Home | Community | Message Board
You are not signed in.
Sign In New Account
Forum Index Search Posts Trusted Vendors Highlights Galleries FAQ User List Chat Store Random Growery

MagicBag Grow Bags
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.

Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Cultivation
Threaded Mode Threaded  Previous topic Previous  View all topics Index  Next topic Next 

Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   Original Sensible Seeds Bulk Cannabis Seeds   Sporeworks.EU Spores for European Microscopy   Mushroom-Hut Substrate Mix

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing
    #3345400 -

Mixed with the water when mixing the casing material up..

Yay, nay?

Never been tried and I should turn my mycelium into a guinea pig? lol

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: discman1]
    #3345441 -

are you talking about using 50/50? maybey mix a batch up with the stuff then another batch without it and PH test to see if there is any difference :shrug:


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: discman1]
    #3345450 -

If you want to sac your myc, go ahead. But let me give you some inforation about KOH.

It's a very stong base. It'll make a very caustic environmet and will kill everything if the concentration is high.(it doesn't take much) If you have any rust, it'll dissolve all that and the protective layer of rust as well. Even if you just a little, you are risking localized concentration to vary a lot which will result in myc death.

There is a major difference between acid/base and buffers. Buffers are usually salts(resulting from mixture of acid and base) that will have a narrow band of pH where increase in concentration affects the pH very little. This is why CaCO3 is preferred.

Good luck

Sam


--------------------
Protect your civil rights!  End drug prohibition.  And if you don't care about your civil rights, protect mine!

If you want a rating from me, please PM me.  For those really newbies, don't expect an answer back, but you can try me anyways.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: discman1]
    #3345462 -

I thought about using lye (sodium hydroxide, I think?)bceause you can buy it at any hardware store and its basic PH very strong though. I would have tried it but I HAVE NO IDEA how to do the math and find the right amount in ratio to casing.


--------------------
Anything up for debate in terms of freedom IS AND SHOULD BE FREE -BY DEFAULT-, this is not debatable.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: blacksh33p18]
    #3345476 -

It's easy to do math... it's extremely hard to make it useful because of such a narrow band... It's not worth it IMO. But hey... who am I to say you can't experiment, right?

Sam


--------------------
Protect your civil rights!  End drug prohibition.  And if you don't care about your civil rights, protect mine!

If you want a rating from me, please PM me.  For those really newbies, don't expect an answer back, but you can try me anyways.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: Sam1912]
    #3345488 -

As long as you make sure you inform them that its a risky one, which you did :smile: Stick with the buffers talked about in the FAQ's. They talk about slow release ones, instant ones, stronger ones, weaker ones and substitutes that could be used..follow them and you'll be ok..you can try other things to experiment with but they are going to be a risk..


--------------------
"life is like a drop of rain getting closer and closer to falling into a lake, and then when you hit the lake there is no more rain drop, only the lake."

Growing with bags, start to finish (including my new grain and substrate prep)
Anyone looking to start bulk tubs/mono tubs/shotgun hybrids? Good tubs to use..
How I do grain (old still good tips)
Turn your closet into a fruiting chamber
Casing layer colonization and overlay

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: scatmanrav]
    #3345519 -

Yeah..

Well, obviously I wouldn't use very much... Just enough to get the pH up to ~8.0 or so.

I would mix up small batches of coir/verm using water with + a few drops added per time until the pH of the casing material was where I wanted it. It probably wouldn't take very much at all.. it would probably be hard to get it right unless I went in 1-2 drop per quart increments.. It was just an idea, though..

I would certainly mix it with the water well before adding it to the casing material.. Maybe I'll try it out..

Damn, I need more space..

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: discman1]
    #3345534 -

You definatly shouldnt be using it for coir/verm. That pH should be just fine for mushies..pH is adjusted for peat usually.


--------------------
"life is like a drop of rain getting closer and closer to falling into a lake, and then when you hit the lake there is no more rain drop, only the lake."

Growing with bags, start to finish (including my new grain and substrate prep)
Anyone looking to start bulk tubs/mono tubs/shotgun hybrids? Good tubs to use..
How I do grain (old still good tips)
Turn your closet into a fruiting chamber
Casing layer colonization and overlay

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: scatmanrav]
    #3345538 -

Technically, the pH of coir is a little below optimal.... so it shouldn't hurt(raising the pH a little that is, not necessarily the KOH).

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: discman1]
    #3345551 -

Right, I use calcium carbonate..but because its slow release and not very strong. I use 70/30 coir/verm. Ive heard its not needed but I am trying it until I run out of thestuff I bought anyway..just about gone now..I'll see if I note a change. Over time the casing actually become more acidic and makes it more likly to contam..this is where the slow release buffer comes in. I dont let my casings stay past 3 flushes usually though. I really dont think that yeilds are noticably affected in the first 3 flushes from buffering coir.


