Citrus peel in h2o for ph down??

[peaceful]

This is just for fun. I was playing with my new ph meter, testing a bunch of stuff the other day. Got bummed when I realized that the water I had treated with vinegar to bring the ph down had gone back up to 7.2+ ph after a couple days. I ordered some Earth Juice ph down to adjust my ph correctly for soil.
Anyways...... I was eating a tangerine and figured WTH, I'll do an experiment and throw this peel into a gallon of fresh tap. I made up two fresh gallons of water, one with peel and one without. Both came out the tap at about 7.4ph. After 24 hours, the water with the peel in it had a ph of 6.8!! Also, it smelled nice-n-orangey instead of the stail water smell. I checked it at 48 hours and it was 6.4. It has been about 4 days now and ph is 5.8 in that gallon of water.

So, I am just curious, what exactly is going on that is bringing the ph down with the citrus peel? Is it bad for your plants to put a couple peels into their drinking water?

Obviously you would not want to put them in for more than a day or two as you wouldn't want rotten fruit in your water. It would be a nice organic ph down with an added bonus of orangey smelling water if it is ok to use. Let me know if anyone has further info. Thanks.

 

[Moto-Man]

This is just for fun. I was playing with my new ph meter, testing a bunch of stuff the other day. Got bummed when I realized that the water I had treated with vinegar to bring the ph down had gone back up to 7.2+ ph after a couple days. I ordered some Earth Juice ph down to adjust my ph correctly for soil.
Anyways...... I was eating a tangerine and figured WTH, I'll do an experiment and throw this peel into a gallon of fresh tap. I made up two fresh gallons of water, one with peel and one without. Both came out the tap at about 7.4ph. After 24 hours, the water with the peel in it had a ph of 6.8!! Also, it smelled nice-n-orangey instead of the stail water smell. I checked it at 48 hours and it was 6.4. It has been about 4 days now and ph is 5.8 in that gallon of water.

So, I am just curious, what exactly is going on that is bringing the ph down with the citrus peel? Is it bad for your plants to put a couple peels into their drinking water?

Obviously you would not want to put them in for more than a day or two as you wouldn't want rotten fruit in your water. It would be a nice organic ph down with an added bonus of orangey smelling water if it is ok to use. Let me know if anyone has further info. Thanks.

Very cool PF, I hope someone w/ more knowledge sees this and responds.. I love the idea of organic solutions!

Cheers,

 

[Friend-of-a-friend]

This is interesting.......I wonder if done in my DWC bucket it would impart a citrusy smell/flavor. I would have to wait till I flushed though, as I usually have to PH up after adding my nutes, but during flush I will have to PH my water down.......

 

[peaceful]

I really wish someone with more experience would chime in. Maybe this should be in the organic section? It seems this would be a real help for someone with a reservoir that constantly needs ph down. I have limited girlies so I am not ready to experiment with them. It really shows promise as an organic ph down that makes your water smell nice. I kept the gallon with the peel in it for 6 days and there was no apparent "rotting". The water just smelled nice and citrousy and the ph continued falling. I think that the peels should be discarded within a few days before any rotting takes place. Maybe I will further my experiment and put the peels in, let the ph adjust to where I want it, then remove the peels. Then I could keep the water and check ph for a few days to see if it is stable. I am sure someone around here has done this before. You are all all tinkerers! I guess it goes with the greene mojo .

 

[Moto-Man]

I really wish someone with more experience would chime in. Maybe this should be in the organic section? It seems this would be a real help for someone with a reservoir that constantly needs ph down. I have limited girlies so I am not ready to experiment with them. It really shows promise as an organic ph down that makes your water smell nice. I kept the gallon with the peel in it for 6 days and there was no apparent "rotting". The water just smelled nice and citrousy and the ph continued falling. I think that the peels should be discarded within a few days before any rotting takes place. Maybe I will further my experiment and put the peels in, let the ph adjust to where I want it, then remove the peels. Then I could keep the water and check ph for a few days to see if it is stable. I am sure someone around here has done this before. You are all all tinkerers! I guess it goes with the greene mojo .

Hey Peaceful, you're the one in the best position to inform us all apparently ! I'm following this, so do keep us updated bro'

Cheers,

 

[peaceful]

Well, I won't be following through with this experiment as I have received my Earth Juice ph down and am not bored enough to do it anyways. It's funny and interesting that the active ingredient in my Earth Juice ph down is citric acid!! Go figure. Peace and Greene Mojo to all.

 

[leafminer]

It's traces of citric acid in the peel that are lowering the pH in the tap water. The smell is due to the bergamot oil in the peel.

 

[Moto-Man]

Well, I won't be following through with this experiment as I have received my Earth Juice ph down and am not bored enough to do it anyways. It's funny and interesting that the active ingredient in my Earth Juice ph up is citric acid!! Go figure. Peace and Greene Mojo to all.

Haha...that's pretty funny. I'm gonna try it sometime though. I was also thinking of just "spraying" the peel, like when you bend it on your hand so the acid is released... g/l to you too, P!