Hydroguard is Bullshit!

WillieP

Well-Known Member
It's funny that you mention that.. but i am about to release "Super Bud Spray" as soon as you see buds start in veg.. you spray 1 time and within 2 months the buds will be massive.... $20.
That sound like a miracle product!!
Must have taken you so much time and energy to develop, let alone start up costs.
$20.00 sound to cheap...$37.49 seem to be more inline with current marketing trends.

To the OP, I use the southern AG product, I was fortunate enough to learn of it before I started growing.
 

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
You guys gotta understand though that lots of people don't have the knowledge or experience to make their own plant food that is good. You guys probably have been doing it for years. Most people don't even know what beneficial bacteria is or potassium silicate. They don't know how much to use either. You guys have grown that skill and it takes time. New guys that want good results have to rely on products that are made for weed with all the ingredients there in property portions and easy instructions.

I'm on of those new guys. Its hard to do all that research while being self employed working all the time and being a single dad. I can barely keep up with sleep. I also have a bunch of hobbies I barely find time for. I'm sure in time I'll pick up the knowledge and experience you guys have thanks to your sharing.

I wish I had your knowledge and experience but that will only come with time and effort. I would like nothing more to grow the same quality in my tent right now without paying ridiculously high prices like I do now. In the end it is still cheaper than buying pot. And if you sell it instead of smoke it, it's just a small bit of profit you give up to be lazy.

The food I use was not a problem being expensive since I only had one plant and 4 gallons. Now I have 10 gallons for 2 plants and you start to feel it. If I had to feed 20 plants the expensive food becomes a significant chunk of money and thats what drives a lot of these big growrs to explore cheaper alternatives and it's worth the effort figuring it all out. For me now? It's easier to just pay for it to be already made and easy for dummies like me.
 

icetech

Well-Known Member
You guys gotta understand though that lots of people don't have the knowledge or experience to make their own plant food that is good.
I don't have tons of experience, i started not even 2 years ago by reading forums non stop and learning.. I don't think any of us make our own plant food (some guys do compost tea.. why do all that work?)

After doing research, i ONLY use Jacks 3-2-1 nothing else through the whole grow and southern AG to make happy roots.

Dist, go on youtube and watch greengenes vid about jacks.. it's the cheapest nutes, super easy to use and great results... no need to spend a ton of money :) I don't sell weed but i give away about 20oz every 4 months so i don't have too much around, so yeah i like to do things as cheap as possible :)
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
You guys gotta understand though that lots of people don't have the knowledge or experience to make their own plant food that is good. You guys probably have been doing it for years. Most people don't even know what beneficial bacteria is or potassium silicate. They don't know how much to use either. You guys have grown that skill and it takes time. New guys that want good results have to rely on products that are made for weed with all the ingredients there in property portions and easy instructions.

I'm on of those new guys. Its hard to do all that research while being self employed working all the time and being a single dad. I can barely keep up with sleep. I also have a bunch of hobbies I barely find time for. I'm sure in time I'll pick up the knowledge and experience you guys have thanks to your sharing.

I wish I had your knowledge and experience but that will only come with time and effort. I would like nothing more to grow the same quality in my tent right now without paying ridiculously high prices like I do now. In the end it is still cheaper than buying pot. And if you sell it instead of smoke it, it's just a small bit of profit you give up to be lazy.

The food I use was not a problem being expensive since I only had one plant and 4 gallons. Now I have 10 gallons for 2 plants and you start to feel it. If I had to feed 20 plants the expensive food becomes a significant chunk of money and thats what drives a lot of these big growrs to explore cheaper alternatives and it's worth the effort figuring it all out. For me now? It's easier to just pay for it to be already made and easy for dummies like me.
I made a post about this recently, I have become really attached to my nute schedule as I've used the same thing for years with great results. That being said I never really considered the cost of nutes til prices started adding up. Im up over 600 dollars per flower run for nutes. The old lady keeps reminding me that I'm growing more product so I can afford it, but I keep seeing people get great results with dry fertilizer and I know that it has to be cheaper. I think once I get my tables set up to collect run off I will try and switch over. I'll stick with what I'm using for now since I don't ever get much run off and have this nute line kinda dialed in which is how I get away with very little run off.
 

