Re: No sure about which ph....
I am not sure about what ph favor candida to survive better. I found some scientific reports which stay candida albicans can grow better as a yeast in acid ph, but it can change to fungal form better in an alkaline ph. Otherwise, I know sodium bicarbonate is used to treat vaginal candidiasis in women. I may be wrong but I understand bacterias can not survive in very acid ph and fungus can not in very alkaline ph. This is a problem because we find contradictory information about it.
Actually you answered the question in your own post. I highlighted the section. Candida is dimorphic, which means it exists in two forms, a benign (harmless) yeast form, and a highly pathogenic and aggressive fungal form. The acidity does not promote the growth of the yeast form, the acidity just keeps the Candida in this form. In fact the acidity turns the Candida growth gene off. In an alkaline environment though two things happen. First the Candida growth gene is turned on, which is what causes the Candida to over grow. Secondly the alkalinity causes the Candida to convert in to its fungal form. In this form the Candida forms finger-like projections, also found on molds, which allows these pathogens to dig in to hard surfaces like organ tissues leading to the damage.
As far as the sodium bicarbonate being used to treat Candidiasis I explained this in an earlier post. It has NOTHING to do with creating an alkaline state. A high enough concentration of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) will cause an osmotic shift causing the Candida to dehydrate. Same principle as we see with putting a fresh water fish in to saltwater. The osmotic shift will cause the fish to dehydrate as the fresher water moves from the fish cells in to the higher concentration of saltwater on the outside of the cells in an attempt to reach an equilibrium.