How to dispose of expired / old nutrients (not down the drain)

[ahhhavalanche!]

I inherited ~2 L of expired nutrients (GH, 1L gro, 1L bloom). They are old and crusty, and i would not risk putting them on my babies. I feel really guilty pouring them down the drain and contributing to this hypoxia mess we are getting ourselves into. Anyone have any ideas for how to properly dispose of them?

I live in an apartment and so i cant just add water and pour it on the lawn... but if i could i feel like i would have to dilute it with a TON of water since I feed mature plants in units of ml/gal, and i dont want to nute burn/kill the entire lawn... im stumped.

 

[Rysam]

do like the last guy did. put them under your sink until you find someone else to take em.


Thats all i got, I have a lawn and shrubberies for my excess.

 

[dubwise]

why not mix them up and see how well they work (or not work)...it would be interesting to see how much potency or ability they lose as time has gone by.......or you could throw them in the trash.

 

[CaptainTrips]

Why cant you use it on the lawn? Just mix it up a bit at a time until its gone, im sure the grass will like it fine. Or water trees with it...

 

[circadian clock]

I agree with dubwise just throw them in the trash.

 

[303hydro]

Don't pour it down the sink. If you google " Fertilizer Disposal " in my state it suggests to find someone else that can use it, and at last resort throw it away in the plastic container. I am sure you could find somewhere to gift it, even just some random nursing home could use it on there flowers or something.... How old are they anyway?

 

[DrLongbottom]

I am trying to understand how a salt based nute has gone bad? Perhaps a little evaporation has taken place.that is no harm,remember the company that made the nutes mixed a dry powder with water before they sold it to you. (So you could pay them for mostly water). Most likely the crusty tops are due to the last guy being sloppy with his bottles. DLB

 

[WelderDan]

I can tell you for a fact I've used old GH nutes that were crusty around the rim with no problems. Shit, I'm using an old jug of PBP that has to be going on 4 years old right now...

 

[homebrew420]

I am with all these folk. Unless it is a highly organic base, salt in water should have a hard time going bad. If you really have nobody to gift them to and don't feel right about hte trash, do some guerrilla feeding to the neighbors flowers and shrubs. Don't pour them down the drain though.

Peace

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Even the label recommends how to mix should the solution(s) get crusty, (two teaspoons per gallon for every teaspoon of non-crusty.) You'll need micro. Grow, not so much.

 

[BudGood]

Yep, I agree, old stuff isn't necessarily BAD, just might need a bit more...

I have an old jug of PBP veg, compared it with some new in a sample pack I got. The only difference was it was a couple shades darker, but still had the same good minty Botanicare smell. The plants are loving it, they don't give a shit how old it is!

 

[ahhhavalanche!]

thanks everyone for the replies... The reason that i think they are bad is that the gro is a very sick looking green, I think it was exposed to light for a long time.

I am going to dilute the crap out of them and water a friends lawn with em, i dont want my landlord getting sketched out that i am doing his job.

 

[gregor_mendel]

Use them on your garden.

GH claims and indefinite shelf life for flora series, and I believe from my own experience and the anecdotes of others.

 

[habeeb]

another thing you can try is gifting them to a hydro store for someone who doesn't have money to try and work on..

tough call man, I think there might be someone in the yellow pages that handles "chemical" disposal


this is a good point to email our companies and ask what a responsible thing to do is, as I am short answered also

 

[danks]

feed it to a really big tree should make it happy

 

[HighDesertJoe]

Are local Fire Station has a hazard waste disposal day once a week.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

House and outdoor plants love the old hydro solution. Please don't pour it down the drain, give it to the needy!

 

[supermanlives]

dont assume the ferts are bad untill the plants tell ya so. i have used 3 year old ferts fox farm without any issues

 

[RockyMountainHi]

If you hear rocks rattleing, whe you shake the bottle,, - bad sign.

Any questionable nutes, I'll put on the grass.


Never hurt the lawn - come to think of it,, the lawn looks great, weeds and all!

But my paranoid side is positive the garden would have not been as happy.


I know, I know.... it's not good to let paranoia win. But when the garden is involved, I'll error on the side of a happy lawn.

I do have a 12 year old bottle of Superthrive, I'm scared of it, but it smells "fresh" - well for Superthrive....

 

[Kanz]

Why cant you use it on the lawn? Just mix it up a bit at a time until its gone, im sure the grass will like it fine. Or water trees with it...

PMSL