icetech

Well-Known Member
I made a post about this recently, I have become really attached to my nute schedule as I've used the same thing for years with great results. That being said I never really considered the cost of nutes til prices started adding up. Im up over 600 dollars per flower run for nutes. The old lady keeps reminding me that I'm growing more product so I can afford it, but I keep seeing people get great results with dry fertilizer and I know that it has to be cheaper. I think once I get my tables set up to collect run off I will try and switch over. I'll stick with what I'm using for now since I don't ever get much run off and have this nute line kinda dialed in which is how I get away with very little run off.
With jacks i spend about $15-20 for all 4 plants over a 3-4 month run.. not including water/lights of course.. that's just jacks+AG.. I don't grow massive plants cause my tents are 2x4, i pull 5-6oz dry from each plant using 250w QB's... which is way more weed than i even need. Just posting for perspective.
 

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
I don't have tons of experience, i started not even 2 years ago by reading forums non stop and learning.. I don't think any of us make our own plant food (some guys do compost tea.. why do all that work?)

After doing research, i ONLY use Jacks 3-2-1 nothing else through the whole grow and southern AG to make happy roots.

Dist, go on youtube and watch greengenes vid about jacks.. it's the cheapest nutes, super easy to use and great results... no need to spend a ton of money :) I don't sell weed but i give away about 20oz every 4 months so i don't have too much around, so yeah i like to do things as cheap as possible :)
I will check it out.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I made a post about this recently, I have become really attached to my nute schedule as I've used the same thing for years with great results. That being said I never really considered the cost of nutes til prices started adding up. Im up over 600 dollars per flower run for nutes. The old lady keeps reminding me that I'm growing more product so I can afford it, but I keep seeing people get great results with dry fertilizer and I know that it has to be cheaper. I think once I get my tables set up to collect run off I will try and switch over. I'll stick with what I'm using for now since I don't ever get much run off and have this nute line kinda dialed in which is how I get away with very little run off.
I switched to dry nutrients years ago. I had 4 tables in a basement and I was dumping a ton of money down the drain every couple weeks when I changed out the reservoirs. One thing I noticed was that the plants didn't care. If anything I had better grows after switching. Plus everything stayed clean. No more gunk buildup on stuff like you get with many bottled nutes.

As long as you give your plants the right amounts of NPK and micronutrients they plants don't care if they come in bottles or granular form. I haven't done a complete breakdown on cost savings but I spend a fraction on dry nutrients as I did with bottled nutrients to achieve the same results. It's somewhere between 7 - 10 times less. Meaning I get 7 - 10 times more grows for the same money. I'll never buy cannabis specific anything for as long as I live. Cannabis is just a plant. So I grow it like any other plant and they thrive.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
Take a bottle of water and put a pretty colorful label with some aggressive, cool sounding name and the price goes up.
Dude I recently caught up with a friend I grew up with some 20 years ago. Lives in another state and has a sweet garden setup. We exchanged a few pics. I was fairly impressed with his garden design and equipment. He put about $20k into 2 separate rooms. Then he started "educating" me on the "right" fertilizer's to use. He says,"Man if you want the best results ya just gotta use the best. That's why I use advanced nutrients. It's expensive, but it's worth it if you want the best results. I spent around $3k on the whole line, but I bought in bulk and that's how I was able to save a lot of money." You have no idea how difficult it was for me to take a pass on mercilessly raking his nuts through the coals for that ridiculous heaping pile of horse shit of a statement. We grew up together and have a lot of history, so I just let him keep on trucking. Makes me smile a little every time I think about it :)

Hell, even when you try to steer people straight half the time they'll do the opposite of what good advice told them to do. Dude and I were exchanging flower room pics the other day and his colas were not very impressive. He's all LED. I showed him pics of your flower room. I was like, "Dude, look at how this cat has the bare bulb 1000w lamp dropped right in between his rows. The plants grow right towards the light and they're just as dense as the colas on top. Buy 4 quality 1000w digital ballasts with hortilux HPS lamps, sun system lamp cords with mogul socket, and drop 2 of those lamps right in between your rows in each room. Make sure you buy quality lamps and ballasts. It's very important."

