General Hydroponics Nutrients And Lux/fc Measurement Questions

[somethingwit]

1- So, I am have General Hydroponics veg and flower nutrients (just the two, not including the micro or any of their other products). Originally, I was under the idea that during veg, you use the veg only nutes. Then when you flip to flower, you switch over to the flowering nutrients (obviously working your plant up to the full dose).

Today, I stopped in a hydroponics shop to get some gear and started talking nutrients. The guy told me that he goes by the back of the GH bottle label, which has him putting in the micro, veg, and flower stuff all that the same time, just lesser amounts of the flower stuff while in veg. My question is which way am I supposed to go? When in veg mode, stick with veg until time to flush or work to other nutrient steps, or do I actually go by the back of the bottle and mix all three literally at all stages of the plant life?

2- Also, while I was there I picked up a light meter that measures lux and foot candles. I was curious what folks around here recommend for a number to shoot for when it comes to lux or FC measurement right at plant height? Figured this would be able to help me get a better idea of how close to keep my particular light from the plants, or the canopy overall.

3- For extra credit, I also picked up an eye loupe (40x), and a clip on microscope for my phone camera. Tell me some pretty cool crap to do with the new toys lol.

 

[OldManRiver]

I follow the instructions, only I run at about 75% strength. Works great for me.

 

[Nugteq]

Ok what medium are you growing in? Coco? Soil? Determine that then search for gh recipe its on here many places.

For GH youll only need Micro and Bloom from their 3 part series. Maybe calmag if your in coco. Depending on whether your i veg or flower will determine your ml per gallon recipe for both micro and bloom.

Use your loop to inspect leaf bottoms for pests and bugs or use it in late flower to watch ur trich maturation

And finally return your lux meter its useless - its not a measurement meant for plants its just overstocked at your local hydro store because no one uses them.

Last thing. Dont buy stuff from the grow store that you didnt intend on buying. Grow stores love to sell their useless merch to new unsuspecting growers.
Good luck bro

 

[somethingwit]

For GH youll only need Micro and Bloom from their 3 part series. Maybe calmag if your in coco. Depending on whether your i veg or flower will determine your ml per gallon recipe for both micro and bloom.

Curious, but what is your reason for not making use of the Florgrow (veg) part of the series?

And finally return your lux meter its useless - its not a measurement meant for plants its just overstocked at your local hydro store because no one uses them.

So, my goal with the meter was to basically utilize it to better position my light. Basically, getting the plants under the brightest parts of the light. Is there something else to use to measure light that is more in tune with plants?

Last thing. Dont buy stuff from the grow store that you didnt intend on buying. Grow stores love to sell their useless merch to new unsuspecting growers.
Good luck bro

Hahhah I problem have the biggest target on my back going into that store lol. Although, today I did well. I went for four specific things, and left with exactly those. Hahha unfortunately, being so new, I apparently wind up getting the wrong things, or in the case of the lux meter, things that I might not actually need haha. I'm just still a bit too new to all this, and living in a small area where this is taboo, I have heard a bunch of times not to order anything online. Lol but I'm finding out about how almost impossible it is to not have to eventually buy something online. Lol just have no clue about ordering gear, or especially seeds. Lol lost in the sauce, but eventually I'll find my way to the side of the bowl.

 

[crimsonecho]

Lux meters are not going to help much i agree on that, but still i own one too, because if you know the spectrum of your light it can give you an idea if your light is enough or not. Everyone who uses lux meters suggest minimum 10000 lux in veg and 25000 flowering but ideally 35000 to 90000 absolute max (with CO2 i think) (also these are for hps and mh, leds have better spectrum for human eyes so they may present higher lux levels because of that but, most leds also gives out peak intensity at the same nms as photosynthetic peaks). I am currently going 35 min and 57 max at canopy level.
We would love to own a quantum meter but they are not cheap.

 

[Nugteq]

To best adjust your lights you may want to use a tape measure and level to align it over a 4 x 4 area depending on your type of light.
Perhaps a good general rule will help you better than a lux meter which you wont need and shouldn't waste your money on your call tho. General rule is hps and mh no closer than 18"
If it's too hot for palm of your hand ..put your hand under light where plants are...then its too hot for them..
There is a good formula that never uses the floragrow, you have all the nitrogen you need in the micro. Again i dont know what your growing in soil or coco so I cant really help you with a formula...
And I order from amazon all the time cheaper than your local grow store with additional reviews its safe...just take precautions. .and seriously get your money back on that lux meter. Buy yourself a ph meter and ppm meter bluelabs highly recommend dont cheap out on your meters..

 

[somethingwit]

There is a good formula that never uses the floragrow, you have all the nitrogen you need in the micro. Again i dont know what your growing in soil or coco so I cant really help you with a formula...

My apologies, I am growing in soil. Really like the idea of going coco on the next go round or two. Lol I just gotta complete this one. But man, is there so much damn information out there to wade through lol.

 

[cemchris]

GH's stock formula is kind of shit without tweaking but it works. You will want all 3 honestly. Micro is the one you cant go without. All the trace and micro's are in there. You can run other formulas like said above using just micro/bloom (called Lucas) but personally I don't like it for veg. Another one is Useless formula (just swap week 1 with either veg or week 2).

If you are on the fence just run whatever formula you seem to like and stick to it. Don't worry about anything besides the 2/3 base nutes and cal/mg and/or silica if you want to use it. Worry about tweaking later once you understand what is going on. Always apply K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) when you are starting out.

 

[damien50]

I use the KISS method with just MaxiBloom at 7 grams per gallon. I used the trio series my first grow per label instructions but MaxiBloom is cheaper and last longer plus less mixing.

 

[Shawnery]

There's also the Lucas formula which is very easy to look up and many people have had great success but ofcourse I know this from hydro.