Fertilizing from the water supply.

[canuckamuck]

I have a few rai of tea which I water with drip tape which is connected to a water tank at the top of the hill. I was thinking it be a good idea to also feed the tea with the same delivery method. However I have never added fertilizer to a water source and do not know anything about it.

What type of fertilizer would work for this application? How do I work out ratios?

[Gary A]

Sometime back, I had a brain fart about hydroponic vegetable growing and decided that the commercial liquid fertilizers required were a huge ripoff. I played with various commercial bagged fertilizers and discovered that they were not sufficiently water soluble to be usable in a circulating system.

[BSJ]

The wife and I have dissolved 46-0-0 in water and that become a homogenous mixture which we used the same day....stirring a few times to ensure it remained homogenous....and applied with a coffee mug to soil around trees.

We got a solution in a bottle (Parish brand) as a test but we haven't used it as yet....but money wise I don't think it will be economical.

We have 32 bags of cow poo which we will turn into liquid fertiliser. That works out to be almost a ton. I don't know if we have enough blue barrels to do it all at once! It maybe light on for nutrients so we will have to apply some other fertiliser as well.

Maybe experimenting with small quantities to see what works. Most of the shops we buy chemmie and fertilizer will sell small 1kg or 2 kg bags of fertiliser so maybe someone over your way does the same. Some things dissolve better in warm water than cold water.

[xen]

Have you considered a fertilizer injection unit that is installed after the tank and feeds directly into the irrigation system. The pluses are that you don't contaminate the water supply / tank with chemicals and the fertilizer injection unit will feed percise measurements of fertiliser and could be programmed for off peak times. Negatives are that they are an added expence and i would not know if they are available in Thailand and /or costs. I have had them installed on Sporting field and park irrigation systems and they work very well. You could also use fungicide etc by this method if required .

just an suggestion.

[farmerjo]

Work out roughly what your lines hold volume wise,then get a venturi and a mixing tank big enough to hold the volume of lines.

(i have not tried this but it's mentioned in quite a few irrigation threads)

Here a some fertilizers i have used before.To use correctly they should be applied regularly in which your drip tape will work well.

If you want to use your main tank you would have to install an agitator.

There's rates on the here however the Thai's work on x amount fertilizer for x amount of water,not how many rai it will do.

[canuckamuck]

Have you considered a fertilizer injection unit that is installed after the tank and feeds directly into the irrigation system. The pluses are that you don't contaminate the water supply / tank with chemicals and the fertilizer injection unit will feed percise measurements of fertiliser and could be programmed for off peak times. Negatives are that they are an added expence and i would not know if they are available in Thailand and /or costs. I have had them installed on Sporting field and park irrigation systems and they work very well. You could also use fungicide etc by this method if required .

just an suggestion.

I think that would be a little over the top for my set up, plus I have no electricity at that location. What I have is a 5500 litre square concrete tank at the top of the hill. It will drain completely in about an hour of normal drip line output, depending on how many zones I turn on. So I don't have to worry about contamination because the tank is usually empty when I am not pumping water back in. And it doesn't water any other crops, it is designated to the tea.

I am thinking I will try dissolve some granular 15,15,15 and add that mixture to the tank when full and just let it run out. through the lines. In my normal configuration each plant would be getting about 2 litres of that solution, or about an hour of drips from a tank full.

My main concern is about potency because it drips right to the roots obviously too little is better than too much. Having never worked with liquid fertilizer in any way I have no guideline to follow.

[canuckamuck]

Work out roughly what your lines hold volume wise,then get a venturi and a mixing tank big enough to hold the volume of lines.

(i have not tried this but it's mentioned in quite a few irrigation threads)

Here a some fertilizers i have used before.To use correctly they should be applied regularly in which your drip tape will work well.

If you want to use your main tank you would have to install an agitator.

C360_2016-01-13-08-03-09-267.jpg

C360_2015-09-07-08-43-49-801.jpg

C360_2016-01-13-08-05-04-768.jpg

There's rates on the here however the Thai's work on x amount fertilizer for x amount of water,not how many rai it will do.

C360_2016-01-13-08-04-42-576.jpg

Thanks for this, now I have something to go on. I will have a look for these in CR

[rice555]

Hello All, since you are doing gravity, mix up a parochial tank and fertigate then fun

just water to clean your DL's out.

You can find fertilizer calculators on the web to come up with the NPK numbers you

want, that's how my hydro nutrients are formalized.

