my PH DOWN is weak or not?

[doams]

First time used GH PH Down.

Is it normal to use 30 drops in less than half litre tap water to bring the ph down by 1.0 because I was under impression that just one drop will take care of that.

had to use 30drops to get ph from 6.5 to 5.5 so what do you think?

got my ph down off ebay is it washed out or is this "normal" what is your experience?

 

[EastCoast710]

depends on whats in the water.. and shit lol .


but for that little amount.. is odd for sure.

 

[Lester Beans]

One ounce of pH down to a half liter of water is not good. Either pH down is bad or water is very very alkaline. Take the same amount of water and use vinegar and see if it takes a lot.

 

[JamieShoes]

check your pen mate...

 

[doams]

One ounce of pH down to a half liter of water is not good. Either pH down is bad or water is very very alkaline. Take the same amount of water and use vinegar and see if it takes a lot.

I will try that and report back.

 

[doams]

check your pen mate...

pen is brand new and calibrated so that should be ok.

 

[JamieShoes]

or water is very very alkaline.

I'm about 45 km away from Ams... mine has a starting pH of 8.1 (yup) and EC of 0.6.. I dont think I use so much pH down though..

 

[Joint Lock]

I'm about 45 km away from Ams... mine has a starting pH of 8.1 (yup) and EC of 0.6.. I dont think I use so much pH down though..

I don't advocate Advanced nuets but do advocate PH down they make and big bud

 

[stoned40yrs]

One ounce of pH down to a half liter of water is not good. Either pH down is bad or water is very very alkaline. Take the same amount of water and use vinegar and see if it takes a lot.

30 drops is no where near 1 oz. 30 drops is a little less than 1.5ml

 

[stoned40yrs]

First time used GH PH Down.

Is it normal to use 30 drops in less than half litre tap water to bring the ph down by 1.0 because I was under impression that just one drop will take care of that.

had to use 30drops to get ph from 6.5 to 5.5 so what do you think?

got my ph down off ebay is it washed out or is this "normal" what is your experience?

Yes it's mostly that GH ph down. Worthless stuff. I would have guessed 15 drops and not 30 but it wouldn't surprise me if it took that much. Like the above poster said buy some advanced nutrients ph down. Dozens of times more powerful.

 

[doams]

Yes it's mostly that GH ph down. Worthless stuff. I would have guessed 15 drops and not 30 but it wouldn't surprise me if it took that much. Like the above poster said buy some advanced nutrients ph down. Dozens of times more powerful.

I am now thinking organic vinegar because that GH ph down contains some nasty chemicals:
http://generalhydroponics.com/site/gh/docs/prod_msds/pHDownLiquid_MSDS.pdf

and that put me off since wanna go bio, organic n stuff way as much as possible

 

[doams]

One ounce of pH down to a half liter of water is not good. Either pH down is bad or water is very very alkaline. Take the same amount of water and use vinegar and see if it takes a lot.

So I just tried.
Same amount water and organic vinegar.
Results are interesting starting ph of 6.5 plus four drops 6.1 another four and now its at 5.7 so every drop of this organic vinegar moves ph down approx. 0.1 point

looks like GH ph down managed to drop 1.0ph using approx. 30 drops and organic vinegar managed 0.8 drop with 8 drops.
looks like vinegar is approx. 3x stronger but no idea about its stability need to investigate further

 

[Lester Beans]

30 drops is no where near 1 oz. 30 drops is a little less than 1.5ml

Oh jeez my bad, was thinking ML. That is for catching that!

Seems like the pH down is kind of weak then. Vinegar works just fine, I prefer the living apple cider vinegar.

 

[Dropped Cat]

30 drops of Technaflora’s pH Down, nitric acid, lowers mine from 6.5 to 5.6.

 

[watts]

I rarely need it but I use 85% food grade phosphoric acid that you can purchase off ebay.

 

[doams]

think I will get AH ph down too and compare results.
And since dont want to fuckup anything will stick to ph down for this round but got to remember to be carefull with these chemicals and use gloves and not drop it on skin or touch it which is concerning and new to me.

One thing is sure for me I wont be buying any GH ph down no matter if it was washed/diluted or just simply too weak.

 

[Lester Beans]

The AN pH down is about 4 times stronger than the GH stuff if I remember correctly.

It isn't a bad idea to where rubber gloves when mixing nutrients. I have also splashed the nutrient water in my eye and that sucked. The biggest thing is to be mindful of all the electric equipment and keep the water away!

Good luck with your grow!!

 

[Phaeton]

Some bacteria can live in vinegar and cause more problems than phosphoric acid does. Depends on the system and how long the vinegar is allowed to ferment.