Jacks Hydroponic + Potassium Silicate

I want to run Jacks hydroponic 5-12-26 with a silica additive.

I know people talk about "dont add anymore K to jacks. It's got too much K". But those seem to be coco people.I'm not in coco. I'm in recirculating topfeed in hydroton/lavarock.

I mix all of my stock tanks at 1.5lbs/gallon. So adding equal volumes of stock means adding equal weights. Therefore, I'd think, adding one part 10-0-0 and one part 0-20-10 would net me a 1-2-1 ratio. That math is correct?

So, with that in mind, I took a ratio of 4 parts Jacks Hydroponic, 5 parts Calcium Nitrate, and 1.5 parts Potassium Silicate (agsil16h). Assuming my math is right, that yields an NPK of 2-1-3, with a Ca:Mg ratio of 3.8:1.

So my questions are:
1) Can you confirm this math is all okay?
2) Do the Ca:Mg ratios seem ok related to the NPK?.
3) does anything stick out as wrong with this feed. Any lockout issues?

NPK ratio doesn't correlate to "real ppm NPK ratio".

NPK is usually represented in this was N is kinda of represented okay - P is represented in P2O5 and K is represented in K2O equivalent.

So if your fertilizer is lets say NPK - 1:1:1 represented in that that i told you it would be this:

1ppm of N : 0.44 ppm of P : 0.83 ppm of K

Because you have O atoms in P2O5 and K2O

If you are in to hydroponics learn to calculate in PPM (not EC ppm fictive number) but real Particles Per Million.

Yes. I understand what parts per million is, thanks. I'm not asking about feed strength, though. You can't calculate PPM unless I tell you how much I'm adding, and that's not what this thread is about.

I'm asking about the ratio above, regarding the relative concentrations of 2-1-3.2-2-0.5 as N-P-K-Ca-Mg. Or rather, N-P205-K20-Ca-Mg if it makes you happy.

Anyways, I just wanted to know if anyone sees potential lockout/imbalance issues at these ratios

Thanks

I wasn't talking about feed strength - only the REAL RATIO of elements in your ratio
You need to calculate everything to ppm to have the exact ratio and from that point get something around:

100N-80P-200K-60Mg-(180-240Ca) -50Si-(100-200S) and so on....

I think you're confusing this. You're saying I should present the fertilizer in an elemental ratio instead of the industry-standard NPK ratios, (ie P versus P2O5). That's great. Why are you hammering on PPM?

PPM is a measurement of concentration in a solution. That's a feed strength. You could add an extra mL per gallon of the exact same fertilizer and change the PPMs. Sure, I could post relative PPM at a given concentration of the ratios posted above. But I'm only asking about the ratios of these elements in relation to each other. You're focusing on the wrong part of the story.

I get that you're trying to put on a chemistry 101 clinic. But if you don't want to answer the question, there's no reason to post. If you're mad about P and K ratings being posted as phosphate and potash, write a letter to the USDA or EPA.

PPM of a element is a real (absolute) measurement of an element (than can be obtained from few sources.

You are confusing "ppm" that is a approximation (0.5 / 0.7 / 1.0 depending on manufacturer) of a solution conductivity that is in Siemens/Meter.

The real industry (greenhouse) is using PPM of a element not just NPK - NPK is amateur/rookie/old school farmer talk...

I'm trying to teach you that you are using wrong viewpoint on a matter - the faster you get rid of it the better.

The moment I learned/realized (it was few years after first grow) the real way to calculate nutrients - it was liberating and from that moment - it was like one of the last scenes in MATRIX (first part) when, after everything you see how the tings are and that everything in this "business" is ... to say the least.. wrong.

Greenhouse business is the way to go with HYDRO and learn what ever you can from it.
I'm just trying for people into hydroponics to see the failure of premixed and especially liquid fertilizers...

My nutrient change before costed 10€ change - now its 1.2€ / change and it has 5 elements (all elements are derived from the cleanest sources) more and almost everything in near perfect ratio.

Like everything in life you can do it sloppy or best to you knowledge and ability...

If you really think I'm trying to ruin your thread - by all means - I'll stop posting on it

Dude... go to the JC and take ONE chemistry class. PPM is concentration. Parts per million. mg/Liter. It is a concentration.

