Crystal Growing Recipes

Recipes for Common Crystal Growing Solutions

Crystal of chrome alum — This is a crystal of chrome alum, also known as chromium alum. Grow this crystal and others by dissolving as much solute into water as possible. Ra'ike, Wikipedia Commons

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Updated on May 06, 2019

Find a crystal growing recipe. This table includes recipes for preparing solutions of common crystal grown in aqueous or water solutions.

Crystal Growing Solution Tips

In most cases, prepare a crystal growing solution by dissolving a powdered or granular solid in boiling water. You want a saturated solution, so dissolve as much of your chemical, called the solute, as possible in the water, which is your solvent. Usually, it's fine to add too much solute to the water, so that you get some undissolved material at the bottom of your container. Filter this liquid through filter paper, a coffee filter or a paper towel and use the filtered solution to grow your crystals.

Crystal Growing Recipes

Crystal	Growing Solution
sugar crystals or rock candy clear or dyed with food coloring	3 cups sugar 1 cup boiling water
alum crystals clear, cubic	2-1/2 tablespoons alum 1/2 cup very hot tap water
borax crystals clear	3 tablespoons borax 1 cup very hot tap water
Epsom salt crystals colorless	1/2 cup Epsom salt 1/2 cup very hot water food coloring (optional)
Rochelle salt crystals clear, orthorhombic	650 grams Rochelle salt 500 ml boiling water
table salt crystals (sodium chloride)	6 tablespoons salt 1 cup very hot tap water
copper acetate monohydrate blue-green, monoclinic	20 g copper acetate monohydrate 200 ml hot distilled water
calcium copper acetate hexahydrate	22.5 g calcium oxide in 200 ml water add 48 ml glacial acetic acid 20 g copper acetate monohydrate in 150 ml hot water mix the two solutions together
monoammonium phosphate colorless or easily dyed	6 tablespoons monoammonium phosphate 1/2 cup hot tap water food coloring
sodium chlorate colorless, cubic	113.4 g NaClO₃ 100 ml hot water
sodium nitrate colorless, trigonal	110 g NaNO₃ 100 ml hot water
potassium ferricyanide red, monoclinic	46.5 g potassium ferricyanide 100 ml boiling water
nickel sulfate hexahydrate blue-green, tetragonal	115 g nickel sulfate hexahydrate 100 ml hot water

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Your Citation

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Crystal Growing Recipes." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/crystal-growing-recipes-606222. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2021, February 16). Crystal Growing Recipes. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/crystal-growing-recipes-606222 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Crystal Growing Recipes." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/crystal-growing-recipes-606222 (accessed April 1, 2023).

Crystal Growing Recipes

Crystal Growing Solution Tips

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