Just starting out with an outdoor grow. I’ve got my first 10 seeds sprouted, but will be sprouting 40 more(final plant count 10-20).
I’ll be growing organically in soil and want to know what to use when adjusting water PH levels.
Obviously need it to be an organic solution.
Thank you in advance!
I had ph issues in the past where my city water was around 9.1. I ended up using distilled white vinigar tobring the ph down and it worked quite well for me. I was adding 15 drops or about a tsp per gallon to get the water down to 6.5. Hope this helps.
Good luck in your grow @AAA
Thank you for the replies! What is a good solution to raise ph?
Baking Soda
Are you growing in containers outside or in the ground outside?
Thank you @Verndoc!
@Skydiver I will be growing in raised beds/in ground as well as some containers.
The reason I ask is that there is conflicting information out there about having to Ph adjust water.
What I am finding is it depends on what medium you are growing in…
Soil that is living
Soilless medium like coco coir
Hydro like water…lol
Correct me if I’m off base but I doubt very much that gardeners around the world when watering their vegetables in the garden or their flowers, shrubs etc Ph their water before hand…could you imagine having to do that! Some may have to for special reasons outside this discussion and some may use a filter hooked to their hose to remove chlorine as they water.
I have never worried about Ph when growing in living soil outside (ground dirt as in garden) as the fungi, algae, mychorrizae and all the mini life in the soil will handle those types of things for you.
I don’t use chemistry set nutrients to feed my soil only natural nutrients so when I feed the soil I’m not killing the mini life in the soil. I don’t pay someone to spray my yard with poisons just so I can have a yard that has only green grass and kills the mini life in soil and poisons our groundwater.
I think the problem and confusion out there is when using chemistry set nutrients to feed the “plants” rather than natural nutrients that feed the soil that then feeds the plants.
As long as you have an even mix of good living soil that meets the needs of the plants you will be growing the Ph of the water isn’t that critical (within certain ranges of Ph of course) when watering your plants.
I have mostly been watering my plants with Boogie Brew which is a awesome mix of natural ingredients that I brew in bucket for a day or 2 and water with it. My source water from tap is around Ph 8.4 and when I started brewing I would Ph the water being used for the tea to around 6.5 because that was what I was led to believe was proper. When the tea was done brewing I would check the Ph and it would be back up above Ph 8.2 or more. So I would Ph down again to 6.5 or so and feed. These plants are in pots inside.
Well since then I have learned (right or wrong? Chime in if I’m off the mark here) not to worry about my Ph when brewing the Tea as the organisms that are in the Tea as well as those in my soil will handle that as needed and so I don’t Ph adjust anything when it comes to making my compost tea or feeding with it and I use it probably 3 out of 5 times or more when watering my plants. When I water using just…water I have been adjusting my Ph down to around 6.5-6.8 but I’m not sure if this is even necessary with good living soil unless there is a major issue with my plants health…do they look good or are they screaming…I’m in pain help me?
I think all this Ph adjust stuff is mostly tied to those growing in soilless medium or those that grow in water as most use chemistry set nutrients because they may be limited in what they can use in their systems…like hydro…water grows where Ph can really be critical as the water is essentially their dirt and it’s not living dirt it’s mostly just a chemical solution.
I personally have come to the decision to only put natural ingredients into or on my body (read all labels!) as I have learned how freaking bad man made things are for my living body…just like soil…you are what you eat!
Not sure this helped at all but I hope it did a little anyway
HAGD
Disclaimer
I am in my first grow inside for hemp so I am by no means an expert on this but I have had outside vegetable gardens for awhile and using that knowledge to transfer inside.
I read al that I can about this stuff and am always learning and adapting to what makes common sense and has good results.
Anything grown in a pot or in water, needs to be ph’d accordingly. In the ground, there are natural ph buffers and the need to ph shouldn’t be as necessary, unless your water is really alkaline or really acidic 
Ok so what if my soil in my pot is also containing the buffers that the outside soil has as well?
Your root system will fill up that pot and drive down the ph naturally. In the ground, roots keep growing
Can you clarify that please.
I understand the volume available for root growth in pots are limited where ground is not but how do the roots drive down the Ph? When they die and decay? If so then the biological organisms in my soil will deal with that I would think.
Makes sense to me. I grew from late 80’s to late 90’s indoor and out and never checked or worried about PH. My grows were all organic and were decent, but all I read about is PH and PPMs on the forum so would like to understand these principles better.
@Skydiver the mistake you are making is assuming that your tap water is IDENTICAL to the water that falls from the sky. NOT likely. That is what you should be using as a starting point for your “Base Water” for feeding if you are truly trying to replicate nature. Ground water is a far cry from rain water. I won’t even use my tap water for making home brewed beer. It gives off tastes due to its mineral contents. pH your rain water. I doubt it’s anywhere near 8. Also, growing medium aside we are trying to create the “ideal” growing conditions for cannabis to maximize production and yield. A different plant would have different requirements. Plants outside would never drink tap water given a choice. They’ll grow with nearly any water source and nutrients. The question becomes how well. My2Cents.
