Best bottled nutrients for veg stage?

If you're using good formulated grow soil or something similar to this, you can get through the veg stage for the most part, without too many nutes. By starting your plants out in small containers, like Solo cups, when they're just seedlings and leaving them in those until the plant itself gets wider and taller than the cup, then repotting up one size with fresh soil will provide you with fresh nutes. Nutes are supposed to be given once the plant has had the chance to use up the nutes that come naturally in the soil. Since the plant, once set in soil, immediately goes about creating a root system and the foliage just waits there until it's finished rooting in, your plant isn't using much water or nutes at this point. It typically only takes the plants 7-10 days in the cups before they're ready for a new container. By potting them up one size, you're still confining the root space and this will cause the plant to finish rooting in quicker because it has less space to root into before it gets back to growing foliage. Keep using this process giving only properly pH'd water to the plants and potting up when they outgrow the previous size container, and you can get almost all the way through the veg stage just using soil to feed your plants. The point of nutes is to feed your plants once there is nothing left in the soil to feed them. Starting nutes too soon and not being darn sure of the strength of the solution you mix will fry your plants. If you insist on using liquid nutes, I strongly suggest you purchase a TDS/EC tester pen. They only cost about $12-15 and give you a reading on how strong or weak your nute solution is before you put it in your plants.

I stopped using the bottled nutrients a couple of years ago. A good friend of mine in Southern California who has been a medical grower for years turned me on to "Jack's" by J.R. Peters. It's a powder mix that comes in a combo (one for veg, one for flower) and is much easier to mix and deal with than any of those multi-bottle nute packs that are way too inexpensive and way too easy to burn your plants with. The Jack's mix that I use is much easier mix and manage than anything else I tried, the plants love it and grow nicely when it's used and I've yet to burn a plant with it. But the best thing about it is that it's CHEAP!! We flower 25-30 plants every 10 weeks and I can buy enough of this stuff to last me well over a year, even at the rate we flower plants, for less than $15. It might be something you want to look into as an alternative to the popular bottled packs. Of course the manufacturers of the bottled nutes want you to really pour them to your plants...so you'll have to come back and by more of their insanely expensive stuff at $26 a bottle....and this being only one component of a 6-part nute system. To me, that was just ridiculous. Never been happier since I switched to Jack's...and my plants do awesome with it.

So, just know that there are alternatives to the bottled nute systems that work just as well, are cheaper and easier to use. I mix water and feed up in 5 gallon buckets because we tend so many plants. I was standing at the sink for DAYS mixing bottled nutes before I made the switch. With this stuff, I can prep 10 gallons of water in about 10 minutes.....as compared to a couple of hours of my time before. Some things work better than others for folks, depending on your situation. Personally, I like effective, easy and cheap. LOL Good luck!

One more thing...you need a really reliable way to check and adjust the pH of your water and feed solution before you give it to your plants. Don't go out and buy a pH tester pen that costs $12.99 and stake your plants on it. The cheap ones are NOT dependable and since the pH range of water and feed solution is crucial to keeping your roots healthy, just make sure that what you do use is giving you correct readings. The pH range on these grows is pretty limited (at just a 5 point variable), so you need something that you can count on to be right. Happy growing! TWW