Liquid concentrated nutrients can be a convenient option when it comes to hydroponic nutrients, but if you buy your nutrients in liquid form, you end up paying for a lot of water. With a liquid concentrate, you can quickly measure your nutrients by liquid volume. Dry nutrients like Masterblend are great because you get highly concentrated nutrients without paying for water, but you need to measure your nutrients by weight before dissolving them into your system. Check out this article for more on the pros and cons of liquid vs dry nutrients.
So what can you do if you don’t want to pull out your scale every time you need some more nutrient solution, but still want the quality and cost savings you get from Masterblend nutrients? If you only need a little at a time, you can pre-mix nutrients in a 5 gallon bucket and use it in your system as required, or if you have a larger system, you can make your own liquid concentrate using our Masterblend 3 part dry nutrient kits.
What you Need
To make your liquid concentrate solution you will need:
- 3 sterilized water-tight containers with a capacity of at least 1 litre each
- a scale accurate to 0.1 grams (if you don’t have one, you can get it in our shop here)
- Masterblend, Magnesium Sulfate and Calcium Nitrate (available in our shop here as a 3-part kit)
- 2 litres of warm reverse osmosis or distilled water (available at most grocery stores – if you need to use tap water, refer to the modification at the end of this article)
How to Make your Concentrate
Once you’ve gathered your supplies, you are ready to make your liquid concentrates.
- Mark your containers A, B and C
- In container A, measure out 636 mL of warm water.
Note: To be most accurate, measure your water by weight; 1 mL of water weighs 1 gram, so you will need 636 grams of water. - Add 240 grams of Masterblend to container A and mix until completely dissolved
- In container B, measure out 685 mL of warm water
- Add 120 grams of Magnesium Sulfate to container B and mix until completely dissolved
- In container C, measure out 636 mL of warm water
- Add 240 grams of Calcium Nitrate to container C and mix until completely dissolved
How to Use your Concentrate
To use your concentrates, add 2 mL of each concentrate to your system for each litre of water you are adding to your reservoir. A large syringe is an easy way to get accurate liquid measurements for your system. We recommend using a separate syringe for each concentrate, or rinsing your syringe in between each concentrate to avoid cross-contamination of your concentrates.
How to Store your Concentrates
Concentrates should be stored in a warm, dark place. Exposure to light can result in algae growth and can cause some nutrients, particularly iron, to break down over time. If your nutrient concentrate gets too cold, it can cause some of the nutrients to fall out of solution.
Modification for Using Tap Water
Water has a limited capacity for holding minerals in solution. When using tap water, there is already a certain amount of minerals dissolved in the water (commonly referred to as water hardness), so you will need to dilute your concentrate with more water so your nutrients will fully dissolve. For simplicity, we recommend doubling the amount of water for each concentrate, and then adding 4 mL of each concentrate to your system for each litre of water you are adding to your reservoir.
If your home has a water softener, use un-softened water (your kitchen cold water tap and outdoor hose bibs typically will bypass your water softener). Softened water has a high amount of sodium which may cause problems for your plants.
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