Mixing sequence for Pro-tekt(silica) cal-mag and base in r.o?

[Inspired333]

Ive been adding it last.
I add silica to a big jar of water and mix it, then I add it to res.

 

[YouLookAdopted]

Sam and otheres here have a point, dilute before adding to res can avoid problems using 1 liter to 1 gallon (if your res is bigger). So, dilute 1st adding Pro-Teckt, Cal-Mag then nutes in RO water. Dilute, don't pollute.

Many say to add Cal-Mag to RO water before nutes to avoid lockup, not after. Also Botanicare and GH have different "calmag" formulas. But as Sam and others point out diluting 1st make this mainly a moot point.

I'm going to come off as dumb here, but what do you mean by dilute? I have seedlings on the go and am planning to use Dyna-Gro Grow and Pro-Tekt. It is a tiny 6 gal rez, so was just planning on getting those 5 gal RO water jugs and a 1 gal, then mixing Pro-Tekt, Grow then Cal-Mag in that order in to the 5 gal jug before dumping it in to the rez. Would that work? Sound like the easiest thing in the world mixing a batch, but there's obviously a science to it.

On a side note, and sorry for hijacking, but I also have Floralicious Plus and DM Zone root conditioner. Could these be incorporated with the Dyna-Gro, or is that overkill?

 

[Stonefree69]

I'm going to come off as dumb here, but what do you mean by dilute? I have seedlings on the go and am planning to use Dyna-Gro Grow and Pro-Tekt. It is a tiny 6 gal rez, so was just planning on getting those 5 gal RO water jugs and a 1 gal, then mixing Pro-Tekt, Grow then Cal-Mag in that order in to the 5 gal jug before dumping it in to the rez. Would that work? Sound like the easiest thing in the world mixing a batch, but there's obviously a science to it.

On a side note, and sorry for hijacking, but I also have Floralicious Plus and DM Zone root conditioner. Could these be incorporated with the Dyna-Gro, or is that overkill?

Sure it would work for a 6 gallon res. What I was referring to was adding larger amounts of concentrated nutes straight into a bigger say 20 gallon res with 6-12 5 gallon buckets attached. Strong concentrations could interact before diluting if mixed together. Same would be true of adding pH up or down, dilute 1st with 5 ml/gallon of RO water before adding to res. Says so too on the Dyna-Gro pH bottles. So if I wanted to add say 10 ml pH down, I mix it 1st with 10 gallons RO water. For your smaller 6 gallon res I may try to adjust with maybe 1-3 ml pH up or down depending on situation or stage of growth. Seedlings for sure try adjusting pH using .5-1 ml 1st.

On adding DM Zone, it has chloramine which would destroy the beneficial bacteria in Floralicious Plus. I don't use either and keep my res temps @ 70-72 degrees F. It seems to be near the sweet spot of maintaining dissolved oxygen, keeping bad stuff at bay and roots themselves are most productive @ 70-75 degrees F. I also use Dyna-Gro nutes along with Foliar Pro.

Of course I like redundancy/backup so it's good to have some DM Zone or plain Clorox bleach, H2O2 and EWC tea handy in case my roots show signs of trouble for some unknown reason or cause.

Your res should be easy to keep cool w/frozen pint or quart bottles. To allow for water expanding into ice, remember water expands about 9% in volume. I'd allow for 15-20% expansion to be safe from breaking container.

 

[green thumbs]

I always add the protekt 1St and then my nutes

 

[YouLookAdopted]

Sure it would work for a 6 gallon res. What I was referring to was adding larger amounts of concentrated nutes straight into a bigger say 20 gallon res with 6-12 5 gallon buckets attached. Strong concentrations could interact before diluting if mixed together. Same would be true of adding pH up or down, dilute 1st with 5 ml/gallon of RO water before adding to res. Says so too on the Dyna-Gro pH bottles. So if I wanted to add say 10 ml pH down, I mix it 1st with 10 gallons RO water. For your smaller 6 gallon res I may try to adjust with maybe 1-3 ml pH up or down depending on situation or stage of growth. Seedlings for sure try adjusting pH using .5-1 ml 1st.

On adding DM Zone, it has chloramine which would destroy the beneficial bacteria in Floralicious Plus. I don't use either and keep my res temps @ 70-72 degrees F. It seems to be near the sweet spot of maintaining dissolved oxygen, keeping bad stuff at bay and roots themselves are most productive @ 70-75 degrees F. I also use Dyna-Gro nutes along with Foliar Pro.

Of course I like redundancy/backup so it's good to have some DM Zone or plain Clorox bleach, H2O2 and EWC tea handy in case my roots show signs of trouble for some unknown reason or cause.

Your res should be easy to keep cool w/frozen pint or quart bottles. To allow for water expanding into ice, remember water expands about 9% in volume. I'd allow for 15-20% expansion to be safe from breaking container.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

 

[Epiphyte]

Damn, I've always used it last...Good looking out!

 

[ak-51]

I talked to the techs at dyna-gro and they said as long as the pro-tekt doesnt cloud up when you add it, it should be fine.

I run blumats drain to waste in coco. I don't ever completely empty my reservoirs until it is time to flush. So when I am filling it up there is always anywhere from 6-15 gallons in the bottom of a 27 or 32 gallon res. So without draining the whole thing (which I am not going to do every time) I can't really add pro-tekt to completely clean water.

Today I tried first diluting the dosage for the whole res fill-up in a 5 gallon bucket (so about 4.5 gallons of water). I had already added about 8 gallons of water to the reservoir, and there was 12 gallons of nutrient solution there to start with. I poured the diluted pro-tekt solution in but it still clouded up.

