# How to lower the PH of water.



## profcornish (Oct 31, 2012)

Hey I'm new to this site as well as growing my own crop though I a positive outlook on growing my first plants, though a have a few questions to ease my conscience as like anyone would I'd like my first crop to be as fresh and sticky as possible. I've got my seeds germinated, potted in thee different pots with different soil mixtures: 1. 75% B&Q multipurpose potting compost, 25% peat moss. 2. 65% B&Q multipurpose potting compost, 25% peat moss, 10% building sand. 3. 50% B&Q multipurpose potting compost, 25% peat moss, 25% building sand (I've done this to tests drainage quality and see the outcomes of the plants based on the different amounts of different mediums that the plant grows in) The soil is currently balanced at 6.5 PH though the water I'm using is around 7.4-7.8 max, and this brings me to the main question: Is there a natural way of lowering PH levels in water from home WITHOUT(duh) damaging the plant (Please don't suggest buying PH down or any form of brand based chemical, thanks) 

Thank you for your time, Cornish


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## Ringsixty (Oct 31, 2012)

Try Lemon juice to down...if you balanced to low. Just add more unbalanced water to go up.
Baking soda will increase PH. But, not recommend due to possible salt build up...from what i have heard.


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## MrEDuck (Oct 31, 2012)

Lemon juice gives food for bacteria.
pH down is what you want. Believe it or not acids are naturally occurring. Dilute sulfuric or phosphoric or nitric acids are your best bet.


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## jamal01 (Oct 31, 2012)

MrEDuck said:


> Lemon juice gives food for bacteria.
> pH down is what you want. Believe it or not acids are naturally occurring. Dilute sulfuric or phosphoric or nitric acids are your best bet.


As new as I am I agree with this; lemon juice would be a no-no IMO. 

And most of the ph up/down kits use naturally occurring substances that will NOT harm your plants.


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## imchucky666 (Oct 31, 2012)

I used White distilled vinegar throughout my whole grow. 1 capful from the Heinz bottle per liter of water brought my PH down almost a full point.


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## cannabisbudbeans (Oct 31, 2012)

buy ph + or ph - in a grow shop


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## profcornish (Oct 31, 2012)

Thanks for the quick replies! I'd rather not use vinegar as it has salts in it. So I'm assuming lemon or lime may be the best way of downing the PH level without buying a brand named chemical (which I may do in the near future though this being my first grow I want it to be as natural as possible) Has anyone had negative or positive outcomes with lime/lemon downing ph, had it effected your crop negativity?


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## MrEDuck (Oct 31, 2012)

I steer clear of anything that can be a food source by bacteria as I prefer to run a sterile res indoors. Citric acid and the sugars in lemon or lime juice are just that, food sources. Distilled white vinegar is better, but mineral acids are the best. There is no inherent advantage to using only "natural" or "organic." Plants don't care what their food is sourced from. Phosphoric acid is also found in nature, it's what makes psilocin and psilocybin different. 
Lets look at a few natural substances, like uranium, or black mamba venom, or strychnine. I doubt anyone would disagree that these are all quite toxic. Compare these to such terrible synthetics such as Tamiflu, or the majority of antibiotics, or HIV fighting protease inhibitors. Oh wait those are good things. Nature has made a lot of nasty shit. Stars can go supernova, or collapse into black holes that can subsequently eat other stars.


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## cannabineer (Oct 31, 2012)

I favor aqua fortis. cn


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## atidd11 (Nov 1, 2012)

Why did nobody say dude ur in the wrong section.


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## profcornish (Nov 1, 2012)

atidd11 said:


> Why did nobody say dude ur in the wrong section.


Hahaha honest mistake, in all fairness I didn't even know there were different sections of the forum. Though really I don't see why you feel the need to state something so pointless, allot of people would just push the petty mistakes aside and get to the initial problem.


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## crazymanny00 (Nov 1, 2012)

if your soil is ph 6.5 already i would consider not bothering to pH. i have been pHing my water this grow with vinegar every time, it was only when i looked at my runoff and found it was at 6.0 ph... i have backed off the vinegar. your soil not change with tap water, or it will take a long time


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## HeartlandHank (Nov 1, 2012)

MrEDuck said:


> Lemon juice gives food for bacteria.
> pH down is what you want. Believe it or not acids are naturally occurring. Dilute sulfuric or phosphoric or nitric acids are your best bet.


I thought lemon juice was a natural anti-bacterial... no? Vinegar as well...
If that is true, doesn't that make lemon juice and vinegar a poor choice for organic?
I used lemon juice in my aquaponics system at first... Then I realized it could be killing the bacteria needed for an aquaponics system.. So I just stopped ph adjusting the water all together and the growth is doing fine.


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## MrEDuck (Nov 1, 2012)

Lemon juice will kill some and feed others. Good catch I tend not to think aboutusing microorganisms inside because of my preference for sterile systems.


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## HeartlandHank (Nov 1, 2012)

MrEDuck said:


> Lemon juice will kill some and feed others. Good catch I tend not to think aboutusing microorganisms inside because of my preference for sterile systems.


The little aquaponics setup is an outdoor thing, culinary herbs. I love my sterile coco indoors. I wish hydro stores used and recognized that term when storing coco bags. Sterile media... stored right along with the bug filled organics. I've mentioned it a few times, no change.


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## cannakis (Sep 22, 2015)

I always thought Lemon juice turned Into a Base in the end Instead of an Acid...!?
Apple Cider Vinegar maybe? Or just pH Down. I want to keep it Natural and Local if I can


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## hotrodharley (Sep 22, 2015)

profcornish said:


> Thanks for the quick replies! I'd rather not use vinegar as it has salts in it. So I'm assuming lemon or lime may be the best way of downing the PH level without buying a brand named chemical (which I may do in the near future though this being my first grow I want it to be as natural as possible) Has anyone had negative or positive outcomes with lime/lemon downing ph, had it effected your crop negativity?


Never had a poor result from using NATURAL lemon juice.Squeeze it yourself. You ain't making lemonade so it doesn't take much. Don't store fresh squeezed juice as it will grow unwanted bacteria quickly.


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## DaSprout (Sep 22, 2015)

hotrodharley said:


> Never had a poor result from using NATURAL lemon juice.Squeeze it yourself. You ain't making lemonade so it doesn't take much. Don't store fresh squeezed juice as it will grow unwanted bacteria quickly.


Maybe it was due to the amount, and the speed of the plant's uptake.


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## hotrodharley (Sep 22, 2015)

This doc here has no problem using lemon juice large scale.


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## hotrodharley (Sep 22, 2015)

It's usually the singer and not the song.


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## canndo (Sep 24, 2015)

Duck is right as always.

Lemon juice has lots of sugar in it.

If your application doent matter, fine but you will feed bacteria and some fungus that likes the particular ph you end up with.


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## ethabhae (Nov 23, 2015)

MrEDuck said:


> Lemon juice gives food for bacteria.
> pH down is what you want. Believe it or not acids are naturally occurring. Dilute sulfuric or phosphoric or nitric acids are your best bet.


can i use some lemon juice + AN Tarantula and some pine honey? only for germination ?


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