Water Question

i started out with tap water.. noticed the tips of the leaves were yellow, someone told me it was the chlorine in the water.. my area's water is very harsh on plants im told by my local grow shop. so i started buying bottled water that had a ppm of 53 and used this for quite awhile. this company i guess grew bigger or something and decided to change the ppm of they're water to 350-390 i forget, but i feel it has too much crap in it so i changed to distilled water but am having a hard time balancing the ph.

is the ph of distilled water 0?
should i just go buy a brita filter or something?

any other comments?


with the nutrients i use it says in soil (which im using) to balance the ph to 5.8 after adding nutrients. this is hard to do now that i switched to distilled water.

all i know is that the ph is the most important to focus on. but i dont really get "ppms" like i hav an understanding but i havent exactly bin concerned on monitoring them, however now i am, considering i have dropped 350 ppms in my water. i have a chart for my nutrients that says how many ppms are needed when, but i dont have a ppm meter. so i am concerned due to the lack of understanding. thanx in advance

You can get Aquarium test kit at any petstore with fish....like 5$ that will test your ph levels and you level should be between 6.4-6.8 for best results in soil!

I use vinegar to lower ph and baking soda to raise it. You will have to test your Distilled water to see where it stands...

Chlorine buildup can be flushed out with 3x the amt of water as soil in pot so if you have a 1 gal pot 3gal of ph adjusted water...this should be done at least once a month so there is no buildup which can lockout some nutes.

How old are you girls and what is your NPK values of your nutes??? What does the label say to feed? eg 1/4 tsp/gal...or?

Got pics?...would help to see what you do?

Like Lime said, 5.8 for soil is way too low. No wonder you are having trouble. Shoot for 6.5 on your water or feed mixes when using soil. You do not need a PPM meter when growing soil, just focus on the PH and follow the nute instructions, using up to half of what they recommend at first, and working your way up to the full recommendation.

You don't need a Brita filter. Just fill up empty gallon containers and leave the tops off so they can evaporate the chlorine. After a day or two, you can cap the tops. Distilled water does not have a PH of 0. It is closer to 7. You really should check your tap water for a source. If the ppms are below 400 and the PH is within a point of 7, I'd use the tap water and allow the chlorine to evaporate. If you have a water softener, do not use tap water.

lime73 said:

You can get Aquarium test kit at any petstore with fish....like 5$ that will test your ph levels and you level should be between 6.4-6.8 for best results in soil!

I use vinegar to lower ph and baking soda to raise it. You will have to test your Distilled water to see where it stands...

Chlorine buildup can be flushed out with 3x the amt of water as soil in pot so if you have a 1 gal pot 3gal of ph adjusted water...this should be done at least once a month so there is no buildup which can lockout some nutes.

How old are you girls and what is your NPK values of your nutes??? What does the label say to feed? eg 1/4 tsp/gal...or?

Got pics?...would help to see what you do?

Click to expand...

my nutes are from www.dutchnutrientformula.com i use all of them except the "DNF Enhance" & organics

i use a ph test kit with drops and i have the strips aswell. i would always shoot for 6.5 before, i forget why but i guess someone told me this before, that was awhile ago tho, i was using the 53ppm water for awhile so i just got used to adding one drop of ph down (17% solution) to every 500ml of water and not checking it.. i also have a PH/Moisture/Light intesity meter that you stick in the soil, but i dont find it as effective as a digital one would be so i dont bother with it.. what should my soil ph be at? i also have a test kit for that along with NPK.

and its hard to say exactly how old my girls are but i started them sometime at the end of june/beginning of july, about 4 months or so

heres a link to the last pics i have taken.. >>>https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/373324-first-grow-more-then-i.html

Serapis said:

Like Lime said, 5.8 for soil is way too low. No wonder you are having trouble. Shoot for 6.5 on your water or feed mixes when using soil. You do not need a PPM meter when growing soil, just focus on the PH and follow the nute instructions, using up to half of what they recommend at first, and working your way up to the full recommendation.

You don't need a Brita filter. Just fill up empty gallon containers and leave the tops off so they can evaporate the chlorine. After a day or two, you can cap the tops. Distilled water does not have a PH of 0. It is closer to 7. You really should check your tap water for a source. If the ppms are below 400 and the PH is within a point of 7, I'd use the tap water and allow the chlorine to evaporate. If you have a water softener, do not use tap water.

Click to expand...

ya i just figured distilled water is actually the best becuz it has nothing in it, "dead water" its merely a dilutant to the nutrients, is that true? cuz im willing to continue to buy my babies water if i need to lol.

and i do have a water softener actually, why is this a bad thing? more chemicals in the water? and is there a cheap way to test the ppms if i did?

and my chart for my nutes goes by assumption i am using tap water with a ppm of 350. the chart is on the website www.dutchnutrientformula.com

When i started my grow I had 1 purple kush clone from the club. I watered it with mineral enriched bottled water from the store for about 2.5 weeks. I didnt give any nutes because im growing in the fox farm soil. I switched over to tap water, but when you use tap water you have to let it sit out because of the chlorine. When you let the water sit outside for 24 hours the chlorine evaporates and the water is good to give to your plant now. I kind of figured giving water from the bottle was baby feeding now its gotta grow up and drink real water, haha. I personally love tap water over any of that purified crap!

Im not sure what ppm means if anyone want to explain real quick that would be cool

GibbsIt89 said:

ya i just figured distilled water is actually the best becuz it has nothing in it, "dead water" its merely a dilutant to the nutrients, is that true? cuz im willing to continue to buy my babies water if i need to lol.

and i do have a water softener actually, why is this a bad thing? more chemicals in the water? and is there a cheap way to test the ppms if i did?

and my chart for my nutes goes by assumption i am using tap water with a ppm of 350. the chart is on the website www.dutchnutrientformula.com

Click to expand...

A water softener uses sodium to soften the water. You don't want the added salts in your soil.

Serapis said:

A water softener uses sodium to soften the water. You don't want the added salts in your soil.

Click to expand...

ok thanx.

what about the distilled water then.. is it not the best water for your plants? someone told me to get mineral enriched water, is it just as easy to find as spring water or distilled? and just as cheap? again i would like to stick with a specific water source so im not jumping all over between different kinds, which im sure is stressful to the plants.

whats the best water!? lol

Get an old pill bottle and rinse it out with hot water. Fill that up with some fresh tap water and take it down to your local hydro shop. Have them run some simple tests (ppm,EC,PH). Call ahead to see if they have any test meters on hand. This is exactly what I did and found my tap water to be at 93ppms. If you really have bad water scottyballs posted up a cheap Reverse Osmosis water filtration unit for around $100 delivered. This unit would bring your ppms virtually down to zero. Some things to consider..

Spoc said:

Get an old pill bottle and rinse it out with hot water. Fill that up with some fresh tap water and take it down to your local hydro shop. Have them run some simple tests (ppm,EC,PH). Call ahead to see if they have any test meters on hand. This is exactly what I did and found my tap water to be at 93ppms. If you really have bad water scottyballs posted up a cheap Reverse Osmosis water filtration unit for around $100 delivered. This unit would bring your ppms virtually down to zero. Some things to consider..

Click to expand...

thank you i will do that. i do have a water softener, so im guessing my water will be high in ppms, im sure its still managble tho. we will c. i am told that you need a certain amount of ppms in ur water at all times becuz the plant uses these minerals, then increasing your nutes over time will increase/adjust these ppms to the right amount needed for each stage of growth.