[Caligrown]

I have not seen this info posted anywhere.

This is from the Canna research department in a document called:

"Everything you ever wanted to know about CANNA COCO"


Damage to crop caused by hard water
Normally, PK13/14 and CANNA COCO nutrients can be
used together. However, in case the tap water is very
hard, this combination can cause problems. Very hard
water contains high amounts of calcium and the
amount of acid necessary to set the pH is relatively high.
This is due to a high bicarbonate level in the water.
When PK 13/14 is used under such circumstances the risk
of precipitation in the water tank increases, and this can
cause blocked drippers. If you use very hard water for
irrigation it is recommended to use pH – grow (nitric
acid) instead of pH – Bloom (Phosphoric acid) to set the
pH.

Cali-

[jimjay]

Thanks for posting this Caligrown. I just started adding pk 13-14 this week. I have noticed precipitation in the tank(build up of solids). It is like undissolved epsom at the bottom of the tank. And my water is good with an ec of .2- .4
So should i be worried about this buildup? Is it normal?

[Caligrown]

Is it normal..No. Should you be worried...You should at least figure out why so you are not flying blind.

I am not a chemist but if you are getting chemicals that are binding together then they are not available to the plants. You have no way of knowing at what ratio the nutrients in the resi have been altered.

First ?...Are you adding the PK because you see the need for it or just because you are following a schedule?

Are you using nitric or potassium based acid?

What are you adding to your resi?

what order are you adding the nutes?

What concentration?

What is the temp of your resi?

Do you run circulating pump constantly?

Could you possibly be having this problem because you didn't mix the solution enought prior to adding the next concentrate?

Hopefully we, or someone here can figure it out.

Cali-

also... .4 EC is 200 ppm on my hanna pen. That is where they start labeling water "hard" so you could be having the problem that was talked about...

[jimjay]

I am following cannas schedule.
I am not sure about nitric or potassium based. It is gh ph-. orange acid. the lable is corroded pretty bad
I add water, a,b,pk 13-14, ph-
I try to keep this below 1.8 ec, 100ml a+, 100ml b+,75 ml pk13-14 for 15 gal rez

Rez temp could be a possibility, I dont heat it and the the area probably gets to 55 f+-
No circulation pump
I mix the solution prior to adding more.

I think it could possibly be hard water or maybe the whole ph- thing.

[gaiusmarius]

it's quite normal to get some silt type residue in the tank, specially if you recirculate. but even if not it can happen with hard water, i have to clean my tank out thoroughly after every harvest and there will be a whole bunch of really fine sandy silt at the bottom of the tank. if it gets bad, just clean it out. but a certain amount does no harm as it sits at the bottom of the tank.

adding some kind of enzyme product will help keep the salt build up under control on the drippers as well as in the coco.

[Caligrown]

GM- JJ said it was "like undisolved Epsom salt" which is exactly as chemical salts binding together are described. Don't you think he should at least keep an eye on it rather than "not worry about it"?

I get the sand in my resi as well but I have never thought it to look like epsom salts.

Cali-


BTW - Thx for the enzyme info. I didn't know it helped to disolve salts. I have only read that it breaks down the organic root material.

[gaiusmarius]

LOL....interesting, is that what i said? don't worry about it. pah, read the whole post. what i said stands. i'm talking from experience you could only dream of with coco. if you read the whole post you'll see, i tell him that some silt is normal after some time, but i also tell him to clean it out if it gets too bad. so what exactly is your point?

[CoCoSativas]

This is such a stupidwarning. Canna nutrients like most are intended to go into tap water. Yes the pk 13 14 reacts with the A part but it's not a big deal canna wouldn't sell the stuff as part of their pretty amazing system if it was bad. I've seen the reaction when you pour it in, lol it mixes pretty evenly to me I think you are just scaring newbies.

[Mikell]

Precipitation is a real concern when mixing any feeds.

The topic is hard water, by the by, and the warning is from Canna.

[CoCoSativas]

Originally Posted by Mikell

Precipitation is a real concern when mixing any feeds.

The topic is hard water, by the by, and the warning is from Canna.

You can see when you pour the pk 13 14 into the mix AFTETR part a and part a only it's cloudy when it fit mixes in but if you mix well its not a big deal the mix remains slightly cloudy but the pk 13 14 is certainly working.

My watter with the calmag is 300 ppm to start the water would have to be hard as hell to cause a serious issue from what I've seen in a year of using this stuff...