How do I make the pH of water more acidic and more alkaline?
Petal asked:
I am doing a science experiment and getting students to see what happens to plant growth if water is acidic or alkaline. The students will have 3 containers of seeds, they will water one with normal tap water, one with acidic water and one with alkaline water. I need to know what to add to the water to make it acidic and what to add to make it alkaline? Will citric acid and bicarb soda do the job? (i.e kill the seeds)
citric acid is ok to make an acidic Medium for example pH=5 , you should have pH meter and you should add a little drops of citric acid to the water vassil with stirring.
bicarb soda is ok to make an alkaline Medium for example pH=8 you should folow the same instructions above. those pH values will not kill the seeds.
Hydrangeas can change color based on the soil conditions. Ie, more alkaline, and they tend toward blue, and more acidic they tend toward red/pink. I use organic limestone for my blue hydrangeas and organic Hollytone from Espoma for my red ones. Not exactly what you are doing, but an interesting example.