Here's a pic of WESCO's add from Home Augural Magazine.

If you look at the bottom row, you see "Lebrel", that is 1Kg boxes of micro's (Trace

Elements).

The second row up is 1Kg bags of water-soluble fertilizers +TE, I use these for dirt

growing with a venture injector from Super Products and through a filter before the

drip tapes and flush after running fertilizer through the drip system.

Third row is what I use for my base chem's in my hydro nute's.

The top row is 25Kg. bags of W-S fertilizers, the same thing as in the second row.

If the dry fertilizer is not clear like sugar, ir has additives that can clog drip tapes

always flush after furtigation.

rice555

[canuckamuck]

I can tell from that post that I have some lingo to pick up. I think I get most of it though

[samuijimmy]

Some good advice above ^ , the only thing I would add, is when I used to use soluble fertilizers in the "great white north" eh! ... we used to mix first with hot water.... then add the cold water and mix... as it is supposed to mix better... before syphoning...

Also a backflow preventer should be used if pipes running to other sources....

[TheCruncher]

Hello All, since you are doing gravity, mix up a parochial tank and fertigate then fun

just water to clean your DL's out.

You can find fertilizer calculators on the web to come up with the NPK numbers you

want, that's how my hydro nutrients are formalized.

Here's a pic of WESCO's add from Home Augural Magazine.

If you look at the bottom row, you see "Lebrel", that is 1Kg boxes of micro's (Trace

Elements).

The second row up is 1Kg bags of water-soluble fertilizers +TE, I use these for dirt

growing with a venture injector from Super Products and through a filter before the

drip tapes and flush after running fertilizer through the drip system.

Third row is what I use for my base chem's in my hydro nute's.

The top row is 25Kg. bags of W-S fertilizers, the same thing as in the second row.

If the dry fertilizer is not clear like sugar, ir has additives that can clog drip tapes

always flush after furtigation.

rice555

How to know if a fertilizer is water soluble?

I now use Super Nova ( which carries the Viking ship) and dissolve it in a 200 liter tank, then run it through the irrigation system.

It dissolves pretty well and fast in the water, but does that also mean it is soluble?

I see you're talking about fertilizer calculators, what do i need to understand from that?

Currently I have 4 zones, each approximate 200sqm, and use 16-16-16 Super Nova.

If I should throw it by hand I should use approximate 2 kg per zone, so now I dissolve 2 kg in 200 liter of water and run it through the irrigation system.

Is that how I should do it or do I need another formula to calculate.

Do you have an idea about the price for those 25kg bags and where to order them, because I've never seen them in the farmer stores in the Pattaya area.

[rice555]

Hello All, since you are doing gravity, mix up a parochial tank and fertigate then fun

just water to clean your DL's out.

You can find fertilizer calculators on the web to come up with the NPK numbers you

want, that's how my hydro nutrients are formalized.

Here's a pic of WESCO's add from Home Augural Magazine.

If you look at the bottom row, you see "Lebrel", that is 1Kg boxes of micro's (Trace

Elements).

The second row up is 1Kg bags of water-soluble fertilizers +TE, I use these for dirt

growing with a venture injector from Super Products and through a filter before the

drip tapes and flush after running fertilizer through the drip system.

Third row is what I use for my base chem's in my hydro nute's.

The top row is 25Kg. bags of W-S fertilizers, the same thing as in the second row.

If the dry fertilizer is not clear like sugar, ir has additives that can clog drip tapes

always flush after furtigation.

rice555

How to know if a fertilizer is water soluble?

I now use Super Nova ( which carries the Viking ship) and dissolve it in a 200 liter tank, then run it through the irrigation system.

It dissolves pretty well and fast in the water, but does that also mean it is soluble?

I see you're talking about fertilizer calculators, what do i need to understand from that?

Currently I have 4 zones, each approximate 200sqm, and use 16-16-16 Super Nova.

If I should throw it by hand I should use approximate 2 kg per zone, so now I dissolve 2 kg in 200 liter of water and run it through the irrigation system.

Is that how I should do it or do I need another formula to calculate.

Do you have an idea about the price for those 25kg bags and where to order them, because I've never seen them in the farmer stores in the Pattaya area.

Sorry for the delay in replying, been sick for 5 days.

Usually the label will say(in Thai), sometimes English depending on the brand, There is a US brand advertized in the Home

Ag Mag.

