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gullible consumer oriented growing products or cutting egde tools of the trade.

gone2seed

New member
I was a strictly gh 3 part nutrient guy for too long. The pic has most of my additives I'm currently using. It was suggested that I add a carbohydrate additive into my program as well. Its really hard to say how much all the additives have contributed to my grows since my game has really picked up at the same time that the additives became part of the nutrient program. The growroom design has been changed around abit recently.(ie. vented hoods removed for naked bulbs, increased duct size to 6", homemade-better-faster-smaller control buckets, larger area of room used for growing, ballasts removed from room)
1068newtools2-med.JPG

note: I realize a rational grower would only change one variable in the equation per grow. It the only sure way to tell what worked and what was overhyped. That being said...
1068new_tools-med.JPG

The roots have been a plant part that were totally ignored for countless grows. Two quick solutions to the lack of robust white roots were adding positive bacteria cultures(hydroguard) as well as placing airstones in each bucket(modified hydrofarm system) for readily accessible oxygen.

A product that also is root oriented is the doc's carbon grow. This is the one additive that looks great in theory yet is a totally a darkhorse of my nute selection. Its a unique product that states it allows carbon to pass through the roots. This carbon is then available for use just as if it were taken in as carbon dioxide via leaves. If it works, its easier that carrying heavy CO2 tanks around. Jury is still out on it.

Mould hasn't been a problem yet many growers have stated that they wouldn't do a grow w/o a silicon additive in the water to decrease chance of mouldy nugs. Others have stated that it strengthens branches for the last weeks stressful load. I chose to use a silicone product that was already in solution. If it is enforcing cell walls than it can't be bad.

I found that the micro solution was potentially locking up due to the hard water(calcium carbonate). So I recently switched over to GH's hard water micro. How much of a difference will this make? It gets harder to tell the more products I add in per grow. However with this one, I checked the municiple water quality report to discover that according to gh's guidelines, I should switch to h.w. micro nutrients.

Adding in the organic based products like floralicious was originally done as a favor enhancer. However what differences i saw in the nugs led me to think that perhap these kind of products do more than just flavor enhancement. This run I'm trying dark energy with supernova(same company). There are some simple carbohydrates in supernova as well. The smell of the room is nice. Most people say it stinks. Perhaps I have a smelling problem? liquid karma may replace these two in the future if I keep my carb additive.

Nitrozime. Northern ocean sea algae hormone concentrate.(several companies make similiar products) I foliar spray my clones as well as vegetating plants often with it. Supposed to reduce stress in plants. I like it allot.

Fulvic acid. I thought this was the best thing next to slice bread when I walked out of the growstore. However I go through a gallon in two weeks. Now I understand why the stores gave me a free liter upon inquiry. Its diificult to know if the fulvic acid is really reducing the size of the larger molecules in solution for readily uptake via roots. Looks good on paper. Many grower give it a thumbs up. I jumped on the bandwagon. Will cut it out after the second week of flowering.

Instead of going w/ a koolbloom-like product this grow. I've opted to try out Dr. Hornby's big bud. Looks like a similiar product anyways.

field_of_light told me of an alternative way to use superbud that I found interesting.(hear me out)

He told me that a few of his friend as well as himself flower normally up til 3 weeks before harvest. Than superbud is applied for a 10 day duration.

The benefit going this route is that flower development is unhindered until the period when most of the flower mass begins to form. Sb increases the density of the flowers that are larger than if they had been treated w/ sb the onset of flowering. I'll give it a spin. Its novelty item to me.

I know that the plants feed upon carbohydrates to repair, grow, and develop. However whether or not carbohydrate specific additives can be taken up via roots and used as well is an unknown for me. Will be using a liquid carbohydrate additive in conjunction with the sb. Will not know on this grow which additive contributed in what fashion. In future grows(w/o sb) it will easier to see how this one is working.

My next grow system will be centered around a a mother plant that is best of 30 instead of best of 5!(mother of my last 5 grows) That's actually where I expect to see the greatest improvement. In the 175-200 seeds I've probably germinated and grew out, only 3 or 4 plants have really stood out as having phenomenal traits that were above and beyond reasonable expectations. Will not let those slip away again. BTW:I still miss those plants. Unreplaceable.

This thread probably come off having been written from a full tilt gullible consumer. Until the growroom start meeting the 1 gram per watt standards that many have made reference to, I will continue to change the equation to dial in my grows. It continues to improve each harvest.

Between the physical changes in the growroom as well as the new additives of dr. hornby big bud, sb, and liquid carbo load; if I see any gains I'll be hard pressed to truly isolate and identify what and how it happened. Entropy happens.
 

Ono Nadagin

Active member
Before I start ranting and raving about American Aggritechs Botanicare line of products, have you use any of their products other than Hydroguard?
 

gone2seed

New member
ono reply/ a concept to grow by

ono reply/ a concept to grow by

Ono
I'm using their version of positive bacteria cultures called hydroguard. There are a couple other similiar products on the market.

I've gh's version of silica called pyrosol. It requires an extra prepatory step that is an extra hassle I don't want to deal with so I'm using silica blast by environcare.Those are the only two silicone based products in the area. Probably a slew of companies offering their own version.

I'm interested in the pure blend pro (pbp) nutrient series as well from them. Their take on required nutes is abit different than gh's. Whether it is a high performance blend or just an organic based nute alternative I don't know.

Whethers gh, a.n., environcare, or many more I think as long as a product is used that fulfills the void (silica, carbohydrates, high phosphorus boost at the end of flowering, etc) than good things will happen.

To dial in any grow system the bottleneck needs to be diagnosed. If growers took this perspective I think they will get improved results. I believe there is always a bottleneck in a grow. Could be CO2, low conentration of oxygen in the water, low light levels.

But as I said before once a grower has the fundamentals dialed in I think truly amazing results in the garden requires a superior plant speciment representing the best that that particular variety has to offer. Thats the most overlooked bottleneck in the garden. There isn't a variety that produces a top end plant in every seed. No way. Breeders don't use just any plant to breed, neither should growers to grow.(I don't sell seeds but I am a biologist)
 

Ono Nadagin

Active member
I would HIGHLY suggest the PBP line of ferts from American Agritech as well as SilicaBlast and Liquid Karma and Hydrocard and Clearex if you think you need it....

also they have a carb fert, I just cant remember the name of it.

In my humble opinion and a growing number of others American Agritechs Botanicare series including PBP are far superior to GH nutres in taste, performance and and ease of use... not to mention they offer a monitary savings
 

gone2seed

New member
growing mentality evaluated

growing mentality evaluated

ono
Product endorsement. I thought you were going to go there. I'm more concerned about categories that the additive products represent. Finding the necessary niches of the additives and using them.

Some additives may not work in conjunction w/ others.

I've heard that the northern ocean algae hormone product (stress reliever) that I'm using doesn't sit well in the reservoir. So I foliar spray in instead.

Pushing this brand over that brand fits into the consumer paradigm. Many of these products are more similiar than growers know.

Progressive Grower Mentality:If a grower is not harvesting more high quality nugs than the previous harvest than the grower has failed to improve technique or allowed some bottleneck in the system to go unidentified (could be as simply as addressing lack of available carbohydrates in the nute solution). Keeps up with new developments in product lines and techniques in growing. Makes changes in garden from grow to grow.

Functionalist grower mentality: Doesn't increase understanding of the mechanisms behind nutrient products and/or plant growth mechanisms. System worked last time, it will work again.
 

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