That comment about soil pH made me rethink my whole watering schedule

A guy at the nursery in Portland said alkalinity builds up over time if you always use tap water, and I'd never even considered that after 5 years of the same routine. Has anyone else tested their runoff and found it way off from what the plant actually wants?

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barbara_jenkins661mo ago

Yep! My runoff was way acidic after years of tap. Total game changer once I switched.

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blair_chen811mo ago

My last 3 grows were straight tap water with no pH adjustment and my runoff stayed right around 6.3 the whole time. Plants looked great, buds were dense, no lockout issues at all. Maybe your tap water is just extra hard or your soil mix is already acidic from the start. I feel like everyone blames the water when half the time it's the grow medium or overfeeding that causes the pH swing. Plus most people don't even test their tap water consistently, one bad reading and they switch everything up. Not saying it can't happen but tap water ain't the enemy people make it out to be.

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