It does, that could totally be it 
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Thanks everyone
Ok, I understand the logic.
Just a few more questions.
So there is no problem mixing magnesium sulfate together with mkp? Magnesium will not participate with phosphate?
I have liquid k2sio2 so there is no fear of inhaling dust. I plan to use it in the vegetation and during the stretch, but I’m not sure how to use it.
Like constant feeding in small amounts (<=5ppm Sio2), or larger amounts every few feedings? @lefthandseeds What was your practice while using it?
I already have it. It is a leonardite derivative in a concentration of 3%. On site that @Nitt sugested https://scienceinhydroponics.com/2021/04/the-value-of-fulvic-acid-in-hydroponics.html they dont have nothing against it in small amounts.
Do anybody have any suggestions on quantities and regimen?
Sorry to bother, but I’m trying to learn and it’s better to hear from someone who does all this than to read on the net and make a decision without any prior experience
Thanks
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I’d just add it every time I mixed a new reservoir. Something like 5ppm is about what I was going for. I’ve run plenty of grows without it any at all. Now I’m using Royal gold tupur, which has some crushed basalt mixed into it, which should supply some silica.
Magnesium phosphate is soluble, so you don’t have to worry about that happening. It would dissociate into the nutrient solution anyway.
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Don’t know if this was mentioned anywhere previously but Dr Daniel Fernandez has a series on You tube where he teaches how to mix salts properly. It’s the science in hydroponics channel. The Skybound thread that was referred to is over on caps beanbasement but might need an invite to view that one. I talk to Dr. Dan frequently. You can find him usually on the future4200. Lots more science type stuff happening over there. @lefthandseeds check it out sometime.
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That sounds like a great resource. I’ll check it out!
I typically reference a chart like this:
But I think there’s a lot of practical differences too, depending on how you’re mixing… ie stock concentrate vs straight into large reservoir vs mixing into smaller volume and then into reservoir.
I typically mix the last way because I like to use a blender and then dump the blender cup into the reservoir. I’ve never had problems that way, as long as I’m respecting the compatibility chart.
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Dan has a thread over there about Hydro Buddy but it hasn’t been active in a few months:
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He’s chimed in on my thread about ratios for coco growing, and most recently my thread trying to figure micro ratios. There’s also some good stuff in the Athena nutrient analysis thread.
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Hey @lefthandseeds
So far I have been using RO water, but I finally got the water quality data.
It has a fair amount of Ca and is in the form of CaCO3.
Am I free to factor these numbers in when mixing nutrients?
Some important numbers in mg/L
Cl- = 12
SO4 2- = 17
Ca 2+ = 65
Mg 2+ = 6
K+ = 0.56
Na+ = 7.2
Thank you 
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This guys mix of Plant prod 6-11-31, Yara CalNit, and MgSO4 is 220g, 180g, 50g, respectively, in 50 Gallons. That’s 4.4g, 3.6g, and 1g per gallon, respectively. Growing NFT Lettuce, in a greenhouse, with some (minor I think) supplemental light at times - which I think he said is a new addition.
YouTube Link.
Here’s his resulting profile:
| N (NO3-) | 206.688 |
|---|---|
| N (NH4+) | 10.461 |
| P | 55.798 |
| K | 299.11 |
| Mg | 63.242 |
| Ca | 180.694 |
| S | 83.188 |
| Fe | 3.487 |
| Mn | 0.697 |
| Zn | 0.232 |
| B | 0.314 |
| Cu | 0.046 |
| Si | 0 |
| Mo | 0.105 |
| Na | 0 |
| Cl | 0 |
I think I might be underfeeding my plants…Overall I mean (EC). But the tricky thing is that they don’t look like they need nitrogen, not from the shade of green at least. But is that shade of green partly from some “red”/“purple”, and just looks like a darker green. I actually want lighter, healthy green, but it’s hard to rationalize that increasing nitrogen (either alone, or along with upping something/everything else) might actually cause the change I want to see.
EDIT: I should point out that I already have been suspecting that I might be underfeeding something(s). One can’t just look solely at the fact that "he’s growing leafy greens and feeding higher EC than I am and I’m growing cannabis, therefore I can/must need to feed a higher EC too. I don’t know any of the other environmental parameters.
In fact, the reason he’s feeding a higher EC might be because there is less light, and/or a higher rH (lower vpd), etc., things like that.
So, I don’t know how much I can actually get from this, after all. But I find it very intriguing. I’m running the exact same inputs as him. But I’m currently feeding at 3.3 or 3.4g, 1.6g, and 1.0g respectively.
