Cheap alternatives to overpriced hydroponic nutrients

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Fudge

Fudge

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Good information from Harley. but holy crap RAW's products are crazy expensive. If you start mixing your own from salts you can get the goods a ton cheaper. I've simplified a lot and more follow Dr. Bugbee. You may find his presentations of interest. He calls for a 2-1-2 all through the growth cycle.

Thanks, but I won't be buying raws salts, I just meant in terms of mixing my own nutrients up. Of course you can get the same stuff from elsewhere too much cheaper
 
mikeross

mikeross

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Anyone running Mega Crop 2part... this is a quote off their website lol " Mega Crop 2 Part does not require extra additional Magnesium, and is superior to other brand 5-12-26 Hydroponics products because it includes additionally Soluble Silica, Amino Acids and Amino Acid Chelates! It can be used identically to other 5-12-26 nutrient formulas dosage wise"
1601009539938
 
cemchris

cemchris

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Good information from Harley. but holy crap RAW's products are crazy expensive. If you start mixing your own from salts you can get the goods a ton cheaper. I've simplified a lot and more follow Dr. Bugbee. You may find his presentations of interest. He calls for a 2-1-2 all through the growth cycle.

Exactly. Always check around locally when buying salts. You might end up saving a ton on shipping. Local AG suppliers will usually have stuff like cal nitrate and mag sulfate by the ton. A lot of times they can get a slew of other stuff also decently priced. I always try to support the local peeps when I can.
 
BillFarthing

BillFarthing

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Do you feed everything during flower? And do u add mkp at some point? I've seen greengene say he feeds every time. But I'm running into k too I believe.

Feed every time you water with Jack's from veg until flush. You can add 1 tsp. MKP/5 gallons week 4-5 of flower and that's all you need!

NPK
 
Terpz719

Terpz719

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Anyone running Mega Crop 2part... this is a quote off their website lol " Mega Crop 2 Part does not require extra additional Magnesium, and is superior to other brand 5-12-26 Hydroponics products because it includes additionally Soluble Silica, Amino Acids and Amino Acid Chelates! It can be used identically to other 5-12-26 nutrient formulas dosage wise"
View attachment 1035700
FWIW, I used their one part for one run. I loved the idea of one part (and all the extras) and you're done. It didn't turn out that way for me. Running coco and RO water, I had to add extra Ca/Mg, and I wanted more S and micros (specifically Fe) than what they deliver. Depending on how you're growing, it might be just fine.
 
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Terpz719

Terpz719

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Exactly. Always check around locally when buying salts. You might end up saving a ton on shipping. Local AG suppliers will usually have stuff like cal nitrate and mag sulfate by the ton. A lot of times they can get a slew of other stuff also decently priced. I always try to support the local peeps when I can.
Thanks. I like to support local too, but doubt they sell a pound or two at a time. I'm a long way from worrying about shipping costs, lol.

If you don't mind me asking, how many ppm of S do you run, and do you concern yourself with the N:S ratio?
 
cemchris

cemchris

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Thanks. I like to support local too, but doubt they sell a pound or two at a time. I'm a long way from worrying about shipping costs, lol.

If you don't mind me asking, how many ppm of S do you run, and do you concern yourself with the N:S ratio?

Flower or veg?

Around 55 ppm for flower. The only sulfate I use is mag sulfate so unless I want to spike the mg real high (i also use mag nitrate) that's my only real source. I run about 2:1. I wouldn't say I worry about it too much, as far as pay attention to it, but has seemed to work fine for me. I mostly just keep an eye on the Ca:Mg ratio and S is a by product for that unless I moved away from mag sulfate then I would try and supp it a diff way.

My local people will sell it by the lb. Just make sure you are getting greenhouse grade from someone like yara, for example. Might check if they are close.
 
cemchris

cemchris

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With that being said I don't know the ceiling for S dealing with lockout or toxicity. From what I understand it's pretty high and a toxicity is pretty easy to spot with it since it's immobile.
 
Fudge

Fudge

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1601128893222


Ive been looking everywhere for a good source in europe that works out cost effective. So to mix my own from scratch. im looking at very very close to this price. but in 2kg amounts,. i need 4 salts for the recipe I have which are about £80( 4 x £20ish ) . plus Ill need a micro mix, which again is about £20 so all in its £100 to give me 8kg of one part at 5g/4l so is 6400l of feed at full strength, but using the masterblend retailer i can get the above deal at £240 but will give 17000l of full strength feed. so if my maths are right ill get 64l/£ fom mixing from scratch or 70l/£ using the masterblend mix plus calcium and epsom . without all the clart on Of mixing completely scratch my first time round with dry nutes, the masterblend seems to be cheaper, 3 day free shipping plus theres a lot of info out there already using the masterblend,

So I guess what Im asking , what would people reccomend for a first time dry salt user out of those 2 options,


Little side note, Canna A and B are giving me roughly(depending on source) 25 to 35 l/£ ! plus a calmag suppliment and a pk boost on top. I bet ive been going up to 15l/£ sometimes with a full strentgh feed schedule

Edit just noticed, thats in euros so its £20 cheaper again for masterblend
 
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Terpz719

Terpz719

545
143
Flower or veg?

