Get a ro filter from Amazon. There is one that is under $100 and lasts pretty good, my residential water is 168ppm takes it to 1pp m for 4 months now, filter still working strong, its a slow filler though, have it hooked up to a shower head and have 2, 10 liter water jug that i rotate when one fills.. manages 8 plants decently but you learn to be time efficient.. thats your water solved ( you add cal mag and nutes obviously )
You could also get z water test kit to determine what those hard elements are, if its well then likely iron, which is a bastard cause its organicly active ( iron bacteria ) and will mess up hydro ( if you run hydro ) it can also build up in soil and become a toxicit iron, mg, calcium are common in rural areas
.. a ro filter will clog up pretty fast but is your best option.. if its well then get an iron filter I front of the r.o. ( it like a big magnet basically) and the ro will last much longer. You could also disolve a glass of water and determine what’s in it if you have a microscope.. and you likely do to check trichomes 😉
P.h. will rise often when plants take in nutrients, they can also drop. E.g one of my 4 in flower right now is the superstar but she also drops her p.h. to around 4.4 if I don’t check it twice daily and adjust.. this can also happen when there are benneficial bacteria breaking down components, as is the case in my resovoir ( hydro guard and a pinch of great white )
Note plants take calcium and magnesium best at 6.10 ph regardless of medium. If you suspect a deficiency of cal mag then you could also utilize humic acid in your water, it works as a chelator to seriously increase nutrients uptake ( ionic channel transfer instead of just transpirative )especially calcium and magnesium.. if you use it note that you can burn plants with less nutrients than if not using it due to the rate of uptake
So water.. get a r.o. filter ( 3 stage portable aquarium filter on amazon )
And P.h. just gotta keep on it.
Dilute ph up in distilled water before you add it also, that white swirl you see when you add it is calcium dropout, a chemical reaction from the concentrated ph up utilize ph swings together the plant to take a road amou t of nutrients. If you want to really be on it check half hour after adjustment, then 2 hours after.. and chek at least 3 times a day noting which direction the swing is happening in..
