bicarbonate ?'s

I know it is recomended that a person uses baking powder to raise the pH of water, as well as others to lower. I was doing some reserch for work and came across something.

This is a VERY repuatable source: "Sprays of both potassium bicarbonate and baking soda can injure the plant, so use these materials with caution. Also, baking soda sprays can have deleterious effects on soil structure and should be used sparingly."

My question is, since baking powder is also a bicarbonate will it also have the same effects as the subtances mentioned above? If needed I can mention where i found the info, im just not into advertising.

when it says spray, does that include just pouring it into the soil?

I do believe that it is talking about when spraying bicarbonate on the plant and it contacts the soil. IMO if that is the case then if you pour it in with your water then it is even geting more of the bicarbonate in the soil. That would result in a higher concentration in the soil than just spraying it on the plant. I just have no idea if all kinds of bicarbonates act the same way on soil or not. BTW the bicarbonate also kills mildew spores, but can burn certian plants. I have no idea if it will burn mj plants. Also frequently spraying mildew spores with water kills them and can wash them off, and when the water with the spores hits the soil they die instantly. However this increased moisture can cause other problems, so do it in the morining so the plants have a better chance of drying out better (air dryer and higher temps). Anybody have any ideas?? Now off to

Sodium bicarbonate(baking soda) will increaese your alkalinity and increase your ph so be careful.When trying to balance your water alkalinity is the main buffer you have to have it correct before you start to try to adjust your ph if your alkalinity is off youll always have ph issues

First off, it appears the author is indeed speaking mostly of damage caused to the plant tissue by spraying bicarb onto it. you're not going to do that, so the damage he attributes to that doesnt apply.

secondly, he's probably speaking in an agricultural sense, depending on the soil you've chosen you're PROBABLY pretty far away from conditions you'd encounter out in a field of corn or soybean. Your soil structure should already be firmly established for optimum root growth, perhaps some perlite...a light soilless mix, or even a rich organic soil amended with enough perlite/vermiculite to create the proper conditions.

I dont believe that using some of this stuff to adjust the PH of your soil will have any seriously detrimental affects. no promises of course...depends on how you do it, but i'd say its safe. you could always try it out first on a different plant.

Chewwy: So to adjust the pH of my water, i need to first measure and adjust the alk? I have alk for my reef tank, can i use that to boost the alk? Is baking poweder added to the H2O not a good way to adjust the pH of my H20 after adding nutes (which dramatically lowers the pH)? How do you adjust the pH of your H2O solution?

TMB: the quote is talking about bicarbonate that hits the ground from spraying it on plants (ex. Kali-Green). if this is the case adding it to the water almost every time someone waters would result in a higher concentration in the soil. Also not using it to buffer my soil, i am using if for my H2O after i add nutes, due to it making the pH of the H20 around 4-5. (all F.F. prods. soil and nutes). Also soil structure is able to be changed, reguardless of its make-up, wether it be sand, silt, and clay or a manufacured soil with perlite and/or vermiculite with high organic matter it all has a structure and a poor soil structure will result in a poor preforming plant.

So i am still a little confused with all the info. can i use baking powder or not to raise the pH of my H2O solution or not? Or is there a better method to raise the pH of my H2O solution?