Magnets in your nute tank

Hi Peeps!
I was googling making my own nutes today and came across this interesting idea.
As we all know, Fe (iron) tends to oxidise (rust) and precipitate out of the solution, staining roots, pipes, pumps etc. UV sterilisers exacerbate the problem.
However, there is a solution (no pun intended). MAGNETS!.
To the best of my knowledge, iron oxide is magnetic, iron sulphate is not.
Now, you may say, there are magnets in my pump, won't that do it? First, probably not, as the high volume/speed of water movement will probably flush it out. Second, is the inside of your pump really where you want waste products?
So, a simple magnet left in the res should help.
Anyone else heard of this? Anyone tried it?

I googled it and google to me to stfu....j/k, I couldn't find anything on it myself. My only concern is the magnet material itself reacting to the nutrient solution.

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice

I found it here.
http://www.tps.com.au/hydroponics/nutrient.htm
They have a lot of other good info which makes me think it's a sound source.
Whilst looking it up further, I found some other info about those daft magnetic bracelets people wear.
It was interesting to note that most people who wear them suffer from fybromalgia (can't be fucked to go to work disease) like my mates lazy, stupid wife.
Fascinating. Imaginary cures for imaginary diseases!

I've never had a problem using iron sulfate in my mixes, except when I used too much. Once I added over a gram to about 3 gallons when the pH was around 6.7 and a large amount of yellow solid precipitated out (iron nitrate judging by color?).

After a few adjustments, my mix now includes 0.6g of iron sulfate per 3 gallons of water, which the plants seem to love. I haven't had the precipitate problem since I started adding the iron sulfate last, after the other nutes and nitric acid are added. When I pour the tanks out for refilling, the water comes out clear now. It also really helps to premix the iron sulfate into a base solution before adding to the reservoir rather than dumping in 0.6g of solid.

I really think most hydro nutrient suppliers use a sub-optimal level of iron in their mixes, probably because it's hard to dissolve, and they have to share the same base solution as the calcium nitrate, so there's even less space for iron to dissolve in their micro bottles without getting precip in the bottle.

Also, in your googling, did you check out the hoagland solution? It's a really good starting point. It even shows how to make base solutions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoagland_solution

Cheers Church. I'm tired now but will look that up properly tomorrow.
I know what you mean about Fe sulphate being hard to dissolve. It also blocks nozzles, rusts metal etc.
Are you sure about using it with Calcium Nitrate? I would have thought it would go in with the 'part B'
I have more experience with it than most as we use it as a moss killer on sports pitches. (not that it kills moss in itself, it's more a case of overdosing with it).
I used to emulsify mine in warm water before mixing in to get it to disslove properly. Washing out the sprayer was a must.

Ferrous and ferric iron are tangibly paramagnetic, but you'd need wicked strong and inhomogeneous magnetic fields to separate them. The procedure has been used to concentrate red blood cells by a procedure called magnetophoresis. In a nute tank, simple filtration would be superior imo. cn

I always see iron and calcium nitrate in the same bottle in most commercial mixes, and the program "hydrobuddy" has suggestions for part A and part B solutions and I think that also puts calcium nitrate and iron salts or chellates in the same bottle too. You just don't want to mix iron or calcium ions with phosphate ions, or they'll precipitate.

I just keep them in separate bottles so I can change the ratios easier. Not sure if i posted it yet, but here are the stock solutions I make. It find it easier to change the NPK ratios with 5 bottles (the NPK ratios on top are just ratios, not the real NPK of the solutions. It's the dry salt NPK):

View attachment 2668053

Also, sup cannabineer. I remember talking to you about hydroponic mixes in 2010. I'm upto my 14th iteration in mixes now. Did you keep working on your mixes? Anything good?

cues said:

Are you sure about using it with Calcium Nitrate? I would have thought it would go in with the 'part B'

Click to expand...

I've had to take a bit of a hiatus. My last harvest was big, but it suffered from yellowing in late flower. I am not ready to say my mixes are dialed in. They worked OK, but I don't feel i have reason to brag either.

Nice bottles there! cn