Planting Tips

Chapter 45 How to Prepare and Use Nutrient Solutions
(1) Preparation In order to reduce the volume of the container for storing nutrient solution and reduce the workload, it is generally prepared into mother liquor first and stored in a cool place.Among them, the mother liquor made up to 50 times of the large amount of elements is stored in one container, and the mother liquor made up to 1000 times of trace elements is stored in another container. The two kinds of mother liquors should not be mixed to avoid precipitation.

When in use, according to the dosage, take a certain amount of mother liquor and dilute it into water, and then pour it.When preparing a nutrient solution, you must first read the formula to understand the dosage of various compounds, the concentration of elements, and the purity of the compounds.Be accurate when weighing various compounds.When dissolving salts, add water first and mix thoroughly.After the nutrient solution is prepared, the pH value should be adjusted.In soilless culture, most flowers grow best in weakly acidic nutrient solutions with a pH value of 5.5 to 6.5, and different plants are different.If the pH value is high and the nutrient solution is alkaline, you can add an appropriate amount of sulfuric acid or acetic acid for correction; if the pH value is low and the nutrient solution is acidic, you should add an appropriate amount of sodium hydroxide for correction.During use, the pH value usually decreases by about 1 after 2 to 1 weeks of cultivation, and should be adjusted in due course.

(2) The concentration of the nutrient solution used in soilless cultivation is generally about 2 grams of dry mixture per liter of water, but it is also different for different flower types, so it should be mastered according to the type of flowers.Since the substrate of soilless cultivation contains almost no nutrients, it can only rely on watering nutrient solution to supply the needs of plant growth.The amount of liquid should be determined according to the size of the plant and the volume of the flower pot.If the amount is too much, the flowers will not be able to absorb it, and sometimes even cause poisoning; on the contrary, if the amount is insufficient, it will not be able to promote growth.

Spring and summer are the peak seasons for flower growth and require a large amount of fertilizer. Generally, it is watered every 7 to 10 days.In autumn, the amount of fertilizer should be gradually reduced, and it can be watered once a month or so.In winter, it can be watered once every 1 to 1 months.Usually just water.

(End of this chapter)