Cheap alternatives to overpriced hydroponic nutrients

[budboy299]

Calmag plus 2-0-0 is derived from:

Calcium Nitrate
Magnesium Nitrate
Chelated Iron

 

[Crysmatic]

One thing calcium nitrate reacts with air as it absorbs water.

I only have ordered from Peters labs...
Jacks Hydroponic
Calcium Nitrate
Citric Acid
Bloosom Booster
Hydro Herb
The blooming formula for violets.....its very high in P......

What are you wanting to order exactly?

calnit absorbs water...it dilutes it. hypothetically speaking if you want 100 g, you'll get 98 g calnit and 2 g water. ratios don't change. the nitrogen in greenhouse grade calnit is 6.5% ammonia? 10-15% is fine for hydro, and helps buffer pH.

however, Daniel F warned me that mixing powders directly WILL form insoluble salts. commercial nutes may be 'watered down', which costs nothing, but costs a lot to ship, but it keeps salts soluble and in the same ratios, fwiw.

you're actually running 15.3-12-26 (normalized to N, 3-2-5). 3-1-4 is mathematically impossible with jack's formula plus calnit - which is Ca(NO3)2 btw. also 1 g of epsom salts is 25 ppm. calcium and magnesium mix just fine.

capulator, using 2.8 g/usgal jack's, 1.2 g/usgal gg calnit, and 2.3 g/usgal epsom, i get 135-39-162-119-63 NPKCaMg (1.5-1-1.6, definitely closer to 2-1-2). botanicare calmag is calnit plus epsom and iron...which seems redundant (did you have a bottle laying around?) and not as flexible.

i think someone was asking for this:


GUARANTEED ANALYSIS F1313 Total nitrogen (N) .......................................................... 5%
5.00% nitrate nitrogen Available phosphate (P2O5) ............................................. 12% Soluble potash (K2O) ...................................................... 26%

130 oz / 1000 gal
3705 g / 3785 l

3705000 mg / 3785 l = 979 ppm

N 979 X .05 = 48.95
P 979 X .12 = 117.48
K 979 X .26 = 254.54

N 49+ 101 = 150
P 118 X .436 = 51
K 254.54 X .83 = 211

Actual available PPM:
N 150
P 51
K 211

Or 3-1-4

let me 'splain...no, there's too much. let me sum up :cool0041:

you're breaking significant digit rules. you can't go from zero significant digits (NPK) and work with 2 decimals. you also dropped the decimals before the end of the calculation. a couple of ppm probably won't do anything - you lost math cred. 5% can be rounded off from either 4.5% or 5.5% (as extremes). +/- 10% is unacceptable tolerance. i don't understand why you feel you have to recalculate jack's ppm anyway, since jr peter so graciously gave us the elemental ppm to begin with, and you didn't even get the same numbers (close but no gold star for you!) i do appreciate how you use all metric, and not mix metric with imperial.

second, NPK numbers are really N-P2O5-K2O. we take elements into consideration when we analyze ppm. we want N-P2O5-K2O to be 3-1-4...not actual NPK. it's also curious how you say 3-1-4 is ideal and in the same breath criticize fatman's 2.8-1-4.4 (really?!)

fatman's diy thread also layed out chelates. chelates are meant for farm soils with high pH - they're irrelevant in a pH controlled hydro setup. you could say that DPTA is a 'better' chelate than EDTA, but it's a moot point in hydro - they're both equally available in the proper pH range. chelates are tolerable with micros (insignificant quantities), but you don't want to chelate macros - with citric acid for example. chelates are NOT selective - they will chelate heavy metals just as easily as good micros.

2 ppm of arsenic is worryingly high. this would mean jack's is one of the MOST contaminated fertilizers on the market. look at canna - it's heavy metals are orders of magnitude lower! yes...controlling the salts you use DOES make a difference.

isn't anyone else concerned about 205 ppm sulfur? normally with 63 ppm Mg you'd find 84 ppm S or less.

i promote a 2-1-3, which my customers shy away from, and they ask me for a 2-5-6. i understand why growers would be doubtful and reluctant to change. if i had a small grow that i depended on for my smoke, i wouldn't want to gamble on a fertilizer that might hurt my yield, or make it taste funny. it's a small man that criticizes obviously great results. it takes balls to try something new - kudos snowblind and all the others!

fwiw, once you get your ratios correct, turn it into a 2 part liquid formula. it may not be as flexible as a 3 part, but more convenient - less chance to mess up. you do all the math and weight work up front, and free up more time the rest of the grow(s). and it's really just equal parts of A and B...so one number, really.

peace

 

[rickisonline]

I think there is an even cheaper alternative. It's late and I havent read this completely but I think it is what I am looking for. It is a base formula to expand on and not a premix such as peters et al

http://www.hydroponics-at-home.com/plant-nutrients.html

 

[organicness]

A blue widow scrog run with jacks just about to start its 3rd week of flower....

