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Alright peeps was over at my mates he has a bag seed grow on the go and he just got a ph meter so we were mucking around with it checking ph from various sources bottle/tap and a mineral water he is using says on the label ph 6.1 at source however when we tested it it was more like 8 ??

I remember reading Boner saying he uses lemon juice ? so i squirted a wee bit in and yeah it took the ph down , so i know that cannabis prefers ph in the say 6.2-6.8 ph range so would you recommend using jiff lemon ?

Or speciality potions fi the grow shop ? growing in soil ? i have seen ph up/down but im sure for hydro

Any tips peeps ?

I've been using lemon juice for a couple of years now with no problems.

Thanks mate so just squirt a wee bit in to the water whats the best ph to go for ? just the general 6.2-6.8 ?

@ the signature

Hi Cisco,

Tell your mate to go to the local hydroshop and get some PH down.. using lemon juice wont keep the ph down for long.. especially if your making up a batch of a few gallons.

Ph down is less than a fiver locally for a bottle that will last you quite a few grows. The fish tank ph down powder stuf I imagine will increase the amount of undisolved solids in your feed solution so would stick to the liquid stuf, its also easier to handle.

8-10 drops brought the ph down nicely in a 3 litre coke bottle to around 6 - 6.2 on the color chart thing.

Hope this helps

Like I've said I've been using lemon juice for a couple of years and keep an eye on my ph without any problems, I do only ever make 2 litres of solution up at a time though.

hulldj wrote:Hi Cisco,

Tell your mate to go to the local hydroshop and get some PH down.. using lemon juice wont keep the ph down for long.. especially if your making up a batch of a few gallons.

Ph down is less than a fiver locally for a bottle that will last you quite a few grows. The fish tank ph down powder stuf I imagine will increase the amount of undisolved solids in your feed solution so would stick to the liquid stuf, its also easier to handle.

8-10 drops brought the ph down nicely in a 3 litre coke bottle to around 6 - 6.2 on the color chart thing.

Hope this helps

Is the ph up/down not only for hydro grows ? and all mixes are made fresh and used he only has a couple of plants so does a litre or so then uses it

iirc, pH up/down is also available from aquarium supplies.
The problem i found is a couple of drops too many and you
can way overshoot on pH.
To get around that you can predilute and use the 'thinned
down' version'.

Never tried lemon juice, but white vinegar works OK
in a pinch.

Like your mate and Boner, I only ever made up small
batches, so long term stability wasn't a problem.

Arch

Yeah Boner, Sorry , Didnt see you had replied.

I tested a few years ago the ph the next day after using both ph down and lemon juice. The bottle of ph downed water stayed roughly the same as the previous night, however the lemon juiced water was back up nearly to how it was before using the lemon juice.

Ph down is for both Hydro and soil grows.

Think this may help in the reasons why. The plant takes up different nutrients at different PH levels. This chart kinda explains it http://www.thctalk.com/gallery/data/500/PH_CHART.jpg

Think that makes sense?

in my case lemon juice fed the bugs...brought fruit flys galore.. like boner says it works but dont let any bugs in....ph down is a solid option

if you are growing organic i would recommend lemon juice, because adding a chemical acid to your water while providing organic nutrients wouldnt make any sense at all. i will try lemon juice the next weeks, because i switched from hesi to biobizz nutrients. there are ready to use organic lemon PH downers available from canna bio and bionova. i use lemon juice extract from the tiny lemon shaped bottles, because the shops near me dont sell those ready to use products. i dont think it will cause bug problems in my room because i have no nuted water in a tank or something, as i grow organic in soil now.

edit: according to soma, the slow rising of the ph after decreasing it with lemon juice, wich can make it go up from 6.2 to 6.8 in about 8h, helps the plants to get the full spectrum of nutrients from the soil... have fun

good range of tips there dudes thanks alot , we used vinegar today as we were talking bout the fruit fly problem etc , however as simon says growing in soil the juice aint gonna be sitting about in hydro gear so we will jus keep experimenting i seen some ph down but it specified hydro i reckon the ph down would be the bizz if mixing up a shitload o nutes but for a ltr or two at a time im thinking jiff or vinegar ?

cisco wrote:im thinking jiff or vinegar ?

cisco wrote:good range of tips there dudes thanks alot , we used vinegar today as we were talking bout the fruit fly problem etc , however as simon says growing in soil the juice aint gonna be sitting about in hydro gear so we will jus keep experimenting i seen some ph down but it specified hydro i reckon the ph down would be the bizz if mixing up a shitload o nutes but for a ltr or two at a time im thinking jiff or vinegar ?

You might find using vinegar throughthe whole grow adds some taste to the buds, I only use it in a pinch...

By fruit flies, do you mean fungus gnats (little black slow flying things)?

They like to live in damp compost - let the top few inches dry out completely,
tilling a little cigarette ash into the compost helps kill off the larvae.
Evidently the larvae are the problem, as it is rumoured they damage the roots,
never really seen it myself, I just hate the flies

Arch

i think fruit flies etc. could be dealt with in hydro too, if you try to move the water surface with another circulation pump

hand watered hydro my friend,no bubbles,no tanks,and number one in my book,no leaks ...takes alot more time but ya get hands on contact each day with yer girls and it becomes a labor of love that ya look forward to every morning