Dyna-gro All Pro problems

[BarryRice]

Hey Folks,

Recently I ran into a problem with the Dyna-gro All Pro 7-7-7 that I use as a fertilizer for my hydroponically grown cacti. It took a bit of work to get a good resolution to this, so I thought I'd spread the word.

The smallest volume I could get this product in is 1-gallon, so after a year I still had a lot left in the bottle. This spring, I picked up the bottle and noticed that it made a strange rattling sound, like the gallon container was filled with gravel. Obviously, even though I stored the product in my frost-free garage, some component of it had settled out as a precipitate.

A web search indicated other folks had this problem with the product. I emailed Dyna-gro, and after a few days I got a response. Basically, they said that if I re-dissolved the precipitate, I should be ok.

So, I dumped out the contents of the container (including the clear white crystalline precipitate), and found I had 150 ml of product. I added 150 ml of distilled water, and after a few minutes of stirring, got most of the precipitate back into solution. After another 30 minutes of leaving it alone, the rest of the solids dissolved.

After pouring the fertilizer back into its container, I marked the fertilizer as being half strength, and will double amounts in future potions I brew from it.

Cheers

Barry

[DaveW]

Evidently a known temperature problem with dissolved solutions Barry:-

Link will not post so Google - "Fertiliser crystallising out Boman - Florida State Horticultural Society"

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load ... 23544.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I believe a warm solution can hold a greater amount of chemical without it crystallising out than a cold one? If so then it could just be cooler weather causing the solution to crystallise out?

[BarryRice]

Hey Dave

Yes, this is basically the problem. Apparently the solution is near saturation, so some appropriate stimuli might encourage the formation of a precipitate. Whether this is because of evaporation or temperature changes, I could not say. It surprised me, because I keep the container sealed, and in a garage which gets chilly, at most.

Lots of people on line report having trouble getting the precipitate back into solution---I didn't.

[DaveW]

Evidently dissolving the crystals in hot rather than cold water helps, but I suppose it then depends how strong the solution is as to whether some would crystallise out again as the liquid cools?

[Steve Johnson]

Evidently dissolving the crystals in hot rather than cold water helps, but I suppose it then depends how strong the solution is as to whether some would crystallise out again as the liquid cools?

Okay, this is a case lesson of what happens when we're not paying close attention to the details in our product labeling (something I'm guilty of too)...

The back of the Dyna Gro label clearly states that if the product freezes, you have to dilute the remainder 1-to-1 with hot water so the crystals go back into solution. Since that does of course dilute the liquid concentrate, double the amount of fert and you're back on track -- exactly like Barry said. Where I got double-blindsided was A. not looking at the label to begin with, and B. assuming that freezing had to be an ambient temp at or below 32F. Well, my area very rarely gets that cold, although I went through a cold snap about 15 months ago with a couple of overnights in the mid-30s. I got on the phone with Dyna Gro yesterday morning, and yep -- that was enough to do it. The lady I spoke with was very nice and also helpful as she patched me in with one of the technical people at the company. This led to an equally nice, and detailed conversation with Raphael, so here's the scoop:

When Dyna Gro freezes, some of the Potassium comes out as a salt that crystallizes. This is where the gravel-like sound comes from. The crystals won't go back into solution on their own, so we need to help the process along with hot water. Based on my conversation with Raphael, I'll modify the "have to" part here. He said that placing the jug out in the sun when the weather's warm enough will do the job without having to dilute the concentrate. I tried this myself yesterday. Most of the crystals did dissolve, but I still had some residual "gravel" at the bottom after I came home from work. My daytime high was 77, so I'll have to put the jug back out again and find out if it'll need more than one additional session out in the sun. If this were an 80-plus day, no problemo at all. Nice little bonus factoids to know about are -- the fert won't degrade when the liquid concentrate is heated up, and Dyna Gro has an indefinite shelf life. That gallon of 7-7-7 I got 2 years ago will be with me for a long, long, long, long time (upside to maintaining a small collection).

I'll have to admit that my tardy discovery gave me a start when I used my 7-7-7 for watering Sunday night. Therefore it was no exaggeration to say that my conversation with Raphael took a major load off my mind. Although a year's worth of Potassium salt crystals did lower the K, it wasn't enough to be worth stressing about. My cacti have been growing really well, so good to know that we're dealing with remarkably tolerant plants here. With that said, I don't want to let an upset in the NPK balance happen again after I know what happened. For those of you who use any of the Dyna Gro products, I'd highly recommend keeping it in your domicile when the weather turns cold. Then you won't have to worry about the possibility of freezing it -- especially since we now know that it doesn't have to go as low as 32 for the stuff to crystallize!

The CactiGuide forum is the only one I spend time on. If those of you who frequent other plant forums want to spread the word, that would be great since I'm sure the Dyna Gro problem has people elsewhere scratching their heads. IMO it's one of the best ferts out there, and I continue to swear by the 7-7-7 for my cacti. Just needs some TLC for educating folks on how to understand and address the freezing issue. Is there anyone out there throwing their Dyna Gro away because they don't? That would be a real shame.

[orion]

Recently I ran into a problem with the Dyna-gro All Pro 7-7-7 that I use as a fertilizer for my hydroponically grown cacti.

Barry, Can you tell us more about your hydroponically grown cacti? Maybe some pictures too...

Thanks,
Mac

[jerrytheplater]

I know this is a really old thread, but I just came across it and want to add to it.

I have 8 oz containers of Dyna-Gro Bloom and Grow purchased maybe 10 years ago, I don't remember. The garden center is now a Quick Chek. I still use them at 1/4 tsp per gallon for my African Violets. I have stored them indoors where our winter night time temps go down to 62 indoors. They are still in solution without any precipitation/crystallization issues except for around the cap. I probably open them up once every 6 weeks. I always shake them before using and don't hear any solids.

Suggestion: keep an eye on the container that it is always tightly sealed. Evaporation will concentrate your solution and can easily accelerate crystallization issues.

You can use a water bath to heat your fertilizer solution if you don't want to pour it out into a pot and heat it directly. Place your container in a pot of water and heat the water to heat the fertilizer. You don't have to boil the water to get this to work.

Don't add anything to your container of fertilizer, like other chemicals to modify the fertilizer. If you want to do that, do it as you mix up the fertilizer. Make your additions to the container you are mixing up.

Best to keep your container as clean as you can. You can introduce dust or dirt which can be places where crystallization can begin. Don't place your measuring teaspoon into the container. I use plastic 1 ml squeeze pipets to get my fertilizer out. Here is one source, you can search for others. It is just an example so you'll know what I am talking about: https://www.homesciencetools.com/produc ... l-10-pack/ You can use 5 ml per US fluid teaspoon. So 1/4 tsp = 1.25 ml.

[Steve Johnson]

Best to keep your container as clean as you can. You can introduce dust or dirt which can be places where crystallization can begin. Don't place your measuring teaspoon into the container. I use plastic 1 ml squeeze pipets to get my fertilizer out.

Good tip, Jerry -- I have a few squeeze pipets on hand, so I'll follow your suggestion from here on out.