Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

For the first time since i started AP i feel i am confidently i am on top of my nutrient dosing with thanks to Mr Damage and the information he posted here concerning his dosing ratio of 1-3-.5,i was going to PM him but then i thought i would post it as a benefit to others.I took on his advice,started low monitored the results then changed accordingly,my DWC system needs a slightly lower rate to the media,pics show the results,old growth versus the new growth on the same plant,it is still showing a slight iron deficiency but i am in the process of changing over from EDDHA to DTPA so i can improve this as i work out what level is required,i have a neutral PH which in the two years the system has been running hasnt changed so dosing had to be worked out with this in mind.
So many thanks Mr Damage to one of the most useful pieces of information i have gleaned from this forum....

No prob's dasboot!... ...I'm glad it's helped.

It certainly made a difference with my systems, as well as a few of my customers systems now. I'm still playing around with the ratio a little bit, just experimenting with the Magnesium Sulphate rate.

I initially started running Calcium hydroxide, Potassium bicarb and Magnesium sulphate at a ratio of 3:1:1... but was a bit worried about constantly adding sulphates, especially as I don't grow "hungry" plants such as Tomatoes in my systems, so I dropped it to 3:1:0.5

That rate seemed to worked well for quite a while, but eventually the plants started showing signs of what I believe to be early symptoms of Magnesium deficiency... I needed to increase the Magnesium Sulphate a little. So for the last couple of months I've been using the 3:1:1 ratio again, two out of every three times I raise/buffer the pH, but on the third time I actually don't add any Magnesium Sulphate.

This seems to be working well now. So basically a ratio of 3:1:0.66 (just to be difficult )... but whatever works for your system and the type of plants your growing.

Please note, I've also switched the order when expressing the ratios. I've just found it easier to express/read this way, but this has nothing to do with the order in which they should be added to the system. IMO the Potassium bicarb and MgS04 should still be added an hour or so before the Calcium Hydroxide.

Cheers!

Wow, he gets his own thread

Dasboot - well done!

I have also gained a lot of info from Mr Damage here & on another forum & this particular info on ratios was also very helpful for me. He is very generous with his time & knowledge & I am sure he must get sick of commenting on the same things, especially when a bit of research can answer many of these repetetive questions.

Thanks Mr Damage

I know right!!!... and I didn't even have to drop a carton!

No prob's Team 41... ...and I learned early on to keep a copy of my responses on the questions that are asked repeatedly, an most times I just cut and paste... sometimes I change the wording around a little so it doesn't look like I'm plagiarising myself!

DB,
Can you link to the page with the info from Mr. Damage? Mainly I'd like to read how much of everything to add. meaning how many gm's of Calcium Hydroxide per 1000l per week? Would be helpful.

thanks

Tropical Framer i have no ideal where to search,but his advice was three times more calcium to potassium with half the amount of magnesium to potassium or 1-3-.5 in practice i have found in my system 1-3-1 works better.I have a neutral PH so i use potassium sulphate,calcium hydroxide and magnesium sulphate,Mr Damage uses potassium bicarbonate.My dosing was based on potassium sulphate at one teaspoon per 1000 litres,i dose in a 3800 litre system 8 tsp of potassium 24 tsp of calcium and 8 tsp of magnesium sulphate,i also add 2 tsp of iron and 100ml of EM1A.

+1.. important ppl get their own thread charlie!!

Now you got your own thread Charlie.... viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24367

I was going to sticky it as well, but thought that might be going too far..

Thanks for the info DB!

we want you to plagiarize yourownself. some of are "new"

Thought I would give this a bump to keep up with the Charlie thread.

Mr Damage - a.k.a: Yabbies has been a great help in getting me through a minefield of problems that had me almost throw the towel in

13 replies each Charlie... Oh no, wait... this one takes me to 14... so that would mean I'm winning!