Hi all. Long time grower here. Been on this forum for about 11 years now. Wanted to share with you all my journey through the "nutrient jungle" and how I came to making all my own nutes.
As a noob grower I was totally hooked on growing with what I perceived as the best nutes out there. For me that meant Advanced Nutrients. They were expensive and the line was huge. They had like 15 different bottles at the time, maybe more. I was fully convinced to get the most bang for my plant I needed to use as many as I could...haha.
I would see videos of Big Mike throwing huge parties with playboy models and such and thought how cool. Then I thought wait hows he doing all that. He must sell a ton of nutes. As I read more and educated myself better on growing. I realized what a lot of us have come to know is that Big Mike can throw huge parties cause of ME/US buying his water.
I started my research on dry nutes and Jacks was where I started. Slowly as I switched to Jacks I thought I can make all this shit myself with dry ingredients...Keep costs waaay down, keep it fresh and make it to the strength I like. All big wins! It has taken me a couple years to get there but my results speak for themselves.
Here is what I do and use.
Main what you would call A & B plant food.
Jacks 3 2 1. I make this with of course the jacks and epsoms. I have R/O, UV sterilized, 0ppm start water.
Main supplement.
Cal-Mag. I make this with Cal nit(part b jacks)Epsoms and Iron sulphate 5% Same as Botanicare
Silica Blast. I make this with Potassium Silicate. Same as Bontanicare
Hydroguard. I make this with the strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Same as Bontanicare.
Mono Potassium Phosphate. I use this if I feel I need a bloom booster. Its the same as Bontanicares Hydroplex product.
So that is all folks! I keep it simple I grow in RDWC. This creates a stable, nutrient rich, clean environment for my plants roots. I don't use anything else. You can see all this in action in my diaries.
Could not find a good picture of the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens as mine is all in solution. It is just another dry powder.
It is so easy to use these items. I mix up a stock concentrate solution of these. This allows me to use it EXACTLY like bottled nutes. How I do this with Jacks for example is mix a 100X concentrate. Keep the concentrates in separate bottles and then dole them out at the 15ml per gallon or so to get to full strength Jacks. I do the same with the other items. Just weigh out the correct amount, put into a quart of water and mix...Bam...Bobs your uncle you got nutes. I can keep stuff fresh this way and if I want to make changes in the makeup or strength I can!
Lets talk about cost savings. They are huge. I bought Jacks in 25lb bags. I use 85, 65 and 30 grams each time I make 64oz. That is of all 3 parts. It is literally a few cents per bottle that I would pay $35.00 for a pair for. I have enough for years. The adds are a big savings as well. You use barley a few grams of dry to get 32oz and those bottles are expensive to. Anywhere from $15 to 45$ a quart that you are making for pennies.
Here is a very detailed breakdown of costs.
Jacks A...cost $70.38 delivered. 25 lb bag. Cost per qt for 100X concentrate. .52 cents. (These were last years prices)
11339 grams in 25 lbs. Cost per gram is .0062 cents. I use 80 grams of this to make 32oz.
Jacks B...cost $59.85 delivered. 25 lb bag. Cost per qt for 100x concentrate. .34 cents.
11339 grams in 25 lbs. Cost per gram is .0052 cents. I use 65 grams of this to make 32oz.
Epsoms, part C. $6.00 delivered. 5 lb bag. Cost per qt for 100x concentrate. .05 cents.
2268 grams in 5lbs. Cost per gram is .0026 cents. I use 30 grams to make 32oz.
Total cost for 2 qts of Jacks 321 100x concentrate is .91 cents. Cost for a comparable A and B nute would be $30.00 plus.
That's a savings of $29.09. Significant if you ask me.
The same is true for the adds I use...huge discounts mixing it yourself. Another advantage is I am never out of something I need late on a Sunday night when all the stores are closed...
So don't be scared get out there and do it yourself!! All you really need is a accurate scale, good start water and some knowledge. I use a couple old gallon nute jugs to mix my stuff up, nothing high tech there. Just shake till well dissolved. All the items are easily available shipped to you(depending on your location) I am in the US.
