So what level of Na do you guys add?
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Experiment: Finding optimal conditions for growing aquarium plants 2
- Thread starter Marcel G
- Start date
Hi all,
cheers Darrel
I think, for most of us, the chances of not fulfilling a plants sodium (Na) requirement (if it has one) are really, really low. Anyone who has hard, alkaline tap water will be supplying ~20 - 30 (ppm) mg / l via that source.
cheers Darrel
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Marcel G
Member
Lower units of milligrams per litre (ppm) should be plenty.
Sorry, by lower units do you mean single integer values (as in 9ppm or lower)?
I dose my remin salts automatically via a doser. Can NaCl be mixed with either CaCl2 or Mg SO4 in liquid form without issue?
Marcel G
Member
1-2 ppm Na.
Most salts can be combined without problems. Only a few are problematic => the ones that can easily oxidize and form insoluble precipitates (typically Fe, Mn, Zn salts).
Most salts can be combined without problems. Only a few are problematic => the ones that can easily oxidize and form insoluble precipitates (typically Fe, Mn, Zn salts).
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1-2 ppm seems reasonable. It might be a good idea to maintain a K:Na ratio of 2:1, especially if someone intends to stick with lower potassium doses, like 1-3 ppm weekly. What do you think Marcel?
John q
Member
Haven't been around for a while... high everyone...
Looks like Na:K ratios are the new answer to growing healthy plants.
Seriously, guy's; please tell me we can do better than that.
Through illness I haven't fed( added nutrients) to my tanks for 8~9weeks, or changed any water, the plants are doing fine, well maybe a little overgrown.
I've no idea what the magic bullet is, but do know lots of fertz grow plants, and no ferts grow plants. What's the common denominator?
Looks like Na:K ratios are the new answer to growing healthy plants.
Seriously, guy's; please tell me we can do better than that.
Through illness I haven't fed( added nutrients) to my tanks for 8~9weeks, or changed any water, the plants are doing fine, well maybe a little overgrown.
I've no idea what the magic bullet is, but do know lots of fertz grow plants, and no ferts grow plants. What's the common denominator?
PARAGUAY
Member
That's something l have wondered. Possibly if plants are getting all nutrients and care, depending on the plant ,then in times of unable to access nutrients they remain healthy for a long time.. Take Java Fern is the plant storing nutrients?
Hi all,
Phosphate (PO4---) is the perfect example, <"it is highly mobile"> and plants can continually shuffle it from older to newer leaves.
This is partially why the vendors of "aquarium" products are so keen to sell you an <"algaecide based on phosphate removal">. It will "work" in the short term, and by the time it stops working? They've had your money and moved on to the next mark.
cheers Darrel
For the mobile plant nutrients that is true, vascular plants can store them for a rainy day.
Phosphate (PO4---) is the perfect example, <"it is highly mobile"> and plants can continually shuffle it from older to newer leaves.
This is partially why the vendors of "aquarium" products are so keen to sell you an <"algaecide based on phosphate removal">. It will "work" in the short term, and by the time it stops working? They've had your money and moved on to the next mark.
It is different for the non-mobile nutrients, in this case they need to be continually available or deficiency symptoms appear <"and why we need to talk about iron (Fe).">.
cheers Darrel
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Marcel G
Member
If this question is also directed at me, then I would like to refer to my answer in the "Introduction" section => see post #1 in my previous thread and also post #17 in this thread ... where I explain this in more detail. The sodium topic goes completely outside my main interest (I was only answering additional questions).
PeerUnk
Member
I use 0.5 ppm of Na in my remineralise mix via plain sea salt, just to be sure Na and Cl is added to the RO water. I don’t do CO2 injection, so no speedy growth at all, just front loading all fertz.
Haha, nice. Na:K as a ratio? For me not interesting as well, but commercial growers probably covered that topic.
Not sure what you mean by this statement. But I’ve tried growing plants on plain RO for a couple of weeks. It proved to me they actually do need some nutrients.
Cheers!
PeerUnk
Member
Hi Marcel, I want you to thank you for you hard labour and effort in doing these tests and share it with the community. So: 🙏!
John q
Member
Fair point, apologies for steering the thread in a different direction.
Yeah, plants need nutrients.
My point is that they don't need 90% of the nutrients we add, and they certainly don't care about ratios. 😃
Maf 2500
Member
Only half true. In many situations it does not matter, but for some nutrients an overabundance of one can affect the uptake of another so sometimes the plants do care about ratios.
Marcel G
Member
The claim that "plants don't need 90% of the nutrients we add" can be interpreted in three ways, I think:
1) We give plants such a disproportionate amount of nutrients that 90% of it is useless to them.
2) Of all the nutrients labeled as "essential", plants actually only need 10%.
3) <deliberate lie (the content of which is not important at all) to provoke others into some kind of overreaction>
If the first option (= overfeeding) applies, I agree in principle.
If the second option (= ignorance) applies, then by this statement its author denies that plants need all 100% of the nutrients referred to as essential to fulfill their basic needs and complete their life cycle. According to the author, only 10% of these essential nutrients are perfectly adequate. This is a view that contradicts a whole range of scientific knowledge and the practical experience of countless people. I can only rejoice that this person does not compose my diet. I would recommend looking up some information on "nutrient storage" and "plant nutritional status" in this context. In the human world, such a state, where one can survive without food for a relatively long period of time, is called "starvation" (or "fasting"). There are also documented cases where a person has managed to survive a whole year without food (with only water and vitamin supplements). So the fact that plants are able to survive [under certain conditions] for several weeks in distilled water is a fact, but it in no way proves that they don't need all of the 100% nutrients that are described as essential. The author should learn to distinguish (i.e., not confuse) the ability to live [for a limited time] from reserves vs. the ability to live without nutrients.
If the third option (provocation) applies, it does not belong in a substantive debate.
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