Re: [AGA-Member] Is it okay to pre-mix?

[Jeffery Ludwig <jeff@rockytop.net>]

> Is it okay to pre-mix your nutrients for the week so that you only have to dose one thing?  If you mix KNO3, and Seachem P, K, Trace, and Fe, are there reactions that prevent your nutrients from getting to the plants properly?

Hi Ron...

I would the answer is certainly yes, fertilizier chemicals will react. 
Phosphates can be very reactive, try mixing PO4 with your iron, you will 
immediately form insoluable salts, this is what tipped me off.  Keep 
everything separate and mix in the tank... as things become more and 
more dilute the reaction rates go down significantly.  I follow this 
routine:

Day 1: 50% Change, K+, Mg/Ca, Weeks worth of PO4, let mix in between
Day 2: Trace + N, let mix in between
Day 4: Trace + N, let mix in between
Day 6: Trace

KNO3/K2SO4/Mg are all dry.

Keep chemicals dry if possible (they're much more stable) and if you 
need to make solutions use distilled/RO water and add a little HCl if 
the solution needs to last a few weeks, or else you can get bacteria 
growing in aqueous based solutions... I would not mix concentrated stock 
solutions together, if you must use RO and keep it as dilute as possible.

Jeff Ludwig
Elkton, MD

PS: For the archives you might want to check your email program's 
linewrap function, it doesnt seem to be putting in the proper linebreaks.
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