Acidify my soil!

[Rosy Cheeks]

Chlorine (which is actually a gas) mixed with water (H2O) forms hypochlorous acid, which in turn creates an acidic environment.
Chlorine evaporates faster than water, and a bucket of chlorinated water will be chlorine free in a day or two. Therefore, the ph will rise slowly as the chlorine dissipates.
Bleach is alkaline (ph 12) due to reactions with other chemical elements, but is corrosive in the same way as an acidic substance.

 

[MynameStitch]

Chlorine (which is actually a gas) mixed with water (H2O) forms hypochlorous acid, which in turn creates an acidic environment.
Chlorine evaporates faster than water, and a bucket of chlorinated water will be chlorine free in a day or two. Therefore, the ph will rise slowly as the chlorine dissipates.
Bleach is alkaline (ph 12) due to reactions with other chemical elements, but is corrosive in the same way as an acidic substance.

Nice post Rosy!

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Rosy Cheeks again.

 

[Ziggaro]

Unfortunately, even though my pH isn't too too bad, the strain I'm growing must be sensitive to pH because my girl has some raging K issues. All the leaves have scorched tips and the bottom leaves have scorched edges too getting bigger.

So aquarium pH stuff is OK to use? What about other aquarium water stuff like conditioner which gets rid of choramines and chlorine?

<starts spreading rep points>

 

[stinkyattic]

If you can get your hands on some Soil Syrup (Humic acid from leonardite) it buffers at pH 6.8-6.9. This stability is the very reason I'm a diehard composted humus grower. Bonus, it's also a chelator!
I've used a flush of a weak solution (using about 1/10 the strength recommended on the bottle) to help clear out salt lockouts and put the soil AT the pH I want to run.

 

[Guest]

What about other aquarium water stuff like conditioner which gets rid of choramines and chlorine?

<starts spreading rep points>

Adding more chems to remove chems,,,



now THINK about that,,,,,,,




Should I come back later?


Chlorene will evaporate all by itself - and as an added bonus, the water usually rises to toom temp so that's like gravy with your biscut - and it FLIPPIN FREE


i dunno, ya buy em book and they eat the pages

 

[sativalicious]

Hi Ya'll,

My intuition did not settle down regarding this alleged association of chlorine evaporation to increasing pH. As I mentioned, I am not a chemist and will happily defer to the expertise of one.

I believe it is possible to observe a complex thing (which is actually invisible) and draw erroneous conclusions based on a false assumption. So, perhaps people do, indeed, see an increase of pH as time goes by. It's due to the change in something. We know that much. But it may not be evaporation of chlorine that is the catalyst for the rising pH.

So I found this article over at garden secure, which may be of interest to others that are interested in pH. I'm simply interested in learning how it works.

http://www.gardenscure.com/420/hydroponics/58849-unstable-ph-read.html

Cheers!
sativa.

 

[10k]

Ziggaro wrote...
So aquarium pH stuff is OK to use? What about other aquarium water stuff like conditioner which gets rid of choramines and chlorine?

Aquarium pH chems are only ok if they're clearly labeled as being "safe for aquarium plants". These freshwater aquarium pH treatments are usually phosphoric acid for pH down and potassium hydroxide for pH up, and they are totally safe for plants.

The aquarium pH chems which are NOT labeled as safe, or which do not specifically say "safe for aquarium plants" are usually sodium based chems and not a very good addition to your nutes, or subsequently your plants. The chems sold for removing chlorine & chloramine ARE mostly SALT and are very bad for plants. Other various conditioners for aquarium water, like stress coat and fish medications are not what we'd like to add to nute solutions either....usually for the same reasoning...mainly high sodium and other undesirable chems.

sativalicious,
That is a great link and very informative reading.
Rosy cheeks explained pretty well how water will pH downward as the chlorine dissipates or is degassed out of the water. Just for experiment sake, you could try adding a few drops of chlorine to a gallon of water in a bucket, check its pH and then aerate it for 24 to 48 hours (overnight should be enough provided you didnt chlorinate too heavily) and then recheck the water for a edit...change...edit in pH.

 

[MynameStitch]

10k why would mine go up then when I left it sitting out? I guess it's different for everyome then since not everyone has hard or soft water....