GH FNB & FNG Shaking this thick stuff the Easy Way!

EDIT

dongle69 said:

GH does not recommend adding water to FloraNova.
Dilution changes the ph of the product and things get screwy.
Only do it as a last resort emergency.
If you have crystalline in your product, it is old and/or it has been exposed to too much oxygen.
You can call GH with the batch code on the bottle and they will usually replace it.
Shelf life is up to a year.

They are trying to keep the ph stable in the bottle.
If you are adding your own water to the bottle and storing it, it starts to become unstable.
It also can become unstable if you were to leave the bottle open (oxygen gets in).
In either case, the "recipe" becomes tainted and it is all downhill from there.
I'm passing on what they have told me.
They advise against adding water and storing it that way.
They suggest buying smaller amounts if you can't shake the bigger ones.
You can also buy a big bottle and split into multiple bottles, as long as the bottles have never been used.
Again, just don't add water, they advise against it.

Click to expand...

I'll buy what Dongle69 says if it's from GH themselves.

I guess you can skip the rest....




Hey Everyone!

If you're a Lucas fan like myself you're using the Floranova nutrients from General Hydroponics and you know they're thiiiiiiiiiiiiick! Here's an easy way to make it so you can hand shake them completely and prevent any deficiencies from *ahem* 'Cropping' up. (Pun intended)

Hand shaking of the General Hydroponics FloraNova formulas, straight off the shelf, will NOT adequately mix the contents.
There's a reason they sell a paint mixer drill bit, specifically for mixing up FloraNova formulas.
Though I have a drill handy on my wall at all times, I'm still reluctant to put high speed whirring bits near my expensive nutrient solution. I prefer to hand shake.

Fortunately, you CAN hand shake IF you dilute the solution first…..
Best results for hand shaking are obtained by dilution of at least 1:1 for the Grow formula and 1:2 for the Bloom formula.

For a personal grow you're only going to need a small 16oz. bottle of Floranova Grow.
Find a 1 quart container that's easy to grip hard and that seals well.
Be as exact on the measurements as possible when you do this. Failing to be exact will throw your measurements off when you mix your nute solution. This will affect your grow depending on how much you messed up.
When you open the bottle, look at the level of liquid so that you can fill it back up to the exact same level with water.
Pour the 16oz. bottle of Grow into the quart container and then fill it back up with distilled or RO, shake and pour it into the quart container as well.
If there's anything left in the original bottle, pour some liquid back in, shake it and pour it back into the quart container. Don't leave anything in the original bottle.

Make sure the bottle is at room temp, around 75F, and start shaking. I usually shake for a while, put it down for a while and then shake for a while.
Once it's shaken up, it takes a long time for it to go back out of suspension again so you won't have to do this EVERY time you go to mix your nutrient solution.
After quite a while, and a lot of shaking, you'll notice that even the crystals have stopped making noise and that the solution is completely mixed.

Congratulations!

Mark the bottle 'FNGrow 1:1 6-14ml/gal' and measure out between 6 and 14ml per gallon of RO water, when you mix your solution. (Start low and work your way up until your plants say it's too strong, then back off a little.)

For the Bloom formula you're going to want to pick up a quart container for your first go 'round. A quart will last you a few grows and sometimes a 16oz will run out at a critical time when you're first starting.

Find a 1 gallon container that has a handle or is very easy to grip hard.
Pour the entire contents of the FloraNova 1qt bloom container into the 1gal. container.
Fill the 1qt FNB container once with RO or Distilled water, shake and pour into the 1gal. container.
Do not leave any residue in the original FNB container.
Shake by hand for approximately 45 minutes or until you can no longer hear any crystals bumping around inside. (75F temps help, let the jug sit for a while and warm up, shaking occasionally, if needed)
Mark 'FNBloom 1:1 16ml/gallon' on the container (or something similar).
Perfect Lucas Formula
CAUTION: 1:2 is enough dilution to allow stuff to 'grow' in your nutes, when exposed to light. (Floranova Grow at 1:1 is completely unaffected) Use a light-proof container or store your bottle in a doubled up black trash bag to block the light.
** On second look the junk seems more like mold or some kind of fungi which doesn't need light. Recommending 1:1 dilution instead of 1:2 with the FNB to prevent growth. Addition of 1ml per 24ml of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to already mixed 1:2 solution would prevent further (and initial) germination of mold/fungi spores. Be sure to measure 25ml/gallon after adding the peroxide. Lack of light will not stop mold growth. **
Does this mean I have an abundance of mold/fungi spores floating around?


