7 ms·

How to grow crystals at home with fertilizer

119 points by crystalchase21 5y ago

tester756 5y ago
looks great
jotm 5y ago
This is fascinating, and the crystals look so cool! I also recently got into chemistry, mainly for metal finishing like anodizing, and also making my own medication as I can't rely on the healthcare system. It is amazing! For serious stuff, you need a lot of materials and equipment, but a lot can be done with the simplest of tools and proper knowledge. Having a room full of simple lab equipment I still feel like Heisenberg lol
- whatshisface 5y ago
  What kind of medication? That sounds pretty dangerous.
  - IntrepidWorm 5y ago
    Dangerous can be necessary, unfortunately. The US healthcare system for instance routinely fails large demographics of people, leaving them to foot the bill for excessively expensive medication that increases in price year after year (despite no significant chemical change to the active components). Making one's own insulin can quite literally be the difference between life and death. AIDs medication is another prime example of this. See https://fourthievesvinegar.org/ https://fourthievesvinegar.org/ for an interesting home-biolab premise if you''d like to know more about stuff like this. Their approach isn't perfect, but its a solution to a problem that most people otherwise would have no ability to change.
    - poulpy123 5y ago
      I would not trust something that put a quote like that on their website >A toast to the dead, for children with cancer and AIDS; A cure exists, and you probably could have been saved.
      - mandmandam 5y ago
        The point is that far too many people die for lack of money in America. For more, see South Park - Cure for AIDS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHGsLQXpsWI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHGsLQXpsWI I suggest not dismissing solutions for desperate people in mortal need, over a wholly appropriate but misinterpreted quote from a song.
    - pfdietz 5y ago
      > Making one's own insulin can quite literally be the difference between life and death. How does one do that? Genetically engineered microorganisms? Extraction from pig pancreas?
      - IntrepidWorm 5y ago
        IANAM (not a microbiologist): I believe that it is achieved through CRISPR edited yeast, or possibly another easily cultured bacterial species (E. Coli perhaps?). The cells replicate and are then portioned and lysed, the solution is spun down in a centrifuge, separated for waste and the yield extracted and purified.
cwkoss 5y ago
Very cool crystals. A lot of them look like the icon for a crystal you'd see in a video game. Can you add dyes to color them? Or will the crystal exclude the dyes as impurities? Maybe the could be dipped after growth is complete (or added to a surface coat?)
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  The article shows food coloring being used successfully.
  - cwkoss 5y ago
    ah thanks, I missed that
- pdpi 5y ago
  You can grow coloured crystals instead of adding colour artificially. As a teen I grew copper sulphate crystals (they were bright blue)
ttoinou 5y ago
Launched some NAP crystal in December and forgot to remove it, just looked at it and it's quite big and beautiful :)
bin_bash 5y ago
If you ever have the chance, the gemstone section of the Perot museum in Dallas is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I had no idea there were just so many different types of gems and so many colors.
akomtu 5y ago
These crystals are almost like primitive plants.
- cnity 5y ago
  As someone who is not a biologist, I wonder if some of the same principles are at play in biology and genetics. The only thing that comes to mind for me is the "contagious" nature of prions, which sounds a bit like crystallization to me.
  - netizen-936824 5y ago
    At a very rough level you can say its all about intermolecular interactions. That's about all. Prion folding is closer
DonHopkins 5y ago
I've always wanted to try this classic experiment with liquid alum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaBHXw3C48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaBHXw3C48
55555 5y ago
Are these brittle or can you put them in a rock tumbler and turn them into spheres?
- crystalchase21 5y ago
  They're brittle. The sharper spikes snap off quite easily.
- teruakohatu 5y ago
  Brittle and is soluble in water. Large alum crystals are used for deodorant (the solid clear crystal looking sticks) and as shaving astringent sticks.
twic 5y ago
The article mentions problems due to impurities a couple of times. If you grow an unsatisfactory crystal due to impurities, it will still be purer than the starting material, so you could re-dissolve it to make a more pure solution for another attempt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recrystallization_(chemistry) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recrystallization_(chemistry)