Also, I'd still love to hear what folks are doing for seedlings utilizing a cheap alternative. Thanks!

 

[Capulator]

calnit absorbs water...it dilutes it. hypothetically speaking if you want 100 g, you'll get 98 g calnit and 2 g water. ratios don't change. the nitrogen in greenhouse grade calnit is 6.5% ammonia? 10-15% is fine for hydro, and helps buffer pH.

however, Daniel F warned me that mixing powders directly WILL form insoluble salts. commercial nutes may be 'watered down', which costs nothing, but costs a lot to ship, but it keeps salts soluble and in the same ratios, fwiw.

you're actually running 15.3-12-26 (normalized to N, 3-2-5). 3-1-4 is mathematically impossible with jack's formula plus calnit - which is Ca(NO3)2 btw. also 1 g of epsom salts is 25 ppm. calcium and magnesium mix just fine.

capulator, using 2.8 g/usgal jack's, 1.2 g/usgal gg calnit, and 2.3 g/usgal epsom, i get 135-39-162-119-63 NPKCaMg (1.5-1-1.6, definitely closer to 2-1-2). botanicare calmag is calnit plus epsom and iron...which seems redundant (did you have a bottle laying around?) and not as flexible.



let me 'splain...no, there's too much. let me sum up :cool0041:

you're breaking significant digit rules. you can't go from zero significant digits (NPK) and work with 2 decimals. you also dropped the decimals before the end of the calculation. a couple of ppm probably won't do anything - you lost math cred. 5% can be rounded off from either 4.5% or 5.5% (as extremes). +/- 10% is unacceptable tolerance. i don't understand why you feel you have to recalculate jack's ppm anyway, since jr peter so graciously gave us the elemental ppm to begin with, and you didn't even get the same numbers (close but no gold star for you!) i do appreciate how you use all metric, and not mix metric with imperial.

second, NPK numbers are really N-P2O5-K2O. we take elements into consideration when we analyze ppm. we want N-P2O5-K2O to be 3-1-4...not actual NPK. it's also curious how you say 3-1-4 is ideal and in the same breath criticize fatman's 2.8-1-4.4 (really?!)

fatman's diy thread also layed out chelates. chelates are meant for farm soils with high pH - they're irrelevant in a pH controlled hydro setup. you could say that DPTA is a 'better' chelate than EDTA, but it's a moot point in hydro - they're both equally available in the proper pH range. chelates are tolerable with micros (insignificant quantities), but you don't want to chelate macros - with citric acid for example. chelates are NOT selective - they will chelate heavy metals just as easily as good micros.

2 ppm of arsenic is worryingly high. this would mean jack's is one of the MOST contaminated fertilizers on the market. look at canna - it's heavy metals are orders of magnitude lower! yes...controlling the salts you use DOES make a difference.

isn't anyone else concerned about 205 ppm sulfur? normally with 63 ppm Mg you'd find 84 ppm S or less.

i promote a 2-1-3, which my customers shy away from, and they ask me for a 2-5-6. i understand why growers would be doubtful and reluctant to change. if i had a small grow that i depended on for my smoke, i wouldn't want to gamble on a fertilizer that might hurt my yield, or make it taste funny. it's a small man that criticizes obviously great results. it takes balls to try something new - kudos snowblind and all the others!

fwiw, once you get your ratios correct, turn it into a 2 part liquid formula. it may not be as flexible as a 3 part, but more convenient - less chance to mess up. you do all the math and weight work up front, and free up more time the rest of the grow(s). and it's really just equal parts of A and B...so one number, really.

peace

I have some quetions:

1) where do you get 15.3-12-26?

2) Why do you think ratios are based on Molecule percentage, not based on ELEMENTAL ppm? p2o5 and K2O are not elements..but you kind of indicate they are in your sentence...

3) Where did you pull your sulfur number of 205?

