I'm not familiar with that brand. It sounds like your nitrate test may be off. I'd also check with the manufacturer of the stump remover for a material data safety sheet. MDS or some such initials. See if they have a web site for a quicker answer. I use the Green Light brand available by now from Walmart and also purer KNO3 from Plant Guild.
dosing stump remover
- Thread starter TomFromStLouis
- Start date
here is what happened
For the record, my test kit works fine. Len PMed me and confessed that the glass bottle thing has to do with PO4 testing.
Anyway, I took a cup of tank water and added a significant amount of the stump remover and tested it. Pink! So I added two more teaspoons of KNO3 to the tank and retested it: pink! It measured about 5ppm, the low end of the range I am looking for. So I can only conclude that Hi Yield stump remover is somewhat diluted or weaker than Spectracide. Makes me wonder what they dilute it with... Or could I really have needed that much in a nitrate starved environment?
For the record, my test kit works fine. Len PMed me and confessed that the glass bottle thing has to do with PO4 testing.
Anyway, I took a cup of tank water and added a significant amount of the stump remover and tested it. Pink! So I added two more teaspoons of KNO3 to the tank and retested it: pink! It measured about 5ppm, the low end of the range I am looking for. So I can only conclude that Hi Yield stump remover is somewhat diluted or weaker than Spectracide. Makes me wonder what they dilute it with... Or could I really have needed that much in a nitrate starved environment?
Usually, stump remover is KNO3 or NH4NO3. Whether it's one or the other, it should show up on a nitrate test. If it doesn't, I wouldn't know what other compound they use as stump remover.
Dragon Chemical Corp. used to make a very pure KNO3 stump remover, but I think they discontinued its manufacture. I can't even find it on their website. Grant's, Cooke's and Green Light are good.
In general, it's getting more and more difficult to find stump remover and K2SO4, it seems. KNO3 is a major component in explosives and with the present political climate, I'd imagine distributors would be more cautious about who they make such compounds available to. I think earlier in the year or late last year I did notice an ACE hardware store with Grant's stump remover on the shelf. They seem to switch between Bonide and Grant's.
Well, all I can say is to make sure that the pellets are all dissolved before you test. In fact, it might be a good idea to dissolve the KNO3 in a separate container and pour this solution into the tank. This will allow you to test sooner after addition and get an accurate result.
Oh yeah - one more thing. The typical dosage for the known stump removers is something like 1/4 tsp granules for every 60 gallons. This is supposed to raise the NO3 by about 5 or 6 ppm. Not sure what's in the stuff you're using
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