Nutricalc
Nutrient Solution Workbook

The Nutricalc  work book and it’s instruction  file  can be downloaded from this website  only  by paid up subscribers who are logged in. This workbook allows you to write or modify recipes for nutrient stock solutions using either the European and scientific method with nutrient concentrations expressed in millimols/litre or with nutrient concentrations expressed in parts per million, with semi-automatic calculation of of the amounts of each fertiliser to be used.

Requirements
Microsoft Excel is needed to run Nutricalc. Any PC or Apple Macintosh with Microsoft Excel installed can run Nutricalc. You should also be familiar with the required quality of fertilisers for making nutrient solutions and with instructions on mixing and making nutrient solutions. Both topics are dealt with elsewhere in www.ghvi.co.nz.

The workbook contains 7 worksheets
The worksheets are:
Data base for water analyses
Recipe (feed) data base
Recipe (feed) calculator (fertiliser quantities and nutrient concentrations at various dilutions and CF)
Cost calculator
Mix adjuster
Check list printer
Sonneveld's calculator The recipe calculator also allows for the quality of your water .

The workbook stores recipes you have written in a data base, and also has a data base to keep your  water analyses. The Recipe calculator allows you to enter the amounts of fertiliser used to make stock solutions and automatically calculates a table of dilution rates and CF versus nutrient concentrations in ppm.  Users  can  change fertiliser amounts and see what effect this will have on nutrient concentrations.  The recipe calculator sheet includes nearly all  the fertilisers that might be used, allowing users to choose the fertilisers that suit them best, and if necessary users can also change the analyses used for each fertiliser.  New or modified recipes can be stored in the recipe data base. Macros are used to automatically shift  data between worksheets and around the work book,in response to special keys.   Users can enter fertiliser prices and automatically calculate the cost of any recipe. The Mix adjuster is used when it become necessary to convert some volume of an existing stock solution from an old recipe into a larger volume of a new recipe, thus avoiding the need to discard outdated stock solutions. When mixing nutrient stock solution it is essential not to make any mistakes. Avoid making mistakes by using a check list and ticking of each component as you weigh it. There is Check list writer  in the workbook which can print a check  list for any recipe in your  database.  The check list writer automatically calculates the amounts to be weighed out for any volume of solution that you specify. Sonneveld’s calculator allows users to insert their water analyses and a solution recipe with nutrient concentrations expresses in mmols/litre for major nutrients and micromol/litre for minor nutrients (trace elements).   The molar nutrient concentrations required  in the stock solutions are automatically calculated after allowing for nutrients supplied in the water.  Users can choose which fertilisers to use and how much of  the required amount  of each nutrient should be provided by each fertiliser. The calculator then converts the molar data into weights of fertiliser to be used per 100 litres in each stock solution.  This recipe can then be saved in the recipe data base and used by any of the other  work sheets. 

Detailed Instructions for using Nutricalc (html)