4) How did you get your analysis? Mine is very different for 2.8/1.2... Using the cannastats calculator I get:

N: 86
P: 39
K: 160
Mg: 47
S: 64
Ca: 57

and then I woudl be adding cal mag 7 ml/ gal to bring N to 125, Mg to 70, and Ca to 119 to get a close to 3-1-4 ratio... You cant get Ca higher without making N a lot higher using Jr peters CaNO3, so I am not sure why you think it is redundant of me to use a different Ca source with Less N to hit my numbers. Cal mag is 2% N and 6% Ca, and Jr peters is 15.5% N and 18%Ca... and with the Mg in CalMag, you dont add epsom. IN essense I coudl leave out the jr peters and replace with 15 ml/gal of Cal mag to get a better ratio, giving me a 2 part. That would cost more though and negates the topic of this thread.

5) Where did you get your arsenic number? I looked at

The hydro wasnt listed, but only one product they carry listed had arsenic, and at 20ppm, and that was the jacks classic classicote, which I imagien is a slow release fertilizer...

6) Arent you being a little harsh on desert squirrel there?

You certainly have a lot of opinions that you laid out, can you please back them up with references other than "Daniel F"? Thank you. I woudl like to know where you are getting all of your info, and how you came up with your numbers.

 

[Capulator]

A blue widow scrog run with jacks just about to start its 3rd week of flower....

Also, I'd still love to hear what folks are doing for seedlings utilizing a cheap alternative. Thanks!

Bro I hit my seedlings after one week with jacks at 1.7 EC. its been three or 4 weeks and no burn yet. First week they get only about .5 EC or so.

 

[H3AD_CAS3]

Bro I hit my seedlings after one week with jacks at 1.7 EC. its been three or 4 weeks and no burn yet. First week they get only about .5 EC or so.

??? is this with all seedlings...Seems to me that certain strains would not tolerate these concentrations this early in their growth. Also, how much light are your seedlings being grown under?

 

[organicness]

Bro I hit my seedlings after one week with jacks at 1.7 EC. its been three or 4 weeks and no burn yet. First week they get only about .5 EC or so.

Hot damn that's quick to put them on that EC. And they're not getting stunted by that? That's real interesting.

 

[Capulator]

Hot damn that's quick to put them on that EC. And they're not getting stunted by that? That's real interesting.

Here are the details:

20 plants.

13 Kosher kush x white widow regular
7 cali connection original sour diesel regular. There were 10 but 3 didnt make the cut.

day 1- pre soak 24 hours (RO only)
day 2-4- germinating (RO)
day 5- planting in rockwool cube w/ 25% nutes (8 lamp t-5 half strentgh)
day 10-13- 25% strength nutes. transfer to rockwool crouton in 1 gal plastic bucket. (8 lamp t-5 full strength)
Day 14- full dose. (8 lamp t-5 full strength)


I will post some pictures later on what they look like now.

3 plants remain stunted (swerves gear). I have not been happy with cali connection so I am not surprised.

The rest are loving life. Its been one month and no flush yet. Now they are sexin under 600's

I top feed by handwaterign these once a day until a little water comes out the bottom.

 

[MendoCruz]

Hey there Desert Squirrel, do you have a feed chart of sorts for big ag nutes that I could run on, 1, coco drain to waste, and 2, rockwool recirc?

 

[ttystikk]

I have some quetions:

1) where do you get 15.3-12-26?

2) Why do you think ratios are based on Molecule percentage, not based on ELEMENTAL ppm? p2o5 and K2O are not elements..but you kind of indicate they are in your sentence...

3) Where did you pull your sulfur number of 205?

4) How did you get your analysis? Mine is very different for 2.8/1.2... Using the cannastats calculator I get:

N: 86
P: 39
K: 160
Mg: 47
S: 64
Ca: 57

and then I woudl be adding cal mag 7 ml/ gal to bring N to 125, Mg to 70, and Ca to 119 to get a close to 3-1-4 ratio... You cant get Ca higher without making N a lot higher using Jr peters CaNO3, so I am not sure why you think it is redundant of me to use a different Ca source with Less N to hit my numbers. Cal mag is 2% N and 6% Ca, and Jr peters is 15.5% N and 18%Ca... and with the Mg in CalMag, you dont add epsom. IN essense I coudl leave out the jr peters and replace with 15 ml/gal of Cal mag to get a better ratio, giving me a 2 part. That would cost more though and negates the topic of this thread.

5) Where did you get your arsenic number? I looked at

The hydro wasnt listed, but only one product they carry listed had arsenic, and at 20ppm, and that was the jacks classic classicote, which I imagien is a slow release fertilizer...

6) Arent you being a little harsh on desert squirrel there?

