dankworth
- 1,519
- 163
It took me a while to figure out the fertilizer salts. One of the reasons is that I could not find a good tutorial.
I would strongly recommend reading the other nutrient threads if you are not up to speed yet. It is best to take notes in your notebook.
I will be making a 120-60-300-120-60 food. It is modeled after Jalisco Kid's flowering food, but with slightly higher K. JK recommended at least 2.5:1 K:N ratio for dtw. Something about this promoting a "bigger, tighter bud with a better trich profile" or words to that effect. This formula is intended as bloom food for a drain-to-waste coco/hydroton mix(chow mix).
I spent several hours on the computer and phone to find the ag place that sold these salts. I spent 181.06, and bought 5 50 lb bags of salts, and a 3 lb bag of micros.
I bought
Calcium Nitrate (calnit) 15.5-0-0-19
Potassium Nitrate(Knit) 13-0-44
Potassium Sulfate(Ksulf) 0-0-50-0-0-17
Monopotassium Phosphate(MKP) 0-52-34
Magnesium Sulfate(epsom) 0-0-0-0-9.8-13
And the micros(4.5% iron)
You will notice that the only fertilizer with phosphorus is the MKP. We will start there.
Phosphorus comes in the form of P2O5, which is 43.6% P.
So if we want 60 ppm of P, we will need 137.61 ppms of P2O5. P is always listed on nute jugs as P2O5. So my 3-1-2 veg food is actually not 3-1-2. It is 3-.436-1.66. I will explain about the K later.
So we need 137.61 ppms of P2O5. Our MKP is 52% P2O5. We divide 137.61 by 52. We get 2.65. Which gets us the 137.61 ppms of P2O5, which gets us the 60 ppms of P that we were after.
So 2.65 units of Monopotassium Phosphate.
Next we will get our calcium. As with the phosphorus, we get the calcium from one source, the Calcium Nitrate. The Calcium Nitrate is composed of 15.5% nitrogen and 19% calcium. We want 120 ppms of calcium. So we divide 120 by 19 and get 6.32.
So 6.32 units of Calcium Nitrate.
Next we will get nitrogen. The 6.32 units of Calcium Nitrate, multiplied by calcium nitrate's nitrogen content of 15.5%, gets us 98 ppms of nitrogen. We want 120 ppms nitrogen, so we will need 22 more ppms of nitrogen. We will get that from Potassium Nitrate. Potassium Nitrate is composed of 13% nitrogen. So we divide 22 by 13, and get 1.69.
So 1.69 units of Potassium Nitrate.
Next we will get our potassium. Potassium comes in the form of K2O5, which is composed of 83% potassium. So to get our 300 ppms of K we will need 361.4 ppms of K2O. Potassium Nitrate is 44% K2O, so our 1.69 units of potassium nitrate above contribute 74.4 of our 361.4 ppms. We will need 287 more ppms of K2O. We will get that from Potassium Sulfate, which is 50% K2O. So 287 divided by 50 is 5.74.
So 5.74 units of Potassium Sulfate.
Next we will get our magnesium, from magnesium sulfate(epsom salts). Magnesium sulfate is composed of 9.8% magnesium. We want 60 ppms of magnesium. So we divide 60 by 9.8 to get 6.12.
So 6.12 units of Magnesium Sulfate.
As we have all of our N(120 ppms) P(60) K(300) Ca(120) and Mg(60), we need to find out how much sulfur our Potassium Sulfate(17% sulfur) and Magnesium Sulfate(13% sulfur) gave us. Our 5.74 units of potassium sulfate multiplied by 17 gives us 97.6 ppms of sulfur. Our 6.12 units of magnesium sulfate multiplied by 13 gives us 79.6 ppms of sulfur, for a total of 177.2 ppms of sulfur. That is a lot of sulfur. Sulfur is a huge key to flavor, aroma, and dankness. Mulder charts show potential for potassium and calcium interactions. I do not know what the limit is with sulfur before it interferes with potassium or calcium availability. I have found that when my res smells like hot springs, my medicine is more flavorful, odorous, and effective.
Lastly we have micros. My micros are 4.5% iron, and that is what I am going to base my dosage on, is the iron. I figure 4.5 ppms is fine, so we will need 1 unit of micros.
So 1 unit of micros.
Don't forget to dilute each salt independently, I have read that it is best to add Calcium Nitrate last. I dilute my salts into 1-5 gallons of water before adding to the reservoir. I have a pump laying on its side in a 5 gallon bucket for mixing. Do not rush anything. I add 20 ppms potassium silicate before any of the other nutrients(1 ml/gal Pro-tekt). I will be replacing that as well.
