Hammerhead 0-9-18 Making My Own

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lollipopman

lollipopman

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So I found this on the mag but it doesn't seem right. Seems like to much nutrients for one liter of mix. Can someone tell me the right amount of grams for each to make a liter.
Hammerhead 0 9 18 making my own
 
sixstring

sixstring

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Thats a mix like a/n would make it,nice and strong.after you mix it well you would use like 6 to 10ml of the solution in a gallon of water for using on plants.
I just wonder how stable that mix will be if it sits for a few weeks.a liter of hh lasted me about 6 months last time I used it.
 
lollipopman

lollipopman

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Right now that mix is threw the roof on ppm guess I need to add 6ml to a gallon and see what it comes out to @sixstring
 
lollipopman

lollipopman

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I took the hammerhead I made put 6ml in a gallon, starting ppm was 210 finale with the hammerhead 510 does that sound right @sixstring
 
Big Whodi

Big Whodi

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The recipes I've seen call for 69 grams monopotassium phosphate, 91 grams potasium sulfate to 840 grams distilled water.
 
lollipopman

lollipopman

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The recipes I've seen call for 69 grams monopotassium phosphate, 91 grams potasium sulfate to 840 grams distilled water.
I think that's the hammerhead 9/18 second version of it. Mine is the first 0/9/18.
 
sixstring

sixstring

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it does sound good,i would guess 250 ppm with my r/o water and real hammerhead
i forgot to post back on this.but i did measure the real hammerhead i have 6 mls per gal clean water comes out 260ppm or .5ec thats the 0-9-18 stuff.peace
 
Quantrill

Quantrill

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I dunno how Mulray came up with those weights(107MKP,68 K2SO4, 4 MgSO4), but when added to water and brought to one liter final volume they do not equal 0-9-18. More like 0-5.5-7, N-P2O5-K2O percent weight/volume.

To make a solution that has 0-9-18, N-P2O5-K2O percent weight/weight. It would take 191 grams MKP and 257 grams of potassium sulfate in one liter final volume. This exceeds the maximum solubility of potassium sulfate alone by a good bit, so in the mixed solution I would expect a good bit of undissolved salt.

To make a liter of the 2-4-10, N-P2O5-K2O percent by weight/weight. It takes 85 grams MKP, 163 grams KNO3, 19 grams K2SO4 and 141 grams epsom salt in one liter final volume, this also gives 1.25% Mg and 1.9% SO4 (combined sulfur). This formula is actually feasible.
 
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MrBlah

MrBlah

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I dunno how Mulray came up with those weights(107MKP,68 K2SO4, 4 MgSO4), but when added to water and brought to one liter final volume they do not equal 0-9-18. More like 0-5.5-7, N-P2O5-K2O percent weight/volume.

To make a solution that has 0-9-18, N-P2O5-K2O percent weight/weight. It would take 191 grams MKP and 257 grams of potassium sulfate in one liter final volume. This exceeds the maximum solubility of potassium sulfate alone by a good bit, so in the mixed solution I would expect a good bit of undissolved salt.

To make a liter of the 2-4-10, N-P2O5-K2O percent by weight/weight. It takes 85 grams MKP, 163 grams KNO3, 19 grams K2SO4 and 141 grams epsom salt in one liter final volume, this also gives 1.25% Mg and 1.9% SO4 (combined sulfur). This formula is actually feasible.

A 0-9-18 fertilizer by W/W is about 0-12-25 by W/V. This is valuable information when it comes to blending a liquid fertilizer. Basically, ~120,000 ppm P2O5, ~250,000 ppm K2O. As long as you are within 5,000 ppm for the stock solution, you'll be fine.

Don't use more than the solubility limit allows. That's silly. You use a different blend. Regardless what that label says, if you want a 0-9-18 by weight, you can't get it by using MKP and Potassium Sulfate unless a lot of it sits out of solution.

The solubility limit for Potassium Sulfate is about 110g/L of water.
The solubility limit for MKP, monopotassium phosphate, is about 230g/L of water.

230 g/L of MKP will give you 119,600 ppm P2O5 and 79,500 ppm of K2O
110 g/L of Potassium Sulfate will give you 56,000 ppm of K2O and 19,800 ppm of S.

Combined, you get a 0-12-14 +2S liquid blend, W/V. This is 0-9-11 +2S W/W.

In this case, it would be better off using DKP, Dipotassium Phosphate.

The solubility limit for DKP is stupid high, around 1,600g/L.

310g/L of DKP will give you 126,400 ppm of P2O5 and 167,700 ppm of K2O
110 g/L of Potassium Sulfate will give you 56,000 ppm of K2O and 19,800 ppm of S.