Ok.... turns out that I had mold growing in the container BEFORE I mixed the nutes up this last time. (Thought it was REALLY strange I ended up with mold. LOL)
1:2 will most likely shake faster. Either is perfectly fine.


Only use Reverse Osmosis(RO) or Distilled water for this process.


Hope this helps prevent any deficiencies or other problems people have had with FloraNova in the past.

Note: sorry about the formatting of this, I'm very tired tonight.

Bump

People complaining about how thick the nutes are.

Should be complaining that everyone else's plants don't look as nice as theirs.

Recommended FNG and FNB amounts to use

Recommended FNG and FNB amounts to use

I've noticed a huge number of different ways to feed your plants and figured adding this here would be a good place for it.

The General Hydroponics Floranova series is extremely well formulated for cannabis.

For soil applications, be sure to mix just enough nutrient mix for 24-48 hours. Mixed solution will become stagnant after that time unless kept aerated with pumped air or other means.

Vegetative growth stage
The Floranova Grow can be used at between 5ml and 7ml per gallon of Reverse Osmosis water. (10-14ml of 1:1 diluted)

For soil, mix at 1/3rd strength and use every watering. 1.5-2.3ml/gal

Blooming
Exactly 8ml of Floranova Bloom per gallon of Reverse Osmosis water (24ml of 1:3 diluted)

In soil, again mix at 1/3rd str and use every watering. 2.66ml/gal (8ml/gal of 1:3 diluted)

Additives & Supplements
Try to resist using anything additional to these nutes the first few times you use them. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results.
Should you feel you need to add anything in later grows, feel free, just not the first few.

Hope this helps reduce issues and increases the number of super healthy plants out there.
These nutrients are really excellent!

I just shake like I was taught to get complete mixing in chemistry 105. I then dole it out into a cup and I always see the same amount of crystals per 10ml when I dunk the cup and keep it kinda upright to see what remains as less than soluble (the crystals).

If de stratifying the heavies and using it right away after shaking does not work what will?

Thanks for good newbie info, k+

HS, that works great for quart size, but I buy my Floranova in 2 1/2 gal size. It would take Godzilla to shake that bastard. I have used the paint mixer for 1/2 hour until the batteries went dead on my drill, but it still wasn't mixed up. I pour the whole thing into a 5 gal bucket and mix it up. It is very chunky on the bottom and will settle fast. After mixing, I put it in smaller containers that us old folks can shake more easily.

Pops said:

HS, that works great for quart size, but I buy my Floranova in 2 1/2 gal size. It would take Godzilla to shake that bastard. I have used the paint mixer for 1/2 hour until the batteries went dead on my drill, but it still wasn't mixed up. I pour the whole thing into a 5 gal bucket and mix it up. It is very chunky on the bottom and will settle fast. After mixing, I put it in smaller containers that us old folks can shake more easily.

Click to expand...

Hey Pops!

That's a lotta nutes!

I agree the shaking bites

If you're using that much nutes it is indeed difficult to dilute as you'd need a much larger container.

Have you considered setting up a 10 gallon tank or something with a continuous duty pump? Once it's diluted 1:3 the bloom mixture would mix on it's own after a while.
Anytime you wanted to re-fill your mixing jug, just turn on the pump for 10 minutes to mix it up well and then fill.
Again we're talking extra space and expense but for those that can't shake and have a large garden, it may be worth looking into.

