pH changing, Alkalinity?

Saint Skinny

Saint Skinny

Active Member
Hey all,
I've been having some issues with pH in my garden. when my foxfarm ocean forest was at a pH around 7 I knew something went wrong.
I've been adjusting my pH religiously... and a few of the plants I had that I flushed with pH 5 water had no pH change at all... I didn't get it

then I learned about the difference between high pH and high Alkaline water. Alkalinity is basically the ability of water to neutralize acidity. pH is potental hydrogen.

So my question is, If my well water is highly alkaline, would that cause it to jump back to its original pH overnight?
 
A.K.A. Overgrowem

A.K.A. Overgrowem

Well-Known Member
Saint Skinny said:
Hey all,
I've been having some issues with pH in my garden. when my foxfarm ocean forest was at a pH around 7 I knew something went wrong.
I've been adjusting my pH religiously... and a few of the plants I had that I flushed with pH 5 water had no pH change at all... I didn't get it

then I learned about the difference between high pH and high Alkaline water. Alkalinity is basically the ability of water to neutralize acidity. pH is potental hydrogen.

So my question is, If my well water is highly alkaline, would that cause it to jump back to its original pH overnight?
Click to expand...
I do not know the science here anymore but ph. is a measure of free ions (high ph). Alkaline has to many ions and will give them up easily to a lower ph. medium. Low ph. (an acid) has a lack of ions and will grab them from a medium that has more ions. Ph of 7 has a balance of ions. Phed water needs to be adjusted twice 24 hours apart to be somewhat stable at the target level. Perhaps that is part of your prob..
 
Saint Skinny

Saint Skinny

Active Member
A.K.A. Overgrowem said:
I do not know the science here anymore but ph. is a measure of free ions (high ph). Alkaline has to many ions and will give them up easily to a lower ph. medium. Low ph. (an acid) has a lack of ions and will grab them from a medium that has more ions. Ph of 7 has a balance of ions. Phed water needs to be adjusted twice 24 hours apart to be somewhat stable at the target level. Perhaps that is part of your prob..
Click to expand...
good Idea, Im going to set out a gallon with an airstone in it for a few days and see if the change is any lesser as time goes on.
 
oldtimer54

oldtimer54

Well-Known Member
Think of alkalinity this way.Alkalinity is a buffer in water....
The higher the alkalinity the more difficult it becomes to change the Ph.
Water with a low alkalinity will be easy to change to your desired Ph.
If you're using a solution with a known Ph.
and you're trying to bring the ph up or down in a container of water the more alkalinity you have the more solution you'll need to add to achieve the desired Ph.
 
Saint Skinny

Saint Skinny

Active Member
oldtimer54 said:
Think of alkalinity this way.Alkalinity is a buffer in water....
The higher the alkalinity the more difficult it becomes to change the Ph.
Water with a low alkalinity will be easy to change to your desired Ph.
If you're using a solution with a known Ph.
and you're trying to bring the ph up or down in a container of water the more alkalinity you have the more solution you'll need to add to achieve the desired Ph.
Click to expand...
If your pH is high, yeah. Of course since alkalinity neutralizes acids, if your alk is high, it would make sense your ph probably is high too
 
Saint Skinny

Saint Skinny

Active Member
When an 'alkali' molecule neutralizes an acidic molecule, does that alkali molecule get neutralized as well?
 
oldtimer54

oldtimer54

Well-Known Member
Saint Skinny said:
If your pH is high, yeah. Of course since alkalinity neutralizes acids, if your alk is high, it would make sense your ph probably is high too
Click to expand...
That's not always the case and that's what confuses people about alkalinity.
I've seen two samples of water with the same ph but their alkalinity was different.
Alkalinity is different than alkaline.
My experience comes from the water industry where I worked in a lab and tested 1000's of water samples over the years and one of the tests I performed was alkalinity .. ..a high alkalinity doesn't necessarily mean a high Ph
 
Saint Skinny

Saint Skinny

Active Member
oldtimer54 said:
That's not always the case and that's what confuses people about alkalinity.
I've seen two samples of water with the same ph but their alkalinity was different.
Alkalinity is different than alkaline.
My experience comes from the water industry where I worked in a lab and tested 1000's of water samples over the years and one of the tests I performed was alkalinity .. ..a high alkalinity doesn't necessarily mean a high Ph
Click to expand...
I think they should use the word 'base' or something instead of 'alkali' to help confusion
 
Saint Skinny

Saint Skinny

Active Member
A.K.A. Overgrowem said:
Yes.
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Good to know! Otherwise I would probably end up using half the bottle of PH down and still seeing no results. Speaking of pH adjustments, can anyone recommend a better brand of pH adjustment stuff? Im using GH right meow but I won't be using them anymore. Maybe earth juice?
 
i grow everglades bud

i grow everglades bud

Well-Known Member
Saint Skinny said:
Good to know! Otherwise I would probably end up using half the bottle of PH down and still seeing no results. Speaking of pH adjustments, can anyone recommend a better brand of pH adjustment stuff? Im using GH right meow but I won't be using them anymore. Maybe earth juice?
Click to expand...
Man I like gh but switched to advanced nutrients oh down. Very strong and its thick so it's easier to use for me. It's all preference
 
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