Cheap alternatives to overpriced hydroponic nutrients

[AlwaysSunny]

I will be posting a thread here on the farm with all the details when the time is right... within a couple of weeks as I convert between runs.

Whats the deal with those Root packs on Ebay? You selling those?

 

[El Cerebro]

Whats the deal with those Root packs on Ebay? You selling those?

Haha, yeah man, get all three asap and don't look back. Or maybe just two if you're in straight hydro?

 

[AlwaysSunny]

Haha, yeah man, get all three asap and don't look back. Or maybe just two if you're in straight hydro?

CNS17 in Sunshine Advanced #4

 

[El Cerebro]

it'll go great with that

 

[evu80]

sup farmers ! one hell of an informative thread. Already got a bunch of stuff ordered from jacks as well as a few extras from custom hydro. Going to apply what I learned over the past few days from reading this thread.

Anyways I got a few questions about the ratios just to be on the same page.

so far from what ive read 3-1-2 is for the veg phase and 3-1-4 is for the bloom phase. Now somewhere in between the 38 pages of thread, someone mention to switch to 2-1-2 for proper blooming nutes. Now if this is the case we would have to use 100 + ppm of P in order to have enough K but in doing so we exceed the range of N that is preferred in this stage. Can someone clarify please?

Also I'm considering switching over from a recirculating reservoir to drain to waste and will I have to tweak the ratios a bit?

 

[juggernaut]

nice

 

[organicness]

From JR Peters on the phone this morning... they're going to be releasing a HydroHerb Flowering formula later this summer. :)

Also, when one mixes a reservoir of standing solution, is fallout more likely? I've had a bucket of nutrient solution sitting around for longer than usual (probably 5-6 days) and there's a bunch of brown on the bottom now. There's no water movement or aeration at all in this bucket. Just some nute soup.

 

[ttystikk]

From JR Peters on the phone this morning... they're going to be releasing a HydroHerb Flowering formula later this summer. :)

Also, when one mixes a reservoir of standing solution, is fallout more likely? I've had a bucket of nutrient solution sitting around for longer than usual (probably 5-6 days) and there's a bunch of brown on the bottom now. There's no water movement or aeration at all in this bucket. Just some nute soup.

Interesting news! I would very much like to know what the ratios will be.

It depends on what's in the res. nutrient salts shouldn't fall out of solution without a reason, and the main one, lockout, usually happens right away. On the other hand, there are lots of organic additives that don't stay stable or in solution very well. If you run organic nutes or organic amendments, you may want to start there in your quest for culprits.

 

[organicness]

Oh, it's just the 3-2-1 formula, Hydro/CalNit/Epsom

And yea, super pumped about the flower formula.

 

[ttystikk]

Oh, it's just the 3-2-1 formula, Hydro/CalNit/Epsom

And yea, super pumped about the flower formula.

It's definitely possible you have nutrient lockout and just didn't see it right away. Do you mix and dissolve your calcium containing nutes separately from the rest before adding it to the res? That's the most common scenario.

 

[organicness]

I did with this bucket. I had 30gal RO water, took 4 gallons out into a bucket and added my hydro to the larger bucket, added my epsom to the larger bucket, added the CalNit to the smaller bucket and then added that bucket to the larger bucket, slowly.

 

[ttystikk]

I did with this bucket. I had 30gal RO water, took 4 gallons out into a bucket and added my hydro to the larger bucket, added my epsom to the larger bucket, added the CalNit to the smaller bucket and then added that bucket to the larger bucket, slowly.

I think I see where the error may have happened. You only want to pour the contents of the mixing buckets into the larger reservoir. What you're trying to do is keep the concentration of nutrient salts low enough for them not to interact. Therefore, start by mixing the Jacks and epsom salts in a 5 gal. bucket- I start with a gallon of warm tapwater to speed things along and once it's dissolved I fill the bucket the rest of the way- stir, and then add that bucket to your reservoir.

Grab another 5 gallon bucket, put the calciunm nitrate in it and add a gallon of warm water. Stir until it's dissolved- and it should happen fast, as this stuff likes to mix. Fill this second bucket up with cold water and add it to the res. Stir the res to thoroughly mix the contents.

The aim in all this is to never let the nutrient concentration get very high in the res; never above the working concentration, in fact. Do NOT mix your nute buckets together before they go into the res, as this defeats the whole purpose of dilution.

Obviously, you'll want to either dip the water from your res. or start with your res 10 gallons low. But many people reading instructions here act like they're stoned or something, so I thought I'd mention the obvious, lol.

 

[organicness]

What you said is exactly what I did.

 

[ttystikk]

What you said is exactly what I did.

Okay, then in the finest tradition of Sherlock Holmes, we now know what it's not. So, now the hunt begins for what it IS.

Do your plants show signs of nutrient deficiencies?

You mentioned you just use the Jacks combo, so no other additives?

Is the res someplace dark? It could be algae or some kind of slime.

Have you rinsed the res and then seen it reappear?

 

[organicness]

Well the plants were definitely deficient but I figured out why, as there was once where I mixed the nutes up in the wrong order. Everything's been going good though since I mixed subsequent batches.

The res is dark, in a closet in my basement. And no other additives in that rez. And yes, rinsed and washed with clorox, every time. There's usually a little brown at the bottom (looks like a brown powder) when I'm done using a rez, but this time there's a lot more since it's been sitting there longer. I've been using this to hand feed promix plants as I've been taking down my hydro stuff over the past 4-5 weeks, so a big rez doesn't go nearly as fast as it would when I would do rez changes.

 

[organicness]

I just wonder if it has anything to do with it sitting stagnant and not being aerated.

 

[sdgrower]

I just wonder if it has anything to do with it sitting stagnant and not being aerated.

I prefer a circulation pump in the rez. IME they work better than airstones.

 

[ttystikk]

I don't know if aerating it would help or not. What about the water you're using? Is it RO water, well or tap?

 

[organicness]

It's RO. Goes from a well > sediment filter > water softener > 3 more sediment filters > RO membrane

I end up with about 3ppm

 

[ttystikk]

It's RO. Goes from a well > sediment filter > water softener > 3 more sediment filters > RO membrane

I end up with about 3ppm

It's not lockout because you're not seeing deficiencies, it's not in the water, and you're keeping the res. dark and sanitizing it between runs. I'm out of ideas what it could be...