Mixing Magnesium Salts and Calcium Nitrate

[MateoinLosAngeles]

How are people able to mix Magnesium Salts and Calcium Nitrate together and/or with a fertilizer without the calcium staying suspended or the components forming a mush at the bottom of the container?

[estación seca]

We don't. We apply magnesium and calcium salts at different times than other nutrients.

[Ray]

If you are getting a precipitate, you are making too concentrated of a solution.

I must also ask why you think you need to supplement the Ca and Mg? Your water supply might have enough. Your choice of fertilizer may supply enough.

“More” is not necessarily “better”.

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Ray

I must also ask why you think you need to supplement the Ca and Mg?

I was actually experimenting mixing 1 part MSU RO & 1 part Calcium Nitrate with 0.5 parts Epsom Salts to make a knock off K-Lite! I use distilled water

[estación seca]

It's difficult enough taking care of orchids, especially if you wind up with a lot of them. Keep it as simple as possible. Find your water utility's annual water quality report and find out the total dissolved solids of your water. This number represents almost all calcium and magnesium salts. It is likely if you mix tap water with pure water you can achieve a reasonable amount of calcium and magnesium without adding a supplement.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by MateoinLosAngeles

I was actually experimenting mixing 1 part MSU RO & 1 part Calcium Nitrate with 0.5 parts Epsom Salts to make a knock off K-Lite! I use distilled water

How big is a "part", and in how much water?

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Find your water utility's annual water quality report and find out the total dissolved solids of your water.

Thanks for the advice! I really had Phalaenopsis struggling hard until I made the change to distilled water. So I take this process as part of my experimentation to see what works best. My collection is small enough to keep me entertained "fiddling" with different techniques until I find the growing technique that is best suited for me.

My area is served by both the Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant and the Metropolitan Water District's plants of Southern California. They have different readings, being the LA Aqueduct the "better," but on average their readings are:

pH 8.05
TDS 25.98 gpg / 444.7 mg/L
CaCO_3 11.39 gpg / 194.97 mg/L
Chloride 4.7 gpg / 80.45 mg/L
Ca 2.8 gpg / 47.93 mg/L
Mg 1.06 gpg / 18.14 mg/L
K 0.21 gpg / 3.6 mg/L
N 0.14 gpg / 2.4 mg/L
Na 4.5 gpg / 77 mg/L

I would be interested in adventuring into "diluting" this water into distilled or RO water, however, I do wonder if simply controlling the mineral supply from the get go would be easier given that the ranges for these vary widely. Also, my water is really up there in terms of hardness. I'm not extremely good at math but I feel the tap water should be extremely diluted in distilled water in order to have acceptable Mg or Ca levels.

Originally Posted by Ray

How big is a "part", and in how much water?

I used grams. Can't remember if I started with a half cup or a quarter cup of fertilizer, but that weighted 60 grams. I then measured 60 grams of Ca(NO_3)_2 and 30 grams of MgSO_4 and set aside without mixing.

I used three different deli 32 oz containers filled with distilled room temperature water and tested the solubility:

- First I mixed the fertilizer (5g) and added 1xCa(NO_3)_2 and 0.5xMgSO_4.

- Then I mixed the MgSO_4 (5g) and then added 2xfertilizer and the 2xCa(NO_3)_2 (which probably was excessive)

– Finally as a last test I mixed the remaining Fertilizer, Calcium Nitrate, and Epsom Salts in their powder form, I shaked them together really well without grinding and I just added a teaspoon of that mix to 32oz of water.

All those experiments deposited.

I did not try mixing the Calcium Nitrate first. However, I've seen recommendations such as diluting each component in boiling water first and then adding into water. The general consensus I've read online is that a) It's impossible; b) Mix the epsom salts first for best results.

I've also considered grinding the fertilizer and the calcium to create a fine powder in order to accelerate solution.

As per the ingredients I used: Calcium Nitrate is from Southern AG 15.5-0-0-19Ca and comes in spherical granules, the fertilizer is Green Care MSU RO and also comes in spherical granules, the Epsom Salts are 100% MgSO_4 from Whole Foods (No oils, fragrances, etc.).

[estación seca]

TDS of 200 total is fine for almost all orchids, and the numbers aren't critical. If you mix a little more than half pure with the remainder tap you should be fine, and not need to bother with calcium/magnesium supplementation.

Over the course of thousands of gallons of water there will be savings. The least expensive RO water to purchase here from an aquarium store is 40 cents a gallon.

If I had an RO unit it might wind up less expensive, but there is a large amount of waste water produced making RO. People save and reuse the waste in their garden, but most kitchen RO units are plumbed to send the waste water down the drain.

[sunfire]

I just want to say I also tried to make a K-lyte knock off and wound up with sludge. I use RO water because my tap water is NaCl softened and tried to make a concentrate of the fertilizer because I only need a few liters at a time.

I think you can mix mag nitrate and calcium nitrate without precipitating out, but mag sulphate is in the calculator. My collection is small so I wound up just buying a small bag of the MSU rainwater and I'm happy with that.

Originally Posted by MateoinLosAngeles

I was actually experimenting mixing 1 part MSU RO & 1 part Calcium Nitrate with 0.5 parts Epsom Salts to make a knock off K-Lite! I use distilled water

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by sunfire

MSU rainwater and I'm happy with that.

I also use MSU but curious to transition to K-Lite, especially because I grow other epiphytes that I think would really enjoy it. I did buy a 2lb bottle to take advantage of a sale FR was running. Kelley's Korner sells it at a good price too but Ray includes shipping so pick your poison.

I did have success mixing one teaspoon of Epsom Salts and one teaspoon of Calcium Nitrate per gallon for a LECA prep. But it did not contain fertilizer. What I did was pouring a gallon of distilled water into a bucket, then taking a 32oz deli container's worth of water. Heated that in a kettle, and then mixed one teaspoon of Epsom Salts in 16oz of boiling water (half deli container) and then one teaspoon of Calcium Nitrate in a different container with the remaining 16oz of distilled water. I then added the Epsom Salt solution into the bucket first, then the Calcium Nitrate. Finally I added the LECA. I did not notice any precipitation occurring.