Lowering my PH

[sandman1982]

Hello everyone, im new. G'day to you.

So i built this ol' drip hydro system and I need to lower the ph of my nutrient solution. It was at about 8.0 earlier today so I went out trying to find some phosphoric acid or nitric acid to no avail. I fucking hate lowes and home depot they can suck my ass. I have never been able to find anything I want there. I know I should have bought some ph adjusters when I bought my nutes at the hydro store, but now it is too late since the hydro store is like 40 miles away and my car has no tags or inspection.

What I did find however is some Lilly Miller brand "Super Phosphate" which is a "readily available form of phosphorus" . It says 0-45-0 on the box. Anyway i didnt know if this would work but its all I could find. It is basically like little white "Nerd" candies. I tested it and it does indeed lower the ph.

Am I fucking up my plants with this stuff? It doesnt fully dissolve in the water, but it does lower the ph...I added about half a cup or so and right now my ph is about 6.75, which I now see may still be too high for hydro.

The plants are at about 10-12 days from seed, and were just put into the new setup 2 days ago from a wick set up i started them on. I will post some pics eventually when theres something interesting to look at.

[Ap0c4lyPtIcF4t3]

Hey buddy, you can use lemon juice(I use the one in the bottle shaped like a lemon) for a PH down. Id take out a gallon and add a few drops, test it and then go from there. If you got any questions just let me know~!

[Ap0c4lyPtIcF4t3]

dont add that super phosphate shit, it will fuck up your nutrient balance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[latewood]

vinegar. pickle juice.
I think it is a little soon to shoot any more than a 33% solution anyway...You need good root structure before you nute.

[sandman1982]

so i guess i should take out the nute solution that i added the super phosphate to? Are my babies gonna die? It ran for like a day with it in there.

Thanks for the replies, i like the lemon/pickle juice. So simple.

[Gen]

I use CO2 for ph down.

[sandman1982]

I have been using the lemon juice (from concentrate) and it works to get the ph down but after a few hours its back up...Is this normal? Medium is grodan grow cubes, nutes are general hydro 3 part 1 tspn/gal grow, bloom, and micro.

Some of the plants have some yellowing, and one has some darkening (almost black) on the leaf tips.

[redneck1]

spend about sixty bucks on a ro filter, ebay. a sixty dollar ro filter will produce about twenty gallons of water a day. my ph is between 6.1 and 6.2 straight from the filter. its pretty much a must for hydro. your plants will definitely like you for it. also pick up a tds and ph meter, some are as cheap as twenty five dollars. i never use ph down, ph up is a different story, especially during flowering. ;)

[latewood]

sorry, been a few days...Yes you are right. Dump rez(anytime you change nutes, flush, change photoperiods) then add a 33% solution back in...PH down is only 8bucks at the hydro store.

And I agree with the redneck...ebay has rofilters under 100bucks, all the time...Well worth every penny.

so the order of things is:
buy 3-part and ph down...necessary tools right off the bat!
ph pen and ro filter. (If you use R-O then you need calmag+ to replenish the minerals you removed. this si a good thing, because calmag+, as well as 3-part) is buffered to help keep you ph close. You still need that pen.

Ebay has them for 30-50bucks. goodluck. lw

If you have these things then you can do a nice grow, then learn to add things. Some fol