I've noticed that once you shake the crystals in completely, they don't precipitate out very quickly at all. A simple 30 second shake and everything is mixed well. Haven't seen any crystals yet, just soft fluffy leaves.

Also, at the 1:2 ratio, there's not much fear of them going stale or anything. They're still pretty thick at that point and I'd imagine quite stable.

If anyone has any ideas that might help with mixing larger volumes, feel free to pitch in.
I'd hate to see someone avoid these great nutes because of it.

Ignore what I wrote in this post. The mold I found was already IN the container before I poured in the nutes and mixed them up.
Always clean out your containers before mixing your nutes in them. LOL

I recently stored some FNB in a low light area. (Usually in total dark)

I had some white fuzzies growing in it when I used it today.
They smell fine, just a bit of scum. I'll be seriously bummed if this solution is jacked up now. Glad I checked it today instead of 2 weeks from now as planned.

Definitely light proof this stuff after dilution. Aeration isn't needed but light proofing is recommended.
I've also edited the instructions to reflect the change from 1:2 dilution to 1:1 with the Floranova Bloom.
It may be harder to shake up but it will prevent mold/fungi from liking it.


I updated the first post to reflect this.

I've heard people talk about throwing a few stainless steel nuts in their bottles to aid with mixing, have you ever tried this?

I used a hole boring bit on a drill recently to mix the crap out of my FNB...even after a good 10 minutes of drill mixing and AFTER hand shaking for around 10 minutes there were still large amounts of stuff not in solution. I really noticed this when I used my syringe to suck up the nutes.

Any recommendations for easy ways to measure this crap? I always used a syringe with some tubing attached, which has worked great for every nute so far, but its nearly impossible to trust with FNB. Might have to find a source for a graduated cylinder, not sure how that would work since pouring this stuff will be a pita.

Pops, if I were you, I'd double up on the number of containers and only fill the containers 1/2 full. When it comes time to use a container, top it up with water to dilute it 50/50. That way you should have a consistent mix and your not taking a chance by storing it diluted.(dont know how fast it takes you to turn over 2 1/2 gallons) This is what I'm planning on doing with mine.

FF Grow Big is tough

FF Grow Big is tough

Hey Hydro-soil,

Cool thread. After reading I checked my bottle of Grow Big and it is really crystally--might explain some minor deficiencies I've had this grow.

But when I diluted 1:1 and put the slightly less than a half gal solution into a 1 gal jug--shook last night, shook this morning and am making NO appearent progress.

Guess I'm gonna have to get a mixing bit, lol.

Great info...

-dTv

GH does not recommend adding water to FloraNova.
Dilution changes the ph of the product and things get screwy.
Only do it as a last resort emergency.
If you have crystalline in your product, it is old and/or it has been exposed to too much oxygen.
You can call GH with the batch code on the bottle and they will usually replace it.
Shelf life is up to a year.

dongle69 said:

GH does not recommend adding water to FloraNova.
Dilution changes the ph of the product and things get screwy.
Only do it as a last resort emergency.
If you have crystalline in your product, it is old and/or it has been exposed to too much oxygen.
You can call GH with the batch code on the bottle and they will usually replace it.
Shelf life is up to a year.

Click to expand...

Interesting.

I'm guessing there must be some science here I don't understand.

Adding RO water to Floranava changes the pH of the product.
Um....... Yeah, I just diluted it with RO water. Of course the pH is changed.

Or are they saying the RO water in FloraNova, over time, has some effect on the pH stability or something? Or do they mean that after dilution, you won't get the same pH reading the next time you mix up a res.

I DO like the fact they generally replace product. Never had any problems though.


de Toke-ville Grow Big? Isn't that FoxFarms or something? I don't know about that stuff, never used it. Maybe try warming it up to around 75F? (Don't recommend any hotter)

Hydro-Soil said:

Interesting.

I'm guessing there must be some science here I don't understand.

Adding RO water to Floranava changes the pH of the product.
Um....... Yeah, I just diluted it with RO water. Of course the pH is changed.

