Also can I just adjust the water or will it need to be changed regularly?

Ric 1 Mixes 4 pounds 20-20-20, 2 pounds Episode salts and 4 pounds of Calcium Nitrate in powder form. I try and keep all my soluble fertilizer is sealed containers because it is Hydroscopic or suck up water from the humidity. I make sure to tumble/shake my mix to get a uniform blend.

Using pH & EC meter I first check the Rain water in my hydro tank. I add my powdered fertilizer blend slowly until my EC meter tells me I have 800 PPM of salt/fertilizer. I can't stress how important adding Fertilizer SLOWLY is. When first added not all the Fertilizer goes into solution. an Hour or two later it dissolves and spikes the PPM in your system. Therefore I might take a day or two to bring my tank up after a water change. Both pH and PPM will change as the fertilizer dissolves in your tank.

Rain water that sits in a hold tank or even open bottle will increase pH slowly. My fertilizer blend will bring down the pH with out adding any acid.

Vinegar, or Phosphoric acid is what I use to lower pH

Lye melted in water is what I use to raise pH.

How much water for that mix?

Hi Rio thought I might could give you some invaluable information about mixing your fertilizers and micro nutrients. I am first and foremost NOT an expert at the upper ranks of chemistry or those crazy mathematical formulas people use to mix fertz for their crops. One price of advice I can give you is tweeking your systems solution will take time and consistency. Another thing many people do not consider is ..depending on how much oxygen your getting into your nutrient tank your Ph can flucuate like a cork. Balancing your ratios can be a chess game b/c more oxygen molecules causes more : absorbtion , bonding, releasing, compounding etc... Also depending on the volume of solution within circulation of the entire system will vary, as well as size of plants

Hi Rio thought I might could give you some invaluable information about mixing your fertilizers and micro nutrients. I am first and foremost NOT an expert at the upper ranks of chemistry or those crazy mathematical formulas people use to mix fertz for their crops. One price of advice I can give you is tweeking your systems solution will take time and consistency. Another thing many people do not consider is ..depending on how much oxygen your getting into your nutrient tank your Ph can flucuate like a cork. Balancing your ratios can be a chess game b/c more oxygen molecules causes more : absorbtion , bonding, releasing, compounding etc... Also depending on the volume of solution within circulation of the entire system will vary, as well as size of plants

.

Rio You are missing the whole point of my post. No water is added to my Fertilizer Blend. It is a soluble powder that I add to my Reservoir slowly in small amounts using both a pH and EC meter. EC stand for Electrical conductivity which is best measured in PPM (Parts Per Million) of salt/fertilizer. pH is the inverse logarithm of the Hydrogen atom or the measurement of acid or alkalinity. The CNR (Critical Nutrient Range) for most vegetables is 800 PPM of fertilizer in your Reservoir and a pH around 6 to 6.5. Much more than 800 PPM and you are just wasting money.

Calcium Nitrate is hard to make soluble with Cold water. However it goes into solution much easier in Hot water. This is a standard chemistry thing called Cold Water or Hot water solubility. I use a Ball jar in my Microwave to boil water then add my powdered fertilizer to the hot water place a lid on the jar and shake it. When I see all the Fertilizer has dissolved, I place it in my Refrigerator to cool before adding it to my Reservoir. Aerojoe makes the point to take your time and tweak your system. That means add a little at a time and do so same each time. A day of straight water will not hurt your plants and can actually be good for them. It is water and Oxygen that are critical to keeping them alive. Too little Fertilizer/salt won't hurt plants, just not let them express themselves to the Fullest.

pH and EC meters can be purchased on Amazon and E bay fairly cheap. I find the Cheap ones work just as good as my Expensive one which is now broken.

Now to confuse the unwashed masses. I sometimes use 10-30-20 in place of 20-20-20 with mature plants but use the same blending formula with Calcium Nitrate and Episode salts. I will some times use a 5-10-25 with younger plants to increase blooming. Nitrogen the first number cause cell elongation or long leggy growth. Phosphate the second number cause a larger flowers and Fruit. Potassium cause root elongation and flowering. So changing those percentages at different point in the growth cycle can increase production and keep plants shorter and more full.

.

I get it now. I was thinking x per gallon to get xx. I can get there from here though.
Thanks.