There are PH buffers you can top dress: dolomite lime and peat are two. Baking soda can cause issues with clogging the plant over time. The GH PH UP and DOWN are actually micronutrients.
1: correct PH assuming nominal amounts of nutrients will not harm microbes
2: microbes are in soil to break down those “chemistry set” nutrients.
Organic material breaks down creating an acidic environment but is amplified in the container. Plants in late flower are exchanging a LOT of nutes and those salts build up quickly when the plant is using a gallon or more water per day. Plus; late in flower the plant has such a large root mass and canopy that a tight root ball can’t spread out and exchange salts in soil as well.
Great explanation @Myfriendis410 thanks for chiming in bud
Read the label for the ingredients on the general hydro ph down…
Phosphoric acid
I’m missing the part about Micronutrients in the GH Ph down ingredients!
I can use citric acid in the kitchen for many things…the other 2 I don’t think so. If I’m going to eat, juice, smoke, whatever something I’m buying or growing I don’t want to put into it something I wouldn’t say add to a meal to eat. You are what you eat and the plant also is what it is fed…
I never assumed that my tap is the same as rain water. I already am aware of the difference between the various sources of water - rain, well, tap, lake, river cloud water lol been there…and that 5 miles away from me the water there is different than where I’m at.
Yep growing natural would be putting seed in the ground and let Mother Nature take over from there.
It’s not about Ph effecting the microbes in the soil it’s about the synthetic nutrients that are made in a chemistry factory requiring all the associated costs to create the product, ship the product, make the petroleum based plastic containers that create more waste and so on…there is a better way than using petroleum based synthetic nutrients they are what kills the living soil not Phing your water up down or sideway…
Salt build up occurs because of using synthetic nutrients not from using organic based nutrients. Pretty sure this is what I have read and makes common sense to me. I’ll look for some related info and edit this post if I find.
I found several sources relating to salt build up…
Here you go…there are many more sources as well.
If you want to use natural nutrients or synthetic nutrients that’s your choice. I’m sure either one will give someone good results.
The choice in my opinion is much farther reaching than natural or synthetic when it comes to my health, the planets health, not creating such a large footprint when I walk this earth!
To each his own
Living soil can’t stay alive with man made synthetic nutrients.
That I know.
Thanks,
HAGD
I don’t have any issue with growing completely organic if you are able to. I wish I was able to 
I think what you’re saying makes sense, I suppose I misread the question/comment possibly
No worries @MattyBear
As that guy in the movie Water Boy would say
YOU CAN DO IT!
Regarding citric acid versus phosphoric; YOU aren’t eating it. And phosphoric acid IS a micronutrient (phosphorous soluble in water).
Most of the information regarding nutrients I’ve seen and much of it is opinion and some of it is dated. If you talk to an experienced grower they will tell you what I did. Yes; caution needs to be exercised with any fertilizers, organic or not. Try overdoing chicken guano in your next grow for example. Completely natural source of nutes but lethal to the plant in large amounts. Which goes back to the “synthetic” nutes: using proper instruments and following a feed chart eliminates over feeding issues. Over use will cause just as many issues regardless of the source of the contaminant. I’ll refer back to that same chicken guano. Building a healthy environment for your plants does not have to require all organic natural materials either. You need a healthy biome but the plants are in a pot (usually) for their life at which point the soil, plant roots and all are discarded. Having seen the numbers at the end of a soil grow there is nothing to leach out. All of this may be applicable to a larger farm operation but the boutique grower is in a different class entirely.
Organic nutes are problematic in hydro setups and most use products milled and buffered and balanced for hydro use (surely as unnatural as possible lol), most of which is NOT organic.
If you are referring to cheap petroleum based fertilizers like Miracle Grow I can understand your reluctance to use them. HOWEVER; one can successfully grow good cannabis with these so long as steps are taken in the end game.
I am a grower who reads labels and tries to use common sense when I choose a product. I also listen to advice from folks who KNOW what works and what doesn’t.
You are certainly entitled to grow your plants any way you wish but at some point there are very much diminishing returns for the effort. Pushing the envelope is how we learn and I will follow any journal you put up.
My cannabis using commercially available products (some organic; some not) hasn’t suffered any and my yields are up there at the limit of the reasonable. I’m not pooh-pooh’ing the use of all organic ingredients; what I am saying is it’s not the only way to get great results.
I probably shouldn’t respond when I’m stoned and I think I’ve beaten this dead horse long enough.