You certainly have a lot of opinions that you laid out, can you please back them up with references other than "Daniel F"? Thank you. I woudl like to know where you are getting all of your info, and how you came up with your numbers.

I am not going to pretend that I know this much about nutrient profiles, but I want to thank you for educating me as I follow along with your discussion here.

If you'd be so kind, since I'm a little confused, to give me an idea about a good mix of Jacks, Epsom and Cal-Nitrate for veg and flower, I could use that as a baseline and ilute as necessary for my own needs. There have been a lot of ratios tossed around of late, and I'm not sure wheich to go with at this point.

 

[ttystikk]

By the way, before people get all freaked out about 20ppm of arsenic, remember that when you have a bowl of mashed potatoes, you're EATING more arsenic than that, let alone having it in nutes that only the roots are bathing in.

 

[Capulator]

By the way, before people get all freaked out about 20ppm of arsenic, remember that when you have a bowl of mashed potatoes, you're EATING more arsenic than that, let alone having it in nutes that only the roots are bathing in.

Download the calculator here:

http://www.cannastats.com/articles/profiles.htm

Scroll down to right above the nute calculator where the link says "download"

download it. It is an excel file.

One you get it open, you can insert all of the numbers on the bag or bottle (guaranteed analysis), in the guaranteed analysis tab for each product (up to 7) that you plan on using. If you are inputtign dry ferts you just need to put numbers in. If you are inputting liquids, you need to figure out the weight, and put the numbers in.

for example, lets do analysis 1:

Manufacturer: Botanicare
Product name: cal mag
G/ml: 1.041
Nitrate: 2% (YOu will type in .02, and not just 2)
Mg: 1.2%
Ca: 3.2%
Fe: .1%

Switch tabs to "solution mix". Here is where you will see all of your elemental ppms after you input how many grams or ml of each product you want to put in. if you are using liquid, check the box that says "use weights for liquids"

Example:

See the cal mag? good.
check the orange box that says "use weights for liquids"
Up top where is says reservoir volume, type in 100
Now type in 15, to the right of cal mag in the "grams or ml" column

See the profile there?

You should have 83 ppm N, 50 ppm Mg, 132 ppm Ca and 4.1255 ppm Fe


Give yourself a hug. Nice job.


From here, go back and plug in all the numbers for jacks hydro and CaNO3.

When you want to add epsom, scroll down under the solution mix tab, until you see "epsom salts". input how many grams you will add. For example, lets add 1/2 gram per gallon to the 100 gal res by inputting 50 in the box and hitting "enter". See where it says: Mg 12.8 and S 16.8? YOu now need to take those numbers and manually input them under the "adjustments ppm" tab back up top.

I just filled my ebb/flow res with:

3 grams/ gal hydro
2.5 grams/ gal CaNO3
.09 grams gal of CaCl2
.1 grams/gal of MOST (jacks micro)
and 1ml / gal silica

On another system (MPB) I am running :

2.8 grams hydro
1.2 grams cano3
7 ml cal mag

and next time I change the res in the MPB I might try

3.5 grams hydro
15 ml / gal cal mag

Because I have been getting Ca deficiencies there, and this way I can bump my Ca up without adding too much N.


Many growers praise a 3:1:4:2:1 ratio (N:P:K:Ca:Mg), which can be run all the way seedling through flower with great results.

I am still experimenting, so don't take my numbers and just apply them blindly. Experiment yourself. Keep your EC between 1.1 and 1.7 or so to start, and then play with it from there once you get more comfortable.

 

[Capulator]

Hot damn that's quick to put them on that EC. And they're not getting stunted by that? That's real interesting.

Here:

my cross: KK x WW and swerves: "Original SD". Started feeding them 1.7 EC when they were about 6" tall and had like 2 leaf sets if that. They havent complained yet, and they are about a month old now.

 

[ttystikk]

Here:

my cross: KK x WW and swerves: "Original SD". Started feeding them 1.7 EC when they were about 6" tall and had like 2 leaf sets if that. They havent complained yet, and they are about a month old now.

Yeah... if I had girls complaining like that, I'd sit and listen just so I can make them complain some more! lol

Nice job, brother

 

[organicness]

Thanks Cap. That's really great information, I appreciate it.

 

[Isisyogi]

Heres a bud I grew using only Jacks...

Its OG Raskals Straw Mix Alien pheno......we called it the "Tarantula"....

I had six colas on this one plant. This cola was the biggest. The yield was high....and I dont know what im doing.

