Nutrient Schedule and Cost

Nutrient Schedule, weeks separated by space. Weekly nute change. 16 week cycle, 2 root, 4 veg, 8 flower, last two of flower is flush.

Gen Hydro Flora Nova Grow (ml/gal)
0, 2.5, 5, 10, 12, 12, 12, 12, 6, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0

Gen Hydro Flora Nova Bloom (ml/gal)
0, 2.5, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 20

B-52 Bud Booster (ml/gal)
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0

Gen Hydro Armor Si (tsp/gal)
0, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

Gen Hydro FloraNectar (tsp/gal)
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0

CalMag (ml/gal)
0, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0

Gen Hydro FloraKleen (ml/gal)
0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0

Gen Hydro RapidStart (ml/gal)
1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

Rooting Powder (uses)
1



Total usages per cycle per gallon:

Gen Hydro Flora Nova Grow 74.5
Gen Hydro Flora Nova Bloom 131.5
B-52 Bud Booster 8
Gen Hydro Armor Si 3
Gen Hydro FloraNectar 14
CalMag 60
Gen Hydro FloraKleen 8
Gen Hydro RapidStart 20


Nute size and costs

Gen Hydro Flora Nova Grow 1qt 8.41
Gen Hydro Flora Nova Bloom 1qt 8.41
B-52 Bud Booster 250ml 10.95
Gen Hydro Armor Si 1qt 9.64
Gen Hydro FloraNectar 1qt 12.81
Mendocino CalMag 1qt 6.63
Gen Hydro FloraKleen 1qt 5.97
Gen Hydro RapidStart 125ml 19.85
Technaflora Rootech Gel 7g 1.89


This would mean my total nutrient cost per run, per gallon (bucket size) would only be $6.14. I keep hearing people complain about how expensice nutes are for hydro... but $6.14 per gallon per run doesn't seem bad at all to me. Am I missing something here? I know you have to go by what the plant needs, but is there something I am missing for a basic guideline feeding schedule using these products? I'm trying to put together a cost schedule and figure out how much this is going to cost me from start to harvest. Yes, I am getting THAT specific, lol. I also know I will never be completely accurate about the cost, but I want to have some idea of what it will be, and as accurate as possible for that estimate. The cost is calculated buying the bottles at the size and cost listed divided by how much is to be used. Prices were sourced through Google Shopping. I used each product's suggested usage from quick Google searches to calculate, though I see everywhere that you can use half as much as recommended when running DWC. I must be missing something...

Sorry about the formatting for the schedule, it's the best I could do to represent each week. Hopefully it's not painful to understand.

What IS YOUR GOAL by posting all that? Just to compare? My dude, you did all this research yet couldnt find the THOUSANDS of threads on Nutes? Or the specific Nutrients forum on THIS website where this thread should have been posted originally.


P.S. you are spending too much $

vitamin_green_inc said:

What IS YOUR GOAL by posting all that? Just to compare? My dude, you did all this research yet couldnt find the THOUSANDS of threads on Nutes? Or the specific Nutrients forum on THIS website where this thread should have been posted originally.


P.S. you are spending too much $

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I am trying to closely copy a few specific growers I have been following for a while and using the same nutes they use. The only thing is... they don't say how much they are using per gallon for each step of the process and I thought it would take less time to just figure it out this way and ask someone with experience if it looks right nor not. The other option would be review every blog post and video I have already gone through again and log everything as I come across it doing the math as I go, which would take hundreds of hours, lol. I didn't even think to look for nute threads to be honest, I had an idea to look up each product's suggested usage and just started running with it.

Do you have any sources for cheaper nutes you wouldn't mind sharing? Those prices were all the qt price based on Google shopping searches. Before I buy anything I will price things out more thuroughly than just a quick and dirty search like that.

Furthermore, I built a spreadsheet I can use and adjust as needed to assist in figuring out costs and I understand how it gets so expensive now. The gallons add up very quickly, lol.

I must have missed the Nute thread somehow, my bad.

You have a bunch of different additives that you don't really need on there. I suggest you visit the nutrient section and start reading, hopefully you already started since I posted the first time, and you will find most of your questions will be answered. There's is also a hydroponics section for hydro specific questions, reports etc. Grow journals are GREAT to read, but everyone does every little thing different, so don't just read the grow journals, but go to the sub forums.
Another suggestion I ha e, is decide on the basic nutrient lineup you want, then Google "so and so nutrient, schedule," etc. You will need a PPM meter and PH meter for hydro.
If you do not have experience however, may I ask, why hydro? Much easier to hurt and even kill your expensive seeds or clones

vitamin_green_inc said:

You have a bunch of different additives that you don't really need on there. I suggest you visit the nutrient section and start reading, hopefully you already started since I posted the first time, and you will find most of your questions will be answered. There's is also a hydroponics section for hydro specific questions, reports etc. Grow journals are GREAT to read, but everyone does every little thing different, so don't just read the grow journals, but go to the sub forums.
Another suggestion I ha e, is decide on the basic nutrient lineup you want, then Google "so and so nutrient, schedule," etc. You will need a PPM meter and PH meter for hydro.
If you do not have experience however, may I ask, why hydro? Much easier to hurt and even kill your expensive seeds or clones

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I do have a little experience with Hydro, and I have plans to use the entire plant including the roots. I know you can't medicate off roots, so you need not mention that. Much drama occurred when I was growing the first time, and actually I had no issues with pests/over or under on nutes/ any problems at all actually. I had no problems until my moron room mate decided to set off a bunch of flea bombs nine days before harvest and ruined the plants. Needless to say I moved out of there immediately. That was a few years ago, and I'm going to start again soon. I figured in the past few years it would be best to research again, because I forgot what I was doing then.