Or are they saying the RO water in FloraNova, over time, has some effect on the pH stability or something? Or do they mean that after dilution, you won't get the same pH reading the next time you mix up a res.

I DO like the fact they generally replace product. Never had any problems though.

Click to expand...

They are trying to keep the ph stable in the bottle.
If you are adding your own water to the bottle and storing it, it starts to become unstable.
It also can become unstable if you were to leave the bottle open (oxygen gets in).
In either case, the "recipe" becomes tainted and it is all downhill from there.
I'm passing on what they have told me.
They advise against adding water and storing it that way.
They suggest buying smaller amounts if you can't shake the bigger ones.
You can also buy a big bottle and split into multiple bottles, as long as the bottles have never been used.
Again, just don't add water, they advise against it.

dongle69 said:

They are trying to keep the ph stable in the bottle.
If you are adding your own water to the bottle and storing it, it starts to become unstable.
It also can become unstable if you were to leave the bottle open (oxygen gets in).
In either case, the "recipe" becomes tainted and it is all downhill from there.
I'm passing on what they have told me.
They advise against adding water and storing it that way.
They suggest buying smaller amounts if you can't shake the bigger ones.
You can also buy a big bottle and split into multiple bottles, as long as the bottles have never been used.
Again, just don't add water, they advise against it.

Click to expand...

Well then I'd say I've been using it fast enough.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll make sure to edit the post to reflect it.
Has anyone EVER gotten a bottle that doesn't have crystals in it?

I'm guessing I'll have to switch suppliers as I don't think doing a return on every bottle I get will make anyone happy, let alone myself.

noticed on some other threads that people use these nutes in combo with a filter bag sucessfully with aeroponics. are those of you that are doing this using the 1:1 "pre-mix" meathod or just using the straight mixing.

Any of you guys running FNG&FNB in COCO? I used FNG on my mothers in a 5 gallon tub and it did just fine. Thinking of running a bit in coco just to find out how it works out. Any help would be nice thanks....BamBam

bdomina said:

noticed on some other threads that people use these nutes in combo with a filter bag sucessfully with aeroponics.

Click to expand...

I highly recommend using a filter bag in aeroponics no matter what nutes you use. Keeps debris from clogging your sprayers.

When mixed, the solution is clear with no particulates. Remember that you're only using between 5ml and 8ml per gallon of this stuff. It may be thick in the bottle but it's soluble and creates a clear solution in water. (brown, but clear)

would this forumla work for hempy buckets?

I just split my quarts in half and shake the hell out of each half quart every time.

Note: you cannot just split the quarts ONCE. If you just pour off half a quart from a new bottle into another bottle that half will not be properly mixed. You have to add back that (shaken) half quart to the original (half shaken) quart then split again and reshake. It's all about getting that sludge off the bottom up into suspension.

The crystals always sounded and looked like like epsom salt to me.

BayAreaBully23 said:

would this forumla work for hempy buckets?

Click to expand...

Have you searched for Lucas +Hempy yet?
I'd say yes but would double check to see if there's something specific you need to watch out for with Hempy and Lucas. Probably not but doesn't hurt to be prepared if there is.

Blue Dot said:

I just split my quarts in half and shake the hell out of each half quart every time.

Note: you cannot just split the quarts ONCE. If you just pour off half a quart from a new bottle into another bottle that half will not be properly mixed. You have to add back that (shaken) half quart to the original (half shaken) quart then split again and reshake. It's all about getting that sludge off the bottom up into suspension.

The crystals always sounded and looked like like epsom salt to me.

Click to expand...

Sounds like it works for ya.

I've found that if you warm the jug/bottle up to around 75F-80F that it shakes a lot faster and easier, especially if it sits long enough for the entire bottle to get that temp.

I have a bad back so the shaking gets to me after a while. The 1:1 dilution makes it so I only have to shake it for 15 seconds or so each time, after the first good mixing has been done.