Common household items for ph adjustment
Is there any cheap/household items i can use to lower my PH level from 7.0 to 6.5?
Yup!
Vinegar is an acid so will lower the ph.
One teaspoon of vinegar will lower the ph of a gallon of water by about one full point, so 1/2 teaspoon will move the ph of a gallon of water from 7.0 to 6.5.
White distilled vinegar is the cheapest and will work just as well as more expensive types.
Citric acid, aka "lemon salt", is less common as a household item but is another cheap acid to use.
A mere 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid crystals will lower the ph of a gallon of water from 7 to 4.
Herbalcom.com, which sells all sorts of herbs and spices, currently has food grade citric acid for $3.25 per lb. They're the best I've found.
Baking Soda is a base, so will raise the ph.
One teaspoon of baking soda will raise the ph of one gallon of water by about one full point.
Don't put your ph adjuster directly in the media of course. Mix them with your water or nutrient solution. Also, if you're mixing a nutrient solution, keep in mind that fertilizers are generally pretty acidic themselves so will lower the ph of the water you mix them in. The various brands and formulations don't all alter the ph by the same amount though, so there's no simple rule to follow, and of course the more fertilizer you use the more the ph will go down, so you've really got to measure the ph to tell what you're getting. Mix in the fertilizer first to tell where it leaves the ph, then adjust as necessary. If you adjust the ph first then add the fertilizer, you'll end up having to adjust the ph yet again to get it right, taking more time and wasting your ph adjuster in the process.
peace people
