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pH Down, Nitric or Phosphoric

Dropped Cat

Six Gummi Bears and Some Scotch
Veteran
Just like the title says, nitric or phosphoric.

Been using the nitric for a while and curious
to the benefit, if any, of one over the other.

12-15 drops per 64 oz of nute solution, yields
pH from 5.8 - 6.2 for me and my conditions.




My filtered water is 0.1EC, pH average is 6.5.
I do GH 6/9 with epsom, SM90 and Pro tecKt.
 

progro

Member
Sulphuric all the way... won’t upset the ratios like nitric and phosphoric acid. If I remember correctly something like 4ml of 85% phosphoric acid (standard PH down) will add about 60ppm of P to a 100litre tank. My last grow I cut out adding P altogether and just used the ph down as my P source. No problemo! Now I make my own ph down with sulphuric acid and distilled water and it’s much better. More stable too I reckon but most importantly it won’t upset your ratios...
 
P

Pinnate

These days, I distill my tapwater to protect long flowering sats from salt build-up which used to mess up drainage, among other things...
 

georgio828

New member
i use citric acid in white powder form, buy it by the 20lb bag on ebay, works well and the cheapest way to down ph ive found, shop around as some dont mix well with water as good as others
 

Dropped Cat

Six Gummi Bears and Some Scotch
Veteran
Sulphuric all the way... won’t upset the ratios like nitric and phosphoric acid. If I remember correctly something like 4ml of 85% phosphoric acid (standard PH down) will add about 60ppm of P to a 100litre tank. My last grow I cut out adding P altogether and just used the ph down as my P source. No problemo! Now I make my own ph down with sulphuric acid and distilled water and it’s much better. More stable too I reckon but most importantly it won’t upset your ratios...




I add chlorine for anti fungus/algae, so i cannot use sulphuric.
 
I read somewhere(forgot) that phosphoric acid, in coco, messes up the chemistry? They said nitric or citric acid is better for coco. Anybody know if that's true or not?
 
X

xavier7995

I add chlorine for anti fungus/algae, so i cannot use sulphuric.

Lol, in middle school chemistry some girl mixed up bleach and ammonia and stuck it on top of a bunson burner and yelled to the teacher "did i do it right???" while holding up the bottles. A rapid running out of the room commenced. Bleach wasnt even part of whatever we were doing, the girl pulled it out of some cabinet for no apparent reason.

I use a phosphoric acid based one.
 

georgio828

New member
i been using citric acid(dissolve powder in water) for over 10yrs, during summer thats 1000 litres of treated dam water(very high alkaline) per per day with no negative effect to herb
 

Dirt Bag

Member
I add chlorine for anti fungus/algae, so i cannot use sulphuric.

We "add chlorine" in the way of ClearRez that we make ourselves by mixing 1 gram of HTH Shock & Swim to 1 gallon of water. We add 6ml/gallon twice a week.
We also use diluted sulphuric acid for pH adjustments.
These dilutions are much too weak to create gas.
 

Dropped Cat

Six Gummi Bears and Some Scotch
Veteran
We "add chlorine" in the way of ClearRez that we make ourselves by mixing 1 gram of HTH Shock & Swim to 1 gallon of water. We add 6ml/gallon twice a week.
We also use diluted sulphuric acid for pH adjustments.
These dilutions are much too weak to create gas.


Seem legit, I'll look into it.
 

maimunji

Active member
I use both N and P. But switch to P all over veg and bloom. Its looks like plants is overall too much green for my liking and slightly claw if i use N.
 
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