 20 20 20, fuckin was like boom. Finally out of this dip I was in, and I think it was all because of the water, I just need to get better control on my temps and I think ill be on really good track. Im sure my plants are way behind schedule but theyre growing well now.

Thanks for the tips to guys, I really like this website, soo much information

 

[JakeTheBaked]

So today I noticed my brita filters quality going down, I sampled some water and it came approximately 7.2-7.4, which still isnt bad but I can defs see the difference. I started using this one around the same time i started my grow which was sept 14. Just about 2 months I got maximum filtering, at 21$ I dunno it doesn't seem that great but not to bad for a simple easy way for me to bring ph down in my feeding water so I will continue using this method.

 

[cannabineer]

Jack, pardon my confusion ... but do flowers of sulfur *raise* soil pH? cn

 

[Jack Harer]

No, they'll lower it by converting to sulphuric acid.