Low TDS, High pH tap water advice (Super Soil)

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
What's up Nerds? Quick question. My tap water has a really high pH out of the faucet (8.5) and a VERY low TDS (30 ppm). After I add General Organics CaMg+, my pH drops down to about 4 or 4.5. I previously thought it was dropping to 6.5, but now I know that the electrode of my pH pen is shot... What would you recommend for pH up? I have some Earth Juice Natural UP (potassium bicarbonate crystals) but the fellow I spoke to at General Hydroponics said that adding more carbonate on top of the CaMg+ would be a bad idea. What do you think?
 
Sorry for the big block of text without paragraphs... Seems to be how my iPhone wants to post (regardless of how I format it before clicking to post)...
 
Have you thought about a silica product? I'm pretty sure sub uses the normal general hydroponics PH up and down, but dyna grow pro-tekt will bring the PH up, however it does have a K value of 3 (0-0-3)... Botanicare's silica blast is the same thing with lesser NPK values but its not as good of a product as the pro-tekt.... but aside from that or a different PH up product is gonna be it I think aside from some other kind of acidic product....... I think lemon juice works but it takes quite a bit to get it to move...

I dont want to go against what you are learning but I think your looking into the PH a little too much, it is important and it will affect your grow but I think adding more shit to compensate is going to add to your headaches.... Myself and majority of others here have shittier water than you and dont even think twice about the PH of whats going in our plants and have no issues... Why not try running just water? Add a little ca mg, just enough to bring the PH down to where you want it and see how things go from there... Or maybe try adding ca/mg every other watering...

You do know too much ca can cause a K lockout right? Which I believe looks similar to what you had going on with your plants... Not trying to be a smartass with that either but I think your making yourself a little too crazy over PH.... If you made your SS per the instructions and added the proper amounts of lime you shouldnt really have to add ca/mg.... Thats not to say some of your girls dont need more, but the more you water them the more the lime is breaking down and becoming available... I suggested this to you before and I know some folks said not to and to just test your run off, but I'm telling you a soil PH meter is a cheap way to know what the PH of your soil is... and if I'm not mistaken testing the PH of your supersoil is an accurate way of knowing if your SS is done or not..... I cant remember what the PH level is supposed to be but I believe sub said it somewhere in one of the weed nerds...
 
Thanks for the reply, Whitey. I wouldn't say I'm driving myself crazy so much as just excited to learn everything I can. I think what I am going to do this round is just add enough CaMg+ to bring the pH down into range. Then, I will give them an occasional watering with the GO CaMg+ added at the recommended dosage, pH'd using either Earth Juice or some potassium silicate product like Pro Tekt.
 
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