Mazar i Shariff
Active Member
mmmmmm ... yum
Load me a bowl of that, please!
Mazar
Load me a bowl of that, please!
Mazar
Dyna-Gro vs General Hydroponics (Dumpster Grow)
- Thread starter homebrewer
- Start date
homebrewer
Well-Known Member
The initial point of this comparison was to see if a complete fertilizer like DynaGro could compete with the results that I get from my beloved GH line. While I was not looking to switch nutrient brands, secretly I was hoping to find something that could simplify my process while giving me the same quality that I already get from GH. I chose DynaGro because their grow formula and bloom formula by themselves supply total and complete plant nutrition without the hassle of expensive additives. While there are many, many other fertilizer companies out there that I couldve compared to GH, I wasnt about to test some over-priced, over-marketed, incomplete formula with wacky NPK ratios sold as boosters. Plant nutrition isnt sexy or trendy, its about the sixteen to seventeen essential macro and micro nutrients. Ill try to keep this conclusion short-and-sweet so if I leave something out, feel free to ask questions.
What I initially liked about DynaGro:
The ease of use is something that I immediately noticed along with crystal clear flood and drain tables. What I mean is that mixing up the nutrients in the reservoir required fewer trips to my fertilizer room and once the nutes were mixed up, the res remained crystal clear. Over time, I had less mineral salt build-up and when I would flush every few weeks, I noticed that DynaGro left half the amount of salts as compared to GH (measured by a TDS meter).
PH Stability:
DynaGros pH stability is as good as it gets. Over the course of a 60 day grow, I think I adjusted the pH four or five times (probably due to over-feeding) whereas I adjusted the GH pH three to four times per week. Comparatively, no matter what water source youre using, DynaGros pH will remain as stable as or more stable than any nutrient on the market. For some, this may not be that big of an issue, but for those of you running multiple reservoirs on larger scale grows, this makes life a lot easier. Also, depending on your tap water pH and the ratio of ProTekt to base nutes, your res will sometimes require an initial pH adjustment when you change your reservoir. Unless youre topping-off with tap water with a pH of 8 or 9, I dont foresee any further pH adjustments being required over the course of a week
Price:
Its a little unfair to compare the prices of each of the nute lines here in their entirety. The additives for either company arent required but do help depending on your situation. So for a price comparison, Ill just compare the base nutrients as that is really all your plants actually need. The GH micro and bloom combo in flower at a 1350ppm runs about $37 to use over 9 weeks in my 15 gallon res. The grow and bloom combo from DynaGro at the same ppm, volume, and frequency of reservoir changes runs about $16 to use over 9 weeks. A lot of us arent that price-sensitive when it comes to nutes or grow room supplies, but paying less than half for an easier, more complete base nutrient line whose pH is rock solid is simply the best-case-scenario.
Yield:
This was my first run with DynaGro nutrients and comparing yields could be a little unfair seeing how Ive used GH for years and have grown this dumpster strain dozens of times with these GH nutes. Like clockwork, the dumpster strain yields about 16 to 16.5 ounces with GH nutes under my 600 watt HPS. It doesnt seem to matter how tall or short they are when they go into flower, the yield is something I can always count on. My first run with DynaGro yielded a total of 17.2 ounces which is an increase of 6% over my average GH yields with this strain. What this tells me is that with some tweaking in the future, DG nutes will out-yield GH while making the growing experience a lot easier.
Quality:
During this grow, I noticed a slight difference in resin production between these two companies; GH having the upper hand. If I was comparing base nutrients alone, the results would in all likelihood be identical in regards to resin. But because I was using products like Sweet, Floralicious Plus and Florablend in conjunction with the GH base, there was a 10-20% difference in resin production when using General Hydroponics. However, according to the smoke reports, the extra resin did not translate to a more potent product. In fact, one of the testers said the DynaGro product was more potent and had a longer duration than that of the GH grown dumpster. I, along with another tester, both agreed that the product grown with DynaGro was simply spectacular and every bit as good as the product grown with GH, despite the slight difference in resin. To be honest, I actually thought the intensity and duration of the high seemed stronger and longer in the product grown with DG nutes, but Im not about to make the statement that DG grows a more potent product. In regards to taste, none of the testers made a comment about the taste being different between the two nutrient companies.
