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DO NOT USE VINEGAR TO ADJUST PH - Why not to use vinegar as your pH down
- Thread starter hush
- Start date
Well don't forget good ole sulfuric acid aka battery acid. I have used it and it works great plus it is the cheapest you'll find. You need to dilute 10:1 and then use that as down. Autoparts stores carry it I think it was like 20 bucks a gallon and will last a lifetime. Plus it is also a nutrient.. little extra sulfur for the gals.
HM
No not at all. But it was slimy and gross, and I'm a wuss when it comes to gross things, lol. It never negatively impacted anything in the garden. In fact, I spoke to biologist friend about it, at the time, and he told me that it actually meant that I probably had a very healthy symbiotic relationship going on between the plants and the scoby.
I was using GH 3-part nutes, but only micro and bloom (lucas formula). My tap water averages about 8.0 on a regular basis. I was adjusting pH down to 5.8-ish. The vinegar totally worked. It definitely stabilized my pH. The only reason I stopped using it was because of the scoby. I wasn't really sure if it would present a problem, but i had to look at it when I did maintenance on the res, and I kept thinking it would come to life and swallow me or something. I know, it's silly, but gross slimy things rub me the wrong way.
If anything, I do imagine it could and would eventually start clogging the pump and/or the fill/drain lines.
If anything, I do imagine it could and would eventually start clogging the pump and/or the fill/drain lines.
forgetmeplease
Member
I have used citric acid , sulfuric acid and lemon juice , they all work well.
Good info thx hush. This is my added warning to unsuspecting folk.
I run a rdwc and have constant difficulties with ph too high.
I brought some some stuff ph down from the local aquarium and it is absolutely useless... An entire teaspoon in a litre of ph 7 liquid resulted in a reduction to 6.4, damn some suppliers are unethical shitheads!
So if you come across "blue planet" ph down don't buy it! The ingredient is listed a sodium phosphate mono basic. It caught my concern when it fizzed up in the glass.
Now this is all a bit of an arse 'cos I live outta town and the damn shops are closed so I just used lemon juice until I can deal with it tomorrow. so as an absolutely short term solution, lemon juice and vinegar IMO is, as a stop gap solution fine, just not ideal as a permanent basis for adjustment.
I run a rdwc and have constant difficulties with ph too high.
I brought some some stuff ph down from the local aquarium and it is absolutely useless... An entire teaspoon in a litre of ph 7 liquid resulted in a reduction to 6.4, damn some suppliers are unethical shitheads!
So if you come across "blue planet" ph down don't buy it! The ingredient is listed a sodium phosphate mono basic. It caught my concern when it fizzed up in the glass.
Now this is all a bit of an arse 'cos I live outta town and the damn shops are closed so I just used lemon juice until I can deal with it tomorrow. so as an absolutely short term solution, lemon juice and vinegar IMO is, as a stop gap solution fine, just not ideal as a permanent basis for adjustment.
I had my biggest ever yield in coco whilst using organic cider vinegar as a ph down. it wasn't to save money, it was because I didn't like using loads of bottles of chems all the time.
so for what iits worth, organic cider vinegar is good in coco, im not sure that it would be good in a cycling system like dwc or whatever, but in coco it works well.
the only reason I don't use it now is because I got free bottles of ph down once and didn't go back to vinegar.
so for what iits worth, organic cider vinegar is good in coco, im not sure that it would be good in a cycling system like dwc or whatever, but in coco it works well.
the only reason I don't use it now is because I got free bottles of ph down once and didn't go back to vinegar.
hey all, this has sorta led to...
I have to get most stuff via the internet and shit a brick I've been ripped off gutless over the years with a lot of stuff... Living in the middle of nowhere has some drawbacks e.g. I'm currently hanging on some cannazyme ordered 10 days ago that appears to be lost in the postal system. lol, fuck I get cross when I need stuff and it doesn't arrive... And I finally get around to... girls and boys for ph down what do you recommend?
Canna aqua ph buffering appears to be a load of cock! am I alone in this opinion?
I have to get most stuff via the internet and shit a brick I've been ripped off gutless over the years with a lot of stuff... Living in the middle of nowhere has some drawbacks e.g. I'm currently hanging on some cannazyme ordered 10 days ago that appears to be lost in the postal system. lol, fuck I get cross when I need stuff and it doesn't arrive... And I finally get around to... girls and boys for ph down what do you recommend?
Canna aqua ph buffering appears to be a load of cock! am I alone in this opinion?
toastfighter2
Active member
Personally, I have started to use GH powdered up and down. Not only is it cheap(around $12 a pound), but it is really strong. I mix up my res abas I normally would, find my pH, and mix the powder in a out quart bottle with some water. I add that to the res to get me where I need to be, and the buffers keep it in a pretty solid range for a week in my ebb and flow tables.
On a side note, I have also switched over to running just Maxibloom @ 7 grams per gallon with powdered koolbloom near the end of flower, and I can't see myself going back to a liguid base nute ever, at least for the lucas formula.
On a side note, I have also switched over to running just Maxibloom @ 7 grams per gallon with powdered koolbloom near the end of flower, and I can't see myself going back to a liguid base nute ever, at least for the lucas formula.
I've been using Advanced Hydroponics pH down with great success. Bought a bottle for around 6 Euros and at my rate of use (two drops for every 1.5L bottle of water), it looks like the bottle is going to last me a couple of decades. LOL. For that price I'll never go back to vinegar.
DatHomeGrown
New member
Hey, a little late to the thread, but I am curious about some details about your rwdc and flood and drain setups you ran into problems running vinegar in. The first thing that comes to mind is how big was your reservoir versus how much air your air pump was putting out. If it wasn't putting enough air into your water you may have run into issues where your O2 ppm dropped too low as the week per res cycle went on causing sections of your roots as well as any aerobic organisms to die off. This would allow for strains of lactobacillus and other strains of anaerobic bacteria to break them down into low alcohol content in your res. That would explain what your mother of vinegar was feeding off of. At least some of this alcohol content could have remained in your res when you changed it for the week. And this is exactly where the vinegar bit your bum, as the sudden introduction of oxygen to a slightly alcoholic solution forms a favorable environment; as well as the low vinegar content provided a hostile environment to competing bacteria. At this point your res highly favored the cultivation of acetobacter strains, forming your observed mother of vinegar. Obviously this can and may be proven to be incorrect, but that is my theory based off what you have described.
_tessarecting
ஓ
symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast SCOBY make some kombucha with it
Deep_Purple
New member
Because its cheap.. 2 bucks a gallon...
Deep_Purple
New member
Because its cheap.. 2 bucks a gallon...
The Ashram is the safest place to be.
