Hypochlorous Acid......a Deep Dive

Good move @CanuckistanPete it seems to me you get way better coverage atomizing it. Pump spraying seems to leave more of a droplet pattern on the plant. I feel a surfactant would help but haven’t tested that tech. @BudBusterPro what are your thoughts on using surfactants with the acid?

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Thanks @GrouchyOldMan ! In all my research I was waffling and then I saw your recommendation and that was my “Okay done and done.” moment.

:ok_hand:

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Sure, It may help with coverage in all the nooks and crannies…

I don’t think I’d exceed 2-3ml of a non-ionic spreader. Rather than buying a nonionic spreader,
If you happen to have other soluble oil fungicides, you could use 2-3ml of that as a viable substitution…

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The fogger is a total game changer…used to take me an hour to do my plants, both sides of the leaves. Today I was done in 15 minutes, and that may have been overdoing it!

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If I can grow Dry area plants in NY with this Hypochlorous Acid treatment, it would be a complete gamechanger. Does this stuff have to be applied after every rain or after every heavy dew?

@BudBusterPro great thread!

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@Upstate, Actually, if you are spraying for bud rot, It’s really BETTER to do a thorough spray BEFORE the forecast weather event and then again AFTER the event.

The idea is to kill the spores before they get a chance to explode with the wet weather.
Then again ASAP after the event. Because our bud structures are so dense, it’s EXTREMELY difficult to control bud rot once it gets started.

In periods of extended high humidity or several days of rain it can become a war of attrition…

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Yeah, they’re extra thick buds this year.

Being a smart ass of course😁 I’d been sticking with landrace Sativas mainly, But I think This product could open up some doors for me. Anything with too much indica in it rots here, wiith some exception…

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Would ozone kill botrytis too?

ACID Bath!!!

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With all your weed on view to the neighborhood I am surprised you not constantly getting it ripped off.

Great pic man :+1:

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I’ve curated a healthy fear from my neighbours. Most think I’m unstable as I yell at objects and my plants openly while walking around naked but for my sarong sporting my :eggplant: bulge without any care in the world…

The thing is that the objects and plants know what they did and deserve the yelling.

There’s a local paper that’s mostly ads called “the mirror” that was delivered no matter what I did to tell them to stop. The last time they dropped one off I went into the back, made up a double ended spike out of scrap 2x2, stuck it into the ground of my front yard, drilled a hole in the newspaper and impaled in on said spike in my yard, then set it on fire so most of it burned but then doused it so there was a charred corpse.

I then pinned a sign written in red paint (dollarstore) under it saying: "STOP DELIVERING OR ELSE.

This was left on my yard for 1 month until the rain destroyed it… but it’s now been 8 years and both neighbours on either side of me still get the garbage but they drive me right on by :rofl:

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I guess that would do it lol.

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The sarong alone is a deterrent lol. That’s funny shit!

:rofl::sweat_smile::joy::rofl::rofl::joy::rofl:

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PsyOps 101!
(and other mind games…) :laughing: :+1:

Cheers
G

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@Pigeonman I recommend:

I’ve got 3, and I add one every summer. Best Arizona apparel I own… in conjuction with my shemagh
Edit: I was way the fuck off base with this post! Sorry for the hijack.
Um. I’m gonna buy a fogger and a hypochlorous acid generator.
There. Back on track.

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Had it bookmarked and downloaded for about six months. I didn’t read it over because I already had a generator, and I didn’t like the idea of using bleach (and other stuff I saw at first glance). Glad I looked over it now.

-…" This should provide you with a solution that is stable in the medium term and has the active chlorine concentration of a formulation similar to products like Athena Cleanse. The expected concentration of hypochlorous acid should be around 0.02% (200ppm). It can be used from 2 to 10mL/gal of hydroponic nutrient solution, depending on the severity of the problems that need to be solved. For overall maintenance and the solution of minor infections, dosages of 5mL/gal should be more than adequate. …"

I’d been using way more than 5mL/gal, and it’s also been 500ppm strength. That explains some things. I’m surprised how little of a 200ppm strength HOCl is suggested.
I wish I had an orp meter (or probe for my combo meter).

Some good info in the comments section too:

-(How long is it stable?) Should decay slowly, if protected from light and kept below 20C it should last for several months with almost no loss of concentration.

-“…I would suggest just using a 1/100 clorox solution to adjust your ORP and then correcting the pH if needed. Once the dilute clorox enters your hydroponic solution at pH 5.5-6.5 it will turn into hypochlorous acid. If you don’t need to store it there is no need to prepare a 200 ppm stock of hypochlorous acid. Remember to use no ammonium in your nutrient solution, as ammonium reacts with active chlorine to generate chloramines that can be toxic to plants. Make sure your calcium nitrate contains no ammonium.”

-“The HOCl will be actually lower at pH 5.5 Vs 6.3. Since the pKa of hypochlorous acid is 7.54, virtually all the active chlorine in the water is present at HOCl at any pH between 5.5-6.5, however, as the pH gets lower, some of the HOCl will start to get converted into elemental chlorine (Cl2), which will make the solution more unstable and will reduce its effectiveness.”

^This comment on pH is just confusing me more now, though. I don’t know if it’s specific to the recipe/method that he’s outlining, and doesn’t apply to the electrolysis method. I’m finding conflicting pH recommendations, from 3.5 to 6.5.