In summation, Ive really liked working with DynaGro. Its an easy nutrient to use, its clean, pH perfect, and grows a simply fantastic product. I was also able to yield more of the same high quality product (some would argue the product was better with DG) at less than half the cost. Ive decided to switch my base nutrients to DynaGro and ditch about 6 products from GH. I plan on continuing to experiment with sweet, floralicious plus and florablend, though after the smoke reports and my own impressions of the product grown with DynaGro, this may be pointless. Why chase more resin when it made no difference in potency and would add additional cost and steps to my process? I want to be clear on something here; Im not switching to DynaGro because I feel that GH is inferior. DynaGro just makes my life easier. For me, I want to grow the best plants I can with the least amount of hassle. DynaGro allows me to do this and for those of you who operate in multiple rooms with 1000s of watts, you know that pH adjusting, mixing nutes, and general plant maintenance all add up to hours and hours everyday. Not to mention the fact that less nutrient bottles means fewer trips to the Hydro store.
Finally, here are some fully dried bud shots of Dumpster grown with DynaGro. I appreciate you guys following along. Stay tuned for an update on the AK47 tray grown with DG nutes and floralicious plus (smoke report to be included). Also, I have an AK47 in the dirt being grown with DG nutes and Ill be updating the results of that plant in about 40 days.
What I initially liked about DynaGro:
The ease of use is something that I immediately noticed along with crystal clear flood and drain tables. What I mean is that mixing up the nutrients in the reservoir required fewer trips to my fertilizer room and once the nutes were mixed up, the res remained crystal clear. Over time, I had less mineral salt build-up and when I would flush every few weeks, I noticed that DynaGro left half the amount of salts as compared to GH (measured by a TDS meter).
PH Stability:
DynaGros pH stability is as good as it gets. Over the course of a 60 day grow, I think I adjusted the pH four or five times (probably due to over-feeding) whereas I adjusted the GH pH three to four times per week. Comparatively, no matter what water source youre using, DynaGros pH will remain as stable as or more stable than any nutrient on the market. For some, this may not be that big of an issue, but for those of you running multiple reservoirs on larger scale grows, this makes life a lot easier. Also, depending on your tap water pH and the ratio of ProTekt to base nutes, your res will sometimes require an initial pH adjustment when you change your reservoir. Unless youre topping-off with tap water with a pH of 8 or 9, I dont foresee any further pH adjustments being required over the course of a week
Price:
Its a little unfair to compare the prices of each of the nute lines here in their entirety. The additives for either company arent required but do help depending on your situation. So for a price comparison, Ill just compare the base nutrients as that is really all your plants actually need. The GH micro and bloom combo in flower at a 1350ppm runs about $37 to use over 9 weeks in my 15 gallon res. The grow and bloom combo from DynaGro at the same ppm, volume, and frequency of reservoir changes runs about $16 to use over 9 weeks. A lot of us arent that price-sensitive when it comes to nutes or grow room supplies, but paying less than half for an easier, more complete base nutrient line whose pH is rock solid is simply the best-case-scenario.
Yield:
This was my first run with DynaGro nutrients and comparing yields could be a little unfair seeing how Ive used GH for years and have grown this dumpster strain dozens of times with these GH nutes. Like clockwork, the dumpster strain yields about 16 to 16.5 ounces with GH nutes under my 600 watt HPS. It doesnt seem to matter how tall or short they are when they go into flower, the yield is something I can always count on. My first run with DynaGro yielded a total of 17.2 ounces which is an increase of 6% over my average GH yields with this strain. What this tells me is that with some tweaking in the future, DG nutes will out-yield GH while making the growing experience a lot easier.
