Choosing a nutrient line for my first hydro op, what do the fine people of this site

It's expensive to acquire but check out advanced nutes they have an array of hydro nutes and perform really well. I know not everyone agrees with this but I've ran them now for four years and couldn't be happier. Started on flora nova series which just like mentioned above I'd steer away from that. Nutrient lines all work it's more a matter of how you work them so choose from your opinion and what you want. It's like anything you have to adapt and adjust to your garden. What's works in one may not work in another.

Most of the major brands will give respectable results,if you are a first time grower I would suggest using a line that plenty of other growers are using or are familiar with. That way you can follow the mix rates that others are using successfully and will be able to get any questions you have answered. Botanicare,Advanced, Canna and House & Garden are all good and theres plenty of people using them on here with grow logs etc.

AN Sensi base is legit. Also, sticker price isn't everything, you have to keep application rate in mind. I have also run Botanicare and GH, though there is a big difference in the price tag, the application rates make up most of the difference in the end. I have never been able to run Sensi past 3/4 strength in soil with 4-5ft plants. In hydro, I run half strength. Also, with Sensi you really don't need extra calmg unless your in coco. When I was running GH it was a must. Botanicare is pretty easy to use. Pure Blend is user friendly and liquid karma is a good additive. I would use AN Nirvana instead because its the same price but does a way better job. It has alfalfa extract and I think a couple other things as well. But like Bustin said… H&G, Canna, AN, Botanicare.. they can all grow a nice plant and they are used by the majority of gardeners.

C3Pgro said:

Im going to be running a flood and drain system from clone straight to flower. Im not familiar with hydro so I thought you guys would have some input. There are threads on here talking about nutrients, but they seem to be very biased opinions by the poster.

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https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/574371-beneficial-additives-hydroponics-must-read.html

A good thread on this subject. Bottom line? Nutes are nutes. Look @ the chemicals and ratios when making your choice, not the claims of the manufacturer so much. Some of this stuff has been proven very effective (humic/fulvic acid and other chelates for example), but a lot of times the sources from Canna specific nutes tend to be pretty expensive.

BOTANICARE: POWER FLOWER, CaMg+, SWEET, and Liquid Karma. FOILER FEED with a nitrogen based nute, like BOTANICARE's Pure Blend Pro Grow formula ( you can buy a tiny little sample bottle off the internet) Only foiler feed up to week 2.5 of flower then never do it again to prevent complications with mold. I HAVE RAN THROUGH ABOUT 5 DIFF NUTE LINES IN THE PAST 3YR, MY ADVISE IS TO BUY SAMPLE PACKS UNTILL YOUR HEART IS SET ON ONE!

I use the whole House and Garden line. Tried it for soil after using botanicare, fox farms, and AN and loved it. Now use aqua flakes in hydro.

WestCoastMaster said:

BOTANICARE: POWER FLOWER, CaMg+, SWEET, and Liquid Karma. FOILER FEED with a nitrogen based nute, like BOTANICARE's Pure Blend Pro Grow formula ( you can buy a tiny little sample bottle off the internet) Only foiler feed up to week 2.5 of flower then never do it again to prevent complications with mold. I HAVE RAN THROUGH ABOUT 5 DIFF NUTE LINES IN THE PAST 3YR, MY ADVISE IS TO BUY SAMPLE PACKS UNTILL YOUR HEART IS SET ON ONE!

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5 different lines in 3 yrs? you cany even get one dialed in before you switch to another at that rate. i have used the same line for over 4yrs and it took me 12-18 months to find the right recipe, and thats around 17-24 harvests. its not that i had issues with it, i wanted a balance and to find the sweet spot.

C3Pgro said:

Would I not have to buy the veg nutes since Im going straight to flower? Any other good nutes? My friend really likes AN, but I wanted to think outside of the box.

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If your going zero veg 12/12 from clone i would use canna line of nutes there bloom is a 2part with a few sups.
No need for veg nutes =ing less money spent

oceangreen said:

dont use lucas, use full line of flora series instead.

I tired dynagro, botnaicare, flora series.. rank in order

1. botnaicare
2. dynagrow
3. gh flora series..

go with botanicare.. very freindlya nd effective nutes. its organic though.. flora and dyna are not. so depends what you are looking

if you are going organic, botanicare, if synthetic, dynagrow

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I never thought organics had any place in Hydro. But to each there own

Yeah. They can be used, but certainly not by beginners. That "advice " about dumping liquid karma and
AND sweet into a hydro set up is absolutely fucking retarded. Here bacteria...have some crack.

The funny thing about AN people is that they are typically fairly adamant that is the best stuff. It's good stuff for sure, but it's really expensive...AND dilute. I don't know what that comment about BC being dilute was about, it's almost twice the strength of AN stuff.

DM also makes very good hydro nutes. My buddy will NOT shut up about heavy 16. He is using it in hempy buckets, pretty much killing it.

I use DM. It's the shit! They have a foliar feed that will knock your socks off! Also the product Zone keeps the funk out! Only gripe i got is the online nutrient calculator is way to strong. I stick to a top of 1.8 EC. If I keep my water temps low at 68, and my EC in check, they just go like hell.

Indeed the DM foliar spray liquid light rocks. I wish it didn't work so well as it is pretty pricey.

Having tried a few brands over the past 5 years I can't conclude that one is better than another. I don't have any quantitative data to share, but I rather take it from a practicality perspective, what is easiest to work with and gives the girls what they need.

I like the BC line, however, I don't like the ratio offset for the Grow/Bloom mix; I'm always left with half jugs of Grow while doubling the Boost consumption. Results were great, but in time it gets annoying.

Locally I'm blessed to have a hydro shop that stocks a house brand named "Optimum Hydroponix" which comes in 2 part formulas that are 50/50 mixes. This stuff is about half the price of the BC, AN, etc... lines and works really well. It lasts forever, compared to other stuff that I need to run at 800-1000 ppm, this line works great at half-strength, 500-700 ppm and I'm on the edge of too much. With my water I'm able to have a nice pH sweep over 2 weeks which crosses most of the uptake range and I avoid pH fiddling altogether.

I took a chance with this stuff 3 or 4 years ago, and I haven't had any regrets.