Hard PH corrections

2

2com

Well-Known Member
Off topic @DoubleAtotheRON but do you/have you gotten that white salt buildup around the drain holes and sometimes near the top lips of the nursery pots before? Some type of calcium salt buildup I figure. How do you get rid of it (since not getting it in the first place is gonna take more time to understand *why*)?

I've heard before, and am reading again, that acid removes it. Acetic acid (vinegar), that type of thing.

I test tried pH down (phosphoric acid, a strong brand) straight, and it seemed to work, but that'd be costly. So I wonder what pH to aim for if mixing a solution to soak or spray pots with.
I have a couple things I'm gonna test now, but thought I'd ask.

I heard drip clean but that shit is pricey, and I looked it up on the database and the ingredients provided basically show phosphorus and potassium, haha. So I wonder if it's just phosphoric acid and water and something else maybe.
I'll try some florakleen I have from long ago as well.
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
2com said:
Off topic @DoubleAtotheRON but do you/have you gotten that white salt buildup around the drain holes and sometimes near the top lips of the nursery pots before? Some type of calcium salt buildup I figure. How do you get rid of it (since not getting it in the first place is gonna take more time to understand *why*)?

I've heard before, and am reading again, that acid removes it. Acetic acid (vinegar), that type of thing.

I test tried pH down (phosphoric acid, a strong brand) straight, and it seemed to work, but that'd be costly. So I wonder what pH to aim for if mixing a solution to soak or spray pots with.
I have a couple things I'm gonna test now, but thought I'd ask.

I heard drip clean but that shit is pricey, and I looked it up on the database and the ingredients provided basically show phosphorus and potassium, haha. So I wonder if it's just phosphoric acid and water and something else maybe.
I'll try some florakleen I have from long ago as well.
Click to expand...
We do get a bit of that out the drain hole because we get about 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon of run off from each plant when we feed. We prob waste alot of nutes with that much runoff. But honestly, I just power wash them out, spray them down with Physan 20, and let them sit in the room on the trays to dry and let the AirROS clean up whatever.. if it even needs too. I wouldn't sweat about it too much. If it's not going to come off with a scrubbing, it's prob not going to affect your newly potted plant.
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
2com said:
Off topic @DoubleAtotheRON but do you/have you gotten that white salt buildup around the drain holes and sometimes near the top lips of the nursery pots before? Some type of calcium salt buildup I figure. How do you get rid of it (since not getting it in the first place is gonna take more time to understand *why*)?

I've heard before, and am reading again, that acid removes it. Acetic acid (vinegar), that type of thing.

I test tried pH down (phosphoric acid, a strong brand) straight, and it seemed to work, but that'd be costly. So I wonder what pH to aim for if mixing a solution to soak or spray pots with.
I have a couple things I'm gonna test now, but thought I'd ask.

I heard drip clean but that shit is pricey, and I looked it up on the database and the ingredients provided basically show phosphorus and potassium, haha. So I wonder if it's just phosphoric acid and water and something else maybe.
I'll try some florakleen I have from long ago as well.
Click to expand...
Citric acid would work too. But it's not as powerful as phosphoric acid I'm sure. I don't know if it'd be cheaper either.
 
Last edited:
Arkos

Arkos

Well-Known Member
PadawanWarrior said:
Citric acid would work too. But it's not as powerful as phosphoric acid I'm sure
Click to expand...
It's pretty powerful, I just switched from the bottled ph+/- to citric acid and sodium bicarbonate and much prefer powder than liquid for this.

I wish I'd done this a lot sooner as I've said good bye to ph nightmare's.

Edit: When I'm not baked af and use citric instead of sodium that is :wall:
 
Last edited:
2

2com

Well-Known Member
Cool. Thanks guys.
Yea, what I've come up with for options (some you've mentioned); vinegar/acetic acid, there's a "cleaning vinegar" or strong vinegar that's 30-45% too, phosphoric acid, citric acid (ingredient in some descaler/de-lime products too), and you can get pretty much all of it in a powder too.

