Is this Zinc Deficient?

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
If only I had known this as a young Turk with a basement lab. I would have LOVED to cause chaos with nothing more than some hard water. I would seriously and deeply appreciate the references to this, especially in the original German.
You know deploying the Zyklon B like that isn't going to win friends and influence people!
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
ok, no problem LOL. I guess all those other papers written by phd professors is all folklore then lol. Nice to see someone from princeton posting regularly on riu lol. Oh lord, these forums. My bad...ph and alkalinity are all the same, i said nothing, good luck OP!
Can you quote one? He still hasn't gotten over me winning the wax does distill argument. We went round and round about that one.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
ok, no problem LOL. I guess all those other papers written by phd professors is all folklore then lol. Nice to see someone from princeton posting regularly on riu lol. Oh lord, these forums. My bad...ph and alkalinity are all the same, i said nothing, good luck OP!
I would be greatly obliged if you provided a peer-reviewed reference.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
No, it was my bad, i have no idea what im talking about..i deleted the posts..didn't mean to get into another back and forth here..i have better things to do with my time lol. Happy growing to all, good luck op!
Nah the back and forth is fun. Don't take it to seriously. You are a good guy and a great deal of fun. Further you sound like you have it together as a grower and are willing to learn.

Nothing more humbling than having a couple graduate degrees and having a f'n plant hand you your ass LOL
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
No, it was my bad, i have no idea what im talking about..i deleted the posts..didn't mean to get into another back and forth here..i have better things to do with my time lol. Happy growing to all, good luck op!
No worries, I was having some fun. I didn't mean to be mean. Stick around.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Nah the back and forth is fun. Don't take it to seriously. You are a good guy and a great deal of fun. Further you sound like you have it together as a grower and are willing to learn.

Nothing more humbling than having a couple graduate degrees and having a f'n plant hand you your ass LOL
"The tragedy of science ... a beautiful hypothesis slain by an ugly fact." T.H. Huxley iirc
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
More for you to chew on lol...
Unlike pH—which is basically an equilibrium scale to measure against—total alkalinity is a measurement of the concentration of all alkaline substances dissolved in the water. These substances are primarily carbonates, bicarbonates andhydroxides, along with a few others. These alkaline substancesbuffer pH in the water by neutralizing acids. In other words, total alkalinity is a measurement of the water’s ability to resist change in pH.
http://blog.orendatech.com/total-alkalinity-role-water-chemistry
Precisely, a buffer and guess what a buffer does.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Im always willing to learn, but please, you think im getting into it with some sellf-proclaimed 'princeton' graduate lol..please! The evidence is everywhree..do a simple google search and even the dumbest ivy leaguer will find the answer to what im being asked lol. Alaklinity and ph are not the same! alkaline and alkalinity are not the same thing..if i have to explain that and search all around to prove myself..im not interested as i already know the answer..why waste my time proving myself to some 'princeton' grad LOL. here..1st result on google egg-head....https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-floriculture/fact-sheets/water-quality-ph-alkalinity
a small outtake from that article.....Sometimes the term "alkaline" is used instead of "basic" and often "alkaline" is confused with "alkalinity". Alkalinity is a measure of the water's ability to neutralize acidity. An alkalinity test measures the level of bicarbonates, carbonates, and hydroxides in water and test results are generally expressed as "ppm of calcium carbonate (CaCO3)". The desirable range f or irrigation water is 0 to 100 ppm calcium carbonate. Levels between 30 and 60 ppm are considered optimum for most plants.
Here, another one mr phd lol....https://gpnmag.com/article/managing-highly-alkaline-irrigation-water/ Do your own homework...i do this for a living mr princeton lol
I come from a general-chemistry background. In that context, alkalinity is simply an alkaline pH. I believe you are using a term of art from water engineers, in which alkalinity is something different. Specifically it is the water's capacity to absorb acids, which is a measure of its buffering capacity. Buffers are linked to pH. So I am sticking to my claim.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
I come from a general-chemistry background. In that context, alkalinity is simply an alkaline pH. I believe you are using a term of art from water engineers, in which alkalinity is something different. Specifically it is the water's capacity to absorb acids, which is a measure of its buffering capacity. Buffers are linked to pH. So I am sticking to my claim.
Buffer is as buffer does.
 

JSheeze

Well-Known Member
So... glad to know there's some validated expertise in here.

Is the consensus they are underfed? Changing the 'pH down' to nitric over phosphoric given the water analysis isn't going mess things up? Stay away from Ca-Mg supplement as well as MgSO4?

How alkali Na2O? How basic? There is or isn't a difference? In aqueous solutions they are interchangeable terms but they do mean different things? Or no? Just gleaned some back and forth and now I'm curious..

EDIT: got confused on what people were confused on, so confusing lol thought there was a debate on the difference between basic and alkaline.. If a solution is over 7 pH then it has OH- ions rather than H+ ions right? And visa versa for an acidic solution? The molarity of these ions directly correlates to the solution pH? Its been awhile lol so help me out
 
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curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
So... glad to know there's some validated expertise in here.