If you need any exact measurements or other advice please ask. More than happy to share.
Have a great day all.
Peace, negative.
As a noob grower I was totally hooked on growing with what I perceived as the best nutes out there. For me that meant Advanced Nutrients. They were expensive and the line was huge. They had like 15 different bottles at the time, maybe more. I was fully convinced to get the most bang for my plant I needed to use as many as I could...haha.
I would see videos of Big Mike throwing huge parties with playboy models and such and thought how cool. Then I thought wait hows he doing all that. He must sell a ton of nutes. As I read more and educated myself better on growing. I realized what a lot of us have come to know is that Big Mike can throw huge parties cause of ME/US buying his water.
I started my research on dry nutes and Jacks was where I started. Slowly as I switched to Jacks I thought I can make all this shit myself with dry ingredients...Keep costs waaay down, keep it fresh and make it to the strength I like. All big wins! It has taken me a couple years to get there but my results speak for themselves.
Here is what I do and use.
Main what you would call A & B plant food.
Jacks 3 2 1. I make this with of course the jacks and epsoms. I have R/O, UV sterilized, 0ppm start water.
Main supplement.
Cal-Mag. I make this with Cal nit(part b jacks)Epsoms and Iron sulphate 5% Same as Botanicare
Silica Blast. I make this with Potassium Silicate. Same as Bontanicare
Hydroguard. I make this with the strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Same as Bontanicare.
Mono Potassium Phosphate. I use this if I feel I need a bloom booster. Its the same as Bontanicares Hydroplex product.
So that is all folks! I keep it simple I grow in RDWC. This creates a stable, nutrient rich, clean environment for my plants roots. I don't use anything else. You can see all this in action in my diaries.
Could not find a good picture of the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens as mine is all in solution. It is just another dry powder.
It is so easy to use these items. I mix up a stock concentrate solution of these. This allows me to use it EXACTLY like bottled nutes. How I do this with Jacks for example is mix a 100X concentrate. Keep the concentrates in separate bottles and then dole them out at the 15ml per gallon or so to get to full strength Jacks. I do the same with the other items. Just weigh out the correct amount, put into a quart of water and mix...Bam...Bobs your uncle you got nutes. I can keep stuff fresh this way and if I want to make changes in the makeup or strength I can!
Lets talk about cost savings. They are huge. I bought Jacks in 25lb bags. I use 85, 65 and 30 grams each time I make 64oz. That is of all 3 parts. It is literally a few cents per bottle that I would pay $35.00 for a pair for. I have enough for years. The adds are a big savings as well. You use barley a few grams of dry to get 32oz and those bottles are expensive to. Anywhere from $15 to 45$ a quart that you are making for pennies.
Here is a very detailed breakdown of costs.
Jacks A...cost $70.38 delivered. 25 lb bag. Cost per qt for 100X concentrate. .52 cents. (These were last years prices)
11339 grams in 25 lbs. Cost per gram is .0062 cents. I use 80 grams of this to make 32oz.
Jacks B...cost $59.85 delivered. 25 lb bag. Cost per qt for 100x concentrate. .34 cents.
11339 grams in 25 lbs. Cost per gram is .0052 cents. I use 65 grams of this to make 32oz.
Epsoms, part C. $6.00 delivered. 5 lb bag. Cost per qt for 100x concentrate. .05 cents.
2268 grams in 5lbs. Cost per gram is .0026 cents. I use 30 grams to make 32oz.
Total cost for 2 qts of Jacks 321 100x concentrate is .91 cents. Cost for a comparable A and B nute would be $30.00 plus.
That's a savings of $29.09. Significant if you ask me.
The same is true for the adds I use...huge discounts mixing it yourself. Another advantage is I am never out of something I need late on a Sunday night when all the stores are closed...
So don't be scared get out there and do it yourself!! All you really need is a accurate scale, good start water and some knowledge. I use a couple old gallon nute jugs to mix my stuff up, nothing high tech there. Just shake till well dissolved. All the items are easily available shipped to you(depending on your location) I am in the US.
If you need any exact measurements or other advice please ask. More than happy to share.
Have a great day all.
Peace, negative.
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