The pH of your water can have a huge impact on the success of your grow. The pH affects many different things, such as the resistance of your plants to diseases and the nutrients that your plants can absorb from the soil. In order to grow plants successfully, you need to know what the pH of your water is, how to measure it and how to adjust it.
What is pH value?
pH stands for pouvoir hydrogen and this indicator measures the acidity of water. The standard pH scale runs from 0 to 14. A pH value of 0 means that you are dealing with water with a very high acidity. If the value is higher than 7, the water is called basic or alkaline. In the Netherlands, tap water usually has a fairly neutral pH value of around 7. However, this value can differ per municipality and even from day to day. For most plants, a pH value between 5.2 and 6.7 is ideal. In order to make water as good as possible for plants, the pH value of the water must therefore be adjusted.
Importance of water acidity
The acidity of the water you use when growing plants is of great importance. The pH of water is best known for its effect on the amount of nutrients a plant can absorb. When the pH of water or nutrients is too low or too high, this can result in poor or even deformed growth. Extreme levels of acidity or alkalinity can even cause plants to die. It is important to remember that when you add extra nutrients or bacteria to the soil, these will have no effect if the water does not have the correct pH. Simply put, the plumber from Lelystad reports that the pH value can be the difference between a successful and a failed growth of plants.
Measure and adjust pH value
You can measure the pH value of water in different ways. For example, there are paper strips with a color code. These can be put in the water, after which the color of the strip changes. The advantage of these strips is that they are relatively cheap. A disadvantage is that they cannot be used to make an accurate measurement. To accurately measure the pH value of water, it is best to use digital meters. These can measure the pH value to a tenth. Then acidic or basic solutions can be used to adjust the pH value. These products are also called pH Up or pH Down.