how to make kno3 from fertilizer

[Arthur]

Recently I've seen potassium nitrate sold by hydroponics shops, as technical grade or fertiliser grade fine powder. It needs milling of course and be aware that they sell other things of even more interest to drug growers and drugs dogs.

[WSM]

Recently I've seen potassium nitrate sold by hydroponics shops, as technical grade or fertiliser grade fine powder. It needs milling of course and be aware that they sell other things of even more interest to drug growers and drugs dogs.

 

Speaking of hydroponics, Due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, I've gotten back into gardening and started adding hydroponic systems to my tiny garden area. I have a couple grow boxes (which I call my horizontal garden) and have added a couple hydroponic racks (which I call my vertical garden). Besides adding small amounts of 20-20-20 fertilizer, I'm learning about adding a bit of Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and calcium nitrate, which are available in my area.

 

The point which I'm slowly getting to is if you don't have access to potassium nitrate but CAN get calcium nitrate, plus have access to potassium sulfate, you can easily produce potassium nitrate. Calcium nitrate is more than hygroscopic, it's deliquescent (absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and makes a puddle). A solution of calcium nitrate mixed with a solution of potassium sulfate will quickly precipitate calcium sulfate which is insoluble. If a balanced mixture is used, what is left is only potassium nitrate which can be recovered from the solution by carefully dehydrating it.

 

A retired chemist friend of mine, as an experiment, took fertilizer potassium nitrate and through a series of dissolving it in distilled water and recrystallizing it, has produced the purest KNO₃ I've ever seen (nice pointy crystals!). Anyone with the time, space and patience can do so also.

 

WSM

[drPsyx]

FERTILIZER UPDATE

 

Hi guys,

First things first

 

NPK Labeling stands for:

Nitrogen - Phosphorus - Kalium (Potassium)

The Label states the percentage of weight of the element in the fertilizer.

For example 13-0-0 means the fertilizer has 13% Nitrogen BY WEIGHT.

A 13-0-44 Potassium Nitrate fertilizer means that it contains 13% + 44% = 57% Potassium Nitrate and 43% some inert ingredient. I have no idea what that is.

Which also means that when you get a 25 lbs bag you get:

14.25 lbs of Potassium Nitrate (in whatever form it is) and 10.75 lbs of this inert ingredient which does nothing except of adding weight (too much weight if you ask me).

 

Wikipedia mentions that Potassium Nitrate "on its own it has a NPK number of 13-0-44".

A bit of a search in internet about the "13-0-44 fertilizer", simply shows that it s not generally sold.

I assume that the pure form of Potassium Nitrate is the 13-0-44 even it contains 43% weight of inert material

but its "illegal" to be sold commonly and as is for fertilizer, so they have to put some additives in it like:

 

Phosphorus: 13-2-44 -> P as P₂O₅ (Phosphorus Pentoxide) : 2%

 

When Phosphorus is absent but another element is added then sometimes the NPK number becomes simply NK

and the additive is added at the end.

for example:

 

added Magnesium: 13-0-44 + 1% Mg (you can find it as NPK 13-0-44 + 1% Mg or NK 13-44 +1% Mg)

or

added Zinc: 13-0-44 + 1% Zn (same as in Mg)

 

However the 13-0-44 DOES exist as a fertilizer but is ONLY sold to big agricultural companies or in general not to people with a garden or a backyard (or pyroguys)

I found a brochure about 13-0-44 fertilizer and it clearly states that its DANGEROUS

Now, why 13-0-44 (57%) is so hard to find while the 13-0-46 (59%) or the 13.5-0-46.2 (59.7%) is everywhere... I have absolutely NO IDEA.

But I m a curious person by nature so i will keep searching what gives the 13-0-44 its purity.

 

Conclusion:

To play with my kids and make some fssstttt pheeeeeeuuuuuu bang bang tsk tsk tsk I would choose the fertilizer.

Its cheap, kids would be amazed and excited and they wouldnt complain anyway.

But to make something little bit more serious, I would prefer to buy a pure product even its more expensive and it needs an invoice.

I hope i helped you out a bit more

[Carbon796]

You need to do more research. Because, what you're theorizing, isn't fact.

 

13-0-44 lets you calculate the amount of nitrogen and potash in potassium nitrate. available to plants as nutrients. There is not some 43% inert ingredients and 57% potassium nitrate, in there. It is 100% potassium nitrate. Do not confuse plant nutrition, with pyrotechnics they are not the same endeavor.

 

If the 13-0-44 numbers very any. They are showing contaminats or adulterations added to the fertilizer.