Around 55 ppm for flower. The only sulfate I use is mag sulfate so unless I want to spike the mg real high (i also use mag nitrate) that's my only real source. I run about 2:1. I wouldn't say I worry about it too much, as far as pay attention to it, but has seemed to work fine for me. I mostly just keep an eye on the Ca:Mg ratio and S is a by product for that unless I moved away from mag sulfate then I would try and supp it a diff way.

My local people will sell it by the lb. Just make sure you are getting greenhouse grade from someone like yara, for example. Might check if they are close.
Thanks for the info! I meant for flower. I'm typically running higher S than that (80-90), but after your comments I'm not concerned about it. My S is coming from Epsom and KMg Sulfate, which I may get away from. I've kept an eye on N:S out of curiosity, but don't mix for it. Ditto S. I mix for NPK first then the secondary ratios. Still very new to the salts. I try to keep K:Ca:Mg in the 3:2:1 range. Am also using mag nitrate, and have both Yara and Haifa Cal Nitrate depending on how much NH4 I'm looking for.

Good to know about the local Ag guys! I just assumed they were by the sack only. I'll check around. Thanks again.
 
BillFarthing

BillFarthing

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472
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View attachment 1036241

Ive been looking everywhere for a good source in europe that works out cost effective. So to mix my own from scratch. im looking at very very close to this price. but in 2kg amounts,. i need 4 salts for the recipe I have which are about £80( 4 x £20ish ) . plus Ill need a micro mix, which again is about £20 so all in its £100 to give me 8kg of one part at 5g/4l so is 6400l of feed at full strength, but using the masterblend retailer i can get the above deal at £240 but will give 17000l of full strength feed. so if my maths are right ill get 64l/£ fom mixing from scratch or 70l/£ using the masterblend mix plus calcium and epsom . without all the clart on Of mixing completely scratch my first time round with dry nutes, the masterblend seems to be cheaper, 3 day free shipping plus theres a lot of info out there already using the masterblend,

So I guess what Im asking , what would people reccomend for a first time dry salt user out of those 2 options,


Little side note, Canna A and B are giving me roughly(depending on source) 25 to 35 l/£ ! plus a calmag suppliment and a pk boost on top. I bet ive been going up to 15l/£ sometimes with a full strentgh feed schedule

Edit just noticed, thats in euros so its £20 cheaper again for masterblend

2-part Masterblend saves time being premixed. 2-part DIY salts saves money and lets you customize the formula. It's up to you, Fudgy.
 
cemchris

cemchris

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Thanks for the info! I meant for flower. I'm typically running higher S than that (80-90), but after your comments I'm not concerned about it. My S is coming from Epsom and KMg Sulfate, which I may get away from. I've kept an eye on N:S out of curiosity, but don't mix for it. Ditto S. I mix for NPK first then the secondary ratios. Still very new to the salts. I try to keep K:Ca:Mg in the 3:2:1 range. Am also using mag nitrate, and have both Yara and Haifa Cal Nitrate depending on how much NH4 I'm looking for.

Good to know about the local Ag guys! I just assumed they were by the sack only. I'll check around. Thanks again.

That's about what I'm at for K:Ca:Mg. 2.7:2:1. I lowered K some since im in DTW coco and was getting weird lockouts towards the end on some of my strains.
 
BillFarthing

BillFarthing

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That's about what I'm at for K:Ca:Mg. 2.7:2:1. I lowered K some since im in DTW coco and was getting weird lockouts towards the end on some of my strains.

That's great. A lower K level in the base nutrient may also allow non-coco users to use potassium silicate with less issues.
 
cemchris

cemchris

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2-part Masterblend saves time being premixed. 2-part DIY salts saves money and lets you customize the formula. It's up to you, Fudgy.

+1

There is nothing wrong with premixes. Specially if moving from the bottle diet. In smaller amounts it can save you time and money on shipping. It's also a little more user friendly and not as confusing with mixing orders if you are making the switch.

I basically got into salts cloning GH 3 part to save money and over time moved more to the tweaking aspect. Strait up reversing is always a good start cause you usually don't skip a beat from what you are currently using and just save money.
 
Fudge

Fudge

1,861
263
2-part Masterblend saves time being premixed. 2-part DIY salts saves money and lets you customize the formula. It's up to you, Fudgy.
+1

There is nothing wrong with premixes. Specially if moving from the bottle diet. In smaller amounts it can save you time and money on shipping. It's also a little more user friendly and not as confusing with mixing orders if you are making the switch.

I basically got into salts cloning GH 3 part to save money and over time moved more to the tweaking aspect. Strait up reversing is always a good start cause you usually don't skip a beat from what you are currently using and just save money.


Thanks, I think I'm gonna go masterblend, then keep building my own salts store so I can slowly start tweaking as I get more confident. Thanks for all your help It's probably going to be a month before I'm ready to swop over. I will be no doubt back
 

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