Is the consensus they are underfed? Changing the 'pH down' to nitric over phosphoric given the water analysis isn't going mess things up? Stay away from Ca-Mg supplement as well as MgSO4?

How alkali Na2O? How basic? There is or isn't a difference? In aqueous solutions they are interchangeable terms but they do mean different things? Or no? Just gleaned some back and forth and now I'm curious..

EDIT: got confused on what people were confused on, so confusing lol thought there was a debate on the difference between basic and alkaline.. If a solution is over 7 pH then it has OH- ions rather than H+ ions right? And visa versa for an acidic solution? The molarity of these ions directly correlates to the solution pH? Its been awhile lol so help me out
@cannabineer

Ok I don't know if the consensus is underfed but that's the first thing I would do, give them more food. I wouldn't stay away from Ca/Mg supplementation as I have 250 ppm and still give mine 5 ml of CaliMagic/gallon. I use General Hydroponics 3 part Flora series and it's works well for me and I like the ratio of Ca to Mg in it. If you are giving Ca and Mg from both your water and as a supplement I probably wouldn't add a third source just to keep it simple.

Giving a little to much Ca/Mg doesn't really hurt but it can confuse things. So I'd up their feed so they are getting about 600 in Nutrients. So measure your water going in with your TDS meter then add your nutrients and subtract your water's ppm from that and shoot for 600 to 800 range.

For example my tap water is 250. I run about 900ish during most of flower so my actual nutrient level is about 650.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
@cannabineer

Ok I don't know if the consensus is underfed but that's the first thing I would do, give them more food. I wouldn't stay away from Ca/Mg supplementation as I have 250 ppm and still give mine 5 ml of CaliMagic/gallon. I use General Hydroponics 3 part Flora series and it's works well for me and I like the ratio of Ca to Mg in it. If you are giving Ca and Mg from both your water and as a supplement I probably wouldn't add a third source just to keep it simple.

Giving a little to much Ca/Mg doesn't really hurt but it can confuse things. So I'd up their feed so they are getting about 600 in Nutrients. So measure your water going in with your TDS meter then add your nutrients and subtract your water's ppm from that and shoot for 600 to 800 range.

For example my tap water is 250. I run about 900ish during most of flower so my actual nutrient level is about 650.
I concur.
The plants look ion-hungry.
And I am always amazed at how much cal and mag Cannabis plants like.
I'm a big fan of cal-mag.
So... glad to know there's some validated expertise in here.

Is the consensus they are underfed? Changing the 'pH down' to nitric over phosphoric given the water analysis isn't going mess things up? Stay away from Ca-Mg supplement as well as MgSO4?

How alkali Na2O? How basic? There is or isn't a difference? In aqueous solutions they are interchangeable terms but they do mean different things? Or no? Just gleaned some back and forth and now I'm curious..

EDIT: got confused on what people were confused on, so confusing lol thought there was a debate on the difference between basic and alkaline.. If a solution is over 7 pH then it has OH- ions rather than H+ ions right? And visa versa for an acidic solution? The molarity of these ions directly correlates to the solution pH? Its been awhile lol so help me out
@JSheeze

I have used nitric acid as a veg pH-down and phosphoric as a flower pH-down. My stock of nitric is gone, so phosphoric has done all pH-down duty in my last grows. The acid should be a small fraction of total N or P, so I don't think of it as changing nutrient levels.

As for pH, the Golden Rule is that [H3O+] times [OH-] always equals 10 to the minus 14 (units become moles squared per liter squared, so the units are thrown out by universal chemists' convention of venality). This is a basic property of the solvent we choose: water.
As pH and pOH are sign-flipped exponents, pH and pOH always add up to 14.

Alkaline, to a general chemist, means "a pH greater than 7". I remember when shampoos were being marketed as "non-alkaline" in the '70s, and that just meant " a pH less than 7".

From what I infer, alkalinity to a hydrologist is something different ... a buffering capacity expressed in mmol per liter. I imagine that it takes x mmol/l to achieve a neutral pH, which is used as a marker for "total alkalinity" but not its measure.

So yes. A pH of 6 means "hydrogen ion concentration of ten to the minus 6 molar" and necessarily "hydroxide ion concentration of ten to the minus 8 molar", as 14 minus 6 is well you get it.

Heehee, instructing collegians in chemistry does come in handy every now and then! :joint:

Not sure about the sodium oxide question.

Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate is 10.0% magnesium by weight. Thus, adding one gram of Epsom salt to a 100-liter res will bump its [Mg] by one PPM. In my twenty-liter batches, 5 grams gave a 25-ppm Mg boost. The S doesn't hurt either.
 
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JSheeze

Well-Known Member
I concur.
The plants look ion-hungry.
And I am always amazed at how much cal and mag Cannabis plants like.
I'm a big fan of cal-mag.

