Mega Crop vs Dyna-Gro comparison grow

Will MegaCrop hit the 19-20oz yield benchmark?

  • Yes

    Votes: 21 63.6%
  • No

    Votes: 7 21.2%
  • This shit is biased as hell!

    Votes: 5 15.2%

  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .

miyagifungi

Active Member
I was thinking about doing a side by side but had some questions for @homebrewer first. Went ahead and bought Dynagro as well to see what I can do. @hybridway2 I actually was reading your posting on LED lighting and Hygro's Youtube channel was there. What do you think about the LEDs he is running and what's your opinion on the eight bar leds ? I actually had some spectre phasers which I am sure are the same as the fluence ones but just private labeled.


Dyno-Gro might work as long as you don't come close to following the directions. Pooooy
 

genG

New Member
Thank you for your patience! Life has been non-stop for a while now but I finally made some time for the review.

Mega Crop vs Dyna Gro final write-up.....

As I mentioned in the first post of this thread, I was going to be looking at different aspects of Mega Crop and comparing it to the food that I use regularly, which is DynaGro. I’ve already gone over ease of use, versatility, cost, pH stability, plant performance, plant health, etc., so my plan here is to just wrap this up with some closing thoughts.

The final yield for these plants was 805 grams (roughly 28.4 ounces) which is actually a personal best by 1 gram. My previous personal best occurred during my previous run with DynaGro just a couple months before this comparison grow. My goal in regards to yield coming into this comparison was 19-20oz because that’s been my average for years now in this corner tray with a 600 HPS. The thing about these last two runs, which have been personal bests, is that they’ve been powered by a brand new ballast. My previous ballast was a 600w Quantum and while that piece of sh*t did last a couple of years, it popped during the first week of my previous run with DynaGro and it took out a bulb with it. So I went to my local hydro store and promptly replaced the bulb and bought a new 600w single-ended Sun System 1. So the problem with these yield numbers is that it seems like this new ballast is vastly superior to my old Quantum and my old baseline for average yields is now antiquated. Before I can draw any final conclusions I’ll need to do another run with DG just to get an idea of what an ‘average’ yield might be. Regardless of the outcome of those future grows, 1.34 grams/watt from a static overhead system in a 3’x4’ space is pretty damn good. Hats off to Mega Crop.

Also something to consider, these MegaCrop plants were quite a bit larger than the DG plants that were pictured in this thread and they were also getting help from a neighboring light as seen below. How much of a difference did the extra height and light make? Probably not more than 15-20% but that’s maybe impossible to determine. Regardless, MC certainly proved to be a very capable plant food.

As I mentioned a number of times, I really didn’t like working with MC. It was a little dusty, dirty, and time consuming to use. On the flipside it was the cheapest food that I’ve ever tested in hydro but it really wasn’t that much cheaper than what I already use. We’re talking at most a $5 savings per two-month cycle in a 20+ gallon reservoir (basically $12 vs DynaGro’s $16.50). Does this savings add up on a larger scale? Certainly. Does the extra time required also scale up? Of course!. Time is my most precious commodity so personally I’d gladly pay a bit more for the sake of ease and efficiency. The bottom line is this: MC could save you $5 per light per harvest and that is a savings that one might actually notice. That's also a savings over one of the most inexpensive liquid foods on the market; DynaGro. So when comparing MC to other liquid foods the cost savings may be even more noticeable.

Speaking of time and efficiency, MC’s higher nitrogen content (as compared to DG’s bloom) did grow leafier, branchier plants which required much more maintenance than I’m used to. Had I not known what to expect in terms of the growth I probably would have yielded a ton of airy, wispy flowers. These plants also required a bit more trimming because they were a little more leafy – maybe 10-20% more leaf? I’ve also noticed that the overall density of the flowers is lower than normal but by no means is the overall density low. The flowers are a tad more fox-tailed that normal - essentially I think the extra N caused the seed bracts to stack more than I'm used to. For the record, I’m a sativa guy, I don’t really care about density. However, if a strain is supposed to produce flowers on the dense side of the spectrum then I don't think the plant food should alter that. In regards to the extra leaf and slightly lower density, I do think that these two ‘issues’ could easily be rectified by the addition of a bloom booster such as MKP. It’s not necessarily the higher P and K that would increase density but the diluted nitrogen content. Because MC supplies more calcium and magnesium than needed, I actually think MC formulated this food to be used with a booster.

