So im readying my very first grow op and i tell you what, everything looks beautiful, and is going completely as planned if not better. been trouble shooting a few things lately and have a few questions brewing up in the old dome piece.. 1.) Advanced nutrients Ph up and down has a warning on the side labled corrosive. So how do you users that use adv nutes ph up n down handle it when using it? I was going to use a straw and plug the top with my thumb and drop 1 drop at a time. but i was worried that the straw would melt via corrosive material haha. My water here at my home is 7.0 - 6.9 so i wont have to use much ph up n down for waterings. mostly just when mixing my feed. Any pointers anyone would have that uses this product i would gladly appreciate.
You need to check the ph after you add all the nutrients/additives as the more salts you add the lower the ph will be BUT also some additives like voodoo, rhizotonic, molases, and potassium silicate will raise the ph. Once you're done mixing add the desired up or down slowly as you could create a chemical lock out (white swirly marks in your water). keep retesting till you have your desired ph.
I appreciate both of your replys, but im really concerned with this chemical lockout your speakin of. By the sounds of it, it must lock out some of your nutes making them not avaliable for your plant due to what tho? thanks again guys. id rep if i could. So you guys both just pour it rite into your feed *water / nutes* and take readings as untill in desired ph.
I add everything in then test and adjust ph. I know some people who adjust the ph first and then add the nutrients/additives. Never seen any problems because of that but I just stick to what most people do. One more thing if you add ph down and you go down too far and then add ph up and go up too far, dump your water and start over again. This messes up the water and could cause issues.
You ARE dealing with acids and bases but they're not gonna burn the flesh off your skin. I get pH down on my hands occasionally and hardly notice, but once got some on a cut on my finger and it burned like hell but it wasn't unbearable. I got finished what I was doing and then poured a little bit of pH up over the cut to neutralize the down (the burn went away immediately) and then rinsed my hands with soap and water. No biggie.
Since no one said it yet. Therse chemicals are very concentrated and potent. Don't store them next to each other EVER! Do Not let the two chemicals come into contact with each other!! They are volitale when combined and will react big time. Rinse every container you mix with before adding the opposite chemical. Water will make an acid burn worse. A base such as baking soda will neutralize the active acid. A/N Ph acid is not going to burn you immediately but theres no reason not to be prepared. A little goes a long way I grow in soil and use about 3 mil. to drop per gallon to adjust the ph approx. 1.0 +/-
Does anyone want to comment on this? I do store them in their seperate containers side by side just because i couldnt imagine strategicly placing them seperate amongst my table. i will not mix them before adding them to water but comeon... u being serious? What is the worst that could happen. im sure they would have a warning or something on the bottles. or use some special kind of plastic.?
What happens when you add a weak acid to a weak base? They neutralize one another. What happens when you add a strong acid to a strong base? They neutralize one another. Go to your hydro store and look where the pH down is located and where the pH up is located...literally side-by-side. And you shouldn't mix them together, ever (unless you just want to play chemist and see how the world interacts with itself or something). If you are growing hydro and using RO water, you may not even need to adjust the pH (depending on the nutes you use). If you are using well water, however, you may beed to add a little pH down. A little goes a long way. Don't try for a 'perfect pH', if your pH is 5.4 and you're shooting for 5.6 just leave it be. Marijuana can be very successful in a wide range of pH values. Even though 5.5-5.6 is optimal for hydro, anywhere from 5.2-6.4 won't kill it. There's a good chance you won't even need the pH up for any reason. I bought an 8oz bottle of pH up 6 years ago and have used maybe 25% of it.
did u at least give them 30 bucks b4 using their servers to advertise ur site on here? its nice that ur dishing out ur experience, but please leave it at that. if i were mixing small batches for soil, i would get a pippet or whatever its called. the medicine dropper thingy form a drug store. and measure ur drops that way.
Thanks again guys, great input. and im all set on playin chemist haha, i just wanna grow my babies to full strength n get some dank for my own personal use. all of this has been taken note of. Id +rep everyone that has helped but it wouldnt make a difference..
Hey ZONG Good to see you again . Hey check this reading out man it's VERY important. the general idea is that there is a correct order to add your nutes and ph up and down Nutes BEFORE ph down and AFTER ph up. If you were to nute your res and then adjust upwards you will create a sediment in your res. The highs and lows will cancel out and your water will become Cloudy . So the idea is , is your perfered ppms require you to raise your PH , you must raise the PH of PLAIN RO/distilled water FIRST or you will create sediment. After that your ph should naturally drift upwards with water top-offs and only require ph down , which is safe to add to a nuted res. In the rare case you have to add ph up into water containing nutes , Premix the ph up with water before adding it to your res. This will help against precipitation and keep your water nice and healthy. For a better understanding read this: Unstable pH? read this - The Garden's Cure It is also Listed on your bottles of PH up/down to use in the correct order , make sure you follow instructions. I just hate to see people adding stuff backwards.
How about this? I asked the question on another thread. Will Ph decreaser for spas harm the plants? I'm 60 miles from a metro area and the closest option I have is big box retail. Hydrochloric acid is used in hydro Ph down - correct? So, that said, will spa Ph harm the plants. Thanks.
Does anyone use the pH adjustment stuff you can get for pools? Or a cheap quart of muriatic acid at HD or Lowe's? I know the muriatic is highly concentrated (something like 36/37%) and would go a looooong way. Seems to me like these products do the exact same thing and, in many cases, may be much cheaper than commercial hydro products.