well water

[bigweedo]

Hi all,

Have grown indoor for a few years now and have decided to venture outdoors. Will be growing in 15 gallon smart pots, black gold soil, earth juice sea blast nutes. My main concern is the well water I will be using for a water source. It has a PH of 7.6 right out the tap. When I mix grow nutes it will drop down to 7, with me still wanting it to drop to atleast 6.8.

My main question is: when it starts to get extremely hot and I have to start watering every two days, do I keep feeding and use ph down? Or do I feed once a week and use ph down and water the rest of the week?

Any suggestions would be great!

Big

 

[grass hopper]

Hi all,

Have grown indoor for a few years now and have decided to venture outdoors. Will be growing in 15 gallon smart pots, black gold soil, earth juice sea blast nutes. My main concern is the well water I will be using for a water source. It has a PH of 7.6 right out the tap. When I mix grow nutes it will drop down to 7, with me still wanting it to drop to atleast 6.8.

My main question is: when it starts to get extremely hot and I have to start watering every two days, do I keep feeding and use ph down? Or do I feed once a week and use ph down and water the rest of the week

GOOD NEWS friend. i have grown outdoors w/8-10 footers each year. i also have well water w/ a consistant ph of 7.6 like yours. i have ph'd my well water untill i transplant outdoors. the plants are 12 in. tall +/- at this point.
from this point on , i no longer ph my water. i feed directly from the hose w/ o adverse affects. NO PROBLEM, NO WORRIES! try to get all day DIRECT sun.
good loam, potting soil and some compost. the sun makes it hard to make mistakes and growing is almost effortless. WHY NOT put them directly in the ground. you will be glad if you do. JMO i learned that if they are in the ground, ph.ing is NO longer req'd. in a smart pot, don't know.. love watering rings. on 90-95 deg. days, water every day..

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I notice you mention Earth Juice nutes. If you are growing organic, pH is not that big an issue. Tell us about your black gold soil though. I would prefer to see you make up a decent soil mixture. Few soils are "good enough" right out of the bag.

My main concern would be the ppms in the water. Well water can be full of dissolved solids. It is a good idea for anyone with well water to have it tested for dissolved solids so you have an idea what you are feeding your plants....and what you are drinking. I lived one place that the water quality was horrible. We collected rain water and used a particulate filter and an RO. Where I live now, we have a small community well and the water quality if very good.

 

[grass hopper]

I notice you mention Earth Juice nutes. If you are growing organic, pH is not that big an issue. Tell us about your black gold soil though. I would prefer to see you make up a decent soil mixture. Few soils are "good enough" right out of the bag.

My main concern would be the ppms in the water. Well water can be full of dissolved solids. It is a good idea for anyone with well water to have it tested for dissolved solids so you have an idea what you are feeding your plants....and what you are drinking. I lived one place that the water quality was horrible. We collected rain water and used a particulate filter and an RO. Where I live now, we have a small community well and the water quality if very good.

I so agree!! Ours has been tested many times. We got a memo re; arsenic and uranium had been found in some of the walls, near a fault line, in our area. It was STRONGLY advised for ALL well owners in the surrounding towns to be tested asap. Anyway if one could talk w/ your town, board of health and see what potentially harmful products may be found in your area.

 

[bigweedo]

hXXp://blackgold.bz/products/?id=62
Here is the link to the soil I am using.

Do you guys feed with every watering outdoors?

If I were to test the water for PPM, what range should I be in to be safe?

Do you guys think I need to use pH down to bring the mixture down, or just feed lightly with every watering to condition water?

 

[ston-loc]

I feed every other. But later on when they were needing water daily, some days would go every couple days. Especially when I was going through 30 gallons a day, nutrients can add up. Just my .02

 

[bigweedo]

I think I am going to go every other watering for now unless I start to see a def. Do you guys suggest a good pH down for the water? I am going to try and pH it down from 7.6 to 6.5 and alternate every watering.

I am using Earth Juice Seablast nutrients:
hXXp://www.hydro-organics.com/home/index.php?productID=692
So, when they start demanding waterings every couple of days (15 gallon smart pots) I will feed every 3 days and water as need with pH'd water.

Does this sound like a good start?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Be sure you get an organic pH down as everything else is organic.

When I was talking about getting your water tested, I mean get it analyzed. Not only do you want to know what the ppms are, but you want to know what makes up those ppms. Like Newbietoo mentioned, well water can have nasties in it like arsenic or heavy metals.

 

[trillions of atoms]

if the medium had a good buffer you dont need to worry.

you could even ph to 6.5 and let it ride.

worry about the soil mix, the conditions concerning r/h , ventilation, proper lighting and temps.

you will learn alot just getting that in check with your individual conditions


add dolomite lime to the soil and dont ever worry about ph again.

step to dro and thats a dif animal, but i got info on that too

 

[grass hopper]

if the medium had a good buffer you dont need to worry.

you could even ph to 6.5 and let it ride.

worry about the soil mix, the conditions concerning r/h , ventilation, proper lighting and temps.

you will learn alot just getting that in check with your individual conditions


add dolomite lime to the soil and dont ever worry about ph again.

step to dro and thats a dif animal, but i got info on that too

:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: