I've spent the best of two hours testing my water ph with distilled and a little bit of well water to get it right before I pour it into my babies. I have a cup of my mixed dirt that I test run offs. I tested the run off and now it's only 6.0 lol - So just to be funny I take the tap water that I bottled a couple of weeks ago and run that through my test cup with just dirt and the run off is 6.8 - Is it okay to use well water?

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~Big Momma~
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I am a dreamer and live in a fantasy world. I only wish I could be doing the things I'm typing about and stole all of my pictures off the internet.

Yes, it's ok to use well water. But, you might need to raise the pH. What is the water's pH before your pour it?

If you use tap water, make sure you let it breathe for 24 hrs, at least. Most water supplies have chlorine and stuff in them. It will evaporate, though.

Oh, and welcome to GP.

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-Michael

I use well water. I always let it sit for 24 hours to allow the PPM to stabilize.
The PPM will change, and as it changes, so does PH.
If you test it right out of the fauct, and then after 24 hours later, you'll see this.
I find the well water better than any town water I've used.

Well water is fine. My well water is too alkaline to use so I buy RO water. (7.8)Also, well water does not have anything added to it. I do not know that it changes much in any time frame but I would be interested to know what you fine. 6.8 is fine for soil grows.

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j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

The PPM do indeed stabilize, I have no scientific explanation, except to say I've used three different wells, and all had the same effect, as the water sits for 24 hours, the PPM changes.
I've had the PPM go from 300ish down to 65ish after 24 hours, my present well has the oppisite effect, the PPM raises after 24 hours. I do test quite frequently too.

One important benefit of waiting the 24 hour period is that it is now stable, had I of used the water straight from the faucet, and PH'd it, and fed it to the plant....I know that within 24 hours the ph and PPM is going to change on me, by waiting 24 hours I have a stable product to feed the plants with no worrying what "may" happen tomorrow.

While I've included PPM into this topic, I am a soil grower, not hydro.
It is always good to know what your dealing with.

PPM stands for Parts Per Million for your nut rates?

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~Big Momma~
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I am a dreamer and live in a fantasy world. I only wish I could be doing the things I'm typing about and stole all of my pictures off the internet.

Yes, it refers to TDS (total dissolved solids) in the water. But, that's for hydro growers.

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-Michael

It helps with soil too. We should all know our starting point.

What are the normals for PPM testers? Is there a good cheap one available?

__________________
~Big Momma~
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I am a dreamer and live in a fantasy world. I only wish I could be doing the things I'm typing about and stole all of my pictures off the internet.

As far as I know, there is no such thing as a PPM tester that is both good and cheap.

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-Michael