Quality:
During this grow, I noticed a slight difference in resin production between these two companies; GH having the upper hand. If I was comparing base nutrients alone, the results would in all likelihood be identical in regards to resin. But because I was using products like Sweet, Floralicious Plus and Florablend in conjunction with the GH base, there was a 10-20% difference in resin production when using General Hydroponics. However, according to the smoke reports, the extra resin did not translate to a more potent product. In fact, one of the testers said the DynaGro product was more potent and had a longer duration than that of the GH grown dumpster. I, along with another tester, both agreed that the product grown with DynaGro was simply spectacular and every bit as good as the product grown with GH, despite the slight difference in resin. To be honest, I actually thought the intensity and duration of the high seemed stronger and longer in the product grown with DG nutes, but Im not about to make the statement that DG grows a more potent product. In regards to taste, none of the testers made a comment about the taste being different between the two nutrient companies.
In summation, Ive really liked working with DynaGro. Its an easy nutrient to use, its clean, pH perfect, and grows a simply fantastic product. I was also able to yield more of the same high quality product (some would argue the product was better with DG) at less than half the cost. Ive decided to switch my base nutrients to DynaGro and ditch about 6 products from GH. I plan on continuing to experiment with sweet, floralicious plus and florablend, though after the smoke reports and my own impressions of the product grown with DynaGro, this may be pointless. Why chase more resin when it made no difference in potency and would add additional cost and steps to my process? I want to be clear on something here; Im not switching to DynaGro because I feel that GH is inferior. DynaGro just makes my life easier. For me, I want to grow the best plants I can with the least amount of hassle. DynaGro allows me to do this and for those of you who operate in multiple rooms with 1000s of watts, you know that pH adjusting, mixing nutes, and general plant maintenance all add up to hours and hours everyday. Not to mention the fact that less nutrient bottles means fewer trips to the Hydro store.
Finally, here are some fully dried bud shots of Dumpster grown with DynaGro. I appreciate you guys following along. Stay tuned for an update on the AK47 tray grown with DG nutes and floralicious plus (smoke report to be included). Also, I have an AK47 in the dirt being grown with DG nutes and Ill be updating the results of that plant in about 40 days.
shnkrmn
Well-Known Member
You should get a medal for going all the way through this comparison. Maybe you should see what happens with DG combined with GH supplements. I don't use supplements, I believe less is more, so I'm more than happy to believe the fewer products you use the better, taste, impact, yield should be. I don't know if I can rep you again yet, but I'm gonna try.
Dropastone
Well-Known Member
Outstanding work HB. I've been following along from the beginning and after reading the reports I had already come to the conclusion that DG was the way to go. So I've already made the switch from GH to DG about two weeks ago and I can already tell a difference between the two. My pH has been rock solid since I made the switch and to me, that alone was well worth it.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Peace.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Peace.
Sir Psycho Sexy
Well-Known Member
cool thanks for going through all the trouble so we dont have to. I was hoping DG would come out on top because despite GH making damn good stuff I don't agree with how they do business. Specifically, threatening to pull their products from hydro stores unless the store stops carrying the products of competitors who make cannabis-specific nutrients. To be fair i've only heard this in forums so its possible that this rumor is untrue or exaggerated. No matter, the price and PH stability are enough to convince me.
RyanTheRhino
Well-Known Member
Nice, I guess my hydro guy knows his stuff. I asked him what to get my first time with hydro and he pointed out the dayno grow. I have been using ever since... all you do is fill the rez and pour in the right amount of nutes. the only thing you have to rember is to use the bloom in flower and the grow in veg. and thats good because my shit gets me high..;.
epicseeds
Active Member
I am so happy to hear this man. I have literally spent the last month or so researching, researching and researching. I read countless threads by fatman, UB, and tapla. The general consensus always came to a balanced NPL and a full and complete diet of micros. Dyna-Gro has always been on the top of my list, and this just proves why. A close 2nd is CNS17 and I hope to do a comparison grow similar to this with Dyna-Gro vs CNS17 in late Jan.