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Yeah, the idea here is making a root cleanser and @200 ppm/Gal is sufficient for application in a hydro system. Control of fungal/bacterial diseases requires a minimum of 250ppm applied foliar…

I’ve heard and seen other articles starting with hypochlorite (bleach) and reducing the pH down to 4-5 to produce hypochlorous acid…(HOCL). The problem here is two-fold.

  1. If you don’t have an exact chemical balance (stoichiometry), you may have hypochlorite (bleach) remaining and do damage to your plants…
  2. You also have a pretty good chance of producing Cl2 (chlorine gas)…that shit will kill you !!

If you don’t want or need the generator, stick to buying the gallons of 500ppm hypochlorous acid…live long and prosper !!!

The ORP meter is a specialized instrument that measures Oxidation/Reduction Potential…

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BTW, I see that you DO HAVE a generator. Using the generator is actually an electrolysis process.
The products are hypochlorous acid and sodium acetate (or hypochlorous acid and potassium acetate
if you substitute KCL {potassium chloride} for the sodium chloride) Just use the same measurement of KCl as you normally do the sodium chloride.

Because we are adding vinegar (acetic acid) in large amounts (relative to the salt) there’s no way in hell to get hypochlorite (bleach) in the process a long as you keep your pH in the 3.5-6.5 range.
The lower pH is also helpful in maintaining your acid strength and stability if you wish to store it for long periods… Hope that helps…

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Just a note on those small acid generators… Most are sold on the internet and it’s all marketing, usually with poor language skills! There’s also ‘bottled’ HA available on the internet…but the sample I got all had pH of over 7 on arrival! Bob has kindly presented a ton of the ‘real’ info w/backup for all who want it. If you’ve read what he’s written here and elsewhere you can take that knowledge and one of those ‘lesser quality’ generators and it’ll work fine…if, for a limited time! :rofl:

Anyway, my impression is that you can make Hypoclorious acid or you can make bleach with it…all depends on the pH you start with and stick to while brewing. I’ve always had my starting water at 3.5 pH. I’m a fanatic about it so I check pH about every 30-45 seconds of the brew (excessive!) and never let it get above 3.8 while brewing. I have a small rod I dip into pH down and the dabble/stir into the generator tank… that adds about 1/2-1 drop to the 300 ml. generator tank each dip, keeping it pretty stable @3.5-3.7. I’d hope I’ve been doing it correctly?

:call_me_hand:

(Typed by the guy :diving_mask: listening to the monsoon rains pound down as he types! :sob:)

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Hey BudBusterPro.
I have the NatureChlor Max NatureChlor® - ControlOMatic.
I bought it here (with a large discount) https://www.egretlab.ca/. This place is currently having a 50% clearance sale.

I can make whatever strength. But it’s not used at 200ppm in a hydro system (at the roots) - I know you know that, but I’m just not sure what you’re saying here.

Being able to make my own is the whole point of me using (making) this “chemical”. The cost of buying bottles of it is not doable. $60 a gallon? No. I currently make 4.5L of it at using 4.5g of NaCl, and about 40mL of acetic acid, and about 75 minutes of time with the NatureChlor Max. And that produces 500ppm strength. (I always check the pH as well, and I’ve been aiming for 4.7 to 5).

Yup. I know. My apera combo meter can use an ORP sensor at it’s pH connection. But I’d rather go a different route, I think, if I were to get an ORP sensor.

3.5pH sounds very low/acidic.

There are also companies like the Hypochlorous Company who make an “additive” (a “scientifically engineered” solution/“additive” that you add to your starting water and will produce the correct chemistry/results for the HOCl. And they can and do make it for varying starting water, and also for varying ppm results). Hypochlorous Stations – TryHypo.

pH mentions, and/or suggestions (some of these links, eg. the last one, I haven’t had time to fully read, just skim):

Hypochlorous Company: The Science – TryHypo (5.6-5.9 pH is what they say they make their hocl product to, when asked).

Controlomatic: NatureChlor® FAQ - ControlOMatic (recommend 5-7 pH).

Daniel Fernandez (non-electrolyzed hocl): https://scienceinhydroponics.com/2023/01/how-to-prepare-your-own-hypochlorous-acid-cleaner-using-bleach.html (Sounds like he’s saying this hocl solution ends up around 6-7 pH).

Wound Source (…Wound treatment…still.): https://www.woundsource.com/blog/pure-hypochlorous-acid-primer-ph-and-wound-solutions (3.5-5.5 pH).

National Library of Medicine: Hypochlorous Acid: A Review - PMC (3-6pH).

I just tested some hocl I made probably 7-10 days ago. It’s pH is 4.8, and the chlorine looked to be still close to 500, maybe 400. That’s the best that test strips can really give me, haha. These ones: LINK. I also have these: LINK.

EDIT: Putting this here, partly for myself for later.
Hypochlorous Company’s “Additive”: https://cdn.raveretailer.com/295EB86D2B/2022/09/GSR_6317b6e3d59c64911091662502131.pdf
Section 3: Composition/Information on Ingredients, lists four ingredients. (Their faq and such attempt to detail just how important pH is, for correct result, and shelf life, etc.). It’s hard to tell how much of it is simply truth and fair “warning” and how much might be…a “sort of” attempt at swaying consumers to just buy their premade hocl or additive to make hocl.

I also found a list of everything hocl kills, but I can’t find it again right now.

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