 

Just keep it simple, and buy some TG or GG potassium nitrate, and you'll be fine.

[Mumbles]

The NPK ratings as Carbon said are sort of confusing to understand. Nitrogen is easy enough, as it's just the weight percent. Pure potassium nitrate (KNO3) is 13.56wt% nitrogen. Potassium is reported as weight percent as K2O. Basically, it's if you were to burn 100g of potassium nitrate, how much potassium oxide you would form. Pure potassium nitrate is 38.67wt% potassium. I can show you the math if you really care, but pure potassium nitrate would produce 46.58% potassium oxide. If they reported more digits, perfectly pure potassium nitrate would have an NPK values of 13.56-0-46.58. Since the intended use is generally adding to crops, most people don't care about exact numbers.

 

Generally if I see 13-0-44 fertilizer, I assume its about 95% pure, 13-0-46 is about 98% pure. If you get greenhouse grade or something of a higher quality, you can sometimes find 13.6-0-46 material. See the links below for fairly pure potassium nitrate and you can see the numbers.

 

You can see the slightly different numbers from Haifa by comparing the classic grade Multi-K and greenhouse grade Multi-K. https://www.haifa-group.com/multi-k-potassium-nitrate-fertilizers-formula They're both relatively pure, but the purer greenhouse grade has slightly closer numbers to the theoretical values.

[SharkWhisperer]

FERTILIZER UPDATE

 

Hi guys,

First things first

 

NPK Labeling stands for:

Nitrogen - Phosphorus - Kalium (Potassium)

The Label states the percentage of weight of the element in the fertilizer.

For example 13-0-0 means the fertilizer has 13% Nitrogen BY WEIGHT.

A 13-0-44 Potassium Nitrate fertilizer means that it contains 13% + 44% = 57% Potassium Nitrate and 43% some inert ingredient. I have no idea what that is.

Which also means that when you get a 25 lbs bag you get:

14.25 lbs of Potassium Nitrate (in whatever form it is) and 10.75 lbs of this inert ingredient which does nothing except of adding weight (too much weight if you ask me).

 

Wikipedia mentions that Potassium Nitrate "on its own it has a NPK number of 13-0-44".

A bit of a search in internet about the "13-0-44 fertilizer", simply shows that it s not generally sold.

I assume that the pure form of Potassium Nitrate is the 13-0-44 even it contains 43% weight of inert material

but its "illegal" to be sold commonly and as is for fertilizer, so they have to put some additives in it like:

 

Phosphorus: 13-2-44 -> P as P₂O₅ (Phosphorus Pentoxide) : 2%

 

When Phosphorus is absent but another element is added then sometimes the NPK number becomes simply NK

and the additive is added at the end.

for example:

 

added Magnesium: 13-0-44 + 1% Mg (you can find it as NPK 13-0-44 + 1% Mg or NK 13-44 +1% Mg)

or

added Zinc: 13-0-44 + 1% Zn (same as in Mg)

 

However the 13-0-44 DOES exist as a fertilizer but is ONLY sold to big agricultural companies or in general not to people with a garden or a backyard (or pyroguys)

I found a brochure about 13-0-44 fertilizer and it clearly states that its DANGEROUS

Now, why 13-0-44 (57%) is so hard to find while the 13-0-46 (59%) or the 13.5-0-46.2 (59.7%) is everywhere... I have absolutely NO IDEA.

But I m a curious person by nature so i will keep searching what gives the 13-0-44 its purity.

 

Conclusion:

To play with my kids and make some fssstttt pheeeeeeuuuuuu bang bang tsk tsk tsk I would choose the fertilizer.

Its cheap, kids would be amazed and excited and they wouldnt complain anyway.

But to make something little bit more serious, I would prefer to buy a pure product even its more expensive and it needs an invoice.

I hope i helped you out a bit more

"I hope I helped you out a bit more" ??? And this is how completely wrong information is spread as fact.

 

You spent a whole lot of brain energy pontificating on the topic, but because your basic premise was wrong, every conclusion that you made was also just plain wrong.

 

Worst thing you can do in pyro is "assume". In this case, guess. Please just ask if you're not sure. Probably half the pyro KNO₃ for sale online started life in 50 lb Haifa fertilizer bags...

[Arthur]

Another thing to consider is that it is possible to make a 13-00-44 fertiliser by using urea instead of nitrate. It's far better to locate and buy known good potassium nitrate, then buy a reasonable amount. Yes a "Haifa" brand is likely and their product is good.

[Carbon796]

Mumbles, thanks for the more accurate, detailed information. On NPK values vs actual purity. Edited April 29, 2022 by Carbon796