Ain’t that the truth? IMO, the closest we can ever get to the proverbial “one ring to rule them all” is our own common sense.
Unless you already have experience and understand how things work, it’s incredibly easy to get taken advantage of. Most products do what they claim, but in many cases, they’re just repackaging standard nutrients you could get elsewhere for less. One common red flag is the line, “works in any medium or hydro application.” That gets slapped on whether or not the product is actually effective across systems.
Even with standard bottled nutrients, manufacturers often split them into a dozen parts when they could easily be consolidated into just a few. It’s a strategy designed to upsell and confuse, not to inform. Consistency in your regimen matters, but so does recognizing when you’re being misled.
I prefer dry nutrients myself, but I’m cautious of any line that mixes micros with calcium nitrate. That’s usually a tactic to lock growers into an overpriced brand. There are red flags everywhere, but if you don’t know what to look for, you won’t see them. In the cannabis world, and in plant products in general, common sense often comes only after long-term exposure and hands-on experience.
Most growers don’t question the process. If something works and has good reviews, that’s good enough for them. Convenience tends to win out, even if it means overspending. Forums only represent a small slice of the grow community, but that slice tends to be the most informed people who are observant, passionate, and committed to the craft. Sadly, I’d BET (idk for sure) that 70 to 80 percent of home hobbyists are still being taken for a ride.
Same here. Current grow is first time I’ve used bottled. It’s effective, but messy and pricey. Gonna try some CX samples in an upcoming grow, but the KISS principle and dry nutes seem to go hand-in-hand, IMO.
You are absolutely right. When jacks gets messy on me I use floraflex because it’s local, but I couldn’t commit to it full time. Cost is crazy
This is why I started finding natural nutes, usually way cheaper and all natural has to be a plus. Still use Gaia green just because I always have great results and it really isn’t pricey when purchased from my local grow store. I also am a fan of build a soil flower top dress just be ready for some stank… Cause ewww boy!!! Also I am really a fan of molasses and kelp. I like incredible bulk I feel like it really promotes root growth but you can’t follow the recommendations because it is so heavy in potassium. I love that they say it can’t burn…
That’s another red flag to beware of. “Organic” is another term that, along with “natural,” is deceptively used to con and obfuscate. It’s not an indictment of organic and natural products per se, but it is an indictment of the snake oil grifters who misuse the terms to deceive.
“I got stage 4 lung cancer, but it’s all good because I smoke all natural, organic tobacco.”
I agree, I’m talking about Epsom salts, molasses, compost, emulsified fish that kind of natural. Always seems to have higher concentrations than you average grow shop nutes…
That’s what STS is for! Lmao
In fact, descheduling/legalization at the federal level would remove at least some interstate commerce and banking roadblocks for commercial businesses.
Hmm.. Alabama’s governor, known as “meemaw”, just signed into law restrictions on edibles and smokable hemp products readily available at shops. The 2018 farm bill brought ThC-A, THC-O, and THC-P products to the state and many local businesses are supplying these to the shops. Some good, some not to my liking. I like the THC-O gummies which I think are 25% per serving. Now the Alabama Beverage Commision is in charge, the state gets a lot of revenue thru taxes and additional license fees, which is what the state really wants. Now gummies will only be sold in single serving packaging and cannot exceed 10%. What a bunch of crap. Smokable products are outright banned in the state, which I don’t use since I have good weed I grew. But it is the state meddling in the “name of the children safety” when in fact it’s just simple greed.
Sure, but it also opens the door to others. I think the point is that descheduling and legalization aren’t the same.
If the feds decide that they want a cut of everything and start going after breeders, seed banks, grow ops, dispensaries it will change everything. We’re already seeing several of these businesses struggle to navigate state legislation, do you think it will get easier with another hand in their pockets? They won’t even have to run them off on criminal stuff if they can squeeze everyone but big pharma out of the market. Then we’ll left with the companies sterilizing and patenting seeds, limited to “approved varieties”, and twice as many hoops to jump through.
It’s not guaranteed that any of this will happen, but anyone that believes the feds are just gonna let it go wild at no cost needs to share their stash because that’s some good stuff.
FACTS you speak
Sorry to be late to ask: Does that mean reduced susceptibility to bud rot? If so, silica seems like a no-brainer if you aren’t running hydro.
Absolutely. Specially for those in harsher environments!