Here's the people I went through, and their Jacks Professional equivalent hydroponic mix; http://chem-gro.com/cart/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=58 The thing about these guys is that they don't do anything unique, there are small and large manufacturers of these base nutrient salts everywhere. To give you an idea, $640 buys the following from Hydrogardens; 10 x 25lb bags of 5-11-26 hydroponic mix, with micros 3 x 50lb bags of calcium nitrate 50lb bag of epsom salt, aka mag sulfate 50lb bag of MKP, or monopotassium phosphate. In round terms, this is enough nutrient to make an Olympic swimming pool's worth of nutrient solution! TREES, ANYONE?! Now of course these are available in smaller quantities, but the huge price break vs water bottles makes it stupid cheap not to keep plenty on hand.
Spoke to my shutterbug buddy today and he swears he'll have some pretty pictures for me this weekend. When I get 'em, you will.
Get a $100 Nikon 16mp point and shoot and do it yourself. no sense in using a fancy camera to compress and resize for the web. DSLR is overkill. I have one and it rocks like the big dogs. https://www.google.com/shopping/product/7923522882887251527?gs_rn=37&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=hiDDs2EOUkYR4iI9ud6zIg&ds=sh&pq=nikon+digital+cameras&cp=7&gs_id=43o&xhr=t&q=nikon+coolpix&pf=p&newwindow=1&sclient=psy-ab&oq=nikon+c&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.62922401,d.aWc&biw=1366&bih=600&tch=1&ech=13&psi=aM4rU6hfhMLIAcnMgYgJ.1395379820982.8&ei=y84rU-GuHe66yAH5uIGIAg&ved=0CMcGEKYrMAw just don't use a stinking phone!
I'll do that, once I've got my bills caught up. It's his sexy DSLR camera, not mine- although I'd use it all the damn time anyway lol. That's why I've been sitting on my hands lately- I do want a good camera with a mount for professional optics because that's how proud get great shots. No tech toy replicates that. So first get the cheapie, then the sexy one when I can afford it lol
I know a guy with a $4000 camera and its overkill, he gets so few good shots, too much to go wrong with all the settings. My cameras have been cheaper and I have 40,000 pictures and its not the camera that takes good pictures its the eye behind it. I also always have a camera, cant pack a dslr everywhere all the time. I would show off pictures but it would reveal my true identity. Some have been seen by a whole lot of people. like millions. Like I said for a 640 X 480 picture of a pot plant you don't need much.
So it's taken a few hours but I've changed every reservoir in my place to run the new stuff. Let's see how she runs!
It's too early to make any big observations about the new brand of dry nutrient salts. The most interesting thing about it is how little has changed. The girls perked up just like always, pH is easy to control, EC is very predictable. The only noticeable thing is the absence of the blue dye, I don't miss it. I think there is more MAP in this mix, I can smell it. Does anyone know how this might affect my plants, if at all?
Waterfall oxygenation is a step forward from airstones due to less cost, fewer components and other than the water pump itself, no moving parts. I've had things fail around them and they are superior to airstones in my setup. I'm still using airstones in veg, where the odd and constantly changing groups of plants make waterfalls a less flexible solution.
You need your own camera man - by the time the pics go up they'll be a week old! J Edit - most phones these days do take good pictures... Better than making us all wait! Lol J
Today, my 2 Ton ChillKing window mount unit FAILED. It's only 9 months old! Warranty process has already been started; I will keep you all up to date on how my claim is treated. I'm not dead in the water; because this HAS HAPPENED BEFORE WITH CHILLKING, I have a second, rebuilt 2 Ton ChillKing window mount unit! It's currently handling chilling chores until the first one gets fixed. It failed in MARCH? IN COLD WEATHER? WHILE IT SAT INSIDE ALL WINTER AND NEVER SAW SUB FREEZING TEMPERATURES?! I will be very interested in the diagnosis...
Thanks - I think many are curious. It's nicer only needing to count on yourself usually anyhow. Cya J
I told y'all I'd shoot straight about how Hydro Innovations is taking care of me. They called me back within the hour with several options to proceed; bring it in, or have any of several authorized reps do a service call. They explained that ChillKing is not an in house brand, it's another separate company with whom Hydro Innovations did a lot of business when they were based in Texas. One of the reasons they now build all of their own chillers, even the smaller ones like mine, is because they were not happy with the number of service calls these units generated. They stopped doing business with ChillKing some several years ago, and so the warranty period they were responsible for has run out on all units that got sold.... but some sat in inventory at retail shops, and ended up in the hands of people like me. Rather than attempt to wash their hands of the whole thing, they've chosen instead to back the original parts only warranty AND diagnose the problem gratis if I could get it to them. If it's a cheap fix like a capacitor, it will be a done deal. If it's the compressor, they'll work with the manufacturer- the unit has a five year warranty from date of manufacture... April of 2010! Yeah, this thing sat around in inventory for a minute before it came home with me last summer! I called friends until I got ahold of a pal with a van- and I got a tour of their very spacious and complete facility, got a peek at several projects they've got in the works- great stuff!- and came away with some extremely fascinating news about their new in-house Banks brand of specialty built chilling systems. More on that soon, too. In short, they had the chance to bounce the ball back to ChillKing and sweep it under the rug- and instead, they've handled it themselves from half court for three points. I'll let ya know what the diagnosis is when they call me.
Im blessed the guy who helped me with the 60 amp set up is an HVAC tech, he can fix all that shit. He put the furnace and AC in my house. He is my neighbor. You know there is nothing to fixing that stuff? It truly is dead simple. A $1,000 unit has about $100 or less worth of parts in them. By the time you fuck around with a warranty you can have someone fix it.
Everything but the compressor. THAT fucker costs more to buy by itself than another whole unit, we've already been down that road with my other one.
Compressors have all the tight tolerance parts, also the part that has to be reliable. So what do your plants look like?