THCFarmer.com
121,111 Members Log In Register
Log In Register

Lowering PH

  • Thread starter Thread starter Newbie2019
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users Tagged users None

Lowering PH

Newbie2019 149 Replies 14,532 Views
Page 1 of 8 · Replies 1–20 of 150
Newbie2019

Newbie2019

Posts
79
Reactions
39
Joined
Jul 26, 2019
Points
18
#1
Looking for input on lowering water ph in small portions of water 2gal at a time. I found some stuff at the grow store but it’s 5ml to 55gal of water. Does anyone use muriatic acid? Or could I just put a drop of the stuff from the grow shop?
 
#2
Newbie2019 said:
Looking for input on lowering water ph in small portions of water 2gal at a time. I found some stuff at the grow store but it’s 5ml to 55gal of water. Does anyone use muriatic acid? Or could I just put a drop of the stuff from the grow shop?
Click to expand...
What are you lowering it for? Soil feed? hydro system?

Different acids works better in different applications
 
#3
Newbie2019 said:
Looking for input on lowering water ph in small portions of water 2gal at a time. I found some stuff at the grow store but it’s 5ml to 55gal of water. Does anyone use muriatic acid? Or could I just put a drop of the stuff from the grow shop?
Click to expand...
Hi, I use it and put 1 drop into a small 1oz shot glass of water to dilute it. When my ph is at 7.00 but above 7 I just put 1 drop in the gallon test it and it brings my ph down about 1/2 a point to say 6.5 then you can use the diluted shot glass of it to get the ph where you want. I'm in Pro Mix soil/peat and I'm not 100% on the muriatic but its no label shit of some kind of acid I got from the grow shop for about $15 Canadian and it does what I want it to.
 
Last edited:
#5
PipeCarver said:
Hi, I use it and put 1 drop into a small 1oz shot glass of water to dilute it. When my ph is at 7.00 but above 7 I just put 1 drop in the gallon test it and it brings my ph down about 1/2 a point to say 6.5 then you can use the diluted shot glass of it to get the ph where you want.
Click to expand...
That’s a good idea. Thank you
 
#9
I prefer pH down...its literally made for this situation and I think its easier than using some sort of acid or base on your own.
 
#10
itsjasonovak said:
I prefer pH down...its literally made for this situation and I think its easier than using some sort of acid or base on your own.
Click to expand...
Ph down is not all the same. Some are made of citric acid, some is sulfuric acid, some is phosphoric acid, rarely some is nitric acid and finally some are a combination of any of these.

Often they dilute it and mark it up. Such as the one I listed you can go buy bulk citric acid dilute it and slap a label on then sell it for 10x the price. Welcome to marketing
 
#11
Aqua Man said:
Ph down is not all the same. Some are made of citric acid, some is sulfuric acid, some is phosphoric acid, rarely some is nitric acid and finally some are a combination of any of these.

Often they dilute it and mark it up. Such as the one I listed you can go buy bulk citric acid dilute it and slap a label on then sell it for 10x the price. Welcome to marketing
Click to expand...
Interesting, and I see that you said earlier in the threat different acids work best in different situations. Could you elaborate on this a bit?
 
#15
itsjasonovak said:
Interesting, and I see that you said earlier in the threat different acids work best in different situations. Could you elaborate on this a bit?
Click to expand...
Citric acid is not as aggressive but since it's a weaker acid it doesn't hold ph as long as a stronger acid like phosphoric or sulfuric acid.

So citric makes better sense with soil and organic grows.

Nitric can be used to increase nitrogen but it's again weaker than phosphoric or sulfuric but stronger than citric acid.

It depends on your goals which would suit you best but all essentially are used for the same purpose
 
#16
Good to know the hardness or at least the ppm of the source water before adding acid. The ph is not always a good indicator.

I use 8.0 ph well water but it has only 150 ppm mineral content so it easily conforms to the medium ph and needs no adjustment.
 
#17
Aqua Man said:
Citric acid is not as aggressive but since it's a weaker acid it doesn't hold ph as long as a stronger acid like phosphoric or sulfuric acid.

So citric makes better sense with soil and organic grows.

Nitric can be used to increase nitrogen but it's again weaker than phosphoric or sulfuric but stronger than citric acid.

It depends on your goals which would suit you best but all essentially are used for the same purpose
Click to expand...

I rely on the grow shop guys to steer me in the right direction with that stuff. I probably pay too much for the stuff but rely on the experts....right?....I have some brand named PH Up but my down is some stuff they mixed up themselves, no label wtfk's what they sold me but it works a drop at a time. They probably told me at the time what it was but I'm 67 add a few pipe fulls , a few months and well my memory is not what she used to be.
 
#18
MIMedGrower said:
Good to know the hardness or at least the ppm of the source water before adding acid. The ph is not always a good indicator.

I use 8.0 ph well water but it has only 150 ppm mineral content so it easily conforms to the medium ph and needs no adjustment.
Click to expand...
agree 100% Alkalinity is important to know. You can buy. KH test kit from a pet store or see how much carbonate/bicarbonate is in your local water supply usually from the report.

RO water is stripped of all and should be reconstituted if your nutes don't do so.

PipeCarver said:
I rely on the grow shop guys to steer me in the right direction with that stuff. I probably pay too much for the stuff but rely on the experts....right?....I have some brand named PH Up but my down is some stuff they mixed up themselves, no label wtfk's what they sold me but it works a drop at a time. They probably told me at the time what it was but I'm 67 add a few pipe fulls , a few months and well my memory is not what she used to be.
Click to expand...
Your ph up is potassium bicarbonate dissolved in water.

You look at ph down read the ingredients... Look it up online you can find out what's in them. Most Ph down for hydro is 85% phosphoric acid. It's simply acid and distilled water and I'm betting that's exactly what they gave ya. I do agree if you don't understand it's safest bet with anything to use premixed packaged stuff. But I can tell you the info I have given is safe and accurate. If you buy 85% food grade phosphoric acid.... It's no different than any brand name phosphoric acid based ph down. Almost all ph up is potassium bicarbonate although I'm sure there are some with other carbonate and bicarbonate sources I just haven't looked to much into it.

I have been adjusting ph in water for aquariums, aquatics and now hydro for a total of over 25 years.
 
Last edited:
#19
Also your GH (general hardness) is different than KH (carbonate hardness) things like calcium, magnesium etc will contribute to your general hardness but not your carbonate hardness. It's the carbonates and bicarbonates that affect carbonate hardness. So adding say calcium nitrate may actually lower your ph a bit while increasing general hardness but adding calcium carbonate will raise your ph and will contribute to both.

Just thought I would add to the confusion.
 
#20
Aqua Man said:
Also your GH (general hardness) is different than KH (carbonate hardness) things like calcium, magnesium etc will contribute to your general hardness but not your carbonate hardness. It's the carbonates and bicarbonates that affect carbonate hardness. So adding say calcium nitrate may actually lower your ph a bit while increasing general hardness but adding calcium carbonate will raise your ph and will contribute to both.

Just thought I would add to the confusion.
Click to expand...


DAMN YOU AQUA MAN!!!
 
Page 1 of 8 · Replies 1–20 of 150
Back
Top Bottom