# Calcium Ammonium Nitrate in instant cold packs



## papheteer (Sep 24, 2014)

I have some Instant cold packs at home. Says on the packaging that it contains Calcium Ammonium Nitrate and water. Opened one and here's what I got:




Big granules some around 3-4mm in diameter. Highly soluble in water. Can I use this for my paphs? Thanks!!


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## gonewild (Sep 24, 2014)

No way would I trust what it says on the label.


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## NYEric (Sep 24, 2014)

Don't worry. He's probably dead already from opening the sealed pack of poison!


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## papheteer (Sep 24, 2014)

Bwahahaha! Still alive! I have just read on here some people using Ammonium Nitrate that they got from Ice packs to feed their plants!


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## gonewild (Sep 24, 2014)

It's probably alright to use but not worth the risk. 
It's not packaged or sold as fertilizer or as represented as pure or free of something that may be toxic to your paphs. The value of the fertilizer is not worth the risk to your plants.


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## naoki (Sep 24, 2014)

I think you can use it. Is AN banded in Canada? If you can find it from garden center (or agriculture store), it would be much cheaper than using ice packs.


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## PaphMadMan (Sep 24, 2014)

There may be stabilizers, binders, processing aids, etc. that can be present without labeling. If it isn't intended for human or animal consumption, or for agricultural use, I might spread it on my lawn but I wouldn't use it on my orchids without a guaranteed complete list of ingredients.


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## Ozpaph (Sep 24, 2014)

are you mad????


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## TyroneGenade (Sep 24, 2014)

Contact the manufacturer and find out what grades of these chemicals they are using and what potential impurities there are. I would think they would need to use a high grade product else the thermal properties of the chemicals would be compromised.


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## Justin (Sep 24, 2014)

Ozpaph said:


> are you mad????



Was kind of wondering the same thing....go buy some plant food?


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## PaphMadMan (Sep 24, 2014)

With the use of calcium ammonium nitrate in improvised explosive devices, we're probably all higher on the terrorist watch lists now than we were yesterday...


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## TyroneGenade (Sep 24, 2014)

If they are monitoring chemicals like those then everyone with a cupboard of detergents and cleaning agents is under surveillance... It will be years before some snoozing bureaucrat reads the report mentioning us nefarious orchid growers.


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## ALToronto (Sep 25, 2014)

This is available in Canada:

http://www.fishersci.com/ecomm/servlet/itemdetail?catalogId=29104&productId=15165229&storeId=10652&fromSearch=1&distype=0&endecaSearchQuery=%23store%3DScientific%23nav%3D0%23rpp%3D25%23offSet%3D0%23keyWord%3Dammonium%2Bnitrate%23searchType%3DPROD%23SWKeyList%3D%5B%5D&matchedCatNo=S25160||S25173||S25172

If you're interested, I'll give you the contact info for the Toronto area rep for Fisher Scientific.


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## Trithor (Sep 28, 2014)

Interesting idea, but I am not so sure of the advisability of using it. Ammonium nitrate in liquid form should be available from an agricultural supply center or farming cooperative. Failing that laboratory supply companies generally have ammonium nitrate in analytical grade which more often than not does not require a permit (other than signing a register, proof of ID and current residential address).


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