--------------------
"life is like a drop of rain getting closer and closer to falling into a lake, and then when you hit the lake there is no more rain drop, only the lake."

Growing with bags, start to finish (including my new grain and substrate prep)
Anyone looking to start bulk tubs/mono tubs/shotgun hybrids? Good tubs to use..
How I do grain (old still good tips)
Turn your closet into a fruiting chamber
Casing layer colonization and overlay

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: scatmanrav]
    #3345562 -

one more thing... pH control will also depend on temperature. Strong bases aren't affected as much as buffers though.

Remember that you are experimenting with strong base. Wear gloves and safety goggles for your safety. A small accident can really get out of hand when dealing with these chemicals.

One more thing... Why are you messing with bases? I think time would be better spent on messing with other salts with buffering characteristics, don't you think? But it's your experiment. Good luck!

Sam


--------------------
Protect your civil rights!  End drug prohibition.  And if you don't care about your civil rights, protect mine!

If you want a rating from me, please PM me.  For those really newbies, don't expect an answer back, but you can try me anyways.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: Sam1912]
    #3345566 -

Oh, I don't know. No reason really.. I have a bottle of it here..

I was just curious if it was possible or if anybody had tried it.

It's actually Potassium Hydroxide and Potassium Silicate... pH Up.

I also have just pure potassium silicate, which is much, much less intense than the mixture. Think that has possibilites?

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: discman1]
    #3345567 -

Potassium Silicate is a salt. That's probably a good experiment. It's from strong base and weak acid, should be okay... maybe google for a graph?

Sam


--------------------
Protect your civil rights!  End drug prohibition.  And if you don't care about your civil rights, protect mine!

If you want a rating from me, please PM me.  For those really newbies, don't expect an answer back, but you can try me anyways.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: Sam1912]
    #3345568 -

I think the time would be better spent reading posts on proper misting procedures for casings and maintaining proper water content as this is much much more important then pH. Theres some nice info in the archieves under the casing section about watering. Other things can be done to improve conditions alot more too...including going and getting the stuff to make 50/50+ which you would probably benifit from more then altering the pH of coir. But its your grow :smile:


--------------------
"life is like a drop of rain getting closer and closer to falling into a lake, and then when you hit the lake there is no more rain drop, only the lake."

Growing with bags, start to finish (including my new grain and substrate prep)
Anyone looking to start bulk tubs/mono tubs/shotgun hybrids? Good tubs to use..
How I do grain (old still good tips)
Turn your closet into a fruiting chamber
Casing layer colonization and overlay

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Potassium Hydroxide as a pH buffer in a casing [Re: scatmanrav]
    #3345573 -

You know what.. I've just did a quick research for potassium silicate. It's used as pH up for some but it's not a good buffer as it doesn't flatten out the pH curve. It does do a pH up though, but mainly used as a source of potassium for plant nute requirement.

It's considered a severe irritant, so wear gloves and goggles when you deal with them.

Good luck

Sam


--------------------
Protect your civil rights!  End drug prohibition.  And if you don't care about your civil rights, protect mine!

If you want a rating from me, please PM me.  For those really newbies, don't expect an answer back, but you can try me anyways.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1

Shop: North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   Original Sensible Seeds Bulk Cannabis Seeds   Sporeworks.EU Spores for European Microscopy   Mushroom-Hut Substrate Mix

Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Cultivation
Threaded Mode Threaded  Previous topic Previous  View all topics Index  Next topic Next 

Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Coco coir and verm is it necassary to add a ph buffer ? Anonymous 2,115 4 03/28/03 05:36 PM
by Anonymous
* Egg Shells for PH buffer.. PDU 1,487 4 05/03/03 05:13 PM
by SixTango
* pH buffers; calcium what? BeppoMarx 903 3 03/21/02 02:54 PM
by Scourge
* WANNA CASE!!!! Adreamer323 2,139 17 03/22/03 09:18 AM
by shirley knott
* casings meatman 508 1 05/21/02 09:55 PM
by angryshroom
* Best Casing Mix for Spotting Aborts? BigJohnson 801 2 03/02/03 01:17 PM
by BigJohnson
* casing ph ihavefingers 1,449 3 04/23/03 02:29 PM
by Raadt
* Mycelium Beaten Back? New Name 814 6 11/18/02 04:40 PM
by New Name

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: Shroomism, george castanza, RogerRabbit, veggie, mushboy, fahtster, the_chosen_one, LogicaL Chaos, 13shrooms, hamloaf, cronicr, Stipe-n Cap, Pastywhyte, bodhisatta, Tormato, Land Trout, A.k.a
1,909 topic views. 19 members, 190 guests and 134 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2026 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.026 seconds spending 0.006 seconds on 14 queries.