A salt is a salt. Look at ionic guaranteed minimum analysis. Call an agriculture place and ask them what it would cost to get those salts. One thing to look for is to see what a calculator says the ppm should be and what it really is. If it is close then the factory is not hiding behind numbers. I had one product the calculator said it should have been around 900 on a mix and it was actually close to 1400. So the ratios were not exact from the bottle.
This can can you closer to dialing in your plants,but then again if you are careful mixing your salts it can be a good way to fuck them up. After growing for awhile it is the new frontier.
Not so much for saving money,( but it is so damn cheap) it is a way to help get the max out of your plants after everything else is dialed in. JK

Ionics label only gives npk ratios and a very basic and not complete list of salts. I thought about mixing my own ferts but seems like such a hassel unless i was in a building running very big grows. As far as mixing your own what do you do about chelates eddha for iron and the micros? I been at this for a long time and the thought has ran across my mind. Is it as easy as calling an ag business and ordering each specific salt fertilizer? And what about the ballast salts for these ? The filler? I have the book by dr. Howard Resh. Hydroponic Food Production i think its called and although its a little dated he goes into detail on nutrient chemistry and.mixing your own. I havent picked it up and read it in a very long time. I think i might give it a look here.

We use IONIC in our hydro. Seems really salty for coco, especially when coco seems to build up salts. I use the same Botanicare coco with the Botanicare pure blend pro base and a few other additives. Doesn't seem to be too costly and results r great.

shoestring said:

Ionics label only gives npk ratios and a very basic and not complete list of salts. I thought about mixing my own ferts but seems like such a hassel unless i was in a building running very big grows. As far as mixing your own what do you do about chelates eddha for iron and the micros? I been at this for a long time and the thought has ran across my mind. Is it as easy as calling an ag business and ordering each specific salt fertilizer? And what about the ballast salts for these ? The filler? I have the book by dr. Howard Resh. Hydroponic Food Production i think its called and although its a little dated he goes into detail on nutrient chemistry and.mixing your own. I havent picked it up and read it in a very long time. I think i might give it a look here.

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I am not sure what you mean by filler,maybe buffers. I add nothing that is not used by the plants in my formulas. Look at food grade salts,something pure no cuts. Also look at a salt index,you will see not all n-p-k are the same. Look to see what is an anion or a cation. You want your +'s and -'s about the same. But i am told once they are mixed it does not matter. I had my mentor try to explain it clearly one night but I burned to much that night to grasp it. If it is a lopsided mix while dry how does it equal out in a mix. I balanced mine and it works, he said I had good ratios(from his company) and for me to worry about something else. Maybe some chemhead could explain it to you better. I used to use much higher ratios for K:N (3:1) but it seems the world is catching up to me and the manufacturers are getting closer to mine. When AN used to have their own board I was getting banned a lot for being a rep from another company. I just had to go there a lot because most of my patients I tried to help were stupid enough to buy that crap. Watch your sulfurs and Ca. and what you mix is the best suggestion to keep an eye out for.
For you I think you should do this as you would learn more and having those salts laying around during flowering you could learn what your girls like and when to apply it(timing is important and different starin to strain) some I hit a 1 week with a copy of Blood Bud from Grow More,some that would gak out the plants flowering schedule. Some I would hit at 3 weeks with a booster for some It is better at week 5-6. You got the time and strains to play with. suerte JK