Nice. Which Jacks were you using? Hydro or soil? How much per gallon? What were the ppm of your water before nutes? After?
Thanks.

 

[Crysmatic]

I have some quetions:

1) where do you get 15.3-12-26?

2) Why do you think ratios are based on Molecule percentage, not based on ELEMENTAL ppm? p2o5 and K2O are not elements..but you kind of indicate they are in your sentence...

3) Where did you pull your sulfur number of 205?

4) How did you get your analysis? Mine is very different for 2.8/1.2... Using the cannastats calculator I get:

N: 86
P: 39
K: 160
Mg: 47
S: 64
Ca: 57

and then I woudl be adding cal mag 7 ml/ gal to bring N to 125, Mg to 70, and Ca to 119 to get a close to 3-1-4 ratio... You cant get Ca higher without making N a lot higher using Jr peters CaNO3, so I am not sure why you think it is redundant of me to use a different Ca source with Less N to hit my numbers. Cal mag is 2% N and 6% Ca, and Jr peters is 15.5% N and 18%Ca... and with the Mg in CalMag, you dont add epsom. IN essense I coudl leave out the jr peters and replace with 15 ml/gal of Cal mag to get a better ratio, giving me a 2 part. That would cost more though and negates the topic of this thread.

5) Where did you get your arsenic number? I looked at

The hydro wasnt listed, but only one product they carry listed had arsenic, and at 20ppm, and that was the jacks classic classicote, which I imagien is a slow release fertilizer...

6) Arent you being a little harsh on desert squirrel there?

You certainly have a lot of opinions that you laid out, can you please back them up with references other than "Daniel F"? Thank you. I woudl like to know where you are getting all of your info, and how you came up with your numbers.

when i use opinion, i say "imo" - which i try to say as little as possible because we have facts. i didn't realise quoting a chemist's response would be taken as "hearsay". the fatman diy thread is a monster - feel free to peruse it for references. i give references the first time i quote something. it's inefficient to quote basic facts repeatedly.

can you pinpoint which one of my points you feel is "opinion"?

1) jack's is 5-12-26. when you add calcium nitrate, it raises N to 15.3-12-26 (based on snowblind's ppm). adding nitrogen doesn't change the P:K ratio (1:2.2). make sense? this is also the reason it's mathematically impossible to get 3-1-4 with just jack's and calnit.

when we want to analyse ppm, we multiply the P2O5 by 0.436 to get elemental P, and K2O by 0.83 to get elemental K. right?

2) the NPK ratios on a bag of jack's is really N-P2O5-K2O. it says it in the analysis...

3,4) i used cannastats as well.

jack pro ppm breakdown (post #9 on the first page in this thread) has sulfur at 246 ppm. i just worked back with 75% jack's and 0.6 g/L epsom.

jack's pro 2.78 g/3.785L
calnit 1.2 g / 3.785 L
epsom 0.6 g / 3.785 L

ppm:
80% jack's NPKCaMgS 38-39-163-0-48-184
calnit NPKCaMgS 97-0-0-119-0-0
epsom NPKCaMgS 0-0-0-0-15-20

total NPKCaMgS 135-39-163-119-63-205

205 is traditionally high, but is obviously working well.

sorry, i presumed you were using jack's pro. i see you're using Hydro Herb FeED 16-4-17, or 4-1-4.2 - correct? you can't ADD calmag to get to 3-1-4. 4 + x > 4



NPKCaMg % 16-4-17-3-1.5

NPKCaMg ppm @ 2.8 g/3.785 L = 118-13-104-22-11

Calmag @ 1.2 ml/3.785L 49-0-0-60-21 (density is 3.66 kg / 3.78 L = 0.97 g/L)

total NPKCaMg ppm 203-13-104-139-33 (rounded off)

total NPKCaMg % 27.5-4-17-19-4.5

normalized to P2O5 6.9 - 1.0 - 4.2 - 4.8 - 1.1[\b] so you're essentially running 7-1-4. does the math work out like this for you? please let me know. and please check your recipe which contains CaCl2.

the phosphorus myth has NPK (ppm) in the 7-1-7 range for veg. i'm glad it's working for you.

fwiw, 8.04% ammonia + 11.96% NO3 does not equal 16%! they're analysis is wrong somewhere - you should give them a call and get the real numbers! it's likely 37%-50% ammonia, which is way higher than daniel fernandez' 10-15% range for hydroponics. imo it's a soil formula. take it fwiw.

my question about S was directed to jack pro users. so we're not arguing the same thing. i don't know how much S is in hydro herb.