looks great

jotm 5y ago

This is fascinating, and the crystals look so cool! I also recently got into chemistry, mainly for metal finishing like anodizing, and also making my own medication as I can't rely on the healthcare system. It is amazing! For serious stuff, you need a lot of materials and equipment, but a lot can be done with the simplest of tools and proper knowledge. Having a room full of simple lab equipment I still feel like Heisenberg lol

whatshisface 5y ago
What kind of medication? That sounds pretty dangerous.
- IntrepidWorm 5y ago
  Dangerous can be necessary, unfortunately. The US healthcare system for instance routinely fails large demographics of people, leaving them to foot the bill for excessively expensive medication that increases in price year after year (despite no significant chemical change to the active components). Making one's own insulin can quite literally be the difference between life and death. AIDs medication is another prime example of this. See https://fourthievesvinegar.org/ https://fourthievesvinegar.org/ for an interesting home-biolab premise if you''d like to know more about stuff like this. Their approach isn't perfect, but its a solution to a problem that most people otherwise would have no ability to change.
  - poulpy123 5y ago
    I would not trust something that put a quote like that on their website >A toast to the dead, for children with cancer and AIDS; A cure exists, and you probably could have been saved.
    - mandmandam 5y ago
      The point is that far too many people die for lack of money in America. For more, see South Park - Cure for AIDS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHGsLQXpsWI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHGsLQXpsWI I suggest not dismissing solutions for desperate people in mortal need, over a wholly appropriate but misinterpreted quote from a song.
  - pfdietz 5y ago
    > Making one's own insulin can quite literally be the difference between life and death. How does one do that? Genetically engineered microorganisms? Extraction from pig pancreas?
    - IntrepidWorm 5y ago
      IANAM (not a microbiologist): I believe that it is achieved through CRISPR edited yeast, or possibly another easily cultured bacterial species (E. Coli perhaps?). The cells replicate and are then portioned and lysed, the solution is spun down in a centrifuge, separated for waste and the yield extracted and purified.

cwkoss 5y ago

Very cool crystals. A lot of them look like the icon for a crystal you'd see in a video game. Can you add dyes to color them? Or will the crystal exclude the dyes as impurities? Maybe the could be dipped after growth is complete (or added to a surface coat?)

vorpalhex 5y ago
The article shows food coloring being used successfully.
- cwkoss 5y ago
  ah thanks, I missed that
pdpi 5y ago
You can grow coloured crystals instead of adding colour artificially. As a teen I grew copper sulphate crystals (they were bright blue)

ttoinou 5y ago

Launched some NAP crystal in December and forgot to remove it, just looked at it and it's quite big and beautiful :)

bin_bash 5y ago

If you ever have the chance, the gemstone section of the Perot museum in Dallas is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I had no idea there were just so many different types of gems and so many colors.

akomtu 5y ago

These crystals are almost like primitive plants.

cnity 5y ago
As someone who is not a biologist, I wonder if some of the same principles are at play in biology and genetics. The only thing that comes to mind for me is the "contagious" nature of prions, which sounds a bit like crystallization to me.
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  At a very rough level you can say its all about intermolecular interactions. That's about all. Prion folding is closer

DonHopkins 5y ago

I've always wanted to try this classic experiment with liquid alum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaBHXw3C48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaBHXw3C48

55555 5y ago

Are these brittle or can you put them in a rock tumbler and turn them into spheres?

crystalchase21 5y ago
They're brittle. The sharper spikes snap off quite easily.
teruakohatu 5y ago
Brittle and is soluble in water. Large alum crystals are used for deodorant (the solid clear crystal looking sticks) and as shaving astringent sticks.

twic 5y ago

The article mentions problems due to impurities a couple of times. If you grow an unsatisfactory crystal due to impurities, it will still be purer than the starting material, so you could re-dissolve it to make a more pure solution for another attempt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recrystallization_(chemistry) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recrystallization_(chemistry)