I have some experience with hydro nutes -

(please excuse any spelling/grammar - I've had a few glasses)

Use the nute-feed charts only as a guide. Experienced growers would tend to work with stock they know

as they will then know how it behaves -

for example, clones/cuttings. Each growing event adds to your experience of how that particular cultivar/plant behaves

and so your diary of nutes/feeding schedule would give you an idea of what strengths worked at what stage and so on.

Contrary to some charts I have seen, at seedling stage I have a low N but relatively high in P and I gradually increase the N

so that I don't nute-shock the tender seedling/cutting which is a common problem. I also rotate feeds between

plain water, nutes, h2o water and seaweed to allow a rounded feeding schedule and to reduce salt build-up - but that 

came about only because I was happy to modify the chart and tweak it to my needs. My grow diaries tell me what I

did and how well it did or didn't work. I appreciate I don't grow scientifically but I do grow informatively (however,

I still make colossal mistakes!) My diaries tell me, then, how much strength to increase the nutes, etc by, but I have 

both a control plant (which is what I know to be a safe feeding schedule) and test plants in which I vary the feeds, etc

to see if it performs better than the control plant. As my plants come from the same stock of mothers I know I'm working

to a standard of sorts. As I am eating what I grow I always finish with 2 or 3 weeks of plain water feeding before harvesting.

For fun, I also grow from f2 seeds and the mutations are an absolute joy to behold! But I digress.

Also remember the charts are mainly designed for people growing under lights and your plants feeding may be different

under sunlight and glass - you need to check.

So use the charts, especially if you are a beginner, or if you don't know the plant but remember they are not cast in stone -

use your experience to turn each grow into a unique learning opportunity and tweak it to your advantage. This year I shall be

using home made seaweed extract and worm-water to supplement/replace expensive nutes. Things may go a little awry, but, hey,

it will be fun!

Like many beginner's - and even experienced growers - I like to feel as those I'm really adding to a plant's feed...

My problem is that I kill with love...literally - and so it is true for many other gardeners - surely more is more - right? Wrong!

It took a long time for me to learn just how little you really need - what brought it home was my understanding that human hormones are in the microgrammes (1/1000s of a single gramme) for people weighing 25 stones and more...when I understood that I understood just how little nutes I needed in plants It has the added benefit that my nutes now cost less per application, my nutes last longer and my plants are not stressed from being overfed. There are no Billy Bunter's in my garden, lol!

However, I still feel that I'm not giving enough so I have solved that, too!

I dilute liquid feeds 1:1 with water immediately after purchase. So when I pour nutes I know I have a greater margin for error to the plants favour. Also spills are less costly. I bought some cookery spoons, 1/4 teaspoon etc, you know the kind I mean - cheap too - and I put a spoon in there that corresponds to a safe regular feed. A dedicated spoon for each dry nute in its box means no messing around looking for a spoon and then cleaning it before use, and it also means no dry nutes can be mixed together, causing potentially unwanted reactions between the dry nutes. Always mix nutes, dry or liquid, in water, never neat together.

I also mix one teaspoonful of black molasses (black treacle) to 9 litres of water (the capacity of my water sprayer) and it turns it a beautiful earthy brown and makes me feel like I'm really looking after them! Black Molasses also give essential B vitamins and sugars to the plant which it can use immediately. I then add my nutes to that on an alternating schedule. I can promise you faithfully this is the best thing I have ever done for my plants.

All I have done is to accept my failings as a gardener and worked out a way in which I can behave in a way that makes me happy but is safe for my plants. I also value the relatively small discipline to make my garden tools (spoons, nutes, etc) work for me so that it is easier to do the right thing than not. Diluted nutes, spoons in boxes, etc all help towards that.

Try it and you'll see!

 Hey Peat,

To understand what nutes I use, I need to use the analogy that I am also an audiophile - despite being severely deaf (perhaps that's why I love music, who knows, eh? And for those who would ask, I love everything except Gangsta Rap.)

My audio kit is not made by one manufacturer; different bits of kit are made by different companies because it is what they excel in - very rarely do you get a single company that excels in all areas.

