Need help, using vinegar to lower pH

Hey folks, my friends water is anywhere from 7.5-8 on the pH scale..
He dont have any grow shops or anything to get supplies.. So hes using vinegar to help lower pH in water..

The problem is after he correct the pH of the water, the water goes bad in a few days or so..

If he just uses water only it seems to be ok..

However when he tries to add nutes to the pH'ed water for some reason it goes bad a few days later... Even just trying to add a B1 to the water seems to go bad..
First few days the water looks fine, and clear.. Then gets a bit greenish in color, and you can see things floating in the water..

What is going on? I heard lots of places vinegar is ok to correct pH..
Is that if and only if you are ONLY using water??
He only need to add a 1/2 teaspoon or so per gallon to correct the pH..
After a few days the pH will get thrown off, and start getting lower

He tried to mix some molasses, in some pH'ed of the water.. It went bad very fast, and really got funky in smell..

How can you use vinegar to help with pH, without it messing up nutes?

Will aquarium pH down be ok to use ok plants in soil??
It is ONLY otherthing to get..
There are NO grow shops with this stuff..
This would be ONLY way to get a pH up-down solution.. Only english on the bottles is pH down/up..
SO I DONT know what the ingredients could be..
But if it will not harm aquarium plants or fish couldnt it be ok for plants in soil???

Will it not break down my nutes in days like vinegar seems to do?

Any other tips or suggestions are more then welcome!!!

mr. blow...

always lower ph after you add nutrients..

how is he measuring his pH?
is he leaving his water so that it is exposed to light?
he needs to cover his water and keep it in the dark...

when water and light mix.. THINGS GROW... very quickly....

iloveyou

he could add an airstone that might help

LOl ffs, hell I never knew light, and water were bad..
Im sure he didnt either or they wouldnt be left out in the light..

Would just placing a dark tarp over the water juggs be ok?

He has a pH pen.. Its for an aquarium(or atleast thats where I found it), but it says it ok for horticulture.. goes from 1-14 ph scale..
Got a 7.0 base to keep check, and make sure its reading right, and dont need adjusted.

I told him about a article I read in the faqs about testing the runoff water of 7.0 pH..
His was 6.3 or something close to that.
Which means its in good shape right?

This is how he first noticed why his first seedling went totally yellow..
I have a few pics in another article about a tiny sprout..

He tested the medium of the soil he was using and it was over 7.?..
The only english on the bag of soil was "organic mix" he figured it was ok..
He switched to "top soil" this was only english on this bag aswell..LOL

There seems to be alot of peat, but as long as the pH is good then I think he should be ok..
Anyways the plant has made a very good recovery, and he named it "Eve" since it came up on xmas eve...

So covering the light will be ok, and he should be able to keep using vinegar to lower his pH?

I would definetlty try to find some proper ph down, vinegar has tendency to be unstable and the ph will continue to rise a day after using. some nutrients come with a ph stablelizer in it. but yeah it will work just have to really keep on it. the air pump and air stone will also help oxygenate the water and keep the water from becoming stagnant. gl

well so would aquarium pH down work ok for plants in soil?

trust me and get some ph down made for growing. One of the best things Ive done. Only $10..I used lemon juice and vinegar and it works but your ph will be back up the next day and you have to use a lot if you have a decent size rez. I only use a couple teaspoons a week of ph down a week now in a 20 gallon rez. It also has something in it that helps hold the ph at the level you want(i think its called a buffer). Made life much less stressful. The aquarium stuff works but will take more than the down made for growing, not sure it has the buffering ability either.

joeblow420 said:

well so would aquarium pH down work ok for plants in soil?

Click to expand...

never used it but I would say Im 98% sure it would work

Well JBreeze, I have many jugs already filled with tapwater.. Letting them sit out to let any chlorine to evaporate..
There are no grow shops around, and ebay would be closet way for me to get things like that(true pH control for soil based plants).. Shipping, and duties then also rack up a much higher cost..
I would also like to stay as far below the radar as possible, and if I dont have to order it online or on a credit card, then the better I will feel about my situation...

I'd much rather know if there is an easier way to pH my tapwater, and for the least cost..
The fish shop is just down the road, and are many around.. I can get pH up or down for tanks no problem..
Im just worried there could be chemicals that could harm, or hinder the plants..

