Very first post. woohoo!

Hey all. Im new to this site, never really been one to talk online about growing, but this site seemed pretty chill. ANYWAYS... Just to contribute my 2 pesos, heres a tip to possibly save some dough. Read your nute labels. If, say, Sugar Daddy has 1.75% magnesium and sulfur, derived from mag. sulfate, and also has 2% cane sugar and smells of molasses, why on earth would one buy a gallon of this stuff for 50 bucks when a half gallon carton of epsom salts and a quart of Grandma's unsulphured molasses will make you a hundred gallons? Just my virgin contribution.

I would love to hear more about your nutrient ideas. Got any pics or grows going on?

JP

Just moved to a new house, so no current grows as of yet. Ordered some auto white widow from the attitude, this will be my first auto grow, so im kinda curious as to how it will turn out. I was originally into outdoor guerrilla style gardening, and my strain never really strayed far from my classic Afghani or NL seedstock, but more recently I've been experimenting with indoor grows and mushroom cultivation. I'll post some pics when the shop is back up and running.

10001110101 said:

Hey all. Im new to this site, never really been one to talk online about growing, but this site seemed pretty chill. ANYWAYS... Just to contribute my 2 pesos, heres a tip to possibly save some dough. Read your nute labels. If, say, Sugar Daddy has 1.75% magnesium and sulfur, derived from mag. sulfate, and also has 2% cane sugar and smells of molasses, why on earth would one buy a gallon of this stuff for 50 bucks when a half gallon carton of epsom salts and a quart of Grandma's unsulphured molasses will make you a hundred gallons? Just my virgin contribution.

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no no no no, your on the right track but make it good quality hydro nutes in bulk ,as its designed for high intensity lighting. you will run into probs using grannys molassis etc

Not following on the high quality thing. Havent folks been using organic nutes like molasses and fish emulsion forever? Hell, Ive even seen a hydro gardener, growing tomatoes mind you, use Coca Cola, diluted 1 part soda to 4 parts water, to supplement his needs for phosphorus by way of the phosphoric acid in the drink. I've been using the molasses / epsom salts now for a couple weeks with no ill effects. My plants appear to be doing as well as before I used the last of my sugar daddy ( From the Recipe for Success kit, looks like the only thing I'll run out of...) But hey, I'm a firm believer in learning every way possible to do something, then pick the method that works for me. This hobby is actually very forgiving, and nothing is really written in stone.

I like the Clutch reference. Along the lines of your post......I started looking into how good of a fertilizer worm castings are. Knowing I'll be using them in my outdoor garden as well, I started a worm bin. I'm a noob, but I use common sense. Especially if it will save me some coin. I think I'm more excited for my current grow to finish so I can start the next one than what the current grow is yielding.

welcome to RIU - we, well most of us, appreciate new ideas and experiments so please share what you have, never stop learning!!!!!

I've done some organic gardening in the past, with food plants, and a worm bin is a great thing to have. you can build or buy a multi layer bin, and put in some shredded newspaper ( black ink only, though most newsprint is soy based ink nowadays ) and the chopped vegetable matter and crushed eggshells etc. from your kitchen, and the worm pods. Redworms are the best for composting, IMHO, and they eat their weight in food every day. Its also reported their digestive juices will neutralize both acid and alkali foods. Just something to chew on. ( BTW, worm pods are the egg sacs of worms. you can get them from online suppliers like Gardens Alive or Gurneys.

+ rep to dj and YR, more folks on these forums could use a bit more openmindedness. Thanks for your support and interest.

10001110101 said:

Hey all. Im new to this site, never really been one to talk online about growing, but this site seemed pretty chill. ANYWAYS... Just to contribute my 2 pesos, heres a tip to possibly save some dough. Read your nute labels. If, say, Sugar Daddy has 1.75% magnesium and sulfur, derived from mag. sulfate, and also has 2% cane sugar and smells of molasses, why on earth would one buy a gallon of this stuff for 50 bucks when a half gallon carton of epsom salts and a quart of Grandma's unsulphured molasses will make you a hundred gallons? Just my virgin contribution.

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Great to have ya. RIU is great and there is much good knowledge being shared. Plenty of bullshitters too, but there's never any shortage of foils for their nonsense. Have fun, and welcome from this comparative newb.

10001110101 said:

Not following on the high quality thing. Havent folks been using organic nutes like molasses and fish emulsion forever? Hell, Ive even seen a hydro gardener, growing tomatoes mind you, use Coca Cola, diluted 1 part soda to 4 parts water, to supplement his needs for phosphorus by way of the phosphoric acid in the drink. I've been using the molasses / epsom salts now for a couple weeks with no ill effects. My plants appear to be doing as well as before I used the last of my sugar daddy ( From the Recipe for Success kit, looks like the only thing I'll run out of...) But hey, I'm a firm believer in learning every way possible to do something, then pick the method that works for me. This hobby is actually very forgiving, and nothing is really written in stone.

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The main issue between organic and hydro nutes is solubility. Organics are more complex forms of substances like nitrogen which are broken down by bacteria living in your substrate (usually soil). Hydro nutes (and other water additive nutes) are soluble, meaning the plant can absorb and use them directly. Carb loading is similar, though the more simple the sugar the less it will need to be broken down to be used. This is why most people will use a very raw form of molasses, a byproduct of sugar refinement. Other substances can be derived from multiple sources, and each one can effect what has to happen to the substance to be usable. It's not really a question of what is best, as both methods (organics and solubles) can achieve great results, however, both methods are quite different in theory and without understanding those differences you won't know what method/style fits your grow best.

For a lot of us I think the question comes down to one of convenience. The soluble nutes achieve great results with little planning and preparation. Organics achieve great results as well, but require more planning usually. Those who grow organic though seem to swear by it

much appreciation gobbly. That clarifies things a bit, but still not completely crystal on this topic. If immediately soluble vs. slowly soluble is what differentiates hydro and organic, how could we effectively have organic hydro nutes, such as fish emulsion, molasses, liquid kelp, etc?

welcome nc. I've seen "molasses" references appear here and there on this forum. I am in a soil grow and my plants are just starting to flower. When do you use molasses and how much?

10001110101 said:

much appreciation gobbly. That clarifies things a bit, but still not completely crystal on this topic. If immediately soluble vs. slowly soluble is what differentiates hydro and organic, how could we effectively have organic hydro nutes, such as fish emulsion, molasses, liquid kelp, etc?

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these are not hydro nutes, if it says cheleated it is hydro...

one tablespoon per gallon on the PURE molasses (no sulfur) during flowering is the most common method ive read.

JP

Thanks to all for the very helpful input.

Ahh. immediately soluble = chelated. Forgive my forgetfulness..... Long Day.

10001110101 said:

Ahh. immediately soluble = chelated. Forgive my forgetfulness..... Long Day.

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questions are always a good thing...