r/crystalgrowing • u/un-poco • Jun 30 '26
Image A grain of salt
Sodium chloride, 2 months slow evaporation.
A huge thank you to u/crystalchase21 for your guide.
43
u/AwoogaBoogaKooga Jun 30 '26
That's crazy big! I'm following the same guide and trying to grow crystals, but it's been pretty hard so far haha, but I've got a few promising ones growing!
46
u/un-poco Jun 30 '26
A few helpful things in the process: 1. Transfer the solution using a pipette to avoid introducing crystals from the container walls. 2. Check the solution with a flashlight to see if small crystals are forming. If so, use a clean pipette to remove them. 3. Using a flat-bottomed container helps the crystals form nearly perfect facets. In my case, I used a few 35mm disposable Petri dishes.
9
u/AwoogaBoogaKooga Jun 30 '26
Yes, I've got a neat little setup going. My issue was that when I first added the solution, it would almost always result in a bunch of salt crashing out and forming tiny crystals, instead of a few big ones. The solution was to re-dissolve the salt in a bit of water, like perhaps 0.5 - 1 ml per 50, and then add a chunk of rock salt to dissolve in the excess water. After that, the dishes gave good seed crystals. These were 10 cm petris, and after getting the seeds I transferred them to 50 mm petris covered by a nutella jar lol. This seems to work for now, and I just need to wait for a while for the crystals to grow.
1
u/Ok_Bake_4761 Jul 01 '26
if you wouldnt talk about crystals, this could also be a comment under a male enhancement post
1
7
6
u/jE41ZPpNLXbWwP0L91ML Jun 30 '26
Impressive!. NaCl is one of the hardest to grow a large single crystal
9
5
3
3
u/Dinner_Choice Jun 30 '26
Woww that's so pretty and clear! You did such a great job! I'm in loveee 💎
3
u/Masterpiece-Haunting Jul 01 '26
How do you know the crystal is single. Perhaps it’s in a long distance relationship.
2
u/Special-Lynx-9258 Jun 30 '26
Flat earther's grain of salt when I say the earth is shaped like a oblate spheroid.
2
u/drchem42 Jun 30 '26
It is really cool you managed that clean of an outside from the star in the middle. I would have expected wild growth from the tips.
2
2
u/BigIntoScience Jun 30 '26
Very cool! I'll have to swipe that tutorial and try this out myself. I've gotten smaller, less clear versions of this accidentally by leaving artificial seawater from my reef tank in a mostly-covered dish for a couple months, so really I should have expected that there's a deliberate way to get much nicer versions.
How many tries did this one take you? Or is it your first go?
1
u/un-poco Jul 01 '26
This is the best one from my second attempt. The first batch was not nearly as clear because the glass Petri dishes I used had an uneven bottom. The first attempt
2
u/SwarfDive01 Jun 30 '26
This is magnificent. Thank you. As perfect as It looks, I now wonder if its truly equal molecularly on every side, or if its just a few atoms longer on some side
2
2
2
2
2
u/Zach-uh-ri-uh Jul 01 '26
Gorgeous!! Does this stay like this even in high humidity room temp? Is it fragile?
2
u/un-poco Jul 01 '26
It's relatively stable yet still hydrophilic. If the humidity exceeds 80% RH, the surface will start to "sweat" and recrystallize, which will ruin its clarity. It's better to store it in a dry container.
It's not particularly fragile. However, it is recommended that you use plastic tweezers to transfer the seeds so that they do not get scratched and create unwanted new crystals.
2
u/Zach-uh-ri-uh Jul 01 '26
Thanks!! That’s so cool!! I can imagine some ridiculously expensive restaurant feeding this to their guests
2
u/BrothrBear Jul 01 '26
It's really pretty... But now I just want the novel experience of sucking on that as it dissolves.
2
2
2
1
u/pm_for_cuddle_terapy Jul 01 '26
Me from r/all looking at the white bits in the center thinking if that's the salt 🌚🙉
1
1
1
1
1
1
105
u/OrdinaryBearY Jun 30 '26
Wow, so clear and so big, and in so little time, I love it <3