Sat, 2010/09/18 - 9:22pm
I'm considering 1-part nutes, more for others than myself. Nowadays I have pH control kit and EC meter, but not everyone does. Like, my mother. And those add-ons are expensive.
I want to love the GH MaxiGro dry nute, and should probably just buy it and try it. Their FloraMato had serious pH issues though. Not only did it mix too acidic, it drifted later, really badly. Granted, a pH control kit is fairly cheap, compared to an EC meter. But at least the 3-part nutes, at lettuce strength (which is 0.8 times the standard 3-2-1 formula - I make it with 12-8-4 ml grow-micro-bloom, adding micro to the water first of course) is and stays a perfectly serviceable pH with my tap or rain water.
But then there are these new AG liquid nutes... Their lettuce/herb/flower formula (4-3-6 NPK) is almost exactly the same as basic vegetative Flora 3-part series, divided by 4. As in, mix up vegetative 3grow-2micro-1bloom, and the NPKs add to 16-13-24. Which is 4x the concentration of 4-3-6. Is it possible this is made from Flora 3-part, diluted and then mixed together, to prevent nutrient lockout?
I haven't heard anyone say these new liquid AG nutes grow better or worse than the old tablets.
I haven't seen any liquid 1-part nutes online except FloraNova, which sounds more tarlike than liquid.
MaxiGro is 10-5-14. FloraMato is 10-6-18. Both a lot lower on P than my usual lettuce mix. MaxiBloom is 5-15-14, fwiw.
Thoughts?
Mon, 2010/09/20 - 3:40am
#2
I haven't found many 1-part nutrients myself, most are 2-part - even the FloraNova is technically a 2-part as it comes in a grow and bloom mix.
I've heard it's quite thick and needs mixing well but it seems to be a good nutrient, if I was growing non-flowering plants then I think I'd give it a go for the convenience sake. Much simpler than faffing around with the 3-part just to feed some lettuce!
I actually wanted to buy this a couple of years ago, the UK, at the time, did not have it on sale so I spent out on the Flora Series instead. I probably would use it, and would still like to try it, but I've so many bottles of 3-part that it will have to wait.
My understanding of nute lockout is the same, a chemical reaction takes place which prevents part, or all, of the essential nutrients from being absorbed by the plants roots. Excess EC, too high/low (or fluctuating) pH and a salt buildup can also cause it.
Mon, 2010/09/20 - 10:40am
#3
Thanks, Peat.
Yeah, FloraNova sounds good, but the tarlike aspect sounds like a serious hassle. Mixing is harder, yes, but think about measuring. If it's that sticky and thick and dissolves poorly, so much for measuring syringes. Sounds like a better product for large volumes of nute mix, but much less convenient than the 3-part if you want mix up a gallon.
Heh. I just searched on "what causes nutrient lockout". I think I understood it better before I started.
In our context - mixing nutes for hydroponics - nutrient lockout is essentially the nutrient constituents reacting with each other to form compounds, instead of remaining freely available to the plant. Right? And - here I'm very shakey - the reason you don't mix the concentrated nutes together is because, undiluted, the pH will shift to a point where the nutes do react to form useless side compounds?