botanicare calmag is made with calcium nitrate - which makes it redundant to add in addition to calnit. i have a concern - calnit is 11.9-0-0-16.9. the Ca:N is 16.9/11.9 = 1.4. calmag says it is 2.0-0-0-3.2, which gives a Ca:N of 1.6. how does botanicare ADD mag nitrate[\b] yet have a HIGHER Ca:N ratio? the analysis and/or ingredients are specious because all that calcium can't be coming from calnit. at least the tolerance is +- 0.05%. i.e. 1.95-2.05% N, or 2.5% tolerance.

could it be that american agritech doesn't want anybody copying calmag and stealing their business? this is why i don't trust labels and why i criticize numbers gained from labels. i still don't know EXACTLY what's in my diy ferts - vis a vis contaminants and whatnot - but i guarantee you i'm more precise than growers who use manufactured nutes.

5)

Got an email back today, nothing specific to the 5-12-26 and heavy metals, just somewhat of a vague response(imo).
This is what I found out:
We have very little in all of our formulas. In most cases there is less than 5ppm of each of the heavy metals…most being around 2 ppm or below. By that I mean the following metals:

Lead <5ppm
Arsenic < 1ppm
Cadmium < 2ppm
Mercury < 1ppm
Nickel , 5 ppm

Each formula does vary though. I hope this helps

Krystal Snyder-Laboratory Administrative Assistant
J.R.Peters, Inc -6656 Grant Way Allentown PA
(610)-395-7104 ext 46

i picked a random heavy metal for sake of brevity. it was actually 1 ppm - yes, that's a 100% error.

Arsenic in orchard and potato soils and plant tissue: "Potato fields situated on ex-orchard plantings have an average of 38.70 ppm total and 0.32 ppm water-soluble arsenic, whereas those on non-orchard soils showed values of 9.63 and 0.04 ppm respectively"

if you smoke arsenic, it's all in your lungs. since digestion relies on water soluble nutrients, it seems to me very little is bioavailable and that most would pass through. imo eating arsenic is better than smoking it. i'd have to find some litterature to verify that though.

 

[Capulator]

thank you for the clarification.

I believe that the cal mag uses a different form of ca nitrate, and that is why the numbers/ratios are so different.
The jr peters CaNO3 is 15.5%N, and 18% Ca,

here http://www.azot-trans.com/en/products/mineral_fertilizers/nitrogen_fertilizer/calcium_nitrate or here a cal nit that is 26% Ca.

I'm not using herb. I'm using jacks hydro pro. 5-12-26

The calculator breaks down P2O5 and K2O for you via excel formula to give you elemental ppm.

the sulfur.. at 246 ppm.. is listed as SO4. Actual ppm of just S at 8.21% is about 80ppm, not 246...

So with a dose of jacks at 3.6g/gal and cal nit at 2.5 g/gal.. you get

N: 150
P: 50
K: 205
S: 60
Mg: 78
Ca 119

N:P:K VERY close to 3:1:4, but for my strains, this does not provide enough calcium, so I am foliar feeding with calcium 25 and adding roughly .07 grams/gal of CaCl2, OR substituting all or some cal nit with cal mag.

 

[Crysmatic]

i can't believe i didn't see the SO4. my mistake.

you're using jack's pro 5-12-26, and not hydro herb. good. where do you find jack's hydro pro?

my point about 3-1-4 is that this "NPK" ratio is % by weight. the labeling system is a little confusing - N is elemental, P and K are salts (P2O5 and K2O). when you say you want 3-1-4, it's the same as saying 36-12-48 (comparing apples to apples to jack's pro). does this make sense? since you're only adding N to jack's pro 5-12-26, you're making X-12-26. the PK will always have a ratio of 1:2.2. you CAN make a 3-1-4, by adding potassium sulfate.

if you input 3-1-4 into cannastats, and use 18.9 g/usgal, you get NPK ppm of 150-22-166. your NPK ppm of 150-50-205 has an NPK ratio (%weight) of 3-2-5. is that clear?

Ca(NO3)2-4H2O is 236.15 g/mol
N is 14.0067 g/mol = 11.86%
Ca is 40.078 g/mol = 16.97%

your link was broken...let's see if this works


CaO is 26.5% (the oxygen always gets ya)
Ca is 19%

the bulk of of the N is made up of ammonium nitrate (3.6%, of which 1.1% is ammonia). now this makes sense to me. botanicare calmag still doesn't make sense (with the listed ingredients).