Thanks.
Arkos said:
It's pretty powerful, I just switch from the bottled ph+/- to citric acid and sodium bicarbonate and much prefer powder than liquid for this.

I wish I'd done this a lot sooner as I've said good bye to ph nightmare's.

Edit: When I'm not baked af and use citric instead of sodium that is :wall:
Click to expand...
What growing method/medium?
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
We do get a bit of that out the drain hole because we get about 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon of run off from each plant when we feed. We prob waste alot of nutes with that much runoff. But honestly, I just power wash them out, spray them down with Physan 20, and let them sit in the room on the trays to dry and let the AirROS clean up whatever.. if it even needs too. I wouldn't sweat about it too much. If it's not going to come off with a scrubbing, it's prob not going to affect your newly potted plant.
Click to expand...
*Braggin' about his fancy AirROS...

jk.

Yea, pressure washer would be great but not an option for the place in question.
Can't stand the crusty salt.
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
@2com Don't know if this will make you feel any better or not, but I just tried power washing the buildup off with a 3000 PSI power washer, and that shit just don't come off. SO,.. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
@2com Don't know if this will make you feel any better or not, but I just tried power washing the buildup off with a 3000 PSI power washer, and that shit just don't come off. SO,.. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. Yea, it seemed to me that chemical, rather than mechanical would be the best way to do it. It's hard enough to do with a piece of metal, scraping the shit of, haha.
I think viegar (acetic acid) is gonna work the best, I'll try citric if I can get some (because it looks relatively cheap and can be found in powder).
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
2com said:
Thanks for the feedback. Yea, it seemed to me that chemical, rather than mechanical would be the best way to do it. It's hard enough to do with a piece of metal, scraping the shit of, haha.
I think viegar (acetic acid) is gonna work the best, I'll try citric if I can get some (because it looks relatively cheap and can be found in powder).
Click to expand...
Cool.... I just power washed 90 pots.. my hands are tingling. I was using this thing with the needle tip once and I accidentally grazed the tip of my boot with it. It cut into my boot and opened up a deep cut on my big toe.... I really think it would go through the pot with that tip, so I use a medium spray pattern tip. It will still blow your skin off if you're not careful.
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
DoubleAtotheRON said:
Cool.... I just power washed 90 pots.. my hands are tingling. I was using this thing with the needle tip once and I accidentally grazed the tip of my boot with it. It cut into my boot and opened up a deep cut on my big toe.... I really think it would go through the pot with that tip, so I use a medium spray pattern tip. It will still blow your skin off if you're not careful.
Click to expand...
Holy shit. Man, cleanest toe EVER!
 
XtraGood

XtraGood

Well-Known Member
I watched a video where the guy used sanidate in a hot foam sprayer to remove buildup, seemed to work well but didn't get a great look at the results. I haven't got one yet myself, anybody tried that? it work?
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
XtraGood said:
I watched a video where the guy used sanidate in a hot foam sprayer to remove buildup, seemed to work well but didn't get a great look at the results. I haven't got one yet myself, anybody tried that? it work?
Click to expand...
Never heard of it. "A chlorine alternative", description sounds like a sanitizer. It'd probably 'kill' and/or remove everything but the salt buildup.
 
XtraGood

XtraGood

Well-Known Member
2com said:
Never heard of it. "A chlorine alternative", description sounds like a sanitizer. It'd probably 'kill' and/or remove everything but the salt buildup.
Click to expand...
It is a sanitizer that's not chlorine, "Peroxycompound formulation" I think it's more of a peroxide/y mix. Instructions say it can be used in greenhouse irrigation systems during all phases of plant production; the plants live, other stuff dies.
Hydrogen Peroxide:..........................23.0% Peroxyacetic Acid:..............................5.3%
 
DoubleAtotheRON

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
..... by the way, I won't be using BM7 ever again. Shit is just too unstable. C25 has worked better for us in the past, which is what's on the table at the moment. Gonna give Soil King a go on the next round.... they got big claims... we shall see.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top