Hello all, I've got a plant going on a DWC setup that is in the 3rd week of flowering. This is my first DWC(or hydro in general grow) and I started with AN micro grow bloom for my base supplements. I was attracted to the ph perfect buffers. Well i'm looking to switch off AN not because i'm displeased with them, but it seems like a lot of people are bothered by the cost. I have enough to finish this grow but are there other brands with ph stabilizers for my next that are easier on the wallet? Also anyone have a suggestion on a bloom booster to add to the micro grow bloom AN i'm using that isn't the AN one? thanks in advance
I like GH liquid koolbloom for beginning bud stage and dry koolbloom for after 5-6 weeks depending on how long the strain runs. Liquid koolbloom is 0-10-10. Dry is 2-45-28. I would probably drop the bloom part of the AN 3 part and sub in the liquid koolbloom. I don't think it will mess up your ph. GH nutrients are ph balanced out of the container. One thing I like about GH is it seems to have a lot of control. Many people only use the micro and bloom and leave the grow out. The micro has everything the grow does and it makes it easier to control your npk really specifically. GH micro is 5-0-1 so it's basically a nitro supplement with other stuff like calcium. Between that and flora bloom that's 0-5-4 it's pretty easy to get the balance you want. Using just gh flora micro and flora bloom to finish plants is a super simple method people perfected for cannabis over the years called the "Lucas Formula". I don't have a huge problem mixing the two brands. I use mostly GH base stuff but I have some AN supplements I use like budcandy, goldengoddess, and piranha. I flush with GH florakleen and highly recommend it. AN has flawless finish. I haven't tried that yet.
I started using GH floralicious plus this grow and I'm getting good smell from it. It's an essential oil promoter/sweetener made for after 4-5 weeks of flower. Botanicare and AN make similar products. I use diamond nectar humic fulvic acid for veg and before that. You sub in floralicious plus for the mid-end of flower.
I hear a lot of cost complaints about AN. If you only run the 2 part sensi series or the 3 part it's not that bad. Pretty comparable to other high end brands. I'm not saving a bunch of money running GH I don't think. One thing AN has is a ridiculous amount of supplements. It seems like they separate everything the plant needs into a different bottle so they can sell it to you separately. If you buy everything they have it's crazy expensive. If I wanted to keep it as simple as possible but still have good comprehensive plant nutrition. I would run the AN 3 part grow micro bloom, GH florblend, and Real Grower's recharge for root zone microbes, sweeteners, and humic acid. That's a hard combo to beat IMO. Real Grower's recharge is like buying 6 AN products in one. Just work up to double your amount of bloom for flower and you should be good.
If you're not using a root zone supplement check out real grower's recharge. I'm not kidding it's like running 6 supplements from most brands. IMO all hydro growers should be using microbes in the res. They will double your root size/surface area and hence your harvest.
If you watch growmau5 on youtube has has a RealGrower's recharge ad in his intro. I learned about it from other really top notch growers on youtube.