As far as the actual quality of the product goes, it’s essentially indistinguishable from other nutrient brands. Aroma and resin production are possibly down a bit on this MC run but I’m sure the difference could be mitigated had I been using the same supplements as I do when running DynaGro. I actually did hear an unsolicited comment about how this round of Casey was really frosty so take that for what it’s worth.

So other than my complaints about the time involved (canopy maintenance, added trim time, weighing, mixing, and dissolving) and the little dusty messes MC makes, it’s a pretty solid performer and it doesn’t break the bank! Well done, Mega Crop.


MegaCrop tray growing into a neighboring light....

View attachment 4450970

Dried flowers under natural lighting (Mega Crop)...

View attachment 4450964

More Mega Crop...

View attachment 4450967

DynaGro Flower....

View attachment 4450969
Such a great looking plants. I`ve been seeing your work for a long time when I used to plan (about 5 years ago). Now Im starting again and have a question for you/

Im using GH Flora serie with CaliMagic running RO water for the first time.

Should I mix CalMag with RO water even before the seed sprouted?

My media will be 50% Sphagnum 50% Perlite btw


Thank for the inspiration bro.
 

hybridway2

Amare Shill
I was thinking about doing a side by side but had some questions for @homebrewer first. Went ahead and bought Dynagro as well to see what I can do. @hybridway2 I actually was reading your posting on LED lighting and Hygro's Youtube channel was there. What do you think about the LEDs he is running and what's your opinion on the eight bar leds ? I actually had some spectre phasers which I am sure are the same as the fluence ones but just private labeled.
Apologies, just seeing this now as apparently I've been put on Slo-Mo or some type of restrictions w/o my knowledge to drive me batty. Oh, and NO explanation days after my inquiry. Lmfao! Only RIU...
Anyways, HygroHybrid on You-Tube running the 550 r-spec & x2 , SF's? But no 8 bar light I've seen him use yet.?.
Just so you know, i do not leave comments or suggestions on anyones videos. Only a watcher.
Lmk, if we're taking about the same guy & i can answer your question.
Hope all is well in your hood!
 

miyagifungi

Active Member
Apologies, just seeing this now as apparently I've been put on Slo-Mo or some type of restrictions w/o my knowledge to drive me batty. Oh, and NO explanation days after my inquiry. Lmfao! Only RIU...
Anyways, HygroHybrid on You-Tube running the 550 r-spec & x2 , SF's? But no 8 bar light I've seen him use yet.?.
Just so you know, i do not leave comments or suggestions on anyones videos. Only a watcher.
Lmk, if we're taking about the same guy & i can answer your question.
Hope all is well in your hood!
Thanks for the reply. Yes we are talking about the same guy. Im not sold on LEDs yet. Just gathering as many peoples opinions as possible. I did however come across a crazy situation and picked up 9 of the 8 bar spectre phasers. I couldn't pass on the deal. I believe you have ran an 8 bar led and was just curious on what your thoughts were and any suggestions. I was thinking about doing some side by sides with lights and nutrients and have a detailed grow journal. Wanted to get in contact with @homebrewer for some input on Dynagro.

Main question though is how do think the 8 bar led performs compared to the 1000 watt HPS? Again thanks for your time.
 

hybridway2

Amare Shill
Thanks for the reply. Yes we are talking about the same guy. Im not sold on LEDs yet. Just gathering as many peoples opinions as possible. I did however come across a crazy situation and picked up 9 of the 8 bar spectre phasers. I couldn't pass on the deal. I believe you have ran an 8 bar led and was just curious on what your thoughts were and any suggestions. I was thinking about doing some side by sides with lights and nutrients and have a detailed grow journal. Wanted to get in contact with @homebrewer for some input on Dynagro.

Main question though is how do think the 8 bar led performs compared to the 1000 watt HPS? Again thanks for your time.
My bad bud! Lost this post to reply.
These them?


You're gonna rock that Thouie with those bro. Nice!
If there's any questions i may be able to help with lmk! Be happy to help. Can be a learning curve for many. But once dialed in, there's no going back.
 

miyagifungi

Active Member
Yes, those are it. I have nine of them. Like I said I couldn't pass the deal up. An older guy just bought them a little over one year ago and he got cancer. He quit and let them go for 300 a piece. Still under warranty even. They were only used for a total 5 months. I have tried LEDs in the past and was very disappointed but it seems now they might be there or pretty damn close. I figured worse case scenario I would use these in Veg if they didn't work plus I was looking for four veg lights anyways at the time.