He sends me a text a few minutes later super excited about the 4 Vivosun 1000w ballasts and 4 vivo sun lamps he bought off of Amazon. He bought the cheapest equipment he was able to find even after receiving good advice only moments earlier. You can lead a horse to water, but ya can't make 'em drink. I feel like I should get into running a grow shop. People are really stupid and that's where the profits are. Serving stupid people.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
I made a post about this recently, I have become really attached to my nute schedule as I've used the same thing for years with great results. That being said I never really considered the cost of nutes til prices started adding up. Im up over 600 dollars per flower run for nutes. The old lady keeps reminding me that I'm growing more product so I can afford it, but I keep seeing people get great results with dry fertilizer and I know that it has to be cheaper. I think once I get my tables set up to collect run off I will try and switch over. I'll stick with what I'm using for now since I don't ever get much run off and have this nute line kinda dialed in which is how I get away with very little run off.
Good god man. How large is your room or rooms? I use GH's dry maxi line, and a 16LB tub lasts me about 2 full flower cycles @ $100/w tax. I buy 5lb bags of calcium nitrate from southern ag for $14 that lasts 3-4 cycles. Epsom salt is so cheap it's almost not even worth factoring into the equation, but for fun let's say $5 for a 5LB bag of epsom salt once every 5 cycles. 1 gallon of potassium silicate for $40 will last me 5+ years due to the low volume needed. And with the advice I just saw in this thread I'll be purchasing dry potassium silicate powder when my gallon runs out. Floralicious plus quart for $55 every cycle. Southern AG biological friendly fungicide for reservoir sterility for $26. 1 bottle will last 2-3 years. When I say cycle I mean veg through harvest. All in my costs for fertilizer are:

Maxi grow 16# $100
Maxi bloom 16# $100
Floralicious plus quart $55
Epsom salt 5# $5
Calcium nitrate 5# $14
Potassium silicate gallon $40
Southern AG BFF $26
Total cost for initial purchase of all items: $340

Keeping in mind that many of these products will not have to be purchased again for another 2-3 harvests. My costs are pretty low I think. Eventually I'll switch to the 50# containers of maxi which brings the cost of the product down a bit.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Good god man. How large is your room or rooms? I use GH's dry maxi line, and a 16LB tub lasts me about 2 full flower cycles @ $100/w tax. I buy 5lb bags of calcium nitrate from southern ag for $14 that lasts 3-4 cycles. Epsom salt is so cheap it's almost not even worth factoring into the equation, but for fun let's say $5 for a 5LB bag of epsom salt once every 5 cycles. 1 gallon of potassium silicate for $40 will last me 5+ years due to the low volume needed. And with the advice I just saw in this thread I'll be purchasing dry potassium silicate powder when my gallon runs out. Floralicious plus quart for $55 every cycle. Southern AG biological friendly fungicide for reservoir sterility for $26. 1 bottle will last 2-3 years. When I say cycle I mean veg through harvest. All in my costs for fertilizer are:

Maxi grow 16# $100
Maxi bloom 16# $100
Floralicious plus quart $55
Epsom salt 5# $5
Calcium nitrate 5# $14
Potassium silicate gallon $40
Southern AG BFF $26
Total cost for initial purchase of all items: $340

Keeping in mind that many of these products will not have to be purchased again for another 2-3 harvests. My costs are pretty low I think. Eventually I'll switch to the 50# containers of maxi which brings the cost of the product down a bit.
The Maxi Grow and Bloom will grow some damn fine weed. Skip the Floralicious and just get some humic acid and kelp. Save even more. Also buy potassium silicate in granular form. $15 will buy you a pound that will make hundreds of gallons. But you're on the right path to feeding your plants. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to give your cannabis plants all the nutrition they need. :blsmoke: :peace:
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
The Maxi Grow and Bloom will grow some damn fine weed. Skip the Floralicious and just get some humic acid and kelp. Save even more. Also buy potassium silicate in granular form. $15 will buy you a pound that will make hundreds of gallons. But you're on the right path to feeding your plants. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to give your cannabis plants all the nutrition they need. :blsmoke: :peace:
Thanks for the good advice on floralicious. It chaps my ass every time I have to reorder that stuff due to the cost. Any good recommendations on dry kelp / humic acid? I know there are a lot of vendors out there and I'm not in the know.
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Good god man. How large is your room or rooms? I use GH's dry maxi line, and a 16LB tub lasts me about 2 full flower cycles @ $100/w tax. I buy 5lb bags of calcium nitrate from southern ag for $14 that lasts 3-4 cycles. Epsom salt is so cheap it's almost not even worth factoring into the equation, but for fun let's say $5 for a 5LB bag of epsom salt once every 5 cycles. 1 gallon of potassium silicate for $40 will last me 5+ years due to the low volume needed. And with the advice I just saw in this thread I'll be purchasing dry potassium silicate powder when my gallon runs out. Floralicious plus quart for $55 every cycle. Southern AG biological friendly fungicide for reservoir sterility for $26. 1 bottle will last 2-3 years. When I say cycle I mean veg through harvest. All in my costs for fertilizer are:

