Ph help

Hi im consitently having to lower my ph of my nutrient solution, and the PH down stuff i buy from online stores seems expensive is there any natural or household chemicals i can use in its place to save me money that wont hurt the plants??? thanks

vinegar ... lemon juice (need a lot of lemons)

will the lemon juice in the little lemon shaped bottle work or does it have to be fresh squeezed

vinegar is better

i think that will work, but these diy versions of ph down cud have adverse effect, look on ebay for ph down, buy two bottles man, its cheap enough.

bakenast said:

will the lemon juice in the little lemon shaped bottle work or does it have to be fresh squeezed

Click to expand...

the stuff in the bottle works but the ph wont stay stable it will drift its not a good idea to use it only in a pinch

the one i use is 3 pounds, so $5 ish i guess, u cant say thats expensive, shop around and ul be surprised what ul save, places that sell to canabis growers always bump prices up for stuff thats cheap in normal shops. http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=ph+down&_sacat=0&_from=R40 theres the link for the $5 ph udjust. peace

Depending on your system, organics (vinegar, lemon juice) may not be a good idea. I use sulfuric acid, bought as battery acid. $15 for 6 qts. at your local auto parts store. It's very strong. You might want to add 1 part to 4 parts water before using to adjust your reservoir.


Grow well,
B.B.

well its a bubbleponic system im looking on ebay now is it better to get the dry form of ph down or liquid thanks

Are you being serious? I bought a bottle of PH Up and PH Down for $8 each, I've been adjusting my PH for many grows now and I haven't even used an eighth of a bottle.. Maybe you need a stronger solution?

ya i had a bottle of 8 oz generaly hydroponics ph down maybe it just sucks but its the only one ive ever used since im just starting i was just thinking dang this is gonna get expensive since im only 30 days into it and almost out of ph down

If your 30 days in and almost out of PH down then something is massively wrong. How much are you using on average per adjustment? Are you having to use PH down then PH up to balance it out?

well once i put too much in and i had to add ph up to it but i usually just use a little then test with my ph pen and then with my strips to be sure.. but one of my rockwool plugs that is exposed to light has green algae covering it, i didnt know they had to be completly covered by the hydroton,, could the algae,, be raising my ph you think

2 drops of the GH ph down to five gals of my tap brings it from 7.3 down to 6.6 something is wrong

http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2009/02/my-ph-balancing-system-for-hydroponic-growing.html

Dont use vinegar, its usually impure and neutralizes too fast. Citric acid, phosphoric acid, or sulfuric/muriatic acid are your best bets for ph down. For ph up, potassium carbonate is best, sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide also work.

Spend the $30 on concentrated/powdered chemicals and make several years' worth of ph adjusters. Seriously. I made my second gallon of ph up using potassium carbonate, the first lasted me about 3 months, and I go through 50-75gal of water per week. I spent $15 on enough potassium carbonate to make 15gal of that solution. Should be about 4 years until I need more.