Most tap water is alkaline and the reason is the pipe going from the supply to your home can be corroded. Acidic water corrodes.

You really should call your water supplier and ask for them to send you the latest water report. It should be free and will list the pH, all nutrients found in parts per million and all pollutants found. It is good info to know.

Years ago there was a woman on these forums in Texas with alkaline soil and water. Nothing was growing well (in the soil). She started adding 1/4 cup vinegar (4 tablespoons) to 1 gallon of water and she reported that she could see an amazing difference within days.

The amount of vinegar to add to water is best determined with a pH test kit that can measure the pH of water from 7.0-4.5. Few easily available kits will do this (pH is too low), so you may have to order a litmus paper online (contact me offline if you want some).

Once you test your water's reaction to vinegar you simply know how much to add to a gallon to counter alkalinity and get the pH where you want it.

For the most part though, just add 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) per gallon and you won't be too far off for acid loving plants.

Add 1-2 tablespoons for general purposes with alkaline water, without trying to get the solution acidic enough for acid lovers.

As an addendum: If you are growing in soil, the pH of the mineral soil is more important than the irrigation water (but changing the pH of irrigation water can help, commercial blueberry growers add sulfuric acid to irrigation water for this purpose), but if you are growing in containers the pH of the irrigation water is more important than the pH of the growing mix.

Generally for acid lovers you can just use Miracid according to instructions, but if you don't want to fertilize with each watering vinegar goes a long way toward alleviating problems with alkaline pH water.

Best to test the pH of water and the effect of various amounts of vinegar. If you can't do this then assume tap water from a municipality is 8-0-9.0 and add vinegar (ph 3.5) at the rate of 1 tablespoon per unit of pH you want to drop. If your water is pH 9.0 and you want it 5.0, add 4 tablespoons of vinegar.

For best results test the pH though, the above is a quick and dirty approximation and I offer no money back guarauntees ;-)

Hey JaG... thanks for the information. Errr... anecdote.

Kidding. ;-)

Is this formula for EVERY watering?

And is this water in lieu of the water from the hose, or in addition to it. What I mean is, do you have to start watering with a ginormous watering can mixed for each plant, or can you mix up your vinegar dilution, apply it to the plant, and then follow up with tap water from the hose.

And, finally, does any cheap white vinegar work? Won't be using my 10 year aged balsamic, obviously, but my kids have a big bottle of leftover apple cider vinegar from easter eggs, I think.

Thanks!

Hey JaG... thanks for the information. Errr... anecdote.

Kidding. ;-)

Because you and I have a certain 'history' on various fora, I get the joke. Those unfamiliar with the history, just get that it is a joke ;-) To answer a question you asked me on another forum, yes, I was being a bit snarky ;-) Is this formula for EVERY watering?

For the most part yes. It is about getting the irrigation water to optimal pH levels for maximum nutrient availability. It really does need to be noted though that if you are using a fertilizer source in the water that this does affect the pH of the water. As a rule ammoniacal forms of nitrogen have an acidifying effect and nitrate forms of nitrogen have an alkaline effect. Another source of nitrogen is urea and while this does have an acidifying effect, it isn't well suited to container culture as it requires microbial action to liberate the nutrient.

Sorry, I was previewing my post and accidentally posted it before it was ready.
And is this water in lieu of the water from the hose, or in addition to it. What I mean is, do you have to start watering with a ginormous watering can mixed for each plant, or can you mix up your vinegar dilution, apply it to the plant, and then follow up with tap water from the hose.

Every watering should be pH balanced for best results. I do not want you to think it a life or death criticality though as it usually isn't. We are talking about getting optimal results now, not life or death. And, finally, does any cheap white vinegar work?

Yes, this is what you should be using (white,distilled vinegar) to keep costs down. It works just as well as any other vinegar and is less costly.

Again, this isn't a life or death thing in most cases. It is an optimization thing.

If you are growing a real acid lover like blueberries in a container then you want to pay attention to acidifying the water and choosing nitrogen forms that acidify (ammonia) rather than those that turn the solution alkaline (nitrates).

For most plants it won't make much difference in the real world.

Again, this is optimization, not the difference between life and death although with most tapwater sources adding 1 tablespoon vinegar to the gallon is a good (though not required) practice. The reason is that most municipalities make the water basic (alkaline) to avoid pipe corrosion.

1 tablespoon vinegar to the gallon will counteract the alkalinity while not making it too acidic. Again, get some pH test kits/strips for best results. The above is a general guideline and I do not offer a money back guarantee ;-)

Hi
Why not just collect some rainwater or if a small amount
is need get a gallon of RO water??
If you get a test kit !not necessary) be sure to get a good one . the cheaper ones are notoriously inaccurate.
BTW. The pH system is setup that 7 is neutral and expand by the 10th power so 8 is 10 times more alkaline than 7 lol
Small changes are actually a BIG difference. gary

Why not just collect some rainwater or if a small amount
is need get a gallon of RO water??

Rainwater is an unknown quantity. RO water is largely stripped of nutrients.

Hi everyone,I too have Blueberries and Citrus.
I use the vinegar to adjust the ph as well.

Does anyone know if Miracid actually lowers the ph of the water?
I have tried to test this myself but I only have the litmus paper and it seems that the blue color of the Miracid might be throwing the test off.(yellow and blue make green lol)
My tap water has a ph of 7 and after I add Miracid and test,it still reads a ph of 7.

Thanks everyone.

Looks like I'm going to need to buy myself a great big watering can so I can get this right.

When watering with this vinegar water, do you still water (like Al says) until water drains out the bottom?

Im no expert but I believe when watering plants in containers you always want to water until it starts to drain out,this also helps with not letting salts build up to toxic levels ;-)

Hi
"Rainwater is of an unknown quantity" RO water is largely stripped of nutients" Do you mean "quality?
RO water is entirely stripped of nutrients. I thought the post was about KNOWING what the water contains.?? gary

I should have said 'rainwater is an unknown quantity' rather than 'of an unknown quantity'.

For the purpose of an acidic water source rainwater would be a good bet, R/O water would still need vinegar to be acidic.

That's what you DID say - I understood you perfectly. ;o)

Al