You are not focusing on the question of this thread. I'm talking about the ratios of these elements relative to eachother. Convert the phosphate and potash into elemental p and k if you want. That's still not PPM. PPM is a concentration. You can feed the exact same ratios at 1.0 EC and 1.5 EC, and guess what? You end up with different PPM in solution. Same elemental ratios. Different PPM.

The only thing youre teaching me is that you have a tenuous grasp on the subject. Take one chemistry class. And then maybe follow up with reading comprehension.

Not trying to be rude, but it sounds like you don't have an answer to the question. You might as well make a bunch of posts responding to my grammar. The value-add will be the same.

Just to recap.. He's talking about doing conversions.
2-1-3.2 becoming 2-.43-2.5 regardless of which units express it.
This poses an interesting question because people are always chasing ratios but sharing information inconsistently.

Clown Baby said:

Dude... go to the JC and take ONE chemistry class. PPM is concentration. Parts per million. mg/Liter. It is a concentration.

You are not focusing on the question of this thread. I'm talking about the ratios of these elements relative to eachother. Convert the phosphate and potash into elemental p and k if you want. That's still not PPM. PPM is a concentration. You can feed the exact same ratios at 1.0 EC and 1.5 EC, and guess what? You end up with different PPM in solution. Same elemental ratios. Different PPM.

The only thing youre teaching me is that you have a tenuous grasp on the subject. Take one chemistry class. And then maybe follow up with reading comprehension.

Not trying to be rude, but it sounds like you don't have an answer to the question. You might as well make a bunch of posts responding to my grammar. The value-add will be the same.

Click to expand...

When, and if you get it, than you will understand...
Good luck

hyposomniac said:

Just to recap.. He's talking about doing conversions.
2-1-3.2 becoming 2-.43-2.5 regardless of which units express it.
This poses an interesting question because people are always chasing ratios but sharing information inconsistently.

Click to expand...

I acknowledged that. But he doesn't understand that a molecular conversion from phosphate and potash is different than presenting PPM. And I'm not interested in a misguided pseudo-chemistry lesson from someone whose entire chemistry knowledge base clearly comes from online weed forums. I was interested on someones input on the relative ratios. Even after acknowledging that I wasn't presenting molecular ratios, still no input on the question at hand.

This is why I dont use RIU anymore....

Clown Baby said:

I acknowledged that. But he doesn't understand that a molecular conversion from phosphate and potash is different than presenting PPM. And I'm not interested in a misguided pseudo-chemistry lesson from someone whose entire chemistry knowledge base clearly comes from online weed forums. I was interested on someones input on the relative ratios. Even after acknowledging that I wasn't presenting molecular ratios, still no input on the question at hand.

This is why I dont use RIU anymore....

Click to expand...

I am bumping because I am also interested in the original question.
Ive used silica indiscriminately as pH up before. Now i use it at 30-50 ppm (pounds per mazda) which didn't seem like much but even thats a 10%+ bump.
Figuring what ppm of K your plant is getting then comparing it to known toxic levels seems the way to go.

What's weird is I just started to Notice that I am having Very Mild Potassium deficiency or lock-out using Jacks Formula. And the funny thing is I stopped using Potassium Silicate in Favor of a Mild/weak Silicic Acid os now I am going back to using it. Since I do not add extra Calcium during the Flowering Stage or generally even Magnesium. Well, I am still trying to figure out if Jacks 2 part even needs the extra Mag as in 3-2-1 which btw if you study the numbers you will find that it is closer to 3-2-.5 than 3-2-1 so whomever lazy stoner came up with the 3-2-1 is off a little IMHO

plumsmooth said:

What's weird is I just started to Notice that I am having Very Mild Potassium deficiency or lock-out using Jacks Formula. And the funny thing is I stopped using Potassium Silicate in Favor of a Mild/weak Silicic Acid os now I am going back to using it. Since I do not add extra Calcium during the Flowering Stage or generally even Magnesium. Well, I am still trying to figure out if Jacks 2 part even needs the extra Mag as in 3-2-1 which btw if you study the numbers you will find that it is closer to 3-2-.5 than 3-2-1 so whomever lazy stoner came up with the 3-2-1 is off a little IMHO

Click to expand...

Old thread. But check out @overgrown on instagram who i believe uses jacks 321 and potassium silicate. Dude crushes it.