Acieeeed!

[Fat Freddies Cat]

Hi all!

My mates water/nutes mix is PH 7 and he's been advised to lower it to 5.5 - 6.

 

Can you use citric acid to lower PH and is that ph correct?

 

 

PS Awsome feedback on previous posts ! Thanks people!

[SukonmiSkunk]

yep.. im pretty sure thats what they use i n PH down... try for around 6.3.. thats about the middle of the range... then tweek from there...

[Stoney]

Yepo ya definatly can its what i use all the time

 

not only is it shitloads cheaper but i find it easier to use. Mix some in some water and use that to lower your PH dont use it straight out of the container ya shore to use too much

 

cheerz

[mullray]

Yep citric acid is great. For pH upping use K-Bicarb. Cheap as chips by the 25 kilo bag. Great buffering capacity also.

 

Throw out those caustics guys - you simply are far better off using Citric Acid and K-Bicarb.

 

Citric Acid powder can be brought from Animal food/vitamin suppliers very cheaply in bulk. Use it as a powder. You do not need food grade which is more expensive. K-Bicarb can be purchased from Ag supply stores.

[ConvexConepiece]

I use the small bottle of ph down as per sold in hydro stores. I tell no lie when I say I would have used perhaps around 500 odd drops out of the small bottle, and it still feels FULL. Cost something like $12, and at this rate id guess it will do another few grows at least, and I have 100L of res to bring down....

But hey whatever works

[mullray]

True Gibbo, those little bottles last ages. They're good value. In fact using citric acid because of strength and K-bicarb will likely cost you more. I'm just an all organic person where I can. I also have access to a very good and cheap supply of citric acid.

[freddie]

I use the small bottle of ph down as per sold in hydro stores. I tell no lie when I say I would have used perhaps around 500 odd drops out of the small bottle, and it still feels FULL. Cost something like $12, and at this rate id guess it will do another few grows at least, and I have 100L of res to bring down....

 

Yeah I got this stuff too. Wish I hadn't. It will probably outlast my great grand children. Overkill if you only grow for yourself like me.

 

PH being too high from the tap water is a big problem for me. Thanks for the advice ppl.

[Indycar]

Yep citric acid is great. For pH upping use K-Bicarb. Cheap as chips by the 25 kilo bag. Great buffering capacity also.

 

Throw out those caustics guys - you simply are far better off using Citric Acid and K-Bicarb.

 

Citric Acid powder can be brought from Animal food/vitamin suppliers very cheaply in bulk. Use it as a powder. You do not need food grade which is more expensive. K-Bicarb can be purchased from Ag supply stores.

 

Cheers Mullray, i have been mulling over this idea of ditchin' the caustics for quite some time, but never knew of the natural alternatives. Even though my grow method is hydro, it'll be a cupla more nasties i can remove off my shelf.

 

Cheers Man

 

[loylty gets u nothing]

cheers

i use phosphoric acid for ph down

Ans ph up i use..potassium hydroxide

im using more of the ph down of late

i just squirt the bottle into a 2ltr water bottle

and add as needed to nutes

sometimes having to use up to a ltr to get it where i want it

how much of these 1s u speak of mullray do u have to use?

cheers

bil

[mullray]

No problems Indycar.

 

K - bicarb is also very idiot proof. It tends to be extremely hard to go past the pH 7 point. And yes, I don't like caustics either. I noted very early on in the piece that if you used too much pH up and then had to adjust back down the plants tended to suffer a bit if they were young. No such problems using citric acid and K-bicarb.

 

Here's another trick. Seeing as you're buying citric acid powder. You know that way too expensive CO2 powder you buy. Mix 3 parts citric acid to 5 parts bi-carb soda and you have exactly the same thing a 1/8 the cost.