Tap water Ppm

Pmurp

Pmurp

Well-Known Member
So I just got my ph and PPM meters, and thought I’d try my tap water. My grow hasn’t started yet, but I’m getting everything lined up before I start.

tap water came out 6.5 pH, 140 ppm and 64°F
Is this acceptable to a plant? Or should I automatically be using distilled water.
 
Pmurp said:
So I just got my ph and PPM meters, and thought I’d try my tap water. My grow hasn’t started yet, but I’m getting everything lined up before I start.

tap water came out 6.5 pH, 140 ppm and 64°F
Is this acceptable to a plant? Or should I automatically be using distilled water.
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Well, what medium are you growing in?

I pull water from the bottom of a very clean lake in BC, so I'm used to low PPM water (60-120) at 6.8 pH.

Either way, 6.5pH at 140ppm is very decent water in my humble opinion. You have small adjustments to make, depending on what medium you're growing in.
 
By the way, distilled water has the properties of the elimination of all minerals and nutrients, period, so it shouldn't be used unless you know exactly what you're doing.
 
spek9 said:
By the way, distilled water has the properties of the elimination of all minerals and nutrients, period, so it shouldn't be used unless you know exactly what you're doing.
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Rain water around here is low in ppm but when you adjust pH it slams it up and down.
 
spek9 said:
Well, what medium are you growing in?

I pull water from the bottom of a very clean lake in BC, so I'm used to low PPM water (60-120) at 6.8 pH.

Either way, 6.5pH at 140ppm is very decent water in my humble opinion. You have small adjustments to make, depending on what medium you're growing in.
Click to expand...

I’m using fox farms happy frog soil. What adjustments would I be making? Rebalance pH after adding nutes?
 
Hydrotech364 said:
Rain water around here is low in ppm but when you adjust pH it slams it up and down.
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I have close family friends south of Dallas (in Houston), and I haven't heard any one of them report water PPM of <200. I questioned a person that responded to you with a PPM of 160. Even rain water down there I haven't heard of that low.

My suspicion is the responding person is making up things, as I'm seeing more and more of around here lately.
 
Pmurp said:
I’m using fox farms happy frog soil. What adjustments would I be making? Rebalance pH after adding nutes?
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Always pH after adding nutes to your water, yes. It's equally important to add your nutrients to the mix water in the order specified. These details do actually matter.
 
spek9 said:
Always pH after adding nutes to your water, yes.
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I knew to always check it. I was just making sure that’s the adjustments you were talking about.
Is there anything special I need to do before using tap water? Such as let it sit to evaporate any added chemicals?
 
Pmurp said:
I knew to always check it. I was just making sure that’s the adjustments you were talking about.
Is there anything special I need to do before using tap water? Such as let it sit to evaporate any added chemicals?
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If you know your water is high in chlorine, you'd let it sit out. Other than that, if your water is stable, nothing is necessary beyond normal pH-ing etc.
 
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