I have no idea what this all means…but yeah! Science!
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Ha!
If more of us bought, and used, analytical balances and magnetic stir plates, instead of big screen TVs and flashy rims for our cars, humanity would have colonies on Mars by now…
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I think ya better go go with a CLASS A burret! Better control ! 
LOL
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Funny that you should say that, I’m planning on going to Mars in just a couple of moments 
Hmmm, darn it. That would be nice.
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Lol don’t stop at Mars, I hear stars are brighter past Oort cloud
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I think its cool when people have fun with science 
@Northern_Loki - I think I will start a new sample of mega crop with my RO water and see if it behaves the same or similarly to the way yours does.
What is your over all plan for the testing? Im curious why you PH’ed the solution UP, waited, then back down?
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I’m surprised the as-mixed pH always that low? Makes a good candidate for adding a little potassium silicate.
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MES weakly binds to ca and mg, so my thoughts start there. other possibilies are the ph solutions…
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People - like me - who are mostly confused about PH chemistry, would like to know why you say that? What would adding that change and how?
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Ok, my setup isnt nearly as precise or accurate as @Northern_Loki , but I mixed up a sample of Mega Crop in my RO water. Nothing else added.
The EC is 1.7 ±. Im using a BlueLab truncheon meter, so its plus or minus .05. The PH settled at 5.3 within a minute or two and has stayed there for the last hour. I will check it periodically while this experiment continues. I can add other things if it seems appropriate as we go forward.
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List is in the OP. Focus, at the moment, is on figuring out the buffering. I am waiting to start item (2) until I get a pipette and some KOH that I had ordered. Item (2) is titrating the MC with a base (which may be the KOH).
Practicing a bit before I start some sampling for the record, the following is a preview of what a MES buffer could do:
Baseline feel. To get an idea of what the initial solution does in a beaker before I start mucking with it. And, to see how much PH drift is occurring (since that has been noted as occurring).
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Just experience really. Potassium silicate is extremely alkaline, and every time I mix it, I have to use a lot of pH down to normalize the pH. So it might balance out well with MC, being very acidic.
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I found a diy magnetic stir plate on YouTube. Dude used a 120mm PC fan, 12v power supply, bolts, washers, rubber washers and neodymium magnets and super glue and an old cigar box.
Mounted the fan inside the cigar box and glued a washer to the center. Stuck magnets to the washer.
Pretty simple and cheap. Used it for yeast cultivation for home brewing.
Put an Erlenmeyer flask with a Teflon coated magnetic stir bar inside and it worked quite well
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Yes, I’m thinking PH primarily but will not rule out MES (thanks).
Starting to see some precipitation a bit over 7.5 at ~66F. I’ll need to drop the PH back down to see if this remain insoluble and perhaps verify against a different PH adjust reagent.
I’m still getting set-up and this has MES in it as well. But for edification:
PH ~= 7.6
PH ~= 8.6
PH ~= 9
PH ~= 9.4
Final, settled percipitants:
To see percipitation at ~7.5 (or lower) seems a bit low.
Edit: Appears reversible, precipitant is soluble (when using GH up/down), back down to PH 6:
Will do the same without the MES once the pipette arrives.
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One step at a time… One step at a time… 
Awesome, looking forward to seeing what you observe. We can tune what we look at if some oddities arise.
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I dunno if it helps much but northeast UK my ph is normally high 7s but with megacrop at EC 1.4 when I mix a batch up it sits at 6.4. It raises to round 6.8 over 24 hours it. I’ll check tomorrow the ph. May be just needs time to settle.
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Thanks, good bullet point.
There does seems to be some amount of “slow” drift in the controlled solution (beaker) but I have not monitored it over 24 hours. About 0.1PH up over a ten hour period in this case (with RO).
Larry has also seen some drift, as well, but I think that was mainly occurring within his system. And, it was significant. I think he’s drain to waste so it’s not plant uptake. He is trying a control to see how it behaves comparatively.
Thinking is, first eliminate some of the variables due to a live system and to narrow down the behavior of Megacrop. And, to see if we can reliably and safely add a buffer to help mitigate PH drift in actual use. Don’t know, may find something useful or maybe not.
Any data points or insights to consider is good.
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I still have a nutrient mix bubbling away. I’ll test it tomorrow and see if it’s raised again. I know its not exact science but being somewhere near the sweet spot for nutrient uptake has to be a good thing
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Update on my RO + Mega Crop sample. Its been about 24 hours and the PH has gone from 5.3 to 5.6.
BUT - when I took a close look under bright lights, I noticed what looked like some particles suspended in the solution. There was nothing built up on the bottom, and no scum on top, so this stuff is just suspended in the solution.
BUT #2 - there was also one longish hair and what may be a very small bug of some sort also floating in the solution… 
My grow room must not be very sterile
I dont know if the cloudiness is due to some precipitate or contamination. This is the first time I have seen anything like this with Mega Crop.
So, I just drew some fresh RO and am starting over - keeping the lid on this time. Im going to keep this sample just to see what it does over time.
Edit: Got the new sample mixed up. PH is 5.3 again, and the solution is crystal clear - zero particulates visible.
Edit #2 - the cloudiness I was seeing is nothing like what @Northern_Loki showed above. I had to look closely to see anything.
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So, just to keep this clear in my mind - the sample that showed the cloudiness had MES in it?
What was the PH before/after adding the MES?
Im assuming you added PH Up to raise the PH in that sample? Had it already had PH up and down added to it - like the control sample?
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