Weeeeeelll I did a nute change for the Dieselryder... and while in the process I saw that the pineapple express seemed to have small little yellow dots on the leaves so Im wondering if thats mag deficiency, the bottom leaves seem to be wilting and dying off and feeding the newer ones... so I was thinking hmmm maybe I over fed them and caused some nute lockout... which is very possible considering I put pretty strong concentration of nutes on them early on... but they've grown pretty well so far... and then I was wondering... I havent been checking the pH of my water... just assuming its been ok since ive been using a Reverse Osmosis Deionization system for my water... leaves my water at like 2ppm so I decided to do some reading and I know that your supposed to test the pH of your water so you can adjust it but then I read this... and it kinda has me freaked out like I wont even be able to tell what the pH of my water really is? Ill probably end up buying the stuff anyways trying to do whats best for my plants but it kinda surprised me...
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1. The pH of totally pure water is around 7 (with the exact value depending on temperature). As carbon dioxide from the atmosphere enters the water, the pH drops into the 6’s and even into the 5’s, depending on the amount of CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE]. At saturation with the level of CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE] in normal (outside) air, the pH would be about 5.66. Indoor air often has even more CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE], and the pH can drop a bit lower, into the 5’s. Consequently, the pH of highly purified water coming from an RO/DI unit is expected to be in the pH 5-7 range.
2. The pH of highly purified water is not accurately measured by test kits, or by
pH meters. There are several different reasons for this, including the fact that highly purified water has very little buffering capacity, so its pH is easily changed. Even the acidity or basicity of a pH test kit’s indicator dye is enough to alter pure water’s measured pH. As for pH meters,
the probes themselves do not function well in the very low ionic strength of pure freshwater, and trace impurities on them can swing the pH around quite a bit.
3. The pH of the combination of two solutions does not necessarily reflect the average (not even a weighted average) of their two pH values. The final pH of a mixture may actually not even be between the pH’s of the two solutions when combined. Consequently, adding pH 7 pure water to pH 8.2 seawater may not even result in a pH below 8.2, but rather might be higher than 8.2"
