PH up...who makes the best?

Clumpyoyster

Clumpyoyster

Well-Known Member
OK I've been using Root farm pH up and down. The thing I'm wondering about is with this product it barely takes any pH down to drop pH levels down but takes probably 5-10 times the amount to raise it the same amount. Do all of you have the same problem or is this product related. I am thinking of trying AN pH up to see if it takes as much of their product to raise pH levels. Let me know people if this is a normal thing. Thank you
 
They mostly all use potassium hydroxide so you could just buy some of that and mix up your own in a 10% or higher sol'n. Would be way cheaper. The stronger you make the sol'n the less you would need to raise the pH.

You do wait until you've added all your nutes before testing and adjusting pH don't you?

:peace:
 
OldMedUser said:
They mostly all use potassium hydroxide so you could just buy some of that and mix up your own in a 10% or higher sol'n. Would be way cheaper. The stronger you make the sol'n the less you would need to raise the pH.

You do wait until you've added all your nutes before testing and adjusting pH don't you?

:peace:
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Yes I mix in the nutes that dont affect the pH levels much first then the bloom nutes which for me drastically drop pH levels then test then add my pH up. Before nutes my water is at about 7.0. Once I add a full strength bloom nutes it drops to about 5.8. Then it takes about 80ml of root farm ph up to raise it to 6.5. Once its back where I like it I let the water sit for a half hour and test again and adjust if needed then feed.
 
OldMedUser said:
They mostly all use potassium hydroxide so you could just buy some of that and mix up your own in a 10% or higher sol'n. Would be way cheaper. The stronger you make the sol'n the less you would need to raise the pH.

You do wait until you've added all your nutes before testing and adjusting pH don't you?

:peace:
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip I'm gonna order some right now and try it out. Makes sense to beagle to adjust your solution strength yourself. Does a higher concentrate hurt the plant or just means you use less correct?
 
OldMedUser said:
They mostly all use potassium hydroxide so you could just buy some of that and mix up your own in a 10% or higher sol'n. Would be way cheaper. The stronger you make the sol'n the less you would need to raise the pH.

You do wait until you've added all your nutes before testing and adjusting pH don't you?

:peace:
Click to expand...
When you use the powdered pottasium hydroxide do you mix up a liter or so and keep handy for future feeds or mix as needed?
 
I use a bio-silcon feed as a pH up. 1 single drop from a pipette raises the pH of 1 L of feed by 0.2 pH.

It’s a very handy product - does 2 in 1.
 
OldMedUser said:
They mostly all use potassium hydroxide so you could just buy some of that and mix up your own in a 10% or higher sol'n. Would be way cheaper. The stronger you make the sol'n the less you would need to raise the pH.

You do wait until you've added all your nutes before testing and adjusting pH don't you?

:peace:
Click to expand...


#1 ingr. across the bulk of makers ,, Potassium Silicate.
#2 is the Potassium Hydroxide

#1 problem with pH up = Potassium Silicate... Gives issues with other nutrients used - very easily..

If in soil... Avoid it at all costs.

In soil? Calcium based - like (not sure on the name) Olympus UP??? Anybody got that one for sure?

As far as the Down being more effective... It always has been that way. Some downs are really good at that. They have multiple ingr. that are better then single ingr. based ones..

The concentrations of the chemicals needed and their effectiveness - all the while to not harm the plant? Downs win that....


Last part of that ol'friend? You are quite right - pH after mixing, mix each thing with adding water in between and if you add any form of silica....do it last and mix it with the last bit of water before adding those...
 
Like @OldMedUser said most use potassium hydroxide but it looks like the Root Farm is potassium carbonate. But actually none of these companies make those chemicals. They just buy them in 50 gallon drums and rebottle them. Some diluting them more than others. AN uses one of the two potassium compounds I mentioned and they buy from the same chemical factories as everyone else. There is nothing special about AN pH up. Strictly from an economical standpoint GH pH up is a much better value but the label isn't as cool looking as AN's. GH is a combination of potassium hydroxide and potassium carbonate. I don't know how much of a difference that makes though. You can also use potassium silicate which is extremely alkaline and you can buy by the pound for $16.
 
Clumpyoyster said:
Thanks for the tip I'm gonna order some right now and try it out. Makes sense to beagle to adjust your solution strength yourself. Does a higher concentrate hurt the plant or just means you use less correct?
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I dried out some of the pH Up I have as it said the only ingredient was KOH and I needed some to mix with EverClear so I could do the Beam's test for CBD. I used 100ml of it and got 9.7g of KOH so it's a 10% sol'n. You could mix it to 50% if you want then use less to get the same pH rise but the stronger it is the more hazardous to you it is as well. Strong alkaline will burn you faster than strong acid tho both need to be treated with caution. Especially protect your eyes!

When I was doing DWC with the earlier version of AN 3-part I'd top up every three days with RO then test pH and ppm. Was so regular at 6.3 that I'd just add 4 or 5 drops of conc. sulfuric acid directly to the tubs and it would drop to 5.5 or sometimes lower. I have about 2L of that left but much less nitric which I used recently to make silver nitrate for use in STS.

You could even just weigh out some KOH crystals and add them to the water if you wanted too but it will go into sol'n faster if already made into a liquid form. If anyone questions why you want that chem it's used to make better soap than what you can make with NaOH.

:peace:
 
OldMedUser said:
If you need to use lots of such a weak alkaline you will run into high sodium issues eventually so it's OK if you have nothing else handy and need something right then but not good for regular use.

:peace:
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Cool thanks for the info. I almost never use up, almost always down and I use vinegar. Any problems with using vinegar?
 
ebcrew said:
Cool thanks for the info. I almost never use up, almost always down and I use vinegar. Any problems with using vinegar?
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Vinegar is a weak organic acid and doesn't work all that well but not going to add anything harmful. I'd still just use a commercial pH down tho.

:peace:
 
Clumpyoyster said:
That product doesn't ship to canada
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You can just buy potassium silicate at any hydro shop or most garden centers if you can find one open this time of year. I got a 500ml bottle of concentrate a few years back but prefer the AN Rhino SKin as it works better with the other AN pH Perfect nutes. The one I got is made by CannaMax labs and is very strong and says use 1/4ml/L compared to 1 - 2ml/L of the Rhino. It'll push RO water over pH 10 where the Rhino goes to pH 8.5 I believe. Long time since I tested them. Was $15 for the 500ml bottle that's still full. Stuff is thick like cold molasses.
 
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