Ph up/down, powder or liquid?

[Guest 18340]

Was at my local 'dro shop on Sat buying some ph up. Bought a bottle of GH ph up, been using the same product for so long that I know by eye sight how much of the stuff it'll take to get the ph where I want.
Anyway, the guy asks me, why don't you buy the powdered ph up? So I'm like, nah. And we go back/forth for a minute, with my answer being "I don't know, been using it forever" to every point he made on how the powder is more economical, etc.
So, as I mixed my hooch tonight the question eats away at me. Why not use the powder?
So, anybody using the powder over the liquid? Why?

 

[CaptainTrips]

I've got the dry stuff, but have not used it much yet. Base price is cheaper, cheaper to ship... that is why i went for the dry. I imagine the effectiveness compared to the liquid is the same. Only reason I could see going with liquid, is I imagine its safer to handle, so if you are a lazy, clumsy stoner, the liquid might be a better choice... lol

 

[Guest 18340]

Thats me dude, lazy and clumsy, lol!

 

[CaptainTrips]

You could always make up a diluted batch of the dry. Or I would think you could...

 

[geopolitical]

Liquid. I've had nothing but problems from the types of compounds used in dry pH up and down.

 

[~fvk~]

I don't use PH up, but I use GH dry PH down. I used to use liquid a couple years back though. I just figure you get more of it for your money, never seen a difference other than that.

 

[Guest 18340]

Liquid. I've had nothing but problems from the types of compounds used in dry pH up and down.

What brand was it that gave you problems? And what kind of problems did you encounter?
Sorry for all the questions...

 

[FreezerBoy]

I use liquid for convenience. I'm a small grower and a quart bottle will last me for years.

 

[geopolitical]

What brand was it that gave you problems? And what kind of problems did you encounter?
Sorry for all the questions...

General Hydroponics pH down dry I know caused issues. Some sort of stinky bacteria reaaaaly enjoyed it. Biofilm everywhere. No such issue with phospohric acid based liquid pH downs. I think it has a lot to do with my water. I know a few other brands of dry pH down did similar things.

Now, as I ask the wife, we've never had to use ph up once. We in fact still have the unopened little plastic container on a back shelf. So no idea if that would have caused any issues or not.

 

[~fvk~]

General Hydroponics pH down dry I know caused issues. Some sort of stinky bacteria reaaaaly enjoyed it. Biofilm everywhere. No such issue with phospohric acid based liquid pH downs. I think it has a lot to do with my water. I know a few other brands of dry pH down did similar things.

The only time I've ever had this problem was when there wasn't enough oxygen in my reservoirs, so I'd end up getting anaerobic bacteria in them. Whatever works for you though, man.

 

[Blue Dot]

Sorry to threadjack, but I'm using the cannastats premix calculator to figure out how much P I'm adding when I add GH pH down phosphoric acid and the calc says it depends on wether the pH down is 9% or 95% so I google searched and god damn but GH just won't reveal their concentration as it's a "proprietary trade secret" so does anyone know the concentration percentage?

I'm using liquid BTW.

 

[EvilTwin]

Evlme,
I've been doing hydro for three years and have never had to use ph up. Don't own any. I use a diy liquid ph down (h2so4).

Blue Dot, if those are your choices...choose 9%. I know that GH ph down isn't 95% phosphoric acid.
ET

 

[Hydro-Soil]

ET, if you ever switch to RO water, you'll end up using a bit of pH up.

I've been using GH liquid pH down for my micro grow and dang if you don't need a good syringe or something to work with it. That tall quart bottle got knocked over the other day too.... lost over half of it. Hmmmmm....

For a micro, grow.... one 1.5lb of dry pH down will last you forever.... easy to put a bit in a smaller container too, in case you're a klutz like I am.


I've heard folks complain about the strength of GH pH down being a bit weak. If you have large reservoirs, isn't the AN stuff stronger and easier to use? I don't think I'd be able to measure out that little for my veg E&F tray.... res is only 4gallons! Much prefer measuring a few grains of powder.

Bummer to hear 'bout the pH down from GH being bunk.... just ordered some more for myself, never had problems before. Weird...... must be your water

 

[EvilTwin]

Hi Hydro-soil,
I use RO water. Don't most nutes cause an upward drift? I don't use many additives though. I think there was some luck involved with my situation. My RO water is right at ph 6 which requires little ph down.


I had a friend who swore that his GH PH down weakened with age. I don't see why it should, but was always fighting ph. He was using AN nutes with every snake oil product they sell. I believe keeping things simple is the key to ph balance.
ET

 

[lysol]

I use dry up & down, the up is definitely stronger / requires less. Since I switched to distilled water I am using tons of PH up, if youre serious about growing get the up & down, someday you might need it.

I got the powdered because I assumed it was more economical, would be easier to add then getting out the syringe and all that, plus if I want I can easily convert powder to liquid and make my own custom sized custom strength bottles, hard to concentrate your own solid form if you start w/ the liquid

When I PH plain tap water it raises ppm by 50 with the solid PH down. Has anyone experienced this with any solid/ liquid PHs?

 

[~fvk~]

When I PH plain tap water it raises ppm by 50 with the solid PH down. Has anyone experienced this with any solid/ liquid PHs?

Hell dude, I've had dry down pack on 120 something ppms to my reservoirs when I'm using mostly tapwater in a RO mix.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Hi Hydro-soil,
I use RO water. Don't most nutes cause an upward drift?

Hey there!
RO water rocks!
Nutes cause pH to drop. As it's used up by the plants or dries as a crust on the side of your res/hoses/etc... the pH will rise. The solution for that is adding nutes back, not pH down. (This is assuming you keep the res topped off with water)

My RO water is right at ph 6 which requires little ph down.

I would be a little suspect on the ppm of that RO water. The pH should be closer to 7 and even higher if the filter is new. Either the filter is old (edit: Hasn't been flushed properly/lately) or there isn't enough water pressure to fully clean the water. Might want to check into that.

I had a friend who swore that his GH PH down weakened with age. I don't see why it should, but was always fighting ph. He was using AN nutes with every snake oil product they sell. I believe keeping things simple is the key to ph balance.
ET

SImple is good. I use GH FloraNovaBloom and nothing else. Maybe in a few years I'll get my growing environment dialed in and add something.... but not for a while. Still a noob, I just have better questions now.

I doubt there was any issue with the pH down unless they stored it at a high temp somewhere. Sounds like they had a lot of issues to iron out before using additives.

 

[EvilTwin]

Hydro-soil,
Ya, I wasn't thinking clearly when I posted that. My ph tended to drift upward with use. Nutes brought it back down some but still had to add a little ph down. The only time I could have used ph up was when I over-corrected with ph down.

My RO water has been ph 6 and around 30-40 ppm disolved solids ever since it was new. Tap water has lots of calcium in it and is 350ppm and ph 8 from the tap.
Peace,
ET

 

[Hydro-Soil]

My RO water has been ph 6 and around 30-40 ppm disolved solids ever since it was new. Tap water has lots of calcium in it and is 350ppm and ph 8 from the tap.
Peace,
ET

What's your water pressure? Since you still have 30-40ppm I'm assuming you don't have a booster pump hooked up. They're around $80 plus some extra hardware to connect it. It'll drop your ppm down to around 10ppm.

You can use an RO filter to get fresh water from seawater but I hear you need water pressure of 60,000psi to do it.

 

[Guest 18340]

I also have heard that GH ph was weaker than others. I didnt mind that but now i gotta take care of three 55 galons rez's. Is the dry any weaker stronger or the same? Also, what brand is known to be strong?