Safest food grade diy ph down

applepoop1984

applepoop1984

Well-Known Member
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Bakersfield

Bakersfield

Well-Known Member
Enigma said:
The reason why sulfuric acid is preferred over all other choices is that it does not interfere with the nutrient levels as the other acids do. Phosphoric acid can only be used in extremely small amounts, nitric acid is used to make bombs and isn't readily available, citric acid is a solid.

I've been successful in handling battery acid with no protective gear at all. With the right eye dropper I was able to use the sulfuric acid straight from the retail container as well. Best $8 I ever spent, a few drops and I was done. Amazon sells a 2lb container of flake potassium hydroxide for $8, with these two options you'll never break the bank with pH up or down (see sig).

Grow better bud, spend less money.

:leaf:
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I've thought about using Sulfuric acid for ph down, but I've been shy adding it to my coco medium, where Sulfur is plentiful and Coco based nutrients keep the levels of Sulfur low.
 
applepoop1984

applepoop1984

Well-Known Member
Bakersfield said:
I've thought about using Sulfuric acid for ph down, but I've been shy adding it to my coco medium, where Sulfur is plentiful and Coco based nutrients keep the levels of Sulfur low.
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Have yet to find a commercial pH down with sulfuric acid. Phosphoric acid based pH down works just as well and is not a carcinogen
 
Enigma

Enigma

Well-Known Member
And yet the rest of the world (that means everyone except you) uses sulfuric acid more than any other kind.

Hmmm... I wonder why that is..
 
Enigma

Enigma

Well-Known Member
I bought 33% dilute sulfuric acid, I never wore any protective gear, I've never had a single incident in years of use.

If a 15 yr old high school student can do it...
 
applepoop1984

applepoop1984

Well-Known Member
Your only argument is it adds a small amount of p and you've never burned yourself, yet in your writeup you say to use measuring spoons. Measuring spoons are for dry ingredients , how can we trust your advice if you don't even use a measuring cup for liquids?
 
applepoop1984

applepoop1984

Well-Known Member
dstroy said:
I get why people make their own nutrients, but why pH up or down?

https://dyna-gro.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SDS_DG_pH-Down.pdf

phosphoric acid, nitric acid, and DI water. No carcinogens, $20, treats a shitload of water, stable, no special ppe required.
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But muh' forum rep

Seriously everyone just listen to this guy lol. Ignore esmigma and myself he recommends drain cleaner for pH up god only knows he's probably using tide with febreze as a terpenator
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
Enigma said:
This is an excerpt from an article written by The Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment:

"In our experience, the most effective and widely used acid is sulfuric acid; however, this is one of the most hazardous acids to use. For low amounts of alkalinity removal, phosphoric acid may be the acid of choice. However, we do not advocate adding more than 2.25 fluid ounces of this acid to 100 gallons of water, because of the amount of P one would add. Nitric acid is theoretically ideal because it adds nitrate nitrogen; but it fumes and is highly oxidizing, making it very difficult to handle. Citric acid is a weak organic acid and a solid, making it safer than the other three; but it is much less effective, and therefore more expensive to use."

Simply copied and pasted with no adulteration.

I do not appreciate anyone spreading misinformation on this site as I take a personal stock in the information provided here. I've noticed, over many years and several boards, there are people that logon to make a name for them self, show-off, to stroke their ego with delusions of grandeur. Some pull their information from magazines, others rely on their buddy's expertise or what ever sales pitch the local hydroponics store sales clerk swears by.

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY GIMMICKS!

Simply, the cheapest and easiest way to pH down is sulfuric acid, it was $8 last I bought some and I never used it all.
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Cost shouldnt be the only factor. a pound of powdered citric is just a few bucks and will last you a year or more when diluted into a gallon of water. its by far the safest. i handle concentrated acids at work (93% sulfuric, 33% hcl), sulfuric is nothing i want to mess with unless i really have to. we use it at work because its cheap, diprotic and effective and were buying it in 400 lb barrels. for my garden citric is fine and does the job. its also a great chelator and helps prevent nute lockout. i used to use phosphoric but figured why throw my NPK out of whack (if even just a little
 
applepoop1984

applepoop1984

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
Cost shouldnt be the only factor. a pound of powdered citric is just a few bucks and will last you a year or more when diluted into a gallon of water. its by far the safest. i handle concentrated acids at work (93% sulfuric, 33% hcl), sulfuric is nothing i want to mess with unless i really have to. we use it at work because its cheap, diprotic and effective and were buying it in 400 lb barrels. for my garden citric is fine and does the job. its also a great chelator and helps prevent nute lockout. i used to use phosphoric but figured why throw my NPK out of whack (if even just a little
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Thank for the advice, how do you feel about general hydroponics pH down, specifically the formula
 
Enigma

Enigma

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
Cost shouldnt be the only factor. a pound of powdered citric is just a few bucks and will last you a year or more when diluted into a gallon of water. its by far the safest. i handle concentrated acids at work (93% sulfuric, 33% hcl), sulfuric is nothing i want to mess with unless i really have to. we use it at work because its cheap, diprotic and effective and were buying it in 400 lb barrels. for my garden citric is fine and does the job. its also a great chelator and helps prevent nute lockout. i used to use phosphoric but figured why throw my NPK out of whack (if even just a little
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Citric acid is a solid, disqualified for hydroponics. However, citric acid should work well with soil. Sulfuric does both, inexpensively, and is readily available.
 
applepoop1984

applepoop1984

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
a highly soluble solid.... like every single salt in a hydroponic system.....
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he recommends drain cleaner for pH up and battery acid for pH down to all new growers. The primary reason he won't back down is because he cares more about his reputation on here then safety. He doesn't even recommend the use of the most basic dust mask when handling sulfuric acid and fails to list it as a known carcinogen in his write-up
 
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CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
i would never ever ever recommend sulfuric acid to new growers. i also use concentrated sodium hydroxide at work (probably the lye/drain cleaner you are mentioning) and would never recommend either of these to new growers. i have literally handled hundreds of thousands of pounds of each in the last decade and have the burns to prove it. nasty nasty stuff, esp the sulfuric with the immediate deep tissue damage it causes. one drop of concentrated sulfuric is more than enough to blind you.for life

a dust mask will not protect you at all against sulfuric fumes - you need a properly fit organic vapor respirator (marked OV) and even those can break thru in high concentrations. ill only use it outdoors with a supplied air respirator- in your lungs the damage is acute and immediate
 
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