I know, thanks. So does masterblend. Not in canada though.
The masterblend can be purchased from Customhydronutrients, but a 25 Lb bag $67 usd for Americans, and $180 cad (+duties/customs) for canadians - so well over $200 cad likely.
Jack’s 5-12-26, which is available in canada, is $180 a bag now, so $200 cad. But I’d rather Plant-Prod 6-11-31 at $130ish and it’s a bigger bag, too. I just wanted some more pre-blended stuff for a fallback plan, and/or convenience and other crops. I have practically everything I need to make custom blends, though. I’m a little wary of switching from Jack’s, which I know to a degree, to custom blends in mid flower.
“God bless America”, is what I’ll say. Ain’t no Independence Day over here.
@lefthandseeds
One thing I’d like to hear about is your actual process and procedure, not only for weighing and mixing the fertilizers, but also your practices for storage of them - in a dry state in particular. For example, do you wear a mask (half face, full face, etc.) while measuring out or adding the salts to water or anything. Mixing up 30-70g of Jack’s 5-12-26 in a beaker on my magnetic stirrer is a dusty procedure. It’s very fine and light and it’s impossible to not get at least little dust clouds that float around and land on surrounding surfaces (not to mention one’s eyeballs and into one’s lungs, without any kind of protection).
You’re probably in the US, which means you can get practically anything and in any amount - you can get 1Lb, 4Lb, etc., of any salt/input from Customhydronutrients.com (and probably a dozen or more other sources) with free shipping and great prices. In canada it’s absolutely insane. And one has to buy 25Lbs for it to even make sense economically. Especially since Gardentech.ca is closed (@AquaTerra was/is an awesome guy/store).
Eg: I buy a 25Lb bag of MKP (locally. It would probably cost only twice the amount as buying 4-10Lbs from CHN). I then have to vacuum seal it into individual 2 or 3 pound bags. When I open up a 3Lb bag, now I need an air tight container to store it in, while I use up that 3Lbs of salt. It has to be easy enough to open and close, to access the contents when I need to, but also absolutely air tight/water tight.
I know this might not be an issue for you at all, because you can get 1 to 4Lb amounts direct, that come in (reasonably) air tight, resealable containers, and you’ll get through them in a reasonable amount of time (before moisture would become a big problem).
Moisture is a problem in even small amounts if you are only using small amounts. I often transfer to smaller packages to keep out moisture and am keenly aware of the dust. If a package is opened daily to mix it only takes a week for some mixes to gum up into little balls (Megacrop)
I wear glasses normally, so I don’t use any extra eye protection. I don’t normally wear a mask when I’m mixing, unless I’m dealing with potassium silicate. MKP, potassium sulfate, epsom are all relatively safe. Potassium nitrate and calcium nitrate might be slightly more reactive, but calcium nitrate is usually not in powder form. I usually wear a mask if I’m dealing with any organic nutrients.
Typically I mix to solution strength and not stock. I don’t have an injection system, so it’s easier just to mix it 15-25 gallons at a time and feed it. I’ve had problems with things growing in stock solutions, unless I use a preservative like sodium benzoate. I weigh and mix the phosphates and sulfates using an old blender and then dilute it in my reservoir while it’s filling. Then I do calcium nitrate and potassium nitrate (if I’m using it) the same way and combine it. I like to add the chelated micros straight into some water in the reservoir first.
I mix in the blender each part separately. If you get the parts dissolved separately and then add to a larger reservoir, then you don’t really ever have to worry about precipitation, and the agitation from the blender does a great job of getting everything dissolved.
They have everything you’d really need. Their EDTA+DPTA micros are plant prod that I use, I think. They sell kits with 1lb of each component. To get started you want calcium nitrate, epsom, potassium phosphate (MKP), potassium sulfate and chelated micros (plant prod). Potassium nitrate is very useful to have as well, but it’s possible to get away without it.
All of my containers from CHN have lids and seem to do ok with moisture. I use baby formula containers to hold smaller quantities if I bought a big bag. Potassium silicate turns into a solid brick if absorbs enough moisture. Magnesium nitrate is another one that takes up water pretty quickly, but I rarely find a use for that one.
Thanks.
I have all that I think I’ll need from CHN (micros and the micro mix). And I have everything macro wise I’d need from local source (had to get 25Lb bags, except MgSO4). So, I guess I was mainly asking about mixing, and dry storage - which might only apply to those buying (having to buy) large amounts, where they can’t just keep opening and closing a 25Lb bag. Or even a >5Lb bag.