And so it is with my nutes - I am lucky enough to use all the major brands, but I won't use a single-brand, whole-feed, instead I might use GHE for my vegging and HESI for flowering. I am also experimenting with my own home-made nutes - which incidentally is having a greater positive effect - perhaps to use another analogy - it's like servicing your own car rather than some knuckle-dragging, hairy-arsed neanderthal giving it the quick-in, quick-out MacDonalds treatment.

There is no nutes company that excels in everything it does, as it needs to provide for a generic recipe for those growing under sun, glass, lights, etc and also for a range of plants, flowers, root vegs and so on - and you will find that one company's recipe is better for your particular task, plants and way of working. However, there is only one of me that cares deeply how well I do, with the time to spare to get there. The reason is simple, I need to be self-sufficient in what I grow and I'm hoping that a few years down the line I might be able to sell my produce to upmarket restaurants as carefully managed, organic and clean produce.

Take the time to examine exactly what goes into your nutes and whether it is best suited for your task, rather than the brand name. Incidentally, I am also quite a nuisance when it comes to emailing these companies for additional information. A British nutes company proclaimed its pride in everything about it being British, but used "Fertilizer" emblazoned across its bottle...they say they are now changing this! We'll see! But more importantly, I did a cross-test between my own seaweed nutes and that of a very well known nutes company that sells a seaweed-based liquid feed. As my plants did better I asked them why this should be. I got what I take to be an honest reply; they said that as seaweed was increasingly expensive there was less than 1% of seaweed extract in the bottle. I thanked them for their honesty and promised I would remain a loyal customer to their products that bear more resemblance to the truth of its labelling.

So, Peat, I'm sorry that I did not answer your Q in a way that one might have expected, but I hope you'll understand my method in my madness!

 Dear Peat,

Thank you for your kind reply. 

I know what of you speak; I have seen the same thing, too, where one can buy just a few kilo's of chemicals (for cost-effective savings) and then when mixed - even in small amounts of just a few grammes - produces a quantity of fertiliser that are in the near hundreds-of-litres - which is great if you have a large concern or can profitably(?) pass it on. I understand it also has a short shelf-life of just a few weeks - why, I don't know. I suspect the water continues to break the molecular bonds down whereas fert companies add extra chemicals in to stop this process.

My efforts are somewhat smaller: my rellies live on the North Coast where I can get seaweed and fish carcasses and once washed of excess salt they are excellent micro-nute fertilisers that really do help literally explosive growth. Once spent, these are then dug into my main garden for soil structure. My other means of ferts are worm-juice and spent-compost-juice and Black Treacle which has sugars, Vit B, Iron, and some other essential micro-nutes that I cannot remember just now that a plant can use immediately. And, remarkably enough, in side-by-side trials in my greenhouse, hydrogen peroxide water (h₂o₂) was also significant in plant growth as that provides extra oxygen at the roots to help the osmotic process which allows for greater uptake of nutes (note to new readers - this is not the same as applying strong nutes to begin with). Commercial ferts have at the most maybe 20 or so micro-nutes whereas fish, seaweed, worms and compost juice has nearly the full complement with the exception of rock-based minerals which I cannot be bothered to get just now as it means a round trip of about 70 miles and £45 all in.

So I wouldn't worry too much at this time about making your own ferts in the sense of bags of chemicals as there are plenty of other options that are effective.

May I wish you well in moving house? I hope it goes as smoothly, and cheaply, as it can - mine didn't on either score...

Kind regards

e2a:

I forgot: seriously don't buy new hydro kit - make your own. I have considerable experience of having spent a lot of cash to buy the thing and then to have to really modify the hydro kit to make it perform in the way that I want - to the point that I might as well have made it from scratch myself.

 I have heard only good about the IWS system you link/describe. I am very impressed. It will also expand well/relatively cheaply.

Only be aware that this is a highly thievable item. Also be aware that the water can get too hot if the water butt is allowed to stand in the glasshouse in full sun. I hope we get to hear about it here in the fullness of time.

Good luck, Peat, with the move and with your future grows.

Kevin