A Cash Flow Comparison Between Cultured Solutions and an identical DIY blend.

MisterBlah

Well-Known Member
This analysis is here to show you the costs of buying Cultured Solutions vs using the dry constituents. That is, you will personally be making the UC Roots mixture, Veg A/B, etc. I posted it in the Nutrient forum, but realized this is probably a better place for this information.

To see the dry blends for all of Cultured Solutions, please visit my other thread: https://www.rollitup.org/t/reverse-engineering-everyones-nutrients.893906/
or my website that has it all listed as well: http://www.open-salt.com/fertilizer-database/current-culture/

The spreadsheet attached represents a 100 gallon recirculating deep water culture system. This information can be extrapolated to smaller AND larger systems. So, if your's isn't the same size, just do some math. I made it based off 100 gallon systems for a reason. I'll have a more useful spreadsheet in the future so you can enter your own system size.

The top section has all the cost information.
Cultured solutions costs are based on buying their largest 275 gallon tanks. I know you guys don't buy that much, but I think you'll be surprised by what you'd save even if you do that. Regardless, if you're buying 1 gallon or 5 gallons, you'd just be saving a lot more.
The costs of the DIY dry mix, that is, the raw fertilizers you use to recreate the Cultured Solutions products are based on costs I've found from local fertilizer shops and I also include the costs of the containers and labor in mixing. There's no sense in telling yourself that you work for free.
Section 2 has the usage requirements.
Section 3 has the Cultured Solutions costs.
Section 4 has the DIY dry mix costs.
Section 5 has a direct week to week comparison of costs.
Section 6 is the NPV and year over year cash flows. The cash flow numbers represent 4x of everything. Based on a setup that has 3x the flowering lights as veg lights, so 4 total hydroponic systems, each one is 100 gallons.

For those that do not want to open the PDF, here's the highlights:
For the full 13 week growth period that CC's nutrient calculator shows, the cost of nutrients for a 100 gallon RDWC setup will be $164.17 if you buy from Cultured Solutions, and that's a minimum. It depends on you buying 275 gallons of nutrients from Current Culture.

If you mix your own, it will be $41.47. It can be a lot cheaper than $41.47 as well, as that depends on your cost of the dry blend. It won't likely be more than that. It will cheaper if you reuse containers, if you get 50lb bags from a local fertilizer company, etc.

I've included a $200 price tag on the scales you will need to make this all happen as well. Two scales. I go into more detail in my Reverse Engineering thread that I linked above.

I'm working on other companies blends as we speak. So, look for those in the future.
 

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ttystikk

Well-Known Member
My 25lb bag of 5-11-26 plus micros ran me $43.75. That plus a fifty lb bag of Yara Liva calcium nitrate at I think it was $73 or so, and MKP.

100 gallons uses about 1/50th of the bag of mix, plus about half a pound of calcium nitrate, or 1/100th the bag.

I'm also using up to twenty five grams of MKP. That 50lb bag was some
$78 x 25/22,072 = .09.

43.75/50 + $73/100 + .09 = .875 +.73 + .09 = $1.70 per 100 gallons of ready to use solution.

I'm getting numbers MUCH lower than yours, what's going on?
 
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MisterBlah

Well-Known Member
My 25lb bag of 5-11-26 plus micros ran me $43.75. That plus a fifty lb bag of Yara Liva calcium nitrate at I think it was $73 or so, and MKP.

100 gallons uses about 1/50th of the bag of mix, plus about half a pound of calcium nitrate, or 1/100th the bag.

I'm also using up to twenty five grams of MKP. That 50lb bag was some
$78 x 25/22,072 = .09.

43.75/50 + $73/100 + .09 = .875 +.73 + .09 = $1.70 per 100 gallons of ready to use solution.

I'm getting numbers MUCH lower than yours, what's going on?
First off, your quick calc based on a single week of growing? Right? In addition, the amounts of each fertilizer you are using could very well be lower than what the Cultured Solutions schedule specs for you.

Additionally, I put more than just the raw cost of nutrients into that cost.

I also include the costs of the containers and labor in mixing. There's no sense in telling yourself that you work for free.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
First off, your quick calc based on a single week of growing? Right? In addition, the amounts of each fertilizer you are using could very well be lower than what the Cultured Solutions schedule specs for you.

Additionally, I put more than just the raw cost of nutrients into that cost.
My calculations are based on the 100 gallon size you chose in your example. It just so conveniently happens that my reservoir capacity is also 100 gallons, lol

My cost is based on the percentage of total bag cost. I drove to pick the nutrients up from the ag chemical supplier themselves, so just gas money and my time.

The system is very simple; the hydroponic mix has everything in it save calcium nitrate, magnesium sulfate and monopotassium phosphate. One does want to mix a substantial portion into solution, in order to avoid problems arising from product settling in the bag. I put the entire contents into a ceramic lined 55 gallon drum and fill with hot water. This makes a convenient 1:100 mix for me.


In no way am I attempting to pour cold water on what you're doing. I'm comparing my mix to yours to see where it comes in.

Final note; I bought $640 of those dry nutrients over three years ago, and I'm not sure if I've quite used the first half as yet.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
By the way, the cheapest place I've found for epsom salt is Walmart; two 8lb bags for $7, so that's a half penny per gram. I use 1.5g/gal, or .75 per 100 gallons.
 

MisterBlah

Well-Known Member
My calculations are based on the 100 gallon size you chose in your example. It just so conveniently happens that my reservoir capacity is also 100 gallons, lol

My cost is based on the percentage of total bag cost. I drove to pick the nutrients up from the ag chemical supplier themselves, so just gas money and my time.

The system is very simple; the hydroponic mix has everything in it save calcium nitrate, magnesium sulfate and monopotassium phosphate. One does want to mix a substantial portion into solution, in order to avoid problems arising from product settling in the bag. I put the entire contents into a ceramic lined 55 gallon drum and fill with hot water. This makes a convenient 1:100 mix for me.


In no way am I attempting to pour cold water on what you're doing. I'm comparing my mix to yours to see where it comes in.

Final note; I bought $640 of those dry nutrients over three years ago, and I'm not sure if I've quite used the first half as yet.

All I was trying to understand was the time period for which your calc was based on. Figure out how much you would use over a 13 week complete growth period. But I think you were just comparing it week to week.

Overall though, I may have put too high a value on an individuals time, and obviously, the cost of containers for creating concentrates in simply a 1 time cost. Creating much larger stock solutions also means you spend less time on it, so there's that as well.

Also, $640 on dry fertilizers at one time for a hobby grow is quite a lot. Worth it, of course, but I'm surprised you bought that much.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
All I was trying to understand was the time period for which your calc was based on. Figure out how much you would use over a 13 week complete growth period. But I think you were just comparing it week to week.

Overall though, I may have put too high a value on an individuals time, and obviously, the cost of containers for creating concentrates in simply a 1 time cost. Creating much larger stock solutions also means you spend less time on it, so there's that as well.

Also, $640 on dry fertilizers at one time for a hobby grow is quite a lot. Worth it, of course, but I'm surprised you bought that much.
Yes it would be a lot for a hobby grow, but this is my lab. I did it because I wanted to make my nutrients a constant rather than a variable in my research. And because it was such a shockingly good deal there was just no passing it up!

Even I sincerely doubt I'll make it thru a full 50lb bag of MKP in my lifetime, lol

Some runs are hungrier than this, but I use a total of 400 gallons of nutrient solution per run.

$1.70 + .75 = 2.45 x 4 = $10.80
 
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