So Pissed. So I'm out of pH Down and my amazon shipment didn't come yesterday or today. I've never been more livid in my life. I should've just gone to the pet store but "No". I wanted to be slick and save a dollar on amazon and then try to use Distilled White Vinegar to lower my pH. I've got 4 plants in 7 gal Smart Pots. I water each one 3 gallons twice a week. I've got a tub w/ 12 gallons of RO that I fill 2 gallons at a MFing time over 6 hours so that I can feed/water. My pH was 7.4 today which is very low for me. Usually I'm right around 8.2. I pour in 5 mL of this Distilled White Vinegar my entire tub is 4.0 and now it won't go up!!!! My pH up won't do shit! What is going on?!?!?!? I've never been more livid in my life. A) I need to water. B) If this shit doesn't go up over the next 30 mins and I have to dump this giant tub out and refill it I'm gonna lose my mind. Thoughts anyone? Or am I just gonna be a public service announcement to my fellow noobs! FML!
I just realized that my water to vinegar ratio 9600:1. This Makes Zero Sense how such a little amount of vinegar can have such a huge impact on a relatively massive amount of water. Does Vinegar Destroy shitty Amazon pH Meters? That's the only logical explanation.
Well the thing is I didn't want to leave the house (for whatever dumb reason)... I had vinegar... no lemon juice. Uggghh... My life's in Shambles!!!
Nonsense, your grow will continue...even if it means new ladies... Its part of it man, have to learn...
it's easy to tell you after to take out 1/2 a gallon to test the strenth of the vinegar first. but you have may have helped other growers on here from making the same mistakes in the future, chin up mike all will be good in a day or two. your ph meter will not be damaged as they made for high and low ph levels. middy
No, I know... It just such a pain the ass dealing with this RO water. It just takes forever. The kids will be fine for another day. Just wasted time... I'm frustrated tired and hungry... Only one thing that could make this all go away... A nice PB&J Sandwich... I wanna start leaving some in brown bags with an apple to smoosh it up... So delicious... Anyways... Thanks for the kind words!!! Check my journal out if you get a sec!
Dude, the vinegar should be only 5% acidity. thats only 5% vinegar the rest water. You add VINEGAR to LOWER the PH You add BAKING SODA to UP the PH lolololololololololol Purified water reacts to vinegar and baking soda much more rapidly. The PH sollutions your getting ripped off on are only .5-1% acidity, meaning the rest is water. Distilled white vinegar is more potent. Basically the shit you get in a bottle, they are charging you for water with .5% acid/base solution.
Oh I've already subbed to yours... I follow Tihspeed and Jakesterjam so I knew about shortly after you started it. I'm really getting into DWC and especially RDWC and would like to try to set up 4 buckets in my tent for a grow or two and then try scrog after that. It just seems so much easier than lifting up plants to see how heavy they are to know if they need water... so vague... I'm not so good on vagueness.
I'd pay $5 a bottle any day to be able to adjust my ph back up if I screw up and added too much Down. If I'm getting ripped off I'm okay w/ that as long as it works. Didn't have baking soda in the house and it was 1:30 in the AM. I suppose I could have knocked on the neighbor's door. "Pardon me 88 y/o lady that I talk to never unless you're telling me I need to trim my hedges so you won't wreck pulling out of your driveway. No I will not chop them down. I do need to borrow some baking soda for my underground marijuana grow operation. I'll be happy to bake you some brownies!" Wasn't gonna happen.
Lmao, just water down the vinegar 50/50, it will work the same for $1, same for baking soda. save money!!!
Vinegar won't ruin your probe, but trying to messure low ionic solutions like RO or distilled water will. You can rinse your probe with RO or distilled water, but never try and meassure it with a probe. -Loki
I was being sarcastic about the Vinegar ruining my meter. However I've never heard RO or distilled water doing so? I just google'd it and a few threads popped up on other sites. Do you know what the science is behind this? How do you ph your RO water then? EDIT: I check my PPM which is around 003-007 down from 170-180 but my pH is still high. I just tested the pH of my water I just got out of the RO Filter. It used to come out around 8.2 but now it's saying 7.1-7.2. No huge temperature swings... Thoughts?
i calibrate my meters every two weeks just to be safe and it only costs around 5 pounds for each grow in calibration fluids, how are the batteries in your meter. also a half decent ph meter will/should be temperature compensated. middy
I bought my meter maybe about 4 weeks ago on Amazon and have used it maybe 15 or so times. So I doubt it's batteries. I may only have a 1/4 decent pH meter Haha! It was $18 I think not that that really means anything. It's one of those yellow ones that everybody has.
you get what you pay for at the end of the day, this is the one i have and i am very happy with it ..AD11.. ADWA Instruments - AD11 / AD12 middy
You have to calibrate the ph meter (i have the same yellow one paid $14shipped) you need ph 7 and ph4 i think. Its normal to have to adjust your PH meter after 20 or so tests, and that is also if you forget to rinse after each test, which can lead to improper readouts. I know that my tap water is a solid 6.5-6.8 since ive moved in and if my ph meter doesnt read what I know, then I know it needs calibration. I dunno if you can reset it with that little reset button? Im really sick and tired of people suggesting beginners and those who have limited income, to go out and buy a fucking super PH labratory grade science meter 3000 for $40-200. Your getting hosed for some german or whatever made crap that works just the same as the cheaper PH testers for $20 or less. (china makes official bootlegs of good products 80% of the time, they build the name brands right next to the cheapies) I dont know what it is with growers these days, humans in general, think that name brand and payin out the ass is always better, "oh i paid a hundred for my uber cool PH meter" We are mostly unemployed or hard working limited income people who dont have half the grow op budget to throw at fuckign PH and PPM meters, super magical pots that guaruntee good weed because they are $5 each, super nutes in pretty colorful rainbow bottles that cost up the ass for what you can mix in the grocery store. When hippies perfected the weed industry in the late seventies, they didnt have laboratory shit to do measurements and grow with, and the weed was still dank (there was chronic/kush in the 70s) So my advice to all you aspiring growers out there, shop wisely, make your own educated decisions on what you need to buy for your grow, not what johnny greenback suggests you go unload your paycheck on. KISS = KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID growing cannabis isnt making meth, it needn't be made that hard....
Mine doesn't have a reset button. It came w/ a little screw driver that you put in a hole and turn (one direction to go up and the other to go down) to get it to 7.0 and then it's calibrated. I then dunk it in 4.0 and 10.0 to verify. I check it every 3-4 uses. It is what it is...
I used mine like 15 times and havent calibrated it YET, but I will soon. I just kep the meter clean and rinse with pure water.