To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of the Dumpster buzz. It's heavy and strong. Great for sleep or pain relief. I personally like the other end of the spectrum. That said, it made some nice crosses (to me) when I crossed it to something very uppity.
I've had her for 14 years or so? The only thing to look out for is botrytis. She'll grow dense, leafy, resinous flowers and the tops can mold on you if you don't pay attention. I've found that growing a bushier plant versus one with 2 or 4 main tops helps minimize the size of the top flowers.
So I just did some quick math; that 2.2 lb bag of maxibloom would last just a little longer than the new Superthrive bloom and it's 1/3 the cost. I've got to check that stuff out!
I'm going to test maxibloom soon as I need a new bloom formula. I like GH stuff too. Have you ever measured its potency? Like, how many ppms are in a gram of that stuff? Does that make sense? I'm really curious about the cost of use.
It's interesting you should ask that. About 6 months ago I bought some DG bloom off Amazon. It arrived at my door as SuperThrive Bloom. I called DG and they said something about a merger, or Superthrive now owns the bloom formula? I can't remember. Regardless of that, I tested the...
1) Yes, in my experience it's not a problem.
2) You can try a bloom booster if you'd like to see if it helps. I think your best bet is FP all the way through but it's worth an experiment on your end.
3) Spinosad for thrips. PM is an environmental issue. There are chemicals you can spray...