Salt nutes have crystallized in bottle.. ruined?

[Tomatoesonly]

I have a gallon of "Fox Farm GROW BIG" that I noticed when shaking and turning has a ton of what sounds like sand and small rocks inside.
I assume this is salts that have crystallized for whatever reason??
I put in a mixing bar and ran it on my magnetic mixer, but they don't seem to be re-dissolving.
Is this bottle perma ruined? And what would cause that?

 

[StickyBandit]

Maybe some water has evaporated over time past saturation?
Does it dissolve if you take a sample out and add water?
pH can make it solidify also

 

[Tomatoesonly]

Maybe some water has evaporated over time past saturation?
Does it dissolve if you take a sample out and add water?
pH can make it solidify also

Well it's a gallon of it, and I haven't used all that much. I'll have to scour up another gallon bottle then filter the stuff and see what it is and why it won't dissolve.

 

[StickyBandit]

They have support on their website. It says in the description they make that product pH low for storage stability. I would contact them before removing ingredients

 

[moose eater]

I used Dyna-Gro and Dyna-Bloom sparingly, years ago, and they would routinely crystalize in the bottle, often after surprisingly/disappointingly short periods of time on the shelf; you could hear the crystals banging/sloshing around in there when shaking the jug/bottle.

The company instructed me to warm them by placing the bottle/jug in a pan of warm water (NOT PIPING HOT!!) and allow them to dissolve again, over time, shaking periodically as it warmed.

I rarely used this product back then, other than at transplant time into bloom mix (Dyna-Bloom), or sometimes lightly during vegetative phase (Dyna-Gro), as the micro-nutes offered in these products contained a greater array at that time than many other commercial sources.

 

[Tomatoesonly]

I used Dyna-Gro and Dyna-Bloom sparingly, years ago, and they would routinely crystalize in the bottle, often after surprisingly/disappointingly short periods of time on the shelf; you could hear the crystals banging/sloshing around in there when shaking the jug/bottle.

The company instructed me to warm them by placing the bottle/jug in a pan of warm water (NOT PIPING HOT!!) and allow them to dissolve again, over time, shaking periodically as it warmed.

I rarely used this product back then, other than at transplant time into bloom mix (Dyna-Bloom), or sometimes lightly during vegetative phase (Dyna-Gro), as the micro-nutes offered in these products contained a greater array at that time than many other commercial sources.

Thanks for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[moose eater]

Thanks for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're welcome.

If you can raise anyone at Fox Farms on the telephone, which I don't know about right now, having only spoken with them about content of their Ocean Forest mix years and years ago, they might be able to confirm for you -their- prescribed process of re-dissolving the contents.

Avoid ANY temps even remotely approaching any where close to 200 f., as that tends to be a transformation temp for many chemicals.

Run some piping hot tap water (likely between 125 and 145 f in most cases), and renew your water in the pan your jug is sitting/warming/soaking in as warranted, as the temps drop while the jug soaks; like a low-impact double-boiler effect, of sorts..

Keep shaking intermittently. (I did that both out of instruction, and out of my own impatience).

The nutes ought to be redeemable.

 

[Three Berries]

Warm the stuff up and it will dissolve some more.

 

[troutman]

Like others said. Just add water.

 

[NEED 4 SEED]

Like others said. Just add water.

No, because that didn't come from evaporating water. It needs to be warmed up as stated before.

 

[Tomatoesonly]

Ok so I got around to seeing just WTF was going on. Poured off the liquid into the drain and here is what was left over....That stuff isn't gonna melt back in.
To be fair, I don't know the whole history of this bottle. It is entirely possible it spent time in the sun or cold.

 

[Ringodoggie]

I also have a bottle of Grow Big that did this. It was subjected to some pretty high heat while in storage. In the garage in SoCal desert Summer. Probably 120F or so. Maybe a little hotter.

I am using the liquid on some bushes and outdoor non-cannabis plants. I'll see what's left in the bottle when the liquid is gone.

 

[Raho]

Ok so I got around to seeing just WTF was going on. Poured off the liquid into the drain and here is what was left over....That stuff isn't gonna melt back in.
To be fair, I don't know the whole history of this bottle. It is entirely possible it spent time in the sun or cold.

Have you looked at the website for your product?
They make a soil and a hydro version of that product.

On the hydro version, it says the product contains earth worm castings.

Grow Big® Hydroponic Liquid Plant Food - FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company

Based on our popular Grow Big® Liquid Plant Food, Grow Big® Hydroponic Liquid Plant Food is...

foxfarm.com

The "soil" version doesn't say that, but . . .

That pic looks like the bottle sat on the shelf a LONG time and formed a sediment.
Basically a rock formed mostly from micro nutes, but if other solids (like EWC) are in there, it could make it even easier.
If you separate that stuff from the liquid, dry it out and grind it up to a powder, you'd probably have better luck getting it to dissolve again (the hot tap water method sounds logical.)

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

This is one reason why I prefer powders over liquids, buying 25# bags of the Peters brand. I've got 3 formulations. I use Dyna-Gro Foliage-Pro sometimes as a supplement for my Osmocote I add in when I upcan to the final pot mainly for the high N and micros to keep the leaves green and steadfast until harvest. I've had DG's Bloom food throw precipitates.

Keep your liquid foods in your house where it's warm.

Uncle Ben

 

[Old Uncle Ben]

Just commented on my DG Bloom which has chunks of precips - https://www.icmag.com/threads/yello...h-a-high-n-food.18126823/page-5#post-18344230

I shake the big jug, pour. Doesn't seem to bother anything.