Well get the activated carbon charcoal or whatever the filter thing is then. If I'm not mistaken the chlorine is added at the water company as a sanitizer, not the ammonia. The ammonia is a by product of fish waste introduced in the reservoir or whatever that aqueduct thing does where people catch fish and drag race on that movie grease when there's no water going through it, then it (the ammonia) binds with the chlorine or something like that to form chloramine but what the heck do I know, I probably have it all wrong. But I don't have any of it in my water so I don't care. But don't get me wrong, I feel real bad for the citizens of San Diego, having to cook, clean, brush their teeth, bathe, shower, Etc. with that disgusting water. I always try to use the best water available. Be it A/C evaporator water, well water, rain water, melted snow, or water out of the 500 mile shoreline lake in my back yard. None of it contains chlorine, chloramine, or ammonia so I just don't care. Furthermore, I don't use any beneficial micro organisms, Biological amendments from compost or mycorrhizal inoculations etc. Just sterile mineral elements, and when I observe such organisms, harmful, beneficial or whatever, I simply Kill them all. How? With Sodium Hypochlorite, Yes, that's Chlorine!

Hi, I just purchased some commercial products from Southern Agriculture. The smallest size of their hydroponic special product comes in a 25 pound bag. Also, some Epsom salt and some Calcium nitrate is added to complete the basic nutrient. The Calcium Nitrate comes in a 50 pound bag. Epsom salts are purchased at any drug store in small packages. I got mine at Wal-Mart. Now, to make 5 gallons of nutrient solution, it takes 4 teaspoons of the So. Ag. 5-11-26, 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts (fully disolved in enough water to be a liquid,and 2 teaspoons of Calcium Nitrate, (also disolved in water prior to mixing). So, I take 1 gallon of water and mix in the Ag So hydro mix. Another gal of water to disolve the Epsom salts, and finally a gallon of water to disolve the Calcium Nitrate. That leaves 3 gallons of plain water to start with in the tank. The instructions say that the So Ag 5-11-26 must be added first to the tank with the 3 gal of water and mixed. Next mix in the gal with the Epsom Salts to the tank and mix. Finnaly, add the gallon with the Calcium Nitrate last and mix. The result is 5 gallons of nutrient ready for use. This is only a general guide. The instructions also say that young tomato plants could be started out using 1/2 strength, and full strength at middle growth. I am going to start out at 1/2 strength to start and go up in strength as the plants grow. This mix should have the following PPM. N 150 PPM, P 52 PPM, K 250 PPM, Ca 121 PPM, Mg 52 PPM, AND A BUNCH MORE TRACE MINERALS RANGING FROM .1 TO 3 PPM. I intend on making the solution full strength and then taking a measurment with my cheap meter, and also a half strength mix and measuring that. Because I seem to have SO MUCH of the ingredients, I will probably be changing the nutrients when the readings change by 10% or so. The cost of the 25 pound bag of the 5-11-26 was just under $20. The 50# bag of Calcium Nitrate was $13. The Epsom salts was a couple bucks. To make a 1000 gal of the mix, the ammounts are 8 pounds 5-11-26, 2 pounds Epsom salts, and about 5 1/2 pounds of Calcium nitrate. So, it would seem that I will be able to make about 3000 gallons approx. for a cost of about $35 dollars. (I should live so long.) I guess that if you have to have the ingredients shipped, you might end up spending another $20 dollars shipping for a total of around $55 dollars, or about 2 cents per gallon for a known good professional product. I hope that this will help you decide how to handle the nutrients. I will be glad to share the results once I have my new system set up and working. chuck Here is a link that might be useful: Hydro expirements

As a hobbyist grower, I don't think the incidental contact with the nutrients warrants much concern. It is not like I'm picking up handfuls of this stuff to mold clay figurines. I use a spoon to put the fertilzer in tubs to weight them, then dump them in water. Sure I'll ocassionally pick up a granule off the table, but again contact is very incidental. Well, I do tend to wash my hands afterwards, but that's a habit with anything i'm messing with not just fertilizers. ETA: think about Chirstmas lights. Do you wear gloves to hang them on your tree? They have warnings all over them about containing carcinogens. Just a bit of food for thought. This post was edited by grizzman on Thu, Apr 18, 13 at 8:38

There were several substances that were insoluble &/or not recommended for hydro on that site. Read up on percent concentration & you can do your own calculations. The best sites for understanding this are basic chemistry sites. Get a periodic table, a calculator, & by educating yourself you will find it is not that difficult. Read the thread "fertilizer compounds." Pay particular attention to the postings of DHershey. It is a good thread, so I will bump it up so it does not fall off the forum. Here is a link that might be useful: Fertilizer compounds