Remember that one gram of salts per liter is 1000 ppms.
-dankworth
I would strongly recommend reading the other nutrient threads if you are not up to speed yet. It is best to take notes in your notebook.
I will be making a 120-60-300-120-60 food. It is modeled after Jalisco Kid's flowering food, but with slightly higher K. JK recommended at least 2.5:1 K:N ratio for dtw. Something about this promoting a "bigger, tighter bud with a better trich profile" or words to that effect. This formula is intended as bloom food for a drain-to-waste coco/hydroton mix(chow mix).
I spent several hours on the computer and phone to find the ag place that sold these salts. I spent 181.06, and bought 5 50 lb bags of salts, and a 3 lb bag of micros.
I bought
Calcium Nitrate (calnit) 15.5-0-0-19
Potassium Nitrate(Knit) 13-0-44
Potassium Sulfate(Ksulf) 0-0-50-0-0-17
Monopotassium Phosphate(MKP) 0-52-34
Magnesium Sulfate(epsom) 0-0-0-0-9.8-13
And the micros(4.5% iron)
You will notice that the only fertilizer with phosphorus is the MKP. We will start there.
Phosphorus comes in the form of P2O5, which is 43.6% P.
So if we want 60 ppm of P, we will need 137.61 ppms of P2O5. P is always listed on nute jugs as P2O5. So my 3-1-2 veg food is actually not 3-1-2. It is 3-.436-1.66. I will explain about the K later.
So we need 137.61 ppms of P2O5. Our MKP is 52% P2O5. We divide 137.61 by 52. We get 2.65. Which gets us the 137.61 ppms of P2O5, which gets us the 60 ppms of P that we were after.
So 2.65 units of Monopotassium Phosphate.
Next we will get our calcium. As with the phosphorus, we get the calcium from one source, the Calcium Nitrate. The Calcium Nitrate is composed of 15.5% nitrogen and 19% calcium. We want 120 ppms of calcium. So we divide 120 by 19 and get 6.32.
So 6.32 units of Calcium Nitrate.
Next we will get nitrogen. The 6.32 units of Calcium Nitrate, multiplied by calcium nitrate's nitrogen content of 15.5%, gets us 98 ppms of nitrogen. We want 120 ppms nitrogen, so we will need 22 more ppms of nitrogen. We will get that from Potassium Nitrate. Potassium Nitrate is composed of 13% nitrogen. So we divide 22 by 13, and get 1.69.
So 1.69 units of Potassium Nitrate.
Next we will get our potassium. Potassium comes in the form of K2O5, which is composed of 83% potassium. So to get our 300 ppms of K we will need 361.4 ppms of K2O. Potassium Nitrate is 44% K2O, so our 1.69 units of potassium nitrate above contribute 74.4 of our 361.4 ppms. We will need 287 more ppms of K2O. We will get that from Potassium Sulfate, which is 50% K2O. So 287 divided by 50 is 5.74.
So 5.74 units of Potassium Sulfate.
Next we will get our magnesium, from magnesium sulfate(epsom salts). Magnesium sulfate is composed of 9.8% magnesium. We want 60 ppms of magnesium. So we divide 60 by 9.8 to get 6.12.
So 6.12 units of Magnesium Sulfate.
As we have all of our N(120 ppms) P(60) K(300) Ca(120) and Mg(60), we need to find out how much sulfur our Potassium Sulfate(17% sulfur) and Magnesium Sulfate(13% sulfur) gave us. Our 5.74 units of potassium sulfate multiplied by 17 gives us 97.6 ppms of sulfur. Our 6.12 units of magnesium sulfate multiplied by 13 gives us 79.6 ppms of sulfur, for a total of 177.2 ppms of sulfur. That is a lot of sulfur. Sulfur is a huge key to flavor, aroma, and dankness. Mulder charts show potential for potassium and calcium interactions. I do not know what the limit is with sulfur before it interferes with potassium or calcium availability. I have found that when my res smells like hot springs, my medicine is more flavorful, odorous, and effective.
Lastly we have micros. My micros are 4.5% iron, and that is what I am going to base my dosage on, is the iron. I figure 4.5 ppms is fine, so we will need 1 unit of micros.
So 1 unit of micros.
Don't forget to dilute each salt independently, I have read that it is best to add Calcium Nitrate last. I dilute my salts into 1-5 gallons of water before adding to the reservoir. I have a pump laying on its side in a 5 gallon bucket for mixing. Do not rush anything. I add 20 ppms potassium silicate before any of the other nutrients(1 ml/gal Pro-tekt). I will be replacing that as well.
Remember that one gram of salts per liter is 1000 ppms.
-dankworth