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caro123_gw

About H2O. PH for house plants.Thoughts?

carola_gw(Z3NH)
10 years ago

Opening this thread because I just bought a few kind of tropical type plants.I know that soil and light are the main things to worry about but just thinking of what we are watering these plants with. My deceased husband used to really be into fish tanks and I know to keep certain fish e.g neons or angels the PH of the water had to be on the low side. Unfortunately my water has a higher PH probably more acceptable to cichlids.So to keep the lower PH fish had to constantly test and amend the water.
Saw a few kinda terrariums /fish things on this site which seemed to be using these same fish with plants-like a spath.
Guess- question is should the more tropicals be watered with a lower PH water-if so how?

Comments (3)

  • birdsnblooms
    10 years ago

    Caro, years ago, we had fish..in fact, I used to breed different types.

    Would you happen to know the pH?

    After watering, your best bet would be to test soil pH. If too high or low, it'll need amending.

    Are you asking how to lower pH or how to retrieve water from a tank to water plants?

  • carola_gw(Z3NH)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I think as I remember my H20 was about a 7-8 and on the hard side and the angels/Neons did better at a 5-6 or so and soft Always had to lower PH of H20 for them.
    The article I read on the spaths was that in their natural environment the soil ph was about a 5-6. So guess the question is if I am constantly watering with a higher PH water the soil PH would probably end up being a lot higher then that. I know with vegetables a tomato needs a more acidic soil then a cabbage so you would use a more acidic fert for them and prob. add lime for the cabbage obviously depending on your soil.
    I don't usually see much about soil PH with houseplants.

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    10 years ago

    An accumulation of carbonates is what primarily drives any upward creep in pH as container media age, but that can be made pretty much a non issue by your choice of fertilizer and by choosing soils that can be flushed when you water to eliminate any build-up of carbonates and anything else dissolved in the soil solution.

    pH of container media is a consideration, but not as much of a consideration as it is in high bulk density mineral soils with their high buffering capacity. In container culture, if you're using a fertilizer that puts nutrients in the root zone in soluble form, your plant is going to readily absorb them, unless your pH is excessively high or low, causing required nutrients to bind with other elements and becoming insoluble.

    pH in containers is fickle, changing by the hour, so if anyone tells you they "maintain" a certain pH for their plants or suggests that you try, take it with a grain of salt. Temperature, moisture levels, fertility levels, NPK %, and the N source all cause pH fluctuations, making it difficult to maintain pH within the limits of 5-10 points (e.g. 5.1 - 6.1). You don't just 'change' the pH of a medium. If you want to maintain a tight range of pH, it requires regular testing with reliable equipment and an understanding of what chemicals can/can't be appropriately used to raise/lower pH as required.

    My water ranges in pH from about 8.1-8.5, depending on the time of year - quite high. For plants outdoors, I never worry about an upward creep in pH because I use an acid-forming fertilizer and I flush the soil when I water. In winter, I'm used to seeing some pH-induced Fe (iron) deficiencies as spring draws near because I can't flush quite as freely as I do in the summer, but they are easy to remedy by either slightly acidifying the fertigation solution or adding a little Sprint 138 (Fe supplement) to it. Sprint 138 is an Fe chelate formulated for high pH applications.

    The area in which you can make the most progress is a triangle bounded by using the right soil, watering correctly, and choosing a fertilizer that will actually fulfill the goals of nutrient supplementation for containerized plants. If you can get those right, you would be extremely unlikely to have problems you'd even consider were caused by pH issues.

    Best luck

    Al

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