# Pfertz N DIY - incorrect recipe



## kekon (Aug 1, 2005)

I'd like to make Pfertz N DIY nitrogen fertilizer and give it a try in my tank. In the internet (and also on this forum) i found a recipe concerning it. It says:

Pfertz [N]:
KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate): 61.27523782g/L
CH4N2O (Urea): 19.3193426g/L

However, these numbers seem to be incorrect (or perhaps i do something wrong with my calculations).

The label on the bottle states that:

K2O: 5% (derived from KNO3)
N: 1.75% (derived from KNO3 and urea)

(KNO3: 38.6% K and 61.4% NO3)

So the K+ is present in 4.15 % (K2O contains 83% of K). To achieve 4.15% K in 1L of distilled water one must dissolve 107.5g of KNO3, not 61.27g. Dissolving 61.27g will give only 2.365% of K.
So how did the author calculated "KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate): 61.27523782g/L" ?
107.5g of KNO3 will also add 6.6% of NO3. In turn, we obtain about 1.48% N from NO3. The rest of N comes from urea: 1.75 - 1.48 = 0.26%. To get 0.26% of N from urea (which contains 46.6% of N) we would have to dissolve 5.57g of urea. The recipe says it should be as much as 19.31g. I'm really confused about all the numbers presented here...


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

Well, you've seen the feedback and argument in that thread.

Why not just start from scratch in your calculations? Get the K equivalent for K2O and add it from KNO3. Add Urea for the missing percentage of N.

Have you seen Tobi's crazy Mg + NO3 source by the way? If your greater goal is to add diversified N sources (urea, NO3), it might be a better place to start, since it has been cloned many times: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14594


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## kekon (Aug 1, 2005)

I didn't read that threat... I've just read it and i'm more confused now. I haven't read it completely as it is quite long but i don't know how to explain these "exceptional" properties of "Super N" fert...


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

Hey kekon. 

It is known that our plants have an easier time assimilating Nitrogen in the form of Ammonia and Ammonium than they do in the form of Nitrate. The problem of course is that the preferred form of Nitrogen is also harmful to our pets.

So some folks try to find the ideal ratio between Nitrogen sources, usually with KNO3 and some form of urea. Some others sell these as their Nitrogen source (see Flourish, the Pfertz you're trying to clone, some of the stuff Tobi sells. almost everybody...). 

I think Tobi's work in that thread is exceptional for a couple of reasons. 1) He's totally open about what he's doing. 2) Lots of people have cloned what he's doing. 3) Lots of them find their plants look nicer. Now, there's a difference between a hobbyist who hardly posts plants saying "I like this!" and George Farmer saying (paraphrased) "this is the nicest HC I've grown." 

*But all that is happening is there are diversified sources of Nitrogen.* There's no other reason to clone any manufacturer's ratios. I suggest Tobi's ratio for the reasons above. 

For what it's worth, I personally do not dose any bit of urea. This is one of the things I'm 100% with Plantbrain on: why dose urea when you can just add more fish who poop and pee all the time? I think it's better for everyone -- fish and inverts and people -- to just add to your schools. Still dose KNO3. BAM: diversified N sources.


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## kekon (Aug 1, 2005)

About 5 years ago i dosed NO3 from Ca(NO3)2*4H2O and KNO3 (KNO3 was added after each WC and CaNO3 daily). I also grew HC. It really grew very well without problems. Then i switched to a mixture of KNO3, urea and NH4NO3 (it was "Eudrakon N" fertilizer clone). I didn't manage to grow HC any more. Other plants grew well but something wrong happened with my HC. Maybe it wasn't caused by new fertilizer but it could not find other factors that may have caused that.
I will try Tobi's recipe. Here in Poland there is absolutely no problem with getting different chemicals. There are internet shops where you can buy almost everything (even for individuals). Of course if someone wants to buy larger amounts of KNO3 (or other compounds that may be used to make explosives) he must fill in special documents. 
Tobi wrote he had had problems with accumulating potassium. I don't know how they looked like but in my case most of my plants got chlorosis (mainly on new leaves) when i dosed higher amounts of K. There weren't any symptoms like stunted tips, deformed leaves, severely stunted growth. Just chlorosis.
I hope his fert will solve the problem.


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

I'm interested in what you think of it.


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## vvezirov (Dec 2, 2016)

Hey Guys 
What happened? Kekkon did you tried the Tobi's recipe?

Best Regards,


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## salman (Sep 17, 2013)

updates?


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