Cheap alternatives to overpriced hydroponic nutrients

  • Thread starter Chronic Monster
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
C

cheech

795
43
I'm just a little boy looking for reassurance that others are doing well with the same tools. I know it's all about the nutrient profile and not the nutrient maker/bottler, but part of me wants to rush over to the hydro store and get a bottle of the most expensive flowering nutes I can find, lol
 
Capulator

Capulator

likes to smell trees.
Supporter
6,070
313
I'm just a little boy looking for reassurance that others are doing well with the same tools. I know it's all about the nutrient profile and not the nutrient maker/bottler, but part of me wants to rush over to the hydro store and get a bottle of the most expensive flowering nutes I can find, lol


Im still pretty much on jacks with a few other salts to make my numbers work and I am still doing just fine.
 
I

ImporteXBUILT

13
3
I use 20-20-20 for veg and switch to 10-30-20 for bloom, both from Jack's Professional. I grow outdoors and I will never go back to any other nutrient! I cut fertilizer costs down to 25% of what I used to spend and my weight and quality have both vastly improved. Hope that helps!

Just wanted to bump the thread, and see if those growers who have been using solely jacks as their base with the blossom booster in flower are still using it, or have you guys moved on. I used it on a full veg/bloom run, had a poor yield, but it could have been an environmental issue I had. I'm adding blossom booster starting week 3 this go around.
 
Capulator

Capulator

likes to smell trees.
Supporter
6,070
313
Cap can you post you recipe for a 10 week flower strain


Here is what I will be using for my next run:

VEG (numbers are g/gal):


Cal Nitrate: 1.8
Mag Nitrate: 1.0
PeKacid: 0.6
K sulfate: 0.3
Ammonium Sulfate: 0.2
MAP: 0.1
MOST: 0.1
K Sil: 0.7

N:118ppm (98ppm NO3 and 17 ppm NH4)
P: 49
K: 114
Mg: 61
S: 91
Ca: 152

For flower I will be cutting the Cal nitrate by 20-30%

This recipe is based on the member Analogs recipe from another spot. I actually think he has a membership here too now that I think of it..

This recipe is based on my tap water results. My tap already has a shitload of Ca and S. You need to get your water tested before doing formulas if you are not using RO.

Shameless plug for my homie: www.customhydronutrients.com
They will do your water test and provide everything you need.
 
C

cheech

795
43
Interesting. I'll have to look into the pek acid?, the potassium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, map?, most?, and potassium silicate which I think is protekt, lol. Read into some studies on how these ingredients effect plants. Taking it to the next level Cap!
 
Capulator

Capulator

likes to smell trees.
Supporter
6,070
313
Interesting. I'll have to look into the pek acid?, the potassium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, map?, most?, and potassium silicate which I think is protekt, lol. Read into some studies on how these ingredients effect plants. Taking it to the next level Cap!


The k sil I am using is called agsil.
 
C

cheech

795
43
Right on for posting a lesser expensive k sil. Keep em coming. Is any of that other stuff mentioned worth a serious looking into?
 
C

cheech

795
43
Splakdog and Turbo mentioned cutting back on CalNit after week 4 of flower because of too much N in Capulator's Jack's Back thread. Posted the below question in that thread, but if other peeps are cutting back and have some input, please chime in. Too much N might be why my flowers didn't harden? I'm not getting much of any nutrient burn.

"What percentage do you guys anticipate cutting back on the cal nit past week 4? 20%, 30%? 3-2-1 at 80 and 70 percent has been working fantastic for me, but my flowers didn't harden up last run (could have been environmental problem)."
 
GR33NL3AF

GR33NL3AF

1,904
263
Splakdog and Turbo mentioned cutting back on CalNit after week 4 of flower because of too much N in Capulator's Jack's Back thread. Posted the below question in that thread, but if other peeps are cutting back and have some input, please chime in. Too much N might be why my flowers didn't harden? I'm not getting much of any nutrient burn.

"What percentage do you guys anticipate cutting back on the cal nit past week 4? 20%, 30%? 3-2-1 at 80 and 70 percent has been working fantastic for me, but my flowers didn't harden up last run (could have been environmental problem)."

Most likely environmental...
How did your plants look with that lack of Cal/Nit? Yellowing?
 
