Why do hydroponic nurients precipitate?

Answer 1

In the soil nutrients bond to soil/ colloidal particles; in hydroponics there is no soil only a volume of liquid. As the medium is liquid the individual chemical elements are more or less free to move and are exposed to other elements are a much greater rate than what they would be in the soil. This results in chemical bonding, some of the new products formed are insoluble in water (unless the pH and temperature are manipulated); these are normally heavier and precipitate to the bottom of the mixing/ storage tanks.

For this reason some nutrients are only added to the solution just prior to use so that they do not precipitate out (Iron/ Fe being one of them).

Answer 2

Hydroponic nutrients can precipitate when the solution's pH is too high or too low, causing certain nutrients to become insoluble and form solid particles. This can also happen if incompatible nutrients are mixed together, leading to precipitation. To prevent this, it is important to monitor and adjust the pH of the nutrient solution, and avoid mixing nutrients that are known to react with each other.