I started collecting ferts for EI and came up short on KNO3. It is being banned here because of its potential for being used as an improvised explosive.

Calcium nitrate will be my next best bet but our local water is already quite hard.
I didnt measure gH but the kH is around 13-16 and pH is around 7.5. I think the entire island im standing on is an enormous limestone.

Im currently reading up on urea as an alternative nitrogen source and thought i'd ask you guys what you think.

So far, ive come across a lot of mixed opinions on the matter of using urea.

Thanks!

Ordinary sugar is another substance that could be banned because it can be used in improvised explosives. I can see banning ammonium nitrate, but not potassium nitrate. Some days I wonder if we have become cowards.

You could always buy Seachem's Flourish Nitrogen, expensive as that would be, or is that banned too?

Do they ban gasoline as well?
It's more explosive BTW.
Especially if you pressurize it in a gas tank or any fuel

NH4NO4 is a lot more explosive, but you also need a lot to do damage.
Point: banning every little thing, from liquids to shoes, to nail files even, is not going to stop any of this.

It's a stupid reactionary approach. Mob rules type of garbage.
You do not need to be some tech person or have a lot of resources to cause smaller issues. and there are an infinite no# of ways to do it.

Maybe they should ban planes?
Natural Gas?
Propane for BBQ's?


Ca(NO3)2 is fairly common.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I agree with Vaughn. America is run by a bunch of cowardly men in suits!

More reactionary folks.
Making more laws does not address the issue.,

Regards,
Tom Barr

er...
I didnt post it but im from the philippines. You know how it is with "security" here, paranoia is more of a rule than an exception.

Seachem nitrogen is awfully expensive shipping-wise.

But back to the topic, is urea advisable?

Does urea immediately convert to ammonia/ammonium when dissolved in water?

Try Ca(NO3)2.
Calcium nitrate

Should be fine.

Regards,
Tom Barr

OK, im now looking at calcium nitrate and digging my brain for tidbits of college chem...

Chemical formula from the net (and APC's fertilator) is Ca(No3)2+4(H2O) calcium nitrate tetra hydrate...

basing on this, calcium is 17% of the molecular weight, nitrate is 52.5% and water is 30.5%.

So, if i create a solution of 25 ppm calcium nitrate tetrahydrate, 52.5% of 25 or 13.125 ppm of it is nitrates? am i correct?

The APC fertilator is giving me a different figure thats why im confused.

Thanks!

ok, so i had my pharmacist sis-in law do some chem number crunching and she arrived very close to the figures i got.

I guess ill use my numbers instead of the fertilator's.

Thanks Tom, everyone!

You can also test the NO3 directly as well, but the water part makes it tougher.

As long as you are close, say within +/- 1-2 ppms, you ARE FINE!

Regards,
Tom Barr