[Bulldog420]

Originally Posted by Backyard Farmer

It's fine to pump Tea and fertilizer solution

It's "fine". That isn't too reassuring. I know for a fact Microbeman who has spent thousands of hours behind a scope perfecting ACT's has said not to use a pump for teas. One time through the pump he says is ok, but multiple times and the pump will shred the microbes. Why else do we make our ACT's with air pumps?

I called to order some SeaShield - all representatives were busy helping other customers, or so their machine said. Redirected me to their answering machine after a few minutes on hold. I'll call them back later in the week. I guess I need to figure out which other products from them would be beneficial for me. Can we get some discussion going on what each of these products *is*? It seems there are redundancies in some of the products. I'm gonna spend the afternoon digging through their product line and see what it's all about. I already get my micros and humic acid from BioAG's products, and my kelp from Maxicrop - if AEA's products are superior I'll gladly switch horses.

[milkyjoe]

There ain't much of anything better than bio ag. Sea stim is a variety of kelp sources...like 3 different types. Technically that is slightly better cause of the wider range of minerals. But if you like bio ag they have micros combined with kelp...that ain't no bad product.

I like my aea rep though. He has freely given me a ton of knowledge...I tend to reward that. Same with custom hydro and avenger...can't beat his knowledge or service.

Between those 2 I feel covered

[Bulldog420]

My approach with AEA this season was to buy everything they offer. I feel that is the best way to try out a line, and that way you have a true feel for what you may or may not need in the future.

Any left over that doesn't get used gets applied to the hundreds of other plants I am now growing.

As far as customer service goes with these guys.......I e-mailed them over two weeks ago about my order bursting in transit, not asking for a refund or anything, and they never even e-mailed me back. I don't care how great a product is, if the customer service is terrible then I usually find another source.

Edit: I don't have enough experience with these guys to say they have bad customer service as a whole. Maybe I e-mailed the wrong person or something.

I'm digging through the MSDSes on their product line, and okay with most of what I'm seeing, but have some concern. Their source of humic acids is leonardite, a byproduct of the coal industry if I remember correctly, and generally an inferior source of humic acid compared to what you'd find in BioAg's FulHumic or TM-7. John Kempf seems to know his shit and doesn't seem like a snakeoil salesman though; I'd like to hear his take on why they use leonardite if anyone happens to know.

Everything else seems to be the usual suspects in conventional agriculture though - Calcium Nitrate, Phosphoric Acid, Boric Acid, Magnesium Sulfate, etc etc. I'm not entirely opposed to these things, and they've done the hard work of mixing things to their formula, but it makes me stop and think if I couldn't do it myself when I see the ingredient list. Not slagging on them, just thinking out loud here.

[milkyjoe]

A couple of points. One: for the most part John uses mostly non soluble ingredients and ball mills them to the point that pretty much act like soluble nutes. Unless you have experience with wet ball milling get ready for a steep learning curve. And that really is key to how his products work...no harm to microbes but far better uptake to the plant. Second john has studied enzymes and the 5 major plant hormones...the combinations take this research into account. Think about in humans...you can intake a shit load of calories and turn it into energy as long as you do not stimulate insulin which turns you into a fat, disease prone pos.

On customer service the product is so good they are having trouble keeping up. Is that really a bad thing...maybe annoying as fuck but the excuse is a good one. I got lucky and met gary before things literally blew up so I have not had to experience that...but they will get it worked out. Who could have predicted? He is on the run 7 days a week right now...when we talk he is mostly in one airport or another

I suspect they will hire someone to take care of our market pretty soon

[milkyjoe]

As far as north dakota leonardite goes I do realize it gets bad mouthed by certain groups. I respectfully disagree...the shit is bomb. Literally the only humus source for 3/4ths of my plants and they are stomping all over the compost plants other than the keystone bio ag experiment

[Backyard Farmer]

Things will get worked out soon , the marijuana market is much bigger than any one ever anticipates because few out and say "this is what I use it for" so it's hard to gauge the market sector

Fair points, milky! I appreciate your input. So let's go through what I'm thinking of picking up here:

SeaShield - Seems to be crab and shrimp shell extract. I'm down with that.
HyperCaP - Good source of Ca and P but must also have some significant N if it contains urea and calcium nitrate, and molasses(I love molasses)
PHT-Calcium - Leonardite, boric acid, calcium carbonate, calcite - Seems to for boron and more calcium, yes yes?
PhotoMag - Leonardite, molasses, boric acid, sea water, cobalt sulfate, magnesium sulfate(epsom salt), sodium molybdate - This one yall say pushes photosynthesis?
Rejuvenate - Leonardite, sea water, molasses, yucca, kelp

I need to go through the big plants thread and catch back up, because I'm still unsure on using these all through flower, etc. I don't necessarily know that I need the Rejuvenate from the looks of the ingredients, but if it's considered really essential let me know. The PHT-Calcium seems to be the one I need the most at the moment after the Sea Shield, which is getting ordered no matter what.

[Bulldog420]

Hypercap isn't organic right? That is why I passed on it.