Next time I will try filling the reservoir all the way up minus 4-5 gallons and then add the diluted solution the same way from there.

 

[Epiphyte]

I used a teaspoon in one gallon of water....it didn't cloud up unless it was very minimal...how much clouding should I see?

 

[ak-51]

The clouding should be obvious. Like some milk just got dumped in.

I think it might be impossible to add it to a reservoir with nutrients in it, no matter how diluted the nutrients are. Today my res probably had about 11 gallons of nutrients in it. I put 16 gallons of water on top of that, more than halving the concentration. I then very slowly added 80mL of Pro-Tekt by dripping it into the stream of the hose. It clouded up.

 

[Stonefree69]

I used a teaspoon in one gallon of water....it didn't cloud up unless it was very minimal...how much clouding should I see?

That's how I do it and I get no clouding that I see but have white res and transfer buckets.

The clouding should be obvious. Like some milk just got dumped in.

I think it might be impossible to add it to a reservoir with nutrients in it, no matter how diluted the nutrients are. Today my res probably had about 11 gallons of nutrients in it. I put 16 gallons of water on top of that, more than halving the concentration. I then very slowly added 80mL of Pro-Tekt by dripping it into the stream of the hose. It clouded up.

Try premixing that 80 ml with 1-3 gallons RO water. I get no clouding that I see even adjusting up my ppms in system from say 400 to 600 (if my ppms were dropping to 400 indicating I need more nutes). I pre mix all my nutes with RO water also pH up and down. I start with about 93 ml Protekt (throughout grow) 39 gallons total in RDWC then add other nutes. When I re-add Protekt and nutes my pH is about 5.5-5.8 unless it's a higher pH that can hinder dissolving?

 

[Jibman]

I always add pro tekt first, then base, then any other additives. Never seen any clouding in the water.

 

[phellowship]

Just wanted to chime in on this. I'm useing H&G with RO ,soil and coco.
i always ad cal-mag before my A&B nutes then i use the pro silicate to raise my ph to 5.8-6.0
i use a cup of water and add my pro silicate to it,then ad the mix to my water bucket till my ph is where i want it.then ad all the additives.

 

[Epiphyte]

I called dyna gro. They said it should not cloud when you mix it with water. I asked why? She said that it was the silica binding with calcium. She said if you add their mag supplement it would correct the problem in most cases. This makes sense to me. I have low amounts of calcium in my tap so I don't see clouding. Does anyone using RO see clouding when they mix it first?

 

[Stonefree69]

I called dyna gro. They said it should not cloud when you mix it with water. I asked why? She said that it was the silica binding with calcium. She said if you add their mag supplement it would correct the problem in most cases. This makes sense to me. I have low amounts of calcium in my tap so I don't see clouding. Does anyone using RO see clouding when they mix it first?

No clouding for me, I premix Protekt in a gallon or so of RO water 1st. Then Dyna-Gro Mag-Pro, Grow or Bloom and finally K-L-N if it's called for (use that 1st 4-5 weeks).

 

[ak-51]

Today I mixed up some nutrients. I added the protekt first, then rhizotonic then Canna Coco A and B. As soon as I put the B in the whole bucket clouded up hard. When I went to adjust the pH it was close to 8. As I brought it down to 6 the clouding went away completely. Interesting huh?

 

[Epiphyte]

That is interesting ak-51! I guess since certain nutrients weren't available at such a high ph, the silica was more likely to bind especially if the cal and mag was slightly out of wack...However, cal and mag are both available at the same ph level...I wonder if K was playing a role in the lockout/binding...I don't know too much about canna a and b. However I did pick up my first bottle of cannazym the other day...

 

[Stonefree69]

Today I mixed up some nutrients. I added the protekt first, then rhizotonic then Canna Coco A and B. As soon as I put the B in the whole bucket clouded up hard. When I went to adjust the pH it was close to 8. As I brought it down to 6 the clouding went away completely. Interesting huh?

That is interesting ak-51! I guess since certain nutrients weren't available at such a high ph, the silica was more likely to bind especially if the cal and mag was slightly out of wack...However, cal and mag are both available at the same ph level...I wonder if K was playing a role in the lockout/binding...I don't know too much about canna a and b. However I did pick up my first bottle of cannazym the other day...

Yes very interesting! Just like pool maintenance if you allow your pH to get too high, there is a much bigger risk of calcium scaling.

 

[Buck Cannon]

...

 

[hehehemann]

I always fill up my reservoir first just a few gallons shy of its capacity.
Add the base nutrients eg: Base A, stir, wait 10-15 mins then add Base B
I always give the reservoir a good 10 mins between adding nutrients (this was key for me)
Fill up a gallon of water and add your protekt to it, again let it sit for a little before adding this gallon to the reservoir.
Same again for Cal-mag.
Diluting the nutrient first before adding it to the reservoir helps.

 

[ak-51]

I was able to successfully add Pro-Tekt to a reservoir with some nutrients in it today with no clouding at all.

When my reservoir gets low I just add the requisite amount of water and then add the corresponding amount of nutrients. The only time I totally empty my reservoir and have all clean water in it is when I switch to flush.

Today I was down to about 8 gallons in a 27 gallon res. I added approx 14 gallons of water to the res to dilute it, then I filled up a 5 gallon bucket with water and about 30mL of Pro-Tekt (~the 2mL / gallon rate). I then poured the 5 gallon bucket of Pro-Tekt solution into the reservoir with diluted nutrients and I got no clouding at all. I added the nutrients after that and still no clouding. Success finally!

So basically the key is this: dilute pro-tekt in plain water in separate container, add maximum amount of water to reservoir to dilute it, then mix both together.