lower ph with lemon juice?

lilj4549

Member
Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum and new to growing. I'm looking to save a little money whenever i can. I heard you can use concentrated lemon juice to lower ph. Anyone know the pros and cons of this?
 

Da Almighty Jew

Well-Known Member
yea lemon juice will lower ph. It is organic. also it has citric acid in it which is sopposedly beneficial to plants also it doesnt harm microbes which is a very good thing
 

lilj4549

Member
I am now using lemon juice to lower ph. Problem is after about 6 hours it rises again. Is there something better i can use that isn't too expensive? Might help to add i have a 15 gallon res. And the lemon juice is concentrate.
 

decrimCA

Active Member
Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum and new to growing. I'm looking to save a little money whenever i can. I heard you can use concentrated lemon juice to lower ph. Anyone know the pros and cons of this?
DON'T DO IT.

While the chemistry certainly sounds like it would work, it can also cause more problems since if you reduce the pH too much, then you'll have troubles getting it back up again. Which sounds vaguely dirty.

Hella dirty, really. LOL

You need to use the right nutrients. The pH Perfect® technology from Advanced Nutrients is going to control your pH and not have you running around your grow room like a crazy person.
 

CaptainTripps

Well-Known Member
I am now using lemon juice to lower ph. Problem is after about 6 hours it rises again. Is there something better i can use that isn't too expensive? Might help to add i have a 15 gallon res. And the lemon juice is concentrate.
Get some ph up/down from a grow store, its not expensive. Lemon might work ok for soil , but citrus acid is a weak acid and breaks down pretty fast.
 

withoutAchance

Active Member
I use lemon juice when I run out of ph down but it is quite a bit more expensive but it works fine.
On a side note the ph up ordown. Is the only AN product IDE ever use AN is a bad company dishonest and fraudulant.
 

Nukebisket

Well-Known Member
I use lemon juice when I run out of ph down but it is quite a bit more expensive but it works fine.
On a side note the ph up ordown. Is the only AN product IDE ever use AN is a bad company dishonest and fraudulant.

I only use advaned nutes for their ph up and ph down also. works good
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Use a strong acid for pH down. Either nitric, sulfuric, or phosphoric acid.

Didn't you see the guy from 2012 said it didn't work for him? Lemon juice is a diluted weak organic acid. It's not well suited as a pH down.

what would the ratio be water to lemon juice wise
 

ultrapro

New Member
buy some pure ctric acid cystals from a food shop ,, its cheap and works well. If u don't know how much to put in , just do a test in some soil with out the plant. Jod done,,
 

horribleherk

Well-Known Member
been using the lemon juice to lower ph. it works just fine i use it im e&f if you buy grodan rockwool it even says you can use lemon juice to lower ph. on their directions i use it in soil & hydro both
 

AlaskaHashMan

Active Member
I'm also not using the GH system for anything besides PH down. Off topic do you guys recall the scale that Humboldt County's Own Nutes is on for checking ppm.
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
baking soda is high in sodium.


What's so hard/expensive about having the right thing? Potassium hydroxide flakes.
 

Clown Baby

Well-Known Member
is there something wrong with your water? Ask yourself why you're even adjusting pH in the first place. Does your mom have flowering/shubs/veggies growing in the backyard? Does she adjust pH?

The only time i've ever seen pH be a problem is in a recirculating hydro system without enough water, or bacteria problems.

If your tapwater is decent quality, you're probably creating more problems/stress than you're solving by messing with pH
 
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