PH?

hey guys i have been watering with Distilled water that has a PH of 7 and then the run off from my plants is at about 6.5 ,

my question is what is the best PH range for the little ones ? they are 2 weeks old being grown under 80watt phillips CFL.

also i have a Blue led light should i put that on them as well ?


Thanks a bunch of buds in advance

Hope these charts can help you . I usually get my pH around 6.2 - 6.5 (+/- a little depending on how lazy I am that day), and call it good if it comes near those numbers. I would also think that with the run off being around 6.5, your soil is doing it's job and acting as a natural buffer of some kind.

I have not used straight blue LEDs, so have no advise on that, but it can't hurt that much to add it whenever

Azhden said:

Hope these charts can help you . I usually get my pH around 6.2 - 6.5 (+/- a little depending on how lazy I am that day), and call it good if it comes near those numbers. I would also think that with the run off being around 6.5, your soil is doing it's job and acting as a natural buffer of some kind.

I have not used straight blue LEDs, so have no advise on that, but it can't hurt that much to add it whenever

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thanks heaps for those charts i now understand why the PH is so important

I'd say that lack of concern for ones pH is the biggest mistake gardeners make. Azhden is correct in his numbers. 6.5 is ideal. If your pH is off then the roots cant absorb all the needed elements. Good luck with your garden.

Your pH is currently right where it needs to be. I'd recommend to switch over to tap water (check to make sure it's ok to use) or reverse osmosis water as soon as possible. Distilled water is great the first couple of weeks, but doesn't allow any buffering. Good luck bro.

Explain soil buffering please

Buffer capacity of soil is defined as a soil's ability to maintain a constant pH level during action on it by an acidifier or alkalescent agent. A soil, considered a mixture of buffered systems, contains components, which have the ability to neutralize acids by bonding H+ ions as well as bases by the release of hydrogen ions (Federer and Hornbeck, 1985). The effectiveness of soil buffering systems depends on numerous physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils. Buffer capacity A buffer solution is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base (HA + A-) or a weak base and its conjugate acid (B + BH+). It has the property that the pH of the solution changes very little when a small amount of acid or base is added to it because of the following reactions: