Dyna-Gro vs General Hydroponics (Dumpster Grow)

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
I've been running dynagro with great results in coco. I use 2ml per gal of protekt. 3ml calmag and 4ml of dynagro grow. I feed this veg through flower. Comes out to about 550ppm with my tap being about 110 of that. I seem to have issues with it building up overtime and always do a flush after about 10 weeks of veg and I have to flush after about 4 weeks of flower depending on strain. How Could I alter my feeding so a flush during flower wouldn't be necessary? Any input would be appreciated. Also, I'd like to thank home brewer for guiding me towards dynagro products. It's all I've ever used.
I've never needed calmag so I question its use in your garden with Grow. Also, your dosage of Grow could probably be cut back. Try their recommended dose at 1/2tsp/gal. You could also cut back Protekt to 1ml/gal too. Protekt seems to build up in the plant so you should be great even at 1ml/gal. I use it at an even lighter dose than that.

Those changes will decrease the total amount of salts going through your medium but should be plenty to grow lush, healthy plants.
 

Tfcinc1

Member
I'll give it a go and see how they respond to less grow. I ran autos my first run and had one who ate up 10ml per gallon of grow. Any less and she started eating her leaves away. She yielded 4.5oz on her own. The total for that run in a 4x4 space was 24oz. All autos using just dynagro nutes under 2 kind xl750.

I never used calmag prior but I moved my garden and had some signs of needing it. Once added I didn't get any more symptoms. It helps keep them green with the added nitrogen I've noticed.

Thank you for your feedback. It's much appreciated.

I've never needed calmag so I question its use in your garden with Grow. Also, your dosage of Grow could probably be cut back. Try their recommended dose at 1/2tsp/gal. You could also cut back Protekt to 1ml/gal too. Protekt seems to build up in the plant so you should be great even at 1ml/gal. I use it at an even lighter dose than that.

Those changes will decrease the total amount of salts going through your medium but should be plenty to grow lush, healthy plants.
I've never needed calmag so I question its use in your garden with Grow. Also, your dosage of Grow could probably be cut back. Try their recommended dose at 1/2tsp/gal. You could also cut back Protekt to 1ml/gal too. Protekt seems to build up in the plant so you should be great even at 1ml/gal. I use it at an even lighter dose than that.

Those changes will decrease the total amount of salts going through your medium but should be plenty to grow lush, healthy plants.
 

Resinhound

Well-Known Member
I'm sorry I just can't believe any auto would need to be fed 10ml per gallon of any dynagro... Honestly, that's absurd. I've grown alot of autos all of them are happy with 1ml per liter or less... Thats at the most 4ml per gallon...

No wonder you have build up..
 

Tfcinc1

Member
Nope, she was the only one that needed that feeding and never needed a flush. I typically use 4ml per gallon start to finish.
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
Part of the ppm/EC equation is how often we're watering our plants. I feed very lightly but my flowering plants need water every day and subsequently get about 1/2 gallon/day. I can see a less frequent watering schedule needing to increase the dose of plant food but 10mls/gal is a pretty potent dose.

If we're not watering every day or every other day I'd bet there are ways to improve the medium they're in or the temp/humidity in the room. These are all pieces of the puzzle.
 

Shakenbabies

Active Member
A minimum of 2 but that depends on the stage of growth and how much the ladies are drinking.
Just a few inches. The rockwool will wick up the water.
I don't use clearex anymore. I run water for 2 hours and top feed a few times to leach out salts. After 2 hours, the res is drained and fresh nutes and water are added.
Hi HB, been poking around your threads and comments. I'm going to try my next run in 6x6 RW using Dyna nutes. I've been doing flood and drain in hydroton with GH nutes but I'm tired of cleaning all those rocks...
Are you flowering in just 6x6 cubes or are you placing those cubes on a coco mat at all? Could you PM me, I'm too new to send one...I don't need your recipe or grow tips, I'm sure you've spent hundreds of $ like I have through trial and error but some setup advice would be much appreciated.
 

Tigerpaws

Well-Known Member
I've been reading through this tread for 2 days now. Very interesting and I've learned a lot. What im not seeing though is the feed chart that was determined to be optimal through all stages. If its in here, would someone be so kind as to let me know what page its on. I have all of DG's products and just recently had a big problem on my first grow with salt build up in my 5-6 week of flower. My next grow is going to be ebb/flow in coco smart pots. I would like to have a tried and true feed/flush schedule.
 

Shakenbabies

Active Member
I've been reading through this tread for 2 days now. Very interesting and I've learned a lot. What im not seeing though is the feed chart that was determined to be optimal through all stages. If its in here, would someone be so kind as to let me know what page its on. I have all of DG's products and just recently had a big problem on my first grow with salt build up in my 5-6 week of flower. My next grow is going to be ebb/flow in coco smart pots. I would like to have a tried and true feed/flush schedule.
No one should give you an exact schedule nor should you follow someone else's exact recommendation. I only say this because false information is everywhere.
Good choice on DG nutrients though because they really work. Feed you plants with 1/4 strength of what the bottle says. Always use protekt first. In veg try not to go over 600ppm. I like to stay around 400ppm.
In bloom gradually make your way up to 1400ppm.
But most importantly, read your plants. They'll tell you everything you need to know.
Happy growing.
 

Tigerpaws

Well-Known Member
No one should give you an exact schedule nor should you follow someone else's exact recommendation. I only say this because false information is everywhere.
Good choice on DG nutrients though because they really work. Feed you plants with 1/4 strength of what the bottle says. Always use protekt first. In veg try not to go over 600ppm. I like to stay around 400ppm.
In bloom gradually make your way up to 1400ppm.
But most importantly, read your plants. They'll tell you everything you need to know.
Happy growing.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll give that a shot!
 

Tigerpaws

Well-Known Member
No one should give you an exact schedule nor should you follow someone else's exact recommendation. I only say this because false information is everywhere.
Good choice on DG nutrients though because they really work. Feed you plants with 1/4 strength of what the bottle says. Always use protekt first. In veg try not to go over 600ppm. I like to stay around 400ppm.
In bloom gradually make your way up to 1400ppm.
But most importantly, read your plants. They'll tell you everything you need to know.
Happy growing.
My Tap water is 400ppm. I don't count that in the equations correct?
 

Shakenbabies

Active Member
Yes absolutely count whatever your meter is saying. Remember to calibrate it every two harvests too.
However, if your tap water is 400ppm I would suggest two things. First, start saving up for Reverse Osmosis filtration system. RO water is usually less than 50ppm. Secondly, until you have a filter, let whatever water you using now sit for 24hrs before using it. Sounds like you've got some hard water and need to let the chlorine and other chemicals/minerals evaporate before using it.
Most hydro guys are using RO water but my tap is always at about 120-160ppm so I don't run it at all.
 

Tigerpaws

Well-Known Member
Yes absolutely count whatever your meter is saying. Remember to calibrate it every two harvests too.
However, if your tap water is 400ppm I would suggest two things. First, start saving up for Reverse Osmosis filtration system. RO water is usually less than 50ppm. Secondly, until you have a filter, let whatever water you using now sit for 24hrs before using it. Sounds like you've got some hard water and need to let the chlorine and other chemicals/minerals evaporate before using it.
Most hydro guys are using RO water but my tap is always at about 120-160ppm so I don't run it at all.
I'm actually hooking up my RO filter tonight. I'm confused though. So if I was using 400 ppm water and I wanted to feed a total of 600 ppm, would I still feed 600 ppm nutes and my TDs meter would read 1000? Or I only use 200 ppm nutes?
 

Yesdog

Well-Known Member
Yes absolutely count whatever your meter is saying. Remember to calibrate it every two harvests too.
However, if your tap water is 400ppm I would suggest two things. First, start saving up for Reverse Osmosis filtration system. RO water is usually less than 50ppm. Secondly, until you have a filter, let whatever water you using now sit for 24hrs before using it. Sounds like you've got some hard water and need to let the chlorine and other chemicals/minerals evaporate before using it.
Most hydro guys are using RO water but my tap is always at about 120-160ppm so I don't run it at all.
Yea if its semi-hard you're basically just getting some free cal/mag... plus a pH up buffer. So it's harder to lower the pH, but once you do the free 'buffer' helps keep it there for you.

I'm actually hooking up my RO filter tonight. I'm confused though. So if I was using 400 ppm water and I wanted to feed a total of 600 ppm, would I still feed 600 ppm nutes and my TDs meter would read 1000? Or I only use 200 ppm nutes?
Can get a bit complicated. If your water is that hard, there's lots of Calcium and other stuff in there may 'fall out' of your solution with too many other nutes. In the end this means you can't use as much nutrients (and may cause ph issues), or you have to somehow formulate around your hard water.
 
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bassman999

Well-Known Member
I used part R/O and part water from the machines at the store to help with too much ph up from tap.
My tap is like 8+ph and close to 200ppm.

Dont think about how much PPM you are adding to water, but pay attention the PPM after you added it.
So just add nutes till you get the ppm you are after.
I used r/o with tap to the the ph where I wanted without having to use ph up or ph down.
Remember to check still even if you think you have it down because tap water , at least here, can fluctuate.
 

Tigerpaws

Well-Known Member
Yea if its semi-hard you're basically just getting some free cal/mag... plus a pH up buffer. So it's harder to lower the pH, but once you do the free 'buffer' helps keep it there for you.



Can get a bit complicated. If your water is that hard, there's lots of Calcium and other stuff in there may 'fall out' of your solution with too many other nutes. In the end this means you can't use as much nutrients (and may cause ph issues), or you have to somehow formulate around your hard water.
Ok. Well I'm in the process of hooking up an RO system right now so that worry will be gone. Thank you.
 

Tigerpaws

Well-Known Member
I used part R/O and part water from the machines at the store to help with too much ph up from tap.
My tap is like 8+ph and close to 200ppm.

Dont think about how much PPM you are adding to water, but pay attention the PPM after you added it.
So just add nutes till you get the ppm you are after.
I used r/o with tap to the the ph where I wanted without having to use ph up or ph down.
Remember to check still even if you think you have it down because tap water , at least here, can fluctuate.
Got it I think! So after I get my RO hooked up and I have 50 ppm water and I want 400 ppm total. I just add enough nutes to equal 350 ppm. Right?
 

Tigerpaws

Well-Known Member
Quick question. What do you do with the waste water from the RO? I just filled a 5 gallon bucket to get about a cup of RO water. Is this normal?
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
Hi HB, been poking around your threads and comments. I'm going to try my next run in 6x6 RW using Dyna nutes. I've been doing flood and drain in hydroton with GH nutes but I'm tired of cleaning all those rocks...
Are you flowering in just 6x6 cubes or are you placing those cubes on a coco mat at all? Could you PM me, I'm too new to send one...I don't need your recipe or grow tips, I'm sure you've spent hundreds of $ like I have through trial and error but some setup advice would be much appreciated.
Yep, 6 x 6 cubes in my flood and drain areas of the garden.
 
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