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CaCO3 is Calcium Carbonate and does not dissolve in water very well, (Solubility in water 0.013 g/L (25 °C) per wikipedia). So its more of a suspension in the water then it is a an ionic salt being dissolved where the ionic bond is broken and the freed ions are able to be absorbed through the root system. That might be a long way to say that as far as I know the Calcium Carbonate is not in an available form to the plant so I would not consider it in your nute ppm calculations. Calcium Carbonate is great as a PH buffer though and probably is the best argument for using tap water vs RO water as long as your tap isn’t too dirty to begin with. Tap water with its free source of Calcium Carbonate will be more PH stable.
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I ran Jacks at the recommended EC strength of 1.6 - 2.2 EC in veg and had a bunch of deficiencies and purple stems (not genetic since all strains were showing purple). Someone advised me to kick the EC up to 3.0 and above and I can definitely report the plants are MUCH happier then they have ever been. I grow under LEDs so I think that a higher EC is needed since the LEDs are turbo charging the plant metabolisms. I wouldn’t push that high an EC if under traditional lighting but if under LEDs I say pump that EC up keeping the same ratios and you might be surprised by the results. My current veg feed is
6g/G Part A
4g/G Part B
2g/G Epsom Salts
So thats double the amounts of the 321 formula but keeping the same 3:2:1 ratio. Puts me around 3.0-3.2 EC and I feel like I can probably still go higher with some of the plants.
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Thank you @The_Lazy_Hippie
It was really hard for me to decide what to do, because of conflicting opinions, especially from sources related to cannabis.
In the end, I included those numbers in the calculation, primarily because of this text:
The Calcium and Magnesium present in water sources with high hardness is fully available to plants – once the pH is reduced to the pH used in hydroponics – and it is therefore critical to take these into account when formulating nutrients using these water sources. It is a common myth that these Ca and Mg are unavailable, this is not true.
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I wish Dr Dan would have explained more in that article about how its possible the Calcium Carbonate is available, but hey he has a PHD so I tend to believe him lol.
Who did your source water test? I need to get my tap water tested and know that customhydronutrients sells a test and am considering pulling the trigger so was looking for feedback or alternatives.
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I am in the EU and got the information from my local water supplier. They sent me analyzes for the last few years.
Actually, his doctorate had little to do with my decision. Maybe this text was a small weight that prevailed. I simply wanted to try it, and if everything goes well it will make all future grows easier.
If it doesn’t go well, it’s okay again, it was worth a try
Guys, help me with a question. I read in this thread that calcium nitrate should be added last during mixing. I’ve always added it first. Am I wrong? I created concentrated formulations, part A and part B, where calcium nitrate is part A and sulfates are part B. Following the logic, I thought part A should be added first. Can someone help me out?
I have very hard water with a lot of CaCO3.
I am struggling with this since I started growing.
I run canna A+B in Coco and had to switch to RO because my water Is about 0.4-5 EC with much of this being carbonates.
It takes a lot of pH down to lower the pH,like more ml than the nutrients together
Do you guys have any clue if this water could be used?
It’s also interesting that the one comment about that hasn’t been answered, and it was posted in March. Probably have to book an hour of his time, lol!
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First, let me say that I am learning things and that my words do not carry any weight
@weedcvlt
According to everything I’ve read, calnite should be added last because of possible reaction with sulfate and phosphate. Cal phosphate is completely insoluble in water, and cal sulfate is to some extent.
If you haven’t run into any problems so far, then everything is ok. but it will be good to change the order of additions in the future.
@Andrexl
I do not know. I know people around me who achieve very good results with tap water and bottled nutrients. I started with a tap in order to be able to lower the nitrogen as I wish. Did I do the right thing - I have yet to see.
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@Pannonian is correct.
@weedcvlt
Due to the nature of dissolved Ca, when adding other it breaks molecular bonds from things like Mag Sulfate and precipitates out of solution into compounds like gypsum and cal phosphate. That’s why Jack’s Part A contains all the phosphates & sulfates and CalNit is Part B. Mixing instructions for Jack’s are Part A, then Epsom (part A & Epsom can be mixed in concentrate together if desired), then Part B, then pH adjust if necessary. Sounds like maybe you just named your parts A & B backwards.
There’s a video on the below page that shows both proper mixing sequence and what can happen if Part B (CalNit) gets mixed in the wrong sequence.
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Thanks for the information, @SmackyMcSmackers . In fact, I named it this way because it was like that in HydroBuddy, due to some videos and information on the internet, and on the Science in Hydroponics website itself, they teach it this way. For example, a quick Google search returns this:
What is fertilizer A and B?
Hi, the A & B fertilizer is made from mineral salts. Part A is mostly calcium nitrate, and chelated iron. Part B is mostly epsom salt, monopotassium phosphate and trace elements.
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