If something seems too good to be true, chances are there is a hidden problem. Citric acid seemed like such a good idea, but I forgot one important fact. Since it is an organic acid it is "readily biodegradable".
I woke up this morning to find a microbial bloom in my reservoir. The pH had jumped from 5.5 to 7.5. I added more citric acid to get the pH back down and hit the internet. Sure enough there was a paper indicating the half life of citric acid in soil to be 8 hr. Since I regularly inoculate my grow media with bacterial spores, some of them obviously metabolize citrate ion. I'm guessing the waste products to be methane and carbon dioxide. Oh well, back to phosphoric acid I guess.
I woke up this morning to find a microbial bloom in my reservoir. The pH had jumped from 5.5 to 7.5. I added more citric acid to get the pH back down and hit the internet. Sure enough there was a paper indicating the half life of citric acid in soil to be 8 hr. Since I regularly inoculate my grow media with bacterial spores, some of them obviously metabolize citrate ion. I'm guessing the waste products to be methane and carbon dioxide. Oh well, back to phosphoric acid I guess.
