As the OP’s water is 180 ppm I thought I’d point out my muni water comes out of the tap at 550 ppm! What it WILL do is limit you for grow techniques like hydro as the total TDS is used in managing the nutrient solution. For instance if I used tap, my target TDS is 900 ppm and 500 of that is an unknown quantity from the city? Not the best way to go. Much prefer R/O with a TDS of 8 that I can load a full complement of nutes into my grow.
If doing soil; not so much. Media IMO is somewhere in between the two.
1 tablespon of vinegar (5% acetic acid) in 1 gallon of water should bring water that is around 7.5ph to around 6.5 ph. If you taste it you dont notice any acidity or vinegar taste. Vinegar is an antibacterial yes, but in concentrated form. This dose just brings water that is naturally slightly alcaline back over to the friendly slightly acidic zone.
First time grower here. Autoflowering is my choice for a first time grow. My issue is with water. I have a water softener and I’m not sure how that will work for my plants. Any advice is welcome.
Buy an inexpensive R/O unit like the R/O Buddy: not particularly expensive and does a good job. It will take everything out of the water including chlorine and chloramines.
