rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
just go on ebay or amazon and get a general hydroponics ph up/down kit with pH indicator drops for about 15 bucks.
Ph rising continuously first grow
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Harold Okie
Member
Thanks. organic??
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
what are you growing in? dirt, hydro, coco, promix?
Harold Okie
Member
hydro 2,5 gal buckets
Keeping it simple as has been stated R/O water is unstable due to lack of bicarbonates. Cal-mag usually contains calcium bicarbonate and will help provide some stability to the water buffering capacity. This is usually preferred over sodium bicarbonate *baking soda) since calcium is used by the plants and higher levels of sodium are not desired but baking soda absolutely works and I have used it for many years reconstituting R/O water with no problems.
In terms of PH you should generally only need PH down. Just add some tap water to increase PH or some baking soda. Acids are not created equal in terms of stability and ability to buffer. DO NOT USE VINEGAR for this reason, you will be adding it non stop. Most use Phosphoric acid at 85% commonly sold as PH down. However sulfuric and nitric acid will also work. Nitric acid does not buffer as well as sulfuric or phosphoric acid and is a bit tougher to get. Sulfuric acid common sold as battery acid will work if its purely sulfuric acid, some of the battery acid sold contains lead (NOT GOOD). So i recommend using food grade phosphoric acid. Some PH downs contain a mix and if we are splitting atoms I would say the most ideal for our uses.
Hell you can even use carbonic acid such as carbonated water or inject and dissole Co2 gasses in water to control PH but like vinegar its just not ideal for our purposes.
If your tap water is between 100-200ppm thats perfectly suitable in my opinion and will contain enough bicarbonate to provide stable buffering. Or mix with R/O water until you hit 100-150ppm and your good.
Hope that explains a bit
In terms of PH you should generally only need PH down. Just add some tap water to increase PH or some baking soda. Acids are not created equal in terms of stability and ability to buffer. DO NOT USE VINEGAR for this reason, you will be adding it non stop. Most use Phosphoric acid at 85% commonly sold as PH down. However sulfuric and nitric acid will also work. Nitric acid does not buffer as well as sulfuric or phosphoric acid and is a bit tougher to get. Sulfuric acid common sold as battery acid will work if its purely sulfuric acid, some of the battery acid sold contains lead (NOT GOOD). So i recommend using food grade phosphoric acid. Some PH downs contain a mix and if we are splitting atoms I would say the most ideal for our uses.
Hell you can even use carbonic acid such as carbonated water or inject and dissole Co2 gasses in water to control PH but like vinegar its just not ideal for our purposes.
If your tap water is between 100-200ppm thats perfectly suitable in my opinion and will contain enough bicarbonate to provide stable buffering. Or mix with R/O water until you hit 100-150ppm and your good.
Hope that explains a bit
Smokexbreak
Well-Known Member
So I should add calmag in RO water until around 100-150ppm to stabilize PH due to the bicarbonates? Am I understanding this correctly?
Yes you got it add it first then nutes then ph the water.
Battery acid is sulfuric acid. But be careful when bought under battery acid and not just sulfuric acid sometimes contains lead I believe.
Smokexbreak
Well-Known Member
This makes sense! I appreciate it!
If it's calimagic 1ml per gallon and your good
Smokexbreak
Well-Known Member
I just ordered Cali magic last night. I’ve got remo nutes calmag and botanicare as well but I’m running GH and I figured for chart purposes I best get the GH.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
i would use the one with the least amount of Nitrogen.
Smokexbreak
Well-Known Member
Okay cool will do!
Sulfuric,phosphoric and nitric are all good options for PH down. Personally I like them in this order phosphoric, sulfuric and last nitric. But i do believe sulfuric acid has the most buffering capacity out of those if i remember correctly so you would need less.