I do have some questions if you don't mind. I did run some teens under one for veg and noticed they sucked down the nutrients and even became cal mag deficient. Thicker stalks that was clearly visible compared to ones I had under a 400 watt T5. Also had the led 4 ft above the canopy.

So I was wondering what you thought about Nutrients while running these LEDs. Environment and any recommendations? I have heard higher temperatures around 83 degrees supplemented with co2. Also what is the height you would recommend from the canopy? I was told with these LEDs in particular you can go as close as six inches from the canopy. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.
 

hybridway2

Amare Shill
My bad forgot to reply directly to your thread. I am still new to this. The forum that is lol.
Its locked rn but all the answers are there.
Will help personally, just mage busy rn.
Start high, use Epsom Salt (Magnesium).
 

miyagifungi

Active Member
@hybridway2...Probably going to run these spectre 660 next run to see. Any advice on the distance from the canopy and the light? Also on the ones I have there is no dimming option I believe but I will double check. Thanks for you time.



My bad bud! Lost this post to reply.
These them?


You're gonna rock that Thouie with those bro. Nice!
If there's any questions i may be able to help with lmk! Be happy to help. Can be a learning curve for many. But once dialed in, there's no going back.
 

Snowback

Well-Known Member
I read this thread cover to cover. Thanks for the info and comparison. I am a fan of both brands. You might be interested to know that Mega now has the two part available, where the calcium nitrate is separated from the rest of it. It's listed for sale on the Canadian site so I would expect it to be available on the US site as well. There is still nitrogen in the other part, in the form of potassium nitrate and magnesium nitrate, but overall there is about half as much nitrogen by percentage as what is contained in the original one part. But you also get all those beautiful amino-chelated secondary and micros.
 

lukio

Well-Known Member
What you changed too? Ionic me or thinking jacks 123 or RO.
lol i forgot about this thread after OP denied there was a problem with all that burn...haaaaaa.



yeah i dropped MC, they were fiddling with ratios and not telling people. theres more about it in another thread somewhere. Go with Jacks if you can get it.

good luck
 

1gfunk1

Active Member
Well you can either add pH-up or you can add something beneficial to the plants. Your choice.
Advanced growers don't need instructions. Just a pH pen and a TDS meter.
I think you mean silicon, which is the 2nd most abundant element on earth.
I'll agree that their feeding schedule is not great, but only inexperienced growers follow schedules. To that, I've seen maybe one feeding schedule from a single plant food company that I'd consider spot on. All the rest of them instruct their users to overfeed and are overly complicated. Once you understand that feeding schedules exist more to move product than any other reason, you can stop taking them so literally.
When mixing a fresh res with any plant food, silica should be added first, as you already know. You *could* also use it after everything is all mixed up to adjust the pH of your reservoir with zero issues BUT that is likely giving your plants more silica than needed. It's really no different than growers feeding plants additional amounts of cal/mag when their base nutrients already contain it. Feeding plants more of any single element than needed can cause nutritional issues in the plant.
Maybe you don't understand water chemistry? The bicarbonate content of your tap water buffers pH. If you use RO water then adding any plant food to it will cause the pH to drop significantly. For example, MegaCrop at 1.1 EC in RO water produces a resulting pH of 5.02. Straight DynaGro with my tap water results in a pH of 5.9. MC with my tap water results in a pH of 6.4ish. I fail to see the issue, regardless of where the pH falls. Have you heard of pH-up and pH-down? lol
About ph up & down!! you say you add si cos its something benifcal I agree me too.. but was thinking about swicthing to baking soda & citric acid for ph up & down cos off the buffers & citric acid cycle aka krebs cycle . Anyone got experience useing swapping using theses.? Thanks
 

1gfunk1

Active Member
lol i forgot about this thread after OP denied there was a problem with all that burn...haaaaaa.



yeah i dropped MC, they were fiddling with ratios and not telling people. theres more about it in another thread somewhere. Go with Jacks if you can get it.

good luck
That's bang out what twats some off theses company's are
Yeah I can get it am from up north uk . You hydro to ? What you useing I lie to stick with uk brands cos made for my water, hard ,soft & compared to usa some water can get like 0.6 - 1 ec. They dont drink it there.they have to chew the cunt then swollow . So that's why I think we get confused with npk & grower frim usa well some .
 
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