? about ph

I was wondering if ph down contained sulfuric acid and ph up contained sodium carbonate. If so would it be ok to use the ph up/down I use for a swimming pool?

It might be okay but do you really want to risk it?

Im not going to risk it but I have read that many commercial growers use battery acid to ph down their soil and I found out that using MG can actually lower your ph as well.

A lot of nutrients will lower the pH. Some companies these days are finally balancing their nutrients so that then you have around about what they recommend on the labels that their pH matches around about where it should be. But some older nutes are real shockers for dropping the pH. Aqua Flores by Canna is such a nutrient. If you use what is on the label you will find yourself with a pH of about 3.8.

pH downs usually contain phosphoric acid and pH ups usually contain potassium hydroxide. Too much of that will hurt your roots so use it sparingly. Think of it like the PK13-14 products that are recommended for use on week 4 of flowering those two are basically the same thing and will affect the NPK ratings of your nutrients.

Another pH down you can use is the nitric acid based pH downs which tends to have less affect on the NPK rating during veg since you are not adding P or K to your nutrients.

But either way, theyre acids and hydroxides and will do damage to young roots if you use too much of them.

I use Earth Juice Microblast as my primary fine balancing pH down (other than the nutrients dropping the pH) and Canna Rhizotonic for fine balancing pH up. Last resort are the acid versions.

Here is a little something I found which really helped me understand soil chemistry. I think it can help you. http://www.ncw.wsu.edu/treefruit/soil/lime.htm Good luck!

Hey itsgrowinglikeaweed,
I checked out your 1st CFL grow post and was quite impressed.You beat the so-called odds by having 60% females.I was wondering if you can tell me or send me a link about how you trimmed up your ladies. My baby is a short stocky lookin' bush, still in veg, branching like crazy with tons of shoots coming off her. I don't wanna throw her in shock or increase the chances of getting a hermie but my bitch needs her bush trimmed bad! Theres some secondary and teritary growth thats just not fully developing due to the lack of light their recieving. Would it be ok to nip those shoots off? Your plants looked well manicured and as a fellow CFL grower I think you would know how to do the procedure correctly.

Hey Cypress thanks for he compliment. As far as trimming/pruning, I really didn't do too much of that on my first grow. I will admit i did get a li'l lucky in more ways than one on that grow. I did learn an awful lot though. For example, there are certain things that only experience can teach you. Pruning is definitely one of those.
I really don't think you have to worry about turning your plants Hermite by pruning them. A picture of them would be nice.
I'm big on LST now. How to LST > https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/6834-how-lst-low-stress-training.html
I mention that because sometimes instead of cutting off a growing tip that is not getting light you can tie it into a position where it does (or soon might) receive light. LST is really fun too, its like Bonsai!
Anticipation is key. This is why experience helps a lot. When you get near the end of flowering you will see some tiny little nuggs that you probably could have trimmed off, then you will know for your next grow how much trimming to do.
If your still in veg just make sure the plant is not crowding itself. Keep in mind your plant wants good air circulation especially below the canopy. Start any pruning from the very bottom. Go slow. Use a sharp razor. Make sure its PERFECTLY clean. Don't over do it. Some (un?)common sense is required. lol If your not sure...DON'T CUT IT!
Hope that helps some. Good luck n hav fun!

LOL DUH! I see you already know that one! (LST) Oh well. I should put some pics of my LST'ed girls. One of em has almost 20 tops! ( IGLAW loves to tie down his bitches! lmao)

CypressChill said:

I was wondering if ph down contained sulfuric acid and ph up contained sodium carbonate. If so would it be ok to use the ph up/down I use for a swimming pool?

Click to expand...

It is absolutely OK to use Swimming pool chems to do PH up and Down. been using them for years, they work just as well as all that " Special" MJ stuff does. Hell you could use battery acid if you HAD to (Sulphuric).

Most pool PH down Contains Sodium BiSulphate and the PH up is Sodium Carbonate . The PH UP is very similar to Sulphuric acid, but it is not the same.

Heres few pics taken today. I'm a little concerned because my top growth's leaves are curling...they look like how your hand would look if palming a basketball. Any idea why they are doing this? Just the other night they were reaching for the lights then this morning they looked like that.
Its also been 4 weeks vegging with no alternating nodes and i want to flower. I've read that alternating nodes are a sign of maturity and a mature crop will produce more potent buds. Should I wait another week and try to fix the curling problem or would it be ok to throw her into flowering now and work on her problems in that cycle?

What is your Ph, and have you done anything to try to adjust it?
Most people would want their plant to be nice and healthy going into 12/12 so you might want to wait. it'll probably take more like 6 weeks vegg to see alternating nodes anyway.

I gave her a watering this morning and 1/4 strength MG feeding, Ph of 6.8 .

When I came home tonight and checked on her she was back to normal all spread out and reaching towards the lights and lookin as good as ever (if not better) ! lol
I'm thinkin she was just hungry for some N.

I will hold off flowering til the 6th week or whenever the nodes start alternating.

One question...are preflowers a sign of sexual maturity even if she hasn't began alternating nodes? my GUESS is YES, but would appreciate your opinion.
BTW i added some lights down low and its helped my lower foilage tremendously!

total lights(so far)- 3 6500k and 2 2700k CFLs and 1 12" florescent tube.

"One question...are preflowers a sign of sexual maturity even if she hasn't began alternating nodes? my GUESS is YES, but would appreciate your opinion."
Yes, absolutely. And yup she must have been thirsty. Keep on keepin on!

Heres a few pics taken today. Its been 31 days vegging. How does she look to you?

Pay no attention to the date on the pics...I was just to high/lazy to fix the date on the cam. LOL

Good story, and good looking lady. I think you're doing a fine job staying on top of things. I see a guitar in the bkgd of pic #5, you a fellow musician? I'm a BMI composer/artist out in L.A., got some jazzy/funky/upbeat instrumentals at one of my sites... check 'em out when you get a minute. That really is a bushy baby you got there, just bee-yoo-tee-full!

erikjay said:

Good story, and good looking lady. I think you're doing a fine job staying on top of things. I see a guitar in the bkgd of pic #5, you a fellow musician? I'm a BMI composer/artist out in L.A., got some jazzy/funky/upbeat instrumentals at one of my sites... check 'em out when you get a minute. That really is a bushy baby you got there, just bee-yoo-tee-full!

Click to expand...

Hey thanks...I think shes bee-yoo-tee-full as well LOL. I wouldn't call my self a musician but I do love to play the guitar! Its one of my favorite pastimes. I clicked your link and have the Verticle: 4 song sampler playin right now in the backround. The guitar work is great, soothing, relaxing, your making me wanna pick up my guitar and start playin right now.

Looks real good. You're on your way. I play drums. Is there a vocalist in the crowd?