Have you seen @skybound’s thread on another forum about custom fertilizer mixing, where Daniel Fernandez was posting?
I know, that’s why I’m asking about good containers, haha. Yea, stuff like calcium nitrate is very hygroscopic. It just turns to water in a matter of seconds or minutes.
I’ve been using mason jars with third party lids that have a silicone gasket seal for a while now. They work, but they’re limited in size, and shape, and they’re heavy glass. Glass is good, but heavy and obviously breakable.
The Jack’s is so fuckin’ dusty and goes air born so easily, I hate mixing it each time.
Yeah I would definitely repackage into smaller containers. I only open the bigger bags and containers to refill my ~4lb sized containers. I’ve got a 50lb bag of calcium nitrate, and I keep it closed as much as possible. It’s not as bad as magnesium nitrate or potassium silicate, but it’ll clump if you get a drop of water anywhere near it.
I live in a dry climate though. Can leave a bag of chips open for a week before it goes stale. If you’re somewhere humid, you might want bins that seal better than I have.
For a lot of my salts, I just use the 4lb screw top containers they send
Jacks might do grinding to get consistent particle sizes. The stuff I’ve gotten from CHN has different sizes for each salt, so it would probably separate when it settles if you mixed it.
The MKP I have is too coarse to float, but the potassium sulfate is like flour. I think nutrient companies grind their salts down to a more uniform particle size.
Greeting.
I have trouble finding the right micronutrients. There is none in my country, and not even in nearby countries.
But I can buy this.
The percentages are the same as Plant prod, except for boron. It’s for aquariums, so I’m not sure.
I assume it’s ok to use, but I’d like confirmation.
Does anyone have an opinion?
Thank you
It looks ok to me. It looks like there’s some magnesium in there, so factor that in. It won’t be much though. If you want to experiment with adjusting boron, you can get boric acid or borax. Those are usually easy to find elsewhere.
Question about what can be mixed together and what can’t. I was looking through your thread again for any type of list for incompatibilities.
I noticed while trying to learn about the “Stock A and B concentrations” function in hydrobuddy, that Iron (DTPA), Magnesium Nitrate, and Potassium Nitrate are all designated as “Type A” (along with Calcium Nitrate) in their substance window information. I’m not sure what this means exactly. I know that Calcium Nitrate can’t be mixed with the rest of the ingredients in say a Jack’s, or Masterblend, in concentrated levels (dry or liquid). But I don’t understand the Iron DTPA, MgN03, or KN03 being designated for a separate “part” of the two part A and B. Especially when, for example, Jack’s 5-12-26 has Potassium Nitrate and Iron DTPA in it ingredients. And now that I check again, it has three forms of iron listed in the ingredients. Masterblend formulas also have Potassium Nitrate and Iron in them.
I’ve spent some time a while back trying to find more information about it. I didn’t find a lot, but I think I’ve pieced together some information that is useful.
One thing I’ve seen in published research is that iron chelates can swap with sulfates of other cations. For instance, if you mixed iron edta and zinc sulfate, iron has a stronger affinity for the sulfate anion and you really end up with iron sulfate and zinc edta. So it may retain a more absorbable form if you keep it separated from the sulfates in concentrated stock.
One thing to know is that iron chelates have a range of pH stability. I think edta has to be kept 5.5-6.8 (don’t quote me on that), while dpta is stable up to 7.5. This makes iron edta tricky for stock solutions in general, since mkp is slightly acidic and I think the nitrate stock might be slightly alkaline. But dpta might be able to go in the nitrate stock and then you don’t have to worry about sulfates.
Potassium nitrate has good compatibility with both stock solutions because potassium doesn’t precipitate with any of the anions, while calcium can bind to sulfur and lose solubility in concentrated solutions.
I’m not sure why jacks uses iron dpta in the 5-12-26 other than it keeps part A simple with just calcium nitrate. But I would have some concerns with mixing stock solutions. It should be completely fine if mixed to feed strength.
OTOH @HolyAngel is using gypsum and GH MaxiBloom pretty much throughout the grow with high Brix results and adding it straight in so shrugs
Which brings me to we saw a leaf assay I think and that would be what to do for veg. Not one for flowers at any stage afaict. Thanks for all this work.
It’s probably fine to add gypsum to a feed strength solution. Where you would have issues is adding it to a concentrated stock. But if you mixed calcium nitrate and potassium sulfate in a concentrated stock solution you would almost certainly see the precipitation of calcium sulfate as it forms and surpasses the solubility limit.
