Ive been using Fox Farm hydroponic blend nutrients for awhile and have recently decided im tired of the overpriced, poorly scaled and imbalanced shit.
Please someone point me to the best, easiest to use nutrient line. Please add pics of results and why that line surpasses the rest.
I’ll take first run at it. It is an easy answer for me. Also a former FF user.
Jacks
Current autopots
most recent harvest - 8 days ago
Ive heard a lot about jacks. Thinking i may swing that direction.
Top photo looks very nice. I used FF in soil so don’t know how it does in hydro. I also used Advanced Nutrients Iguana Juice line also in soil. Excellent stuff but expensive with lots of supplements to add. I still use some of them with Jacks. I use Jacks in autopots and top feed both in coco. I have used it for 18+ months. I am going to give its TAP nutrient a go the next time. It is designed for well and municipal water with higher mineral content.
I also started with autos. Photos are much more fun and much more predictable. I see way too may early bloomers and mini plants.
Yeah i ran Bruce Banner Auto from ilgm on my first grow. Definetly were not early bloomers and were super long flowering. 154 days total on the grow and still had mostly clear trichomes with barely any amber at all. But damn did they perform.
The top photo was my autos. The bottom pics are my current photoperiods. At 4 weeks flowering, taking into consideration preflowering didnt start until 8/12 do they look under developed to you? Or am i just tripping lol
Former FF user switched to Jacks last year and never looked back 
The autos I grew were all from ILGM and were very good plants. No complaints what so ever in that regard.
Each plant and strain, to some extent, grow differently. Four weeks into flower is very early. They will fill in and fill out. I would not be concerned.
New guy, lots of reading here and googling. As long as the big 3 are used at the appropriate times, ie. More nitrogen during veg and so on, youll have healthy plants. Even with cheap nutes.
Raising quality anything requires very good genetics and quality light(s).
Fall short on those two and you got what you invested in.
I leaned towards FF products as i read, further reading journals, ive ordered jacks nutes for my first with straight coco.
Used FF for first grow. Read up on Jack’s. Tried the switch, stayed with the switch. I do use the FF boosters tho
Agreed…my issue is not lights, genetics, air filtration, pests or disease. Just overpriced nutes that are super hot and early testing equipment that wasnt up to par. Fox farms feeding schedule for hydro doesnt even come close to the aprx ppm/ec values projected if followed as directed.
That doesnt vibe with me at all. If it says 1250ppm when used as directed but my Apera is telling me its more like 1650 1700ppm theres an issue. Because many growers dont have tds meters and will blindly follow the chart the experts created and fry their babies. Growing plants is not nearly as hard as the misinformation makes it and the way i see it. FF is on the misinformation bandwagon and making novice growers feel inept and give up after spending tons of cash chasing issues that dont need to be issues.
Except for those of us who do still use it with no issues. I have not had any issues with any FF product. I use 3 of their soils and several of the liquid nutes. I also transplant 4 times so there is that difference. Most folks go into the forever pot after germing. The grow I am on now will be FF Happy with a blend of OF and CL with Earth Dust dry amendments. Gonne try the living soil approach and see where that takes me.
Youre also in soil. I am not.
One rule learned well before growing this plant.
When using any fertilizers, always use less thsn prescribed, its much easier to add more later, than correct a nute burn.
Watching peeps post 100s of photos, leaves up, down, curling, browning. Most excellent teaching props.
My tiny little trsnsplanted girls talk everyday.
They are my teachers right now, and the gurus are my philosophors who showed me lots of paths that all work.
Youre not hearing me but ok. Ive grown 2lb autos with ff, i know how to use it. Youre advice is good but misplaced in this instance.
Sorry “hot nutes” remark. Should have said my approach to all new nutes i try for first time.
Its all good. I just traced the issue down. My Aperatds20 is fucked and wont calibrate properly. Cross tested with other pens and conversions and its definetly been taking me for a ride. Its reading super hot vs actual ec values. Back to Amazon it goes. That pos has had me chasing my tail for weeks since i got it. Shit wasnt adding up and got me asking questions i couldnt come up with answers for. Trust me i do my own research and rarely if ever ask the general public for advice. Was just at wits end with this. Ive had several factors change since that pen came in. Fox Farms apparently changed the color of beastie bloomz and got me worried it was a bad mix. Can still find no documentation as to when or why the color was changed unless its a batch type thing. But its always been purple and now its yellow powder that turn greenish, reminding me of cha-ching.
Ive been leaning towards a faulty pen but its brand new and highly recommended so after the intitial calibration and testing it all panned out and felt i had a solid product. Have followed all the storage protocals etc…
Now i know and am not grabbing at straws. Back to my cheap ass $20 ec pen.
Sorry to hear that. Apera is usually pretty reliable. I’ll keep my fingers crossed my PH20 doesn’t go out. Often new users have an issue with the scale settings.
Its always good practice to do some research, but asking for help on the 411 thc highway has no shame as i only see lots of folks wanting others to have great grows. 
Please come back and share what we all 
, your pictures of big phat colas.
