420circuit
Active Member
Posted this in the Nutrients section, but thought it might be helpful to my neighbors too.
I posted this elsewhere, but it really belongs here. After seeing Botanicare Sweet at a local grow shop for $64 a gallon, I decided to figure out how it is made and make it myself. Turns out this was easy. It requires Epsom Salt and Cane Sugar. You put them in a pan with water, heat and stir until dissolved, add enough cold water to fill your 1 gallon jug and that's it. Be sure that the Epsom Salt you use is 100% Magnesium Sulfate, not the perfumed bath salts, just the single ingredient.
The label on a jug of Sweet tells the story:
This is the 4 pound bag of Epsom Salt (from walmart, $2)
This is the finished product, I poured it into a clear glass vase to see if there was any precipitate, there wasn't, it stayed clear and a nice clean-clear solution.
If Botanicare was selling this for a more reasonable price or if the company advertised on my favorite website I probably would not have been motivated to research and post this.
[FONT=&] Formula to make 1 Gallon of Sweet[/FONT]
1 Teaspoon (4.3 grams) Cane Sugar
9 Tablespoons (151 grams) Epsom Salt (100% Magnesium Sulfate)
Add Cane Sugar and Epsom Salt to 4 cups of water and heat, stirring until completely dissolved. Allow to cool.
[FONT=&]Pour solution into a 1 gallon container and add water until it makes 1 gallon. Shake until mixed.
Shake well before using.[/FONT]
I used this solution in the reservoir of my hydro system and the plants are doing fine, they look the same as when I had been adding Sweet.
If you want to see the method I used to derive the amounts, see this thread.
I posted this elsewhere, but it really belongs here. After seeing Botanicare Sweet at a local grow shop for $64 a gallon, I decided to figure out how it is made and make it myself. Turns out this was easy. It requires Epsom Salt and Cane Sugar. You put them in a pan with water, heat and stir until dissolved, add enough cold water to fill your 1 gallon jug and that's it. Be sure that the Epsom Salt you use is 100% Magnesium Sulfate, not the perfumed bath salts, just the single ingredient.
The label on a jug of Sweet tells the story:
This is the 4 pound bag of Epsom Salt (from walmart, $2)
This is the finished product, I poured it into a clear glass vase to see if there was any precipitate, there wasn't, it stayed clear and a nice clean-clear solution.
If Botanicare was selling this for a more reasonable price or if the company advertised on my favorite website I probably would not have been motivated to research and post this.
[FONT=&] Formula to make 1 Gallon of Sweet[/FONT]
1 Teaspoon (4.3 grams) Cane Sugar
9 Tablespoons (151 grams) Epsom Salt (100% Magnesium Sulfate)
Add Cane Sugar and Epsom Salt to 4 cups of water and heat, stirring until completely dissolved. Allow to cool.
[FONT=&]Pour solution into a 1 gallon container and add water until it makes 1 gallon. Shake until mixed.
Shake well before using.[/FONT]
I used this solution in the reservoir of my hydro system and the plants are doing fine, they look the same as when I had been adding Sweet.
If you want to see the method I used to derive the amounts, see this thread.