If you are using fertlizer from the local ag shop, most likely it's NOT W-S!(water soluble), if's prill(bead like), not like coarse

sugar, it has filler that is added when they are making the prill/bead that most 15-15-15 ect., are made. This type of fertilizer

should not be run in any type of drip irrigation. What the OP was about.

In sprinklers or any type of moving mechanism, the NON-W-S can cause wear on moving surfaces, rotors.

Any type of drip system needs a GOOD filter and to be cleaned regularly. If you are using

[rice555]

The thing cut me off, anyways, if it looks like chalk, it's got fillers added to make the pellet, most 100% W-S fertilizer

looks like coarse granule sugar, that may be dyed for color code, but still translucent.

The filler they use in reg fertilizer can clog the passage ways in drip systems.

Always have a good filter system and clean regularly!!!!!!

Have no idea on the cost of 25K of fertilizer is, I only used 2-3 Kg's at a time and was easier to buy 1 Kg. bags.

Here's their www.wesco.co.th some of it's in English, call and ask, the also ship, takes a day after the Thai Bank

payment shuffle. They do have a map if you want to pick up an order.

I do know that 25Kg of Potassium Sulphate costs Bt.700.

rice555

[TheCruncher]

Hello All, since you are doing gravity, mix up a parochial tank and fertigate then fun

just water to clean your DL's out.

You can find fertilizer calculators on the web to come up with the NPK numbers you

want, that's how my hydro nutrients are formalized.

Here's a pic of WESCO's add from Home Augural Magazine.

If you look at the bottom row, you see "Lebrel", that is 1Kg boxes of micro's (Trace

Elements).

The second row up is 1Kg bags of water-soluble fertilizers +TE, I use these for dirt

growing with a venture injector from Super Products and through a filter before the

drip tapes and flush after running fertilizer through the drip system.

Third row is what I use for my base chem's in my hydro nute's.

The top row is 25Kg. bags of W-S fertilizers, the same thing as in the second row.

If the dry fertilizer is not clear like sugar, ir has additives that can clog drip tapes

always flush after furtigation.

rice555

How to know if a fertilizer is water soluble?

I now use Super Nova ( which carries the Viking ship) and dissolve it in a 200 liter tank, then run it through the irrigation system.

It dissolves pretty well and fast in the water, but does that also mean it is soluble?

I see you're talking about fertilizer calculators, what do i need to understand from that?

Currently I have 4 zones, each approximate 200sqm, and use 16-16-16 Super Nova.

If I should throw it by hand I should use approximate 2 kg per zone, so now I dissolve 2 kg in 200 liter of water and run it through the irrigation system.

Is that how I should do it or do I need another formula to calculate.

Do you have an idea about the price for those 25kg bags and where to order them, because I've never seen them in the farmer stores in the Pattaya area.

Sorry for the delay in replying, been sick for 5 days.

Usually the label will say(in Thai), sometimes English depending on the brand, There is a US brand advertized in the Home

Ag Mag.

If you are using fertlizer from the local ag shop, most likely it's NOT W-S!(water soluble), if's prill(bead like), not like coarse

sugar, it has filler that is added when they are making the prill/bead that most 15-15-15 ect., are made. This type of fertilizer

should not be run in any type of drip irrigation. What the OP was about.

In sprinklers or any type of moving mechanism, the NON-W-S can cause wear on moving surfaces, rotors.

Any type of drip system needs a GOOD filter and to be cleaned regularly. If you are using

This is the one I'm using, but their English language page is in Thai, and I can't read Thai so don't know if it says water soluble

http://pravitgroup.co.th/?p=1171&lang=en

I'm using it through a rotor system, but have a filter installed.

[rice555]

Hello All, to make it clear, if you go to the www I gave you will come up with the screen shot

I am adding to this post.

You will notice it's not from Viking Products, it's from WESCO, and on the top R/H side you

can see the LANGUE link, "Thai/Eng.". You can notice I have clicked on a link in the menu

and a drop down of the W-S fertilizers is shown.

If you have a question about a product you USE, call that Co. to get your questions answered,

99% of what I use is in the top 3 link on the attached pic.

As a side note, if you want a costume blended chem fertilizer, Nutron 2000 S/W from NZ has

a program to calculate soil fertilizers W/WO TE's . I don't have the S/W as it's Windoz only,

and Scoop!1 does a hell of a job on hydro nutes for me, many thanks Scoop1.

rice555