C

cheech

795
43
I never cut back on cal nit last run. Did 3-2-1 through veg and flower diluted to the appropriate ec concentration for this particular strain. Plants looked great, beautiful leaves all the way to harvest, just never filled in, so I had large buds that didn't weight much. I kept thinking when I squeezed them at weeks 9-10 that they needed another week or two, which shouldn't have been the case.

I had hot temps for a week though. I didn't run out and buy a flower nutrient. Just going to cut back on the cal nit and see how it turns out this run, rather than panic and switch to bloom nute marketed towards us.
 
pre98guy

pre98guy

2
3
I think that some people use too many nutrients, and some people use few. I think it is unclear to people of what the plants need, and also what strain you are growing and what they need as well. I think environment and temperature and skill of the grower is also so vital to growing good, high quality, marijuana.

I started growing marijuana probably 6 years ago, and I went through so many errors purchasing things I did not need. I am not a big fan of bud candy personally, I just thought of it as a money waster. Considering that it was difficult to make money for me to grow when I was spending so much money on Nutes, I did some intense research. Really, the plants do not need much to survive and THRIVE and yield to its fullest.

Simply said, plants need their N-P-K, and they need their vitamins, enzymes, auxins and proteins. A good source for the proteins are cytokines.

So I ended up getting the same results purchasing a base product system like General Hydroponics cheap grow line consisting of flora micro, flora grow, and flora bloom, and buying one other product called Golden Tree as the additive to use with the other stuff that would give my plants everything else other than the N-P-K.

My results ended up being better with this nutrient line than using the 10 other nutrients that were costing me too much money to make money from.

In the end I only ended up spending like $50 on nutrients per pound I pumped out.
 
Chronic Monster

Chronic Monster

1,146
113
whats up farmers, surprised this thread is still cranking.
what is everyone running these days, and at what npk ratios?
 
G

gettogro

472
143
Stumbled on the JR peters website today, then found this thread.. Looks like I have a lot of reading/catching up to do.. 47 pages.. Is all the info I need in this thread to give it a go?
 
Capulator

Capulator

likes to smell trees.
Supporter
6,070
313
Stumbled on the JR peters website today, then found this thread.. Looks like I have a lot of reading/catching up to do.. 47 pages.. Is all the info I need in this thread to give it a go?

hahahaha. DIY king is still not making his own nutes... :troll:

I have ran jacks in RDWC. It worked just as good as anything else. You may want to move straight to raw salts and skip the jacks, knowing you.
 
G

gettogro

472
143
Thanks CM, looks like you guys have been at this for a while now. Lots of good info on the subject. I have been wanting to learn about nute profiles and such. I just haven't had the time to put in the work. You guys are defiantly years ahead of me when it comes to this topic..
I have been growing for 10 years now and reading this stuff makes me feel like a total N00B
Hopefully I just ordered my last jugs of BB and OD.. I cant stand paying outrageous hydro store prices for products I know is mostly water.

Im think I am going to give the Jacks 3 2 1 method a shot. With the .5 bloom booster weeks 3-8..

when using in Under current system, Can I fill the system with RO, and then mix the jacks in 2 separate buckets like ttystikk posted below. And just add the mix to the epicenter in equal parts to get the desired EC?

Should I do normal res changes every 7-10 days like normal?
I use drip clean now, should I continue?

Also after a couple days when the plants are feeding and the ec drops, Can I just do ad backs like I normally do to maintain EC?

ttystik am I reading that correct below? for 50 gallon res you are using 150-100-50 "milligrams"??

Good Stuff guys :)

Thanks for the great info


I add my amendments first, like silica, cal-mag and mineral matrix. Then, I add the Jacks mix in equal amounts until I get the EC I'm looking for. Trying to determine exactly how much to mix up ahead of time has always seemed like more of a pain in the ass than it was worth, so I don't do it.

So for example, if I'm mixing a batch of Jacks, I might mix up a 50 gallon batch like this;

5 Gallon Bucket A:
3 Jacks x 50gal = 150mg
1 Epsom x 50gal = 50mg

5 Gallon Bucket B:
2 Calcium nitrate x 50gal = 100 mg

Fill both buckets full of water and mix thoroughly. Add equal amounts of each bucket to reservoir until you have achieved your target EC.
 
Last edited:
ttystikk

ttystikk

6,892
313
@gettogro No sir, those are in grams because the materials are in solid form
 
Top Bottom