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Danville, CA (petman2@yahoo.com)

I got a used Dosatron DI1500 for $25. It seems to be fine and working and was only missing the "dip tube" that goes into the fertilizer. In any event, I cannot figure out the dilution rates to save my life. The dilutions listed are

Injection Range : 1:500 (0.2%) to 1:1500 (0.07%)

So what does that mean to me in terms of tsp per gallon or tbs per gallon. I am not used to these seemingly really small numbers. Can someone translate for me please.

I plan on sitting this atop a 5 gallon water jug filled with seaweed, dunkles, VF-11 or ..... and wondered what concentrations I needed to set it to and/or if I need to mix a "super potent" mix of the fertilizer itself to make it work.

Lastly, can I apply my second shot of Merit using inline watering this way?

2/5/2007 3:34:38 PM

Utah

In 1 gallon there are 256 Tablespoons
In 1 gallon there are 769 teaspoons
(in 1 Tablespoon there are 3 teaspoons)

1 Tablespoon per gallon would be 1:256 or 1/256 or 0.0039 or 0.39%
higher than what you are looking for but 1:256 is about half of the 1:500 the you are looking for on your high end of your given does range.
so 1 Tablespoon per 2 gallons would be 1:512 or 1/512 or 0.00195 or 0.195% or rounded up 0.2%
so we've found the high end dose.
... for 5 gallons at the high end dose it would be 2 1/2 Tablespoons
... for 1 gallon it would be 1/2 Tablespoon.

1 Tablespoon per 5 gallons would be 1:1280 or 1/(256*5) or 1/1280 or 0.000781 or 0.078%
ok we've found something close to your low end dose-
...so for 1 gallon it would be 1/5 or a Tablespoon or 3/5 of the teaspoon or say 1/2 of a teaspoon plus a little would probably be close enough to what you are looking for.

1 teaspoon per gallon would be 1:769 or 1/769 or 0.0013 or 0.13%
something that is in the slightly above the middle of your dose range but a good mid dose number.
... so for 5 gallons it would be 5 teaspoons. (or 1 Tablespoon and 2 teaspoons)

so there you have your three possible doses:
Low: 1/2 tsp per gallon or 1 Tbs per 5 gallons.
Mid-range: 1 tsp per gallon or 5 tsp for 5 gallons.
High: 1/2 Tbp per gallon or 2 1/2 Tbs for 5 gallons.

it's all just ratio's but if you didn't know the conversions or aren't used to working with ratios then it would be difficult to figure it all out.

I don't know the answer to your last question.

2/5/2007 5:46:17 PM

Danville, CA (petman2@yahoo.com)

Thanks, the Table and Teaspoons per gallon were unknown to me. As you said, the rest is math and I appreciate your help. Now I just need to adjust the strength of the mix to allow for proper application.

2/6/2007 12:50:40 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Eric,

You can deliver Merit through a Dosatron. The dilution isn't even very important so long as you know the exact square footage you're treating. Email me if you need clarification.

Steve

2/6/2007 1:17:39 AM