Dyna-Gro is also ran by some spectacular people. I have emailed countless companies about their lines and Ryan from DG and I have been chatting back and forth for weeks now - he truly is one of a kind.
Thanks for the spectacular thread! Please keep us updated on further findings. Also, did you ever detail the feeding schedule for bloom and any tweaks you did?
Dyna-Gro is also ran by some spectacular people. I have emailed countless companies about their lines and Ryan from DG and I have been chatting back and forth for weeks now - he truly is one of a kind.
Thanks for the spectacular thread! Please keep us updated on further findings. Also, did you ever detail the feeding schedule for bloom and any tweaks you did?
homebrewer
Well-Known Member
I totally agree that less is more when it comes to NPK boosters and that is especially true when you're already working with a complete base nutrient that has a great NPK ratio. But, a floralicious plus sort of additive seems to be doing the trick as far as equalizing the resin production between these two brands and it doesn't affect the pH. Will that make a difference in the end? I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks for following along!
I'm glad DG is working out for you so far. The pH and ease of use almost sold me at the start. Hopefully your end product meets your expectations as it did mine.
Yeah, Ryan is the man. I've spoken with a female over there too and she really knows her stuff as well. I also like GH for the same reasons. They really know their products over there at GH and have always been very helpful when I've had questions for them. I give DG the edge though because they talk about plant nutrition as a whole and not just about their specific products. After calling DynaGro, I feel like I've left a botany class. They arm you with more than just info about their products, they give you the science behind things which allows us as growers to make better decisions in regards to our plants.
As far as a feeding schedule, I think a combo of grow/bloom for the first 3 weeks is definitely necessary (maybe 30% grow). I'd even use a grow/bloom combo through week six actually (maybe 20% grow from weeks 4-6). I feel like weeks 7-9 are ok with just bloom as that is what my AKs are on right now and they're still green. When I say 30% grow, I'm speaking strickly about ppms and the ratio of grow to bloom. Grow is more potent than bloom so 30% grow based on ppm is 1.5 mls grow and 5 mls bloom per gallon. I think a feeding schedule is strain dependent and ultimately it's about how the plants respond to the feeding. This is the schedule I'm working with at the moment and my goal is to keep them green to the end. Thanks for following along! If you have the space, try a head-to-head of DG and CNS.
RastaMonsta
Active Member
preety fukin sweet experiment bro! so 17.5 ounces from the DG with no suppliments. looks like ur switching over to DG now huh?
how do you dry and cure so fast? the buds look top notch. im getting high just lookng at them.
how do you dry and cure so fast? the buds look top notch. im getting high just lookng at them.
homebrewer
Well-Known Member
17.2 ounces with DynaGro with ProTekt and Magpro. Magpro according the the folks at DG is designed for people who use RO water. My water is a little hard so I only use it at a rate of 1ml/gallon or so. It's potent, 1ml per gallon adds about 110ppms. So yeah, I'm switching to the DynaGro line and am experimenting with GH suppliments to see if they'll make a difference in the end product.
I dry by hanging the buds on string in a separate room with a dehumidifier. Once they're dry to the touch, I put them in 1 gallon freezer bags. After 24 hours they'll sweat at which point I leave them out for another 24 hours. I'll repeat this process until the buds are dry and this takes maybe 10 days total. I don't have the space or the time to 'cure' buds over weeks and weeks but I will cure my own personal stash. Between the quick cure and a mason-jar-style longer cure, the cured buds are just more smooth. Both ways produce knockout potency which I think is more of a function of how it's grown and the genetics. IMO, if someone needs to cure for 4 weeks to get potent smoke, they should probably look at their growing practices and their genetics. Two weeks should produce face-numbing, mind-melting potency.
homebrewer
Well-Known Member
I think it would work just fine for the veg period. I personally wouldn't use it start to finish as I like a different ratio in flower. I don't know how potent it is either but my DynaGro dirt plant is only using 3mls of nutes per gallon and only using 1/2 gallon per watering. That's pretty cheap. Also, the high nitrogen content may be a little high for younger plants.