sulfuric acid for pH down?

[poutineeh]

i dont have a hydro shop around me. so i went to a pet store, and the only thing they had for pH down was sulfuric acid. is this safe for plants, assuming i do the correct dosages?

 

[chuckbane]

personally I wouldnt use sulphuric acid because it is extremely corrosive, it smells very bad (sulphur smells like rotten eggs), and sulphuric acid is usless to the plant(i think anyway). if you are in veg use a nute with a high conc. of nitrogen. nitrogen is acidic and is useable by the plant. it also does not leave any nasty byproduct as i think sulphuric acid would.
if you are in flow i would use a nute with a high conc. of phosphoric acid, which is also useable by the plant and is less corrosive than sulphuric acid...hope this helps!

 

[poutineeh]

personally I wouldnt use sulphuric acid because it is extremely corrosive, it smells very bad (sulphur smells like rotten eggs), and sulphuric acid is usless to the plant(i think anyway). if you are in veg use a nute with a high conc. of nitrogen. nitrogen is acidic and is useable by the plant. it also does not leave any nasty byproduct as i think sulphuric acid would.
if you are in flow i would use a nute with a high conc. of phosphoric acid, which is also useable by the plant and is less corrosive than sulphuric acid...hope this helps!

ok. i typically need something more than nutrients to lower my pH, because my tap water is a pH of about 9. so do you think sulfuric acid or vinegar is a better option?

 

[gangjababy]

I use apple cider vinegar.

 

[chuckbane]

ok. i typically need something more than nutrients to lower my pH, because my tap water is a pH of about 9. so do you think sulfuric acid or vinegar is a better option?

i would say vinegar but you can get the same results with a 20-20-20 (or something like that). you may not think it will be acidic enough but it will be enough to drop your tap water down to 6.5 or so

 

[Fucklenut]

If you are growing in soil, try watering with a solution containing 2 TABLESPOONS of vinegar per gallon of water. Do that once or twice
and recheck your PH.

 

[atombomb]

Baking soda up, vinegar down

 

[chuckbane]

Baking soda up, vinegar down

or
potash up, phosphoric acid down