I never grew in soil, and I don't plan to. I'm smart enough to figure this out directly to hydro, hell... I did it before. I'm a VERY detail oriented person (if you couldn't tell already) and I won't screw it up. Last time I just dove in because budget wasn't an issue for me, and I have no idea how much I spent. This time I am being more careful and logging everything.

Oh I know about the roots, boil them and make a poultice, I am a history major and I find it great fun to research the usage throughout time. Get the PPM and PH meter. And start out low with the PPMs and go higher. 5.8-6.0 pH, keep your res cool, etc. Learn on the job, that's half the fun. Most journals will have exact PPMs, just bookmark your favs for constant reference

CyborgGold said:

I keep hearing people complain about how expensice nutes are for hydro... but $6.14 per gallon per run doesn't seem bad at all to me.

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Nice research. Few go to that level of detail when planning or comparing grows. I ran GH Flora 3-part (but not all the additives you mentioned). I liked it a lot. I used the so-called "useless" schedule which I describe (and link to) here.(<<link)

I've switched to Grow More Sea Grow. It costs 2 cents per feeding (1 gal of nutrient for 3gal container), or about $1 per grow. (<<link)

When you're producing $500-1000 worth of bud from a plant, $1 or $20 doesn't matter. But, these things add up. If there's little difference in nutrients except their NPK ratios, seems like no need to pay more for the boutique products. (You can use the spreadsheet in the first link to derive the NPK and PPM of boutique "line ups" and recreate them with other products.

Aside from the debateable merit of saving $8 on a $500 crop, I do notice a distinct taste difference between Sea Grow and GH Flora 3-part. I suppose it's the organic components of SG. It's richer, deeper. Tastes more natural. GH tasted brighter, sharper.

az2000 said:

Nice research. Few go to that level of detail when planning or comparing grows. I ran GH Flora 3-part (but not all the additives you mentioned). I liked it a lot. I used the so-called "useless" schedule which I describe (and link to) here.(<<link)

I've switched to Grow More Sea Grow. It costs 2 cents per feeding (1 gal of nutrient for 3gal container), or about $1 per grow. (<<link)

When you're producing $500-1000 worth of bud from a plant, $1 or $20 doesn't matter. But, these things add up. If there's little difference in nutrients except their NPK ratios, seems like no need to pay more for the boutique products. (You can use the spreadsheet in the first link to derive the NPK and PPM of boutique "line ups" and recreate them with other products.

Aside from the debateable merit of saving $8 on a $500 crop, I do notice a distinct taste difference between Sea Grow and GH Flora 3-part. I suppose it's the organic components of SG. It's richer, deeper. Tastes more natural. GH tasted brighter, sharper.

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Excellent response, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear! I think I will be running GH FloraNova. I really like the simplicity of one part for veg, one part for grow approach. I know you dont need bud boosters or flavor enhancers, but I really like a lot of flavor in my smoke. I will research the nutes you suggested though, and may change my mind. I enjoy a really sharp and bright taste personally, but in the beginning cost is my main concern. It looks like the post you made is for soil, and I will be running this in DWC, so there will be differences there. I really like the idea of checking the ratios to compare less expensive products though, and I might look into other products that match the numbers.

Thanks for the info!

P.S. This research is actually just the tip of the iceberg for me, lol. I actually have a spreadsheet I am still working on with prices for everything I need to buy... power consumption... cost calculators so I can change things and have them auto-update information... I went a little nuts, lol. It's currently 371 lines and I'm not finished yet.

I haven't heard a lot of positive feedback about GH Flora Nova. I was thinking about changing to it because I wanted to do more organic. It has some organic ingredients. But, seems like soil growers aren't happy with the results. Hydro growers seem to complain about it discoloring roots, contributing to slime?

If I were hydro and wanted simplicity, probably the dry Maxi product? Or, JR Peters Jack's Classic? Peters has other formulas you can mix to get specific NPK ratios.

Grow More Sea Grow is hygroscopic. It takes awhile to dissolve. But, I believe it would work in hydro. The owner of plantsthatproduce has posted to 1-2 GrowMore threads in the nutrients forum. He's very experienced with the products and has a schedule here.(<<link) I would run those numbers through the spreadsheet to see what the NPK values are. I think his use of Maxi-Cal (10% N) changes the ratio of NPK to make PK a little lower than it would be if using it with a low. I thought using Sea Grow F&B by itself would be too high PK. But, with the Maxi-Cal it's 1-3.7-2.6. I have a lot of CalMag+. I'd use it. But, I'd adjust the amounts to get a similar NPK ratio as his schedule.

az2000 said:

I haven't heard a lot of positive feedback about GH Flora Nova...

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One example I can give you (only because I am watching his videos right now, otherwise I would not remember who it was) is medgrower1 on YouTube. He is actually pulling nearly a pound out of every plant and is using FloraNova.