General Organics vs General Hydroponics

[LeonardoDGarden]

The above are Purple Lady clones taken at the same time in waterfarms. They have had 4 weeks of growth, and one week of flower so far.

The one on the left has been fed with a General Organics "GO Box", the one on the right General Hydroponics 3 part "Flora" series. The GH Flora is a good 7 inches taller, and overall appears more robust.



The above is a view of the roots from the GH Flora plant.




The root mass that has grown down from the GO Box is substantially less well developed.

No real shock here, chemicals are great for size, but what I am most interested in, is in a couple of more months, how big of a difference in harvest will there be, and will the all organic have better flavor?

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

Update

The chemical (left) is still ahead of the organic (right)

 

[medmaker420]

what water are you using with both?

 

[OhighO]

You would have much better results using that GO in a soiless medium. Good job and good Luck with the side by side

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

Tap water, starting value of 50-110 ppm and 6.5-7.3 pH at room temperature

 

[medmaker420]

the reason I asked about the water is, do you let your bubble your water or at least let it sit for a day or two? If you have shitty city water it could be killing all the good stuff in the GO organics. Another issue is using ph versus not or hell adding any sort of chemical to the organic mix can and will affect how they grow as well.

 

[joe guy]

Awsome thread man I love side by sides... but u should find a few books to stack up for the go since she's not as tall she's not gettn as much light as the gh plant... other than that great idea... ill be watching as I just cancled my go box run I'm using that for the tomatoes and beans and peaches wasn't very happy with yeild but flavor was awsome...

 

[medmaker420]

I wasn't happy with my go run personally but some of the products within the line are decent however just doing some super soil and getting some teas brewing will be much easier and cheaper in the end.

I think we all get caught up in being able to get an entire nute line for $30, hell who wouldn't test it with at least one cycle for that price.

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

the reason I asked about the water is, do you let your bubble your water or at least let it sit for a day or two? If you have shitty city water it could be killing all the good stuff in the GO organics. Another issue is using ph versus not or hell adding any sort of chemical to the organic mix can and will affect how they grow as well.

I've had bone meal, alfalfa meal, and other organics break down and become available using this same water in a hydro system. I do want to try a with-without beneficial organism additives at some point, but for this one I want to just use what comes in the box.

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

Awsome thread man I love side by sides... but u should find a few books to stack up for the go since she's not as tall she's not gettn as much light as the gh plant... other than that great idea... ill be watching as I just cancled my go box run I'm using that for the tomatoes and beans and peaches wasn't very happy with yeild but flavor was awsome...

Got you covered Joe, moved to natural lighting, not great natural lighting mind you, but you work with what you have.

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

I wasn't happy with my go run personally but some of the products within the line are decent however just doing some super soil and getting some teas brewing will be much easier and cheaper in the end.

I think we all get caught up in being able to get an entire nute line for $30, hell who wouldn't test it with at least one cycle for that price.

No kidding on the price on the GO box, even if I don't wind up using the product line in the future, at least I feel like I've had a chance to try it out without feeling like I got took. For some of the lines you can't even get enough if the basic nutes to try them out for that much.

I'm not claiming it's better or worse than soil, I'm just running one against the other to see what I can see about the whole organic vs chemical debate.

But fair enough point about soil, what size fabric bag or pot of soil would be fair to put up against one of these WaterFarm things? 10 gal? 20 gal? It wouldn't be fair to short the soil plant because of too small of a pot.

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

Sorry, left out a vital bit of information, what size for 4 weeks of growth under fair but not great lighting?

 

[Ohmless]

science is done with as few variables to compare as possible. clearly it can't be translated to using organics in soil but it is a good first study. Wish there were a larger population to compare. such is the real world.

subbed

 

[unclefishstick]

you need to keep those go nutes constantly aerated,get at least one airstone going in there and i bet you will be happier with what you see...

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

science is done with as few variables to compare as possible. clearly it can't be translated to using organics in soil but it is a good first study. Wish there were a larger population to compare. such is the real world.

subbed

Oh I agree, if I could I'd be running ten of each at least in a real greenhouse somewhere if I could. However, the piggy bank I have for such things isn't in the healthiest shape, and I have no place to keep them. But I figure doing something still beats doing nothing, a small sample is better than none.

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

you need to keep those go nutes constantly aerated,get at least one airstone going in there and i bet you will be happier with what you see...

The WaterFarms use an airline to create lift, like in an undergravel aquarium filter. The nutrient solution then drips from a ring at the top. The nutrient solution is aerated in the process. I know some folks recommend and extra airstone in the bottom, but I haven't seen a need for one yet. Both nute lines are obviously working, as neither has shown signs of a serious deficiency.

 

[unclefishstick]

GO even recommends that you fountain the nutes to keep them happy,so an airstone is the minimum they suggest..

 

[LeonardoDGarden]

I'm sorry Uncle, must have packed my pipe a bit too full here. Just be patient and I'll catch up.

The WaterFarms themselves do a lot of aeration as part of how they function, each one has it's own airline to bubble the water up the lift tube.

Are you suggesting that I put an additional airline and stone in the bottom? The plants are taking up the nutrient solution pretty fast, and the roots appear healthy enough. I'm not seeing any signs of the water not being sufficiently aerated using it stock.

 

[OhighO]

You would have much better results using that GO in a soiless medium. Good job and good Luck with the side by side

After looking more at your setup I gotta say I'm really impressed! I use GO in roots organic with 2tbs of dolomite lime per gallon with fantastic results.
You have the healthiest GO in hydro plants I've seen yet. Are you using a chiller.

 

[unclefishstick]

I'm sorry Uncle, must have packed my pipe a bit too full here. Just be patient and I'll catch up.

The WaterFarms themselves do a lot of aeration as part of how they function, each one has it's own airline to bubble the water up the lift tube.

Are you suggesting that I put an additional airline and stone in the bottom? The plants are taking up the nutrient solution pretty fast, and the roots appear healthy enough. I'm not seeing any signs of the water not being sufficiently aerated using it stock.

as long as they keep moving 24 hrs a day they seem to work fine in hydro,i have only really done dwc with them and am about to try flood and drain using soiless medium and smart pots,but i know i will have to fountain the rez and use airstones to keep the nutes happy.