Alright, new update guys. Finally found a hydro shop in my area (I avoid shooting into Portland for any reason except to pass through), and picked up the following:
- 50lbs of hydroton
- Front-Row Ag. parts A and B, 25lb bags
- Commercial air pump and air stones
Earlier this week I was able to get a 300gph water pump, and a drip irrigation kit from RainBird. Figured the kit would be easier than trying to piece all the irrigation together separately, plus anything left over can be used in one of my raised beds. I also acquired some 3.5 gallon square buckets with lids, so at this point I still need a reservoir, return pipe, and pH/EC meters. Down to the final pieces!
I decided I'm going to run bell peppers initially as I haven't done this kind of setup before and rather not kill off a bunch of clones in the process of figuring out what is what this first round. Especially since I went to the hydro store for Jack's and walked out with Front-Row, which I've never heard of. Here's the specs:
Part A:
Total Nitrogen ..... 14.0%
0.5% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
13.5% Nitrate Nitrogen
Soluble Potash .... 8.0%
Calcium .... 14.0%
Boron ... 0.05%
Copper ... 0.05%
0.05% Chelated Copper
Iron ... 0.35%
0.35% Chelated Iron
Manganese ... 0.10%
0.10% Chelated Manganese
Molydenum ... 0.003%
Zinc ... 0.05%
0.05% Chelated Zinc
Derived from calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, boric acid, copper EDTA, iron EDTA, iron DTPA, manganese EDTA, sodium molybdate, zinc EDTA
Part B:
Total Nitrogen ..... 3.0%
0.5% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
2.5% Nitrate Nitrogen
Available Phosphate .... 13.0%
Soluble Potash .... 17.0%
Magnesium .... 5.0%
Sulfur .... 7.0%
Derived from monoammonium phosphate, potassium nitrate, monopotassium phosphate, potassium sulfate, magnesium sulfate
Given these nutrients are designed specifically for coco or rockwool, the feeding chart seems a bit off. I'll be reaching out to the company to get more detailed information regarding feeding EC for recirculating systems. There's a Part C as well, but I'll pick that up later, depending how things go with the first two. Part C is the bloom supplement which just looks like a PK booster, so I may just use something else.
The guy also recommended running
protekt or some other silica supplement. Do you guys have any input on this? I know silica is vital for the cell stability and strength, but I've never used it in my coco runs.
Let me know what you guys think of this blend. It seems comparable to competitors.