Don’t know where exactly to put this question…
I aerated 15 litres of water and measured ph. It was 8.3.
I added citric acid to bring it down to 6.3pH. Then I added ingredients to make worm casting tea, let it run for 24 hours and measured pH again. It went up to 8.1 or so.
Before I use this tea I have to LOWER the ph down to max 6.5, right?
How did it come up to 8.1 from 6.3?..
Thanks.
Measured with a digital ph meter and verified.
Well the ingredients you are using to lower ph is not stabIL and will not keep ph down. It is best to use ph down or up. Imho… one thing I dI’d notice even with ph down is if I stuck my air stone back in it, it would raise the ph. Why? Idk. But for futyre you want to mix your tea and ph before you use it mabey a hr or 2 I personally make a batch and feed within 20 min or so.
Don’t worry about pH of the water before adding nutes. Just add nutes to water as directed, bubble for the recommended time, and pH just before feeding.
Thanks @Drinkslinger and @Sirsmokes for replying.
I figured it should be corrected before watering, but wanted to be absolutely sure.
The tap water pH is always between 7.5 to 8.5. Hard, with lots of Calcium.
Cheers
I have the same issue with my water I let it gas out for 24 to 48 hrs and that alone brings my pH from around 8 to 7
EWC and Compost should be pretty PH neutral, from what ive seen.
If you can…let water sit for a day to evaporate the chems. As the others suggested, best to add all your goodies first…THEN check PH and adjust just before watering plants.
Yes they are, (7.0 +/- 0.5, says on the bag), however, the problem is my tap water.
Aeration doesn’t lower the PH for me. (I aerate ~24 hours)… It will stay in the 8.0/8.5.
(I have Pancellent meter and is accurate to 0.10)
So what is the solution? Water with acidised water of 6.0 and feed TEA of 8.0ph?
In another post you mentioned that adding acid to water will kill the bacteria.
Citric acid or lemon juice is natural and OK for lowering pH in water, but I don’t know if it will kill the bacteria in WORM TEA!
Is there some scientific proof/link that those good bacterias can’t take lower PH?
Don’t misunderstand me @Aolelon, not saying you are wrong, just want to know the facts.
Dr. Elaine Ingham goes in to details about it. Are you using it for Bacterial purposes, or to feed the plant. If you’re using it for the bacteria. There is no need to PH it. If you were feeding your plant with the tea, I could see you wanting to. But personally, I haven’t seen the need to.
If you use water to brew tea with a high PH, the bacteria will colonize and be used to that PH level. Drastic PH swings can destroy bacteria, as well as acids. PH down is phosphoric acid
I would think you would be fine with Citric Acid. I have been using Asorbic Acid to lower mine, as well as neutralize chloramines.
Im trying to figure out why your PH would swing back so high after you added the compost though.
Compost is neutral and should make your waters PH neutral as well, especially if it was around 6.3 when you started.
I have read that allowing it to brew longer will begin to lower the PH.
The PH of my tap water is around 9.15. I bring this down to around 7.0 with the use of Asorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and after brewing the tea. it will in range 6.1 - 6.9. But there have been times it was out of range.
the website Microbeorganics is a very good website about compost teas and recipes. He goes in to depth about his findings under a scope and has a lot of scientific data on his website. I suggest reading through it. It helps explain a lot of things.
If you are using organic soil and organic additives do not change the ph. You are only destroying the beneficial organisms you are trying to create. The organic soil and micro life already in it will neutralise the ph of your tea by itself. No need to adjust ph.
What do I do with nutrients lockout due to high pH?
Thanks @Aolelon, very interesting and informative reading.
I’m using it for feeding, what is odd, is that pH will creep up after it aerates with the nutrients in it.
I don’t lower the pH after the TEA is done, like you say it would kill too many of good bacteria.
I think my best solution is to make tea once a week and use it as is.
And water with low pH water 6.5 to compensate. I guess roughly every other watering.
Tell you, this planting of 4 plants is beginning to be a nightmare…now I discovered !@#$ing Thrips…white little specs and black dots of shit on leaves, stunned growth because of nutrients lockout…what next?..and time is running out…(fighting them with neem oil and black soap)
