Vsevolod Stakhov
Member
Hello, I would like to share my experiences with using of the Solufeed TEC-SF as the main micro fertiliser. It's quite attractive as it is quite cheap and it has Iron chelated by DTPA which means high PH range stability. It also has quite high levels of trace elements comparing to the mainstream micro fertiliser, especially high in Manganese and Zinc.
First, I have used it as a sole source of Iron + TE, but I found two major problems. The first one was that due to high level of TE my normal dosing of 0.5ppm of Fe per week was a bit high for some plants (e.g. I've lost my Toninas). The second issue was weird: I have mixed like 1L of micro with some ascorbic acid but after like 1.5 months I've found two things - there was some insoluble remain in the bottle of micro and the iron test has shown 0 Fe. Also, the water after dosing this mix got lime colouring, which was not very pleasant. It seems that Fe-DTPA was somehow destroyed. I used transparent bottle but I have stored it in the dark place, so I'm curious was it photodegradation or something else? Initially, Fe test (JBL) has shown good amount of Iron in this mix, but after 1.5 months it was depleted to zero.
Hence, I have decided to change micro by adding like 0.3ppm Fe on this mix + 0.1ppm Fe on FeEDDHA (also from Solufeed). This mix works just perfect for the plants and it stopped all issues with melting/chlorosis:
But there is one drawback... well, it is pink-ish water. And the surprising fact is that this pink colouring establishes over time independent from adding fertilisers: it seems that plants are eating Fe(3+) and the remaining free EDDHA anions are just chelating Iron from either insoluble forms or from photodestructed Fe-DTPA producing more and more FeEDDHA in the water column (well, it is just my guess though).
I'm not extremely annoyed by this colouring counting that otherwise this mix works perfect, but I would appreciate any ideas about how to improve or 'fix' this mix
First, I have used it as a sole source of Iron + TE, but I found two major problems. The first one was that due to high level of TE my normal dosing of 0.5ppm of Fe per week was a bit high for some plants (e.g. I've lost my Toninas). The second issue was weird: I have mixed like 1L of micro with some ascorbic acid but after like 1.5 months I've found two things - there was some insoluble remain in the bottle of micro and the iron test has shown 0 Fe. Also, the water after dosing this mix got lime colouring, which was not very pleasant. It seems that Fe-DTPA was somehow destroyed. I used transparent bottle but I have stored it in the dark place, so I'm curious was it photodegradation or something else? Initially, Fe test (JBL) has shown good amount of Iron in this mix, but after 1.5 months it was depleted to zero.
Hence, I have decided to change micro by adding like 0.3ppm Fe on this mix + 0.1ppm Fe on FeEDDHA (also from Solufeed). This mix works just perfect for the plants and it stopped all issues with melting/chlorosis:
But there is one drawback... well, it is pink-ish water. And the surprising fact is that this pink colouring establishes over time independent from adding fertilisers: it seems that plants are eating Fe(3+) and the remaining free EDDHA anions are just chelating Iron from either insoluble forms or from photodestructed Fe-DTPA producing more and more FeEDDHA in the water column (well, it is just my guess though).
I'm not extremely annoyed by this colouring counting that otherwise this mix works perfect, but I would appreciate any ideas about how to improve or 'fix' this mix