Combined, you get a 0-12.6-22.3 +2S liquid blend, W/V.
This is about 0-9-16+2S W/W.

If you insist on getting to 0-9-18, add some Potassium Hydroxide. You can get 90% KOH flakes. Add 40 g/L

You will basically get the same results by using a 0-9-18 or a 0-9-16.

Alternatively, if you really can't find DKP, you can create a 0-4.5-9 liquid blend that doesn't put anything near it's solubility limits, and just add twice as much to your fertigation water.

To do that, mix the following:
MKP: 103 g/L
Potassium Sulfate: 75 g/L
KOH: 45 g/L
 
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F

Fourtay

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Awesome info MrBlah,
I am very novice when it comes to mixing my own salts. Do you have any suggestions where I could get started learning more about formulating my own fertilizer? Additionally, I have read that combining some salts together will create a non beneficial reaction, is this correct?
Thank you
 
MrBlah

MrBlah

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Awesome info MrBlah,
I am very novice when it comes to mixing my own salts. Do you have any suggestions where I could get started learning more about formulating my own fertilizer? Additionally, I have read that combining some salts together will create a non beneficial reaction, is this correct?
Thank you

Formulating your own fertilizer is not something that is easy to learn. I don't know of any resources online that will teach you very well. There's a lot of resources that talk about the individual nutrients, but not much for what is needed and how to get it. First, you need to know chemistry. Then you need to understand the fertilizer industry. Then you have to know a lot on horticulture. If you want to skip the formulating your own and copy others, then you don't need to know much on horticulture. I wish it were easy.

You are correct that combining some fertilizers together will create a precipitate. The important thing to know here is that concentration is important. It ONLY happens at high concentrations that are typically found in stock solutions like the liquid blends you buy from the store. At the low concentrations that your plants feed at, it is not something to worry about. I've written a little about this here: . You'll also find a fertilizer compatibility chart.
 
D

Duder

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Formulating your own fertilizer is not something that is easy to learn. I don't know of any resources online that will teach you very well. There's a lot of resources that talk about the individual nutrients, but not much for what is needed and how to get it. First, you need to know chemistry. Then you need to understand the fertilizer industry. Then you have to know a lot on horticulture. If you want to skip the formulating your own and copy others, then you don't need to know much on horticulture. I wish it were easy.

You are correct that combining some fertilizers together will create a precipitate. The important thing to know here is that concentration is important. It ONLY happens at high concentrations that are typically found in stock solutions like the liquid blends you buy from the store. At the low concentrations that your plants feed at, it is not something to worry about. I've written a little about this here: . You'll also find a fertilizer compatibility chart.
Nice site! I’ve been working with salts and Jacks. Hoping to replicate the results I was getting with House & Garden aqua flakes, Big bud and the MOAB/HammerHead combo at the end. I'm getting closer since I ditched 3-2-1 and started using the nutrient calculator.
Thanks!
 
F

Fourtay

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Thank you MrBlah! That is a very helpful link, that is an awesome site. My goal is to find new ways I can tune the fertilizer to suit my needs. For example, a ratio of elements that will reduce or encourage stretch, (lack of nitrogen or phos?) a mixture that will encourage root growth during cloning, a high phos ratio? Additionally, a "bloom booster" such as hammerhead or 13/14. I would love to be able to make my own variations and fine tune the plants diet. I feel I lack the required chemistry tools to be able to do this well. I guess I should start with an in-organic chemistry class?

Thank you
 
MrBlah

MrBlah

71
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Thank you MrBlah! That is a very helpful link, that is an awesome site. My goal is to find new ways I can tune the fertilizer to suit my needs. For example, a ratio of elements that will reduce or encourage stretch, (lack of nitrogen or phos?) a mixture that will encourage root growth during cloning, a high phos ratio? Additionally, a "bloom booster" such as hammerhead or 13/14. I would love to be able to make my own variations and fine tune the plants diet. I feel I lack the required chemistry tools to be able to do this well. I guess I should start with an in-organic chemistry class?

Thank you

If you want to encourage stretching, increase your nitrate concentration. To reduce it, do the opposite, or add organic nitrogen sources instead.

For root growth, look into rooting compounds, like DipNGrow.

Now, to learn the required chemistry, you don't need an inorganic chemistry course. A chemistry course from Khan Academy should do you well. But a lot of this info is easily available on the Internet. You need to understand the difference between weight/weight and weight/volume. You need to know how to do the math to dilute a liquid fertilizer or add the proper amount of a solid fertilizer. Knowing what fertilizers are compatible with each other is very important if you want to make stock solutions.
 
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