Maxi grow 16# $100
Maxi bloom 16# $100
Floralicious plus quart $55
Epsom salt 5# $5
Calcium nitrate 5# $14
Potassium silicate gallon $40
Southern AG BFF $26
Total cost for initial purchase of all items: $340

Keeping in mind that many of these products will not have to be purchased again for another 2-3 harvests. My costs are pretty low I think. Eventually I'll switch to the 50# containers of maxi which brings the cost of the product down a bit.
My room is 12x24 but canopy is about 10x20. I use roughly 32 gallons of water for the flower room every day. I use 200-300ml a day of Part A and the same amount of part B. So for easy math we will say 250 ml a day , or 1 liter every 4 days. I buy 4 liter bottles so a bottle last me 16 days. I pay 110 (sometimes less sometimes more) for the 4 liter bottles. It takes me 4 bottles get thru flower so that's 440 dollars. I use a few other additives that account for the other 100 or so dollars.

I got another room the same size and I'm about to get it set up and going. I think it's to the point that the ease of using this nutrient is out weighed by the cost on this scale. I am just so used to using it and it's so easy to use that I am having a hard time switching over yet.
 

Distortionist

Well-Known Member
I wish I had 2 grow rooms for side by side comparisons of different foods.

I'm currently using up all my AN line. I got a lot of their crap. I top up with GH grow micro bloom since AN is so expensive and I'm leaking lol.

I would love to put them up against each other though and compare everything down to smoking it. Whoever wins becomes the control and I keep trying stuff till I find something that beats it. And repeat lol.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the good advice on floralicious. It chaps my ass every time I have to reorder that stuff due to the cost. Any good recommendations on dry kelp / humic acid? I know there are a lot of vendors out there and I'm not in the know.
You can get humic acid and kelp meal on amazon or many other places online. Custom Hydro Nutrients has both. $4 a pound for kelp meal and $12 for humic acid. I have an organic farm supply place down the street where I bought a 50 lb bag of kelp meal for $40. That makes a bunch of tea. I use it in my raised garden beds as well. Had a good year with the vegetables as well as cannabis.
 

icetech

Well-Known Member
Ok... i can't find the thread about southern AG i was going to post this in, so here is as good as anywhere....

This is a demonstration of how much i trust AG, I just harvested last night 2 laughing buddhas (1 in dwc one in coco, no reason other than i have a lot of coco and not another dwc setup)

This plant spent 3 months in it's bucket, i never once took the lid off (after the plants were decent size, when babies i pull the whole lid/plant and dump water in instead of pumping) I only ran jacks 3-2-1 and AG, nothing else, not once. water temps in the tent hang around 72-75. So last night i pulled the plant finally and heres what the roots looked like.
BTW, the tan color is cause that's the color of jacks when you mix it in water... but the roots are completely healthy, not a dark spot anywhere... (the dirty bucket is a junk bucket, not the grow one.)

P.S. the only downside was my air stone was bout 95% blocked and i had no idea, but it explains some unhappiness in the plant near the end.. Tent cleaned and 2 white widows already in there growing :)
2020-10-24 17.29.30.jpg2020-10-25 10.58.07.jpg

And here's a few of the buds off the DWC plant.. i have about 30 which are the same size from the 2 plant tent with 1 250w QB which i am very happy with the grow this time..

2020-10-24 16.24.29.jpg
 
Top