# Ferts



## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Hey guys just cant seem to get my head around ferts. I had a head injury a few years back and some stuff I just cant seem to understand others are fine . Anyway I was thinking of ordering Barrs GH Booster = Potasium Sulfate Calcium Sulfate Magnesium Sulfate . What other ferts would I need I figured Iron but could be wrong. Oh and the rest of the stuff can I get it in a bottle. Thanks Pat


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

You need the following (in whatever form):

1. Potassium

2. Nitrogen

3. Phosphate

4. Micro-nutrients (Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, Boron, Manganese, Sulfur, Zinc, Copper...probably some more that I can`t remember)

5. CO2

6. Proper lighting

With a proper supply of these, you are fertilizing your tank!

I don`t use dry ferts, but I`m sure others here can chime in to let you know what they use. 

Off the top of my head, potassium nitrate, mono-potassium phosphate and potassium sulfate are all commonly available. These should cover your 3 macro`s: nitrogen, potassium and phosphate.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Thanks Chris think I got it I have the lights and co2 Ive been dosing with Flourish.  But I knew something was missing.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

As Chris mentioned, you essentially need your NPKs (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), in some form or another for your macronutrients.

The most common chemicals for adding these nutrients are:

potassium nitrate (for the nitrogen and also some potassium)
potassium dihydrogen phosphate (for phosphorus and also some potassium; I prefer to use the IUPAC naming convention)

You don't really need any specific chemical for adding potassium, as the methods to add nitrates and phosphate already introduce potassium into your water column, and as long as you are dosing the above two correctly, you shouldn't have a shortage of potassium (on the other end of the spectrum, it's very difficult to overdose on potassium as well).

Finally, for the GH booster that Tom Barr sells, it's mainly for those that have extremely low gH, but it doesn't hurt for you to add it either. You can easily find potassium sulfate (another source for both potassium and sulfur) as well as magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts). The latter is cheaper at Wal-Mart or Shopper's Drug Mart. 

For your micronutrients (i.e. iron, manganese, molybdenum, etc), you can use a dry fertilizer (i.e. Hydroponics store do carry this), or you could use Flourish (as you currently are). 

As Chris also mentioned, as long as you have the proper lighting and CO2 and are fertilizing correctly, then your plants will do great.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Yea, Flourish covers your micro-nutrients only, unless you are specifically using Flourish Potassium or something along those lines.

Still need your NPK!


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Thanks alot guys this I can follow my plants are doing great except for that moss but I did notice just a tinge of yellow on my babytears so I figured I was missing something Ill hit the store tommorow thanks again Pat


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

Im glad you asked pat!

Is there something that can be baught with everything instead of adding different things?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

No, there is not.


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

thanks . so If i get ebson salts ,how much and how often ...? 
and should I dissolve first ?
Thanks a bunch ...

so with my hydroponic trace and the ebson salts that all i need ?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Epsom salts (assuming what you are using is magnesium sulfate) are going to be a source of (mainly) magnesium which is one of the _many_ micro-nutrients.

I've never used epsom salts for that, but I think most mixtures with it in it probably do around .5g/l ratio or something like that. Darkblade should be able to be more specific (he is smart like that).

That isn't even covering one of the major ones (NPK), so no, it isn't all you need. It is also adding salt to the your water, raising the salinity (so be careful in adding too much).

There is lots of information on this (on the internet AND this very same forum), so do a bit of a search before you ask questions that many of us have answered hundreds of times.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Chris S said:


> Epsom salts (assuming what you are using is magnesium sulfate) are going to be a source of (mainly) magnesium which is one of the _many_ micro-nutrients.


Actually, magnesium is considered to be a macronutrient, not a micronutrient 



Chris S said:


> I've never used epsom salts for that, but I think most mixtures with it in it probably do around .5g/l ratio or something like that.


Truth be told, I think given that Toronto water is already pretty hard, you should be able to get away without adding any additional magnesium. You should, however, aim for 5-25 ppm if you think your water is too soft (i.e. a very low gH). Then again, there aren't any commercial test kits for magnesium (that I am aware of).


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Magnesium is a macro eh? Are we just talking terminology here? =D


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Chris S said:


> Magnesium is a macro eh? Are we just talking terminology here? =D


Heh, to be technically correct, plants require macronutrients such as hydrogen, oxygen, magnesium, sulfur, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and a bunch of others that I can't remember off the top of my head. Most of these can be obtained fairly easily, but for NPK, additional supplementation is necessary.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

You just like showing me I'm wrong at every corner!

To get technical, I think I was taught in high school that there were primary and secondary macro-nutrients for plants - npk being the primary ones. Am I remembering correctly?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Darkblade48 said:


> Then again, there aren't any commercial test kits for magnesium (that I am aware of).


I'm pretty sure La Motte makes a magnesium hardness test.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Chris S said:


> You just like showing me I'm wrong at every corner!
> 
> To get technical, I think I was taught in high school that there were primary and secondary macro-nutrients for plants - npk being the primary ones. Am I remembering correctly?


Yes that's correct, with the secondary macros being Ca, S and Mg.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Chris S said:


> You just like showing me I'm wrong at every corner


Aww, don't feel bad 



ameekplec. said:


> I'm pretty sure La Motte makes a magnesium hardness test.


LaMotte = $$$


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Don't worry, we can still be friends


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I'm sure you could use the salt water Mg tests for FW applications also - the reagents are the same and I don't see why it should be any different FW to SW, although the sensitivity may not be adequate for FW testing as FW has much lower levels of Mg.

But if you can use them, you can get decent Mg tests (Salifert, Elos) for under $40


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