Fortunately, I haven't had a need to adjust the PH of my water yet. My tap water is right at 6.5 and I'm growing in soil. But if I need to, is it ok to just use vinegar for down and baking soda for up ? Is there really a need to purchase a PH up & down solution from a hydro store ? Are these solutions better than using vinegar & baking soda ? I did a test last night, adding some vinegar & baking soda to 2 seperate bottles of tap water, and they seemed to work just fine.
Since nobody answered, I'm assuming it's ok.What I don't get though, is why would anybody buy those expensive PH up & down solutions, when much cheaper stuff will do the same job.
Don't know. But 6.5 is perfect. Hope you added Dolimite Lime to your soil at a rate of 3 tabblespoons per cu. ft. of soil otherwise your soil ph might be too acidic.
I haven't added any Dolimite Lime to my soil. I did test the runoff from the pots when I watered them last time and the PH was fine. I'm using an organic soil from a local garden store that has perlite and a few other ingredients in it.
spoken like a true newbie! 6.5 is about perfect for soil, so why in the hell would he want to add lime? don't fix it if it ain't broke!
pH-up and Down is far by far superior to baking soda and vinegar. Also, baking soda will cause a fast salt build up. instead of baking soda use wood ash or hydrated lime for up. Also, lime or lemon juice is better than vinegar.
Test your runoff of your soil 24 hours after watering, don't just test the water going in. Don't add dolomite lime just for the hell of it, that's only to adjust a problem that you don't know if you have. Agree that vinegar will work but isn't great, even more so for baking soda, there are better options.