Citric Acid with nutes?

Hello.

Currently growing. I was using citric acid for pH balance after adding nutrients. Nutrients lower it to 6.8 and i am giving 6.3-6.5 pH water. My water is bottled water and have some minerals in it (zinc, sodium, iron etc). So never used TDS meter but using now. I just realized something.

Adding nutes and calmag before adding citric acid my ec was 1.334 and pH 6.8 and then i started to give citric acid dissolved in water. I tested EC after every 0.5 mL i gave and EC started to down 1.200. Then i kept giving and hold it at 6.5 pH and tested EC again. And now it's 1.314 EC.

It makes me think if citric acid degrades some nutrient parts because EC is going down? In the end it's up but first 0.5mL i gave it's really down 0.2 EC (6.8 to 6.7 and kept giving until 6.5).

Any thoughts if it's ok to use citric acid as pH down?

amneziaHaze said:

as i remember citric acid degrades and after 24h doesnt give you effect

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So any issues do i get if i swtich 6.3-6.5 pH to 6.8 pH? Nutes makes it 6.8 and i can give up on citric acid.

if soil probably okej in hydro ph too high

DarkLordMelkor said:

Hello.

Currently growing. I was using citric acid for pH balance after adding nutrients. Nutrients lower it to 6.8 and i am giving 6.3-6.5 pH water. My water is bottled water and have some minerals in it (zinc, sodium, iron etc). So never used TDS meter but using now. I just realized something.

Adding nutes and calmag before adding citric acid my ec was 1.334 and pH 6.8 and then i started to give citric acid dissolved in water. I tested EC after every 0.5 mL i gave and EC started to down 1.200. Then i kept giving and hold it at 6.5 pH and tested EC again. And now it's 1.314 EC.

It makes me think if citric acid degrades some nutrient parts because EC is going down? In the end it's up but first 0.5mL i gave it's really down 0.2 EC (6.8 to 6.7 and kept giving until 6.5).

Any thoughts if it's ok to use citric acid as pH down?

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Manufacturers always disguise their nutrient so people will buy their brand on name alone
Citric acid will work but alone it has a tendency to drift
General hydroponics, fox farm and certainly other companies add things to buffer it to slow the drift down
The main reason it’s so common is it’s safer to ship than other acids
Phosphoric acid is stronger than citrus without the need to buffer to reduce drift
While it is stronger than citric it is an ingredient i some soda pops
So like citric it is safer to work with and transport and will hold ph steady better than citric acid alone
The most volatile of all is sulphuric acid which is solid with no drifts but dangerous to use and darn near impossible to ship
A single drop can cause skin burns, eye damage and even eat the chrome off a bumper so to speak
I used it when we had no source to get anything else long long ago
I would never use again given the hazard
That’s about all I can offer
They all work but the citrus is the safest but still burn eyes if your not careful
I’m sure when of these science geeks can chime in on the buffers used to make it more stable
I buy a name brand like GH and stay on the safe side these days
Good luck

Herb & Suds said:

Manufacturers always disguise their nutrient so people will buy their brand on name alone
Citric acid will work but alone it has a tendency to drift
General hydroponics, fox farm and certainly other companies add things to buffer it to slow the drift down
The main reason it’s so common is it’s safer to ship than other acids
Phosphoric acid is stronger than citrus without the need to buffer to reduce drift
While it is stronger than citric it is an ingredient i some soda pops
So like citric it is safer to work with and transport and will hold ph steady better than citric acid alone
The most volatile of all is sulphuric acid which is solid with no drifts but dangerous to use and darn near impossible to ship
A single drop can cause skin burns, eye damage and even eat the chrome off a bumper so to speak
I used it when we had no source to get anything else long long ago
I would never use again given the hazard
That’s about all I can offer
They all work but the citrus is the safest but still burn eyes if your not careful
I’m sure when of these science geeks can chime in on the buffers used to make it more stable
I buy a name brand like GH and stay on the safe side these days
Good luck

Click to expand...

I have 99% sulphuric acid and single drop makes huge difference on pH due to it's high concentration. But citric acid is weaker and very organic acid. That's why i wanted to use that but i realized that it lowers EC a bit. I read something that citric acid can bond with P easily and nutes in P are becomes bio-avaiable for plants which is better. But maybe it degrades/reacted other salts in nute formulas as they are different salts in solution (i don't know just my guess).

I am using very pure pellets and dissolving them in little water to make it concentrated solution in hot water and 1-1,5mL is enough to bring it 6.5 from 6.8

I hope it works well. We will see in time til someone with science geeks chime in