Guess if I just have to keep a close check on vinegar water, before using it would be the easiest, and less costly..
I just wondered why my water would always start to cloud up a bit, after a few days or so

what stage of gowth are you in? what kind of nutes and how much are you using? whats the ph of your water before you do anything? doesnt the nutrients you use bring down your ph significantly? Im growing 16 l.a. o.g's in soil but Im still top feeding using a hose and lines system from my res. My tap water ph is 8.0 after adding 50% strength gh nutes my ph goes down to 6.6-6.9, I top off using the same formula and it stays constant, no need for ph down/up. Why wont that work for you?

About 2-3 weeks into veg.. Didnt know but first mix was too high pH, and they seemed to of stunted growth..
Only about 1.5 inches high, but has about 5 sets of leaves..
I got some pics here https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/43489-tiny-sprouts-pics-suggestions.html

Not sure if they will get back to true size or not.. Looking pretty good, and stout, but just so damn small.. Im only hoping to get one female, out of 3..

Seeds are very few are far between where I live..
So I have to be very careful how many are used..
Already went threw 10-14 with only 3 sprouts..
Got a few more on the way just incase.

Ph of my water is about 8.1 fresh from the tap..
Seems to go down a bit after setting a day or two.. To about 7.8 or somethink like that..

When I add full dose of B1, the water goes down to about 6.8 or so..
Im really annoyed because I have a few books, and videos..

All of which seem to contradict the other in some way about what pH for soil is best..
Jorge Cervantes in a video says 6.5-7.. Books by Ed Rosenthaw say 6.0-6.3

I see alot of people here talking about a low 6 pH seems to be best aswell..

Another thing that I dont understand is nutes..
I have books and videos that say 2 different things..
I hear every 2 weeks or so..
Then I hear use with every watering.. Its confusing..
I havent grown indoors in many many years.. I cant even believe Im having as much trouble as I am now..
I didnt even worry about pH or shit back then either..lol

I havent tried.. I was too worried about using too much fertilizer.. The stuff i got is 7-3-3. It says every 2 weeks, and one tablespoon per gallon.. So since they are so young Im only giving them a teaspoon per gallon.. It doesnt bring down the pH much.

When they get bigger maybe thats what I'll.. I just didnt want to over feed them.. They have already been through enough..
Look at the pictures, and you will see

well, like I said I grow in soil and let my ph float between 6.3-7.0 and have had very good results, I think it really depends on the plant and the medium used. between 6 and 7 you cant go to wrong just find out where your plants are happiest. you said after you add the b1 you can get it down to 6.8 thats good. since your using just potting soil you probably have a lot of water retention so your not watering very often. so on that note I would use nutes every water. I watered my plants with nutes every time since they started veg. 1 tablespoon per gallon thats about 15 ml so yeah I would go about half that now, make sure you mix up your water at least 3 gallons at a time add your b1, about 20 ml of nutrients, and maybe a couple tablespoons of epsom salt(cant really hurt just help and it can bring down ph a bit) you should be able to get your water around 6.5-6.7 which I think is perfect. gl

thx for advice.. One the runt died on me.. One looks like it stopped making new growth for sum unknown reason...
The 3rd is doing very very well.. Its the very last one too.. I really hope I get lucky and get a lady..

Its still only about 2 inches tall, and going on its 5th set of true leaves...
Also looks like its already starting to bush out from the lower nodes..

Havent even topped it..
Im wondering why its soo small..
And if its a female will the clones from it be as small, or could the plant just be stunted?
I mean really, its ONLY 2 inches tall.. about the length of my pinky..

Going one 3 weeks of growth.. They all were planted in a medium with a high pH..

The one that dosent have any new growth is almost 4 weeks old, same height, and # of leaf sets as the last one thats doing really good and only 3 or so weeks old..

I have read elsewhere that high pH can stunt growth..
Im just hoping if its female, that it will still make normal clones, and not be dwarfs like this one seems to be..
Unless it really starts to grow(bigger) alot here in next few weeks or so..

It grows a new set of leaves about every 2-3 days, and looks perfect, but its just soo damn small..