@JSheeze

I have used nitric acid as a veg pH-down and phosphoric as a flower pH-down. My stock of nitric is gone, so phosphoric has done all pH-down duty in my last grows. The acid should be a small fraction of total N or P, so I don't think of it as changing nutrient levels.

As for pH, the Golden Rule is that [H3O+] times [OH-] always equals 10 to the minus 14 (units become moles squared per liter squared, so the units are thrown out by universal chemists' convention of venality). This is a basic property of the solvent we choose: water.
As pH and pOH are sign-flipped exponents, pH and pOH always add up to 14.

Alkaline, to a general chemist, means "a pH greater than 7". I remember when shampoos were being marketed as "non-alkaline" in the '70s, and that just meant " a pH less than 7".

From what I infer, alkalinity to a hydrologist is something different ... a buffering capacity expressed in mmol per liter. I imagine that it takes x mmol/l to achieve a neutral pH, which is used as a marker for "total alkalinity" but not its measure.

So yes. A pH of 6 means "hydrogen ion concentration of ten to the minus 6 molar" and necessarily "hydroxide ion concentration of ten to the minus 8 molar", as 14 minus 6 is well you get it.

Heehee, instructing collegians in chemistry does come in handy every now and then! :joint:

Not sure about the sodium oxide question.

Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate is 10.0% magnesium by weight. Thus, adding one gram of Epsom salt to a 100-liter res will bump its [Mg] by one PPM. In my twenty-liter batches, 5 grams gave a 25-ppm Mg boost. The S doesn't hurt either.
That was great, Thanks for the refresher!
.
My Na2O question was trying to tease at the difference between hydroxide and oxide bases in terms of alkalinity? Na2O is a base but is not alkaline due to no hydroxide? Does it have to be a hydroxide to be alkaline? Na2O will react with acids and so will NaOH but one only gives OH- ions in water while the other reacts to make water? ... ... All these questions were stemming from my confusion on what was being debated when it came to pH. I thought there was a debate between "alkaline" and "basic" being the same thing... Oops haha but now that I have you I figured why not learn..

Its been about 15 years since O-chem and even longer for gen1&2, but let's get real I slept through most of them haha - its fading fast! :oops:
 

JSheeze

Well-Known Member
@cannabineer

Ok I don't know if the consensus is underfed but that's the first thing I would do, give them more food. I wouldn't stay away from Ca/Mg supplementation as I have 250 ppm and still give mine 5 ml of CaliMagic/gallon. I use General Hydroponics 3 part Flora series and it's works well for me and I like the ratio of Ca to Mg in it. If you are giving Ca and Mg from both your water and as a supplement I probably wouldn't add a third source just to keep it simple.

Giving a little to much Ca/Mg doesn't really hurt but it can confuse things. So I'd up their feed so they are getting about 600 in Nutrients. So measure your water going in with your TDS meter then add your nutrients and subtract your water's ppm from that and shoot for 600 to 800 range.

For example my tap water is 250. I run about 900ish during most of flower so my actual nutrient level is about 650.
Thanks, I'll up my feed and keep that Ca-Mg handy. 600ppm+ on bottled nutes.


Thanks to everyone, @cannabineer , @curious2garden , @JohnDee , @Blitz35 , @Renfro , @NaturalFarmer
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
That was great, Thanks for the refresher!
.
My Na2O question was trying to tease at the difference between hydroxide and oxide bases in terms of alkalinity? Na2O is a base but is not alkaline due to no hydroxide? Does it have to be a hydroxide to be alkaline? Na2O will react with acids and so will NaOH but one only gives OH- ions in water while the other reacts to make water? ... ... All these questions were stemming from my confusion on what was being debated when it came to pH. I thought there was a debate between "alkaline" and "basic" being the same thing... Oops haha but now that I have you I figured why not learn..

Its been about 15 years since O-chem and even longer for gen1&2, but let's get real I slept through most of them haha - its fading fast! :oops:
Sodium oxide is extremely alkaline. It is quantitatively converted to the hydroxide by water.
I have always used alkaline and basic as synonyms.

I was wide awake during Orgo. It was like being in the presence of revealed truth. I grooved on it.
 

JSheeze

Well-Known Member
Sodium oxide is extremely alkaline. It is quantitatively converted to the hydroxide by water.
I have always used alkaline and basic as synonyms.

I was wide awake during Orgo. It was like being in the presence of revealed truth. I grooved on it.
Fair enough.

And lol ya I hear I like to learn but definitely no wiz, school was a jungle for me (at my extreme maturity level) lol but I think I remember most of it (probably not even close lol), sometimes need the refreshers. Thanks, here's a few chuckles I'll send your way..


You hear Potassium and Oxygen went on a date?
It was OK.
...

A proton and a neutron are walking down the street.
The proton says, "Wait, I dropped an electron help me look for it."
The neutron says "Are you sure?" The proton replies "I'm positive."
...

Helium walks into a bar,
The bar tender says "We don't serve noble gasses in here."
Helium doesn't react.
...

Got any Sodium jokes?
Na.
...

:bigjoint:

https://www.inorganicventures.com/fun-chemists
 
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