Can I use lemon juice to lower the pH of my soil?

Richard.cron

New Member
Hi, i am a first time grower and need some advice. i planted my baby about 5 days ago and has now sprouted. i want to ensure the ph level in my soil is correct. atm its is at about 7-8. i need to lower it obviously and was wondering if lemon juice or vinigar would do the job.?
 
Hi, i am a first time grower and need some advice. i planted my baby about 5 days ago and has now sprouted. i want to ensure the ph level in my soil is correct. atm its is at about 7-8. i need to lower it obviously and was wondering if lemon juice or vinigar would do the job.?

Vinegar works OK but evaporates very quickly causing Ph drift.

Lemon juice would be better but best is pH down which is made for this puprose. I hope you are using a digital pH meter.
 
No its not digital :-/ i need to invest in one. iv got a '3 in one' reader its fairly inaccurate so i got a second tester to back it up, its one of those which you mix a tester capsual with the soil and water and again it was reading on the alkaline side. But yes i will be getting a digital tester a.s.a.p. As its my first grow ill just use lemon juice this time and get the real deal when i gain a bit more expeiriance. thanks for the advice.
 
Lemon juice dies work but also consider PH-UP and PH-DOWN solution. Carefully used it is most effective in hydroponic applications but works well if you are willing to take the time growing in soil as well. As a 60+ old indoor grower, I do quite a bit of experimentation and would not recommend anything I haven't tried.
 
I would not worry about your pH level growing in soil, unless you are seeing signs of nutrient deficiencies. Good soil like Pro-mix and B-cuzz is buffered to around 6.0 and good fertilizers like Canna Terra, B-cuzz, Advanced, or whatever will also be buffered around the same pH, so you're good with leaving it alone.

But yeah, lemons work.
 
Hi Guys,

I'm a first time grower and I'm using the Floraseries by General Hydroponics. I'm also using dozes recommended on the back of the bottles.

Reservoir size: 5 Gallons
FloraGrow, Micro and Bloom: 12.5 ml each

My water was 180 ppm when I started and after adding the nutrients it is 324 ppm. I'm using the same scale as GH advises for its nutrients. (Conversion rate of 0.5)

My PH seems to be hovering around 7. I do not have access to PH Up or Down solutions.

Shouldn't the nutrient solution mix up to a PH of 6 when I've added the exact amounts mentioned?
How do I decrease the ph?

Your help is much required and appreciated.
 
Vinegar works OK but evaporates very quickly causing Ph drift.

Lemon juice would be better but best is pH down which is made for this puprose. I hope you are using a digital pH meter.
So will you possibly listen to a man that has been growing wonderful marijuana since 1970. Yes both answers your question as to using lemon juice is better than vinegar, exactly because the ph will drift. The most important thing is to make sure that you are using a ph meter that needs an occasional calibration! Back to the question. In my opinion, my grows, is that the manufacturers of ph down or ph up absolutely make a product that will work the best. Or I'll say it works better than lemon juice or lime juice. However, as soon as you introduce the manufacturer style ph adjusters you immediately remove yourselves from being able to claim you are 100 percent organic. Nuff said!
 
However, as soon as you introduce the manufacturer style ph adjusters you immediately remove yourselves from being able to claim you are 100 percent organic.
I believe I understand what you are trying to get at but I still have to ask "Why?".

As an example, Phosphoric Acid, which is used in many pH Down products, is a naturally occurring compound. The companies do have to mix phosphate with a source of acid, probably sulfuric, to get enough to be able to supply their market. But, it still is a natural compound.

Not much different than using vinegar to drop the pH. Vinegar is natural but in order to meet the market demand companies have to come up with a way to make it quickly and in the volume needed for the open market.

In my opinion, my grows, is that the manufacturers of ph down or ph up absolutely make a product that will work the best. Or I'll say it works better than lemon juice or lime juice.
Yes. And a good chance that the results will be repeatable. In that, each time it is used the grower gets an idea of just what the pH reading will be based on having used the same amounts of water and 'pH down' products before.
 
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