Any hydro nute will work fine. I'd recommend one of GH's lines, used with the lucas formula to make it easier on you. I've used Floranova for years and it has never let me down. Currently working with Flora Duo.
GH Lucas is awesomeand cheap but is designed for r/o water. If you use this method then you must add 10% tap or cal-mag to prevent def. ...or at least I have to.Very simple at 8mlmicro and 16ml bloom and the ph is stable for a week in my bubbletotes.
advanced nutrients my friend. gh is a little cheaper but I see great results with advance nutes pref all liquids
I use GH and R/O water. I also mix the nutrients in a separate bucket (5 gal) to get a good mix as I was getting a lot of sediment at the bottom of the tanks.
Thanks guys I use botanicare which works well but it doesn't always mix well and leaves a film of nutrient in my buckets all the time. Is GH pretty clean
Oshnaps: since you asked, please let me put in a plug for Technaflora's "Recipe for Success." I've bee using it for almost three years now and I've found it to be very user friendly. All you need is good water, a set of measuring spoons and a pH meter. You can get a starter kit for about $30. Let me explain that the crap in my town that comes out of the tap is terrible! Using it I have to use a lot more pH down to keep it from locking out my nutes. Now I use filtered, R/O water from a kiosk at the grocery store and initially I don't have to add any pH down. On successive days as they attack the nutes I have to return it to 5.8 pH but that's only normal. If you decide to try Technaflora's nutes I would suggest using their whole program not going piece meal. They have a formula for each stage of development but I would ease into each stage. Go with half strength the first week or two and then the full strength formula from then on and I think you'll be happy. They have you covered from the sprouting seedling stage right up to harvest. Try it, you might like it, I sure do. Hank
I use distilled most of the time but sometimes r.o, and no matter what I have to lower the pH. the difference is that without the impurities in regular tapwater, the ph down is able to penetrate the molecules in the tapwater a lot easier without those impurities...long story short I use about 8 drops of pH down per gal with reg tap water and about 2-3 with distilled or r.o...saves a lot of pH down if you use liquid
Mastershuffles: if you can neutralize a gallon of your tap water with eight drops of pH down then you can imagine what mine is like, it takes about 60! The crap that comes out of our tap is terrible. Lately I've been buying my water from a supermarket kiosk that's filtered, R/O'd and irradiated. It tastes good and when I mix my nutes with it I don't have to add pH down. Niagra brand bottle water sold at the 99 cents store for about 79 cents a bottle required very little correction in comparison to our city tap water so I used that for a long time. At 39 cents a gallon at the super market kiosk I'm happy not having to invest a small fortune for my own filtration system. Wal-Mart's distilled water at 88 cents a gallon isn't as good as Niagra's. I think it depends a lot on where you live. Hank
100% Hank, they actually don't even sell refillable jugs for distilled and r/o water at my walmart!! I have to pay $2 a gallon...I know I know, that's rediculous right? sometimes I'll just fill up a 25L container and let it sit for a day then it's easier to adjust...does anyone know of multiple places where you can get refillable jugs or distilled or r.o?? I could try like an aqarium shop I guess
Mastershuffles: The water you get at the 99 cents store or wal-Mart comes in a new jug for 79 cents to 88 cents but it's pricey if you have a big reservoir. If you have good water to start with, wow, you've got the cat by the ass! I did a change this week and it' was 15 gallons at 39 cents per, not enough to bankrupt me but its having to go there and handle all those damn jugs was a bitch. You could sit my tap water for a year but you'd still have crap! I did buy two three gallons refillable plastic jugs this week and if they work out for my two bubble tubs I'll probably buy two more. If you're paying two bucks a gallon you're getting screwed. Move to southern California. Vive le gere! My wife makes a wonderful Martini. Hank
haha I bet! yeah today I went to save-on-foods and bought two 5 gal jugs of r.o, it's 2.50 to refill so honestly, that's way better than 2 beans a gal! a little over 50 cents will hold me off for a bit, soon as I get some money i'll buy a r.o system...and I'd love to go to southern cal! I live in van b.c and it sucks lol
Mastershuffles: they say the new shortage of the future may well be water not oil. And if yours is good that's great. I envy you guys and gals who live where there's good water because we don't have it here in So. Cal. My body is all chingafied and I can't handle a five gallon water bottle anymore so I bought two three gallon refillable plastic ones. So far so good. That should result in me having to handle a total of only four 24 pounds bottles instead of twelve singles for a nutes change. I also found a water store that sells it for 30 cents a gallon so if theirs checks out as good as the water I get from the supermarket kiosk I may switch sources. Hank
I use a 200gpd r/o system w/ 2 60 gallon drums as a res. DWC Lucas is very clean but i mix my totes individually. Always be sure to add micro first miw well then bloom. GH is a great system and it is cheap so you can buy some nice supplements and still be cost effective. My nutes are as follows GH 8/16 LUCAS SUPERTHRIVE 1ML/10GALLONS 5ML/GAL CAL MAG BUD CANDY FOR FLOWERING POND-ZYME I love my set-up but to each they're own
botanicare cal mag and there is only one brand of pondzyme. Also I foliar spray dyna-gro pro-tekt. its a silica product.
Hey Guys: About three years ago Kelly at Discount Hydroponics sold me a Technaflora, "Recipe for Success," sample kit for about $30 and a pH test kit with pH up and down and I never looked back. It lasted a long time with my little Aerogardens. Hank