is gh 3 part enough or do i need additional suppliments for healthy plants

Is gh 3 part enough on its own from start to finish if you follow the directions on the bottles perfect or will I need some more suppliments to ensure strong root development and healthy plants? I also have cal/mag, should I use that too? Is there anything you would suggest for healthy roots that work well in combination with GHs 3 part series?

i dont use cal/mag but im using tap water i used the flora series on my last grow & added diamond nectar after 4 feedings i use drain to waste schedule. i have a friend who did complete grow using gh maxi grow & maxi bloom series with good results i often wonder if i could do whole grow with just the 3 parts it would be a lot cheaper just not brave enough to try it my last grow came out real good so im gonna run same program

diowk said:

Is gh 3 part enough on its own from start to finish if you follow the directions on the bottles perfect or will I need some more suppliments to ensure strong root development and healthy plants? I also have cal/mag, should I use that too? Is there anything you would suggest for healthy roots that work well in combination with GHs 3 part series?

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GH three part will work fine without any supplements generally. If yiou do need a suppment you will likely only need magnesium sulfate. GH uses very liberal amounts of Calcium. GH has a good balance of nitrate and ammonium nitrogen so hugh pH problems seldom are present. If you do have large pH changes daily during budding then you might benefit with Cal-mag verus just magnesium sulfae because of the chelated iron added to Cal-Mag.

FloraNova is really not much different then the Flora series. It just has humic acid and fulvic acid added that is extracted from coal added to it. It also has a higher ppm of potassium as potassium hydroxide is used to extract the humic acid and fulvic acids from coal. They are pretty much just snake oil products.

Read this thread for information about cal-mag and magnesium sulfate;

https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/319237-does-cal-mag-tap-water.html

thanks a lot guys!

it should be plenty.
if you want a little more lush add some superthrive to the rez and youll be in good shape

CyberSecks said:

it should be plenty.
if you want a little more lush add some superthrive to the rez and youll be in good shape

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The only beneficial ingrediant in Superthrive is the auxin (rooting stimulant) Naphthylacetic acid. Beyond use for cloning and early root growth most scientists say there is no benefit to Naphthylacetic acid usage and benefits from the other ingredients in super thrive for any stage of plant growth are negligible.

"SWEET" it's great bro try it!!!! u can get decent yeild and quality from jus about anything (3part/complete) on the market... It's wat u do with em that matters... Carbs are an essential element for Mj. Think of it like this..."The more u give hur wat she likes the more she gives u wat u like... Carbs=20-30% increase in yield.. Sweet is 1 of the best for it...

Stick to yur regimen n u cnt go wrong... Use test plants to make sure er thang is on point... O n I'd think twice bout using mag sulfat!!! ul end up with more probs. if yur using Tap water ur fine but If using R.O. U need it... Test yur tap H20(ph/tds) before adding n e thing

Cal Mag, or epsom salts would be a good addition. They are sources of magnesium, which assists the plant with photosynthesis, plainly speaking. Your leaves will become really nice and green, provided the nutrient balance and ph are correct.

You should also look into a few cheap sources of humic acids. They will energize the plant. I don't know the juju behind humic acid's effect on the plant. I know it's good sheee-it, though.

Lastly, the plant with need a P-K boost during the ripening. Every nute program out there has some kind of high phosphorous additive you use in the final weeks before flushing. If you want to go on the cheap and organic route, pickup some indonesian bat guano. For hydro nutes, Grotek monster bloom is great, a cheaoer alternative to General Hydroponic's version. Both have similar n-p-k ratios.

Let me google that for you

wow, thanks a lot everyone. tonnes of good info here

JoeGrow420 said:

"SWEET" it's great bro try it!!!! u can get decent yeild and quality from jus about anything (3part/complete) on the market... It's wat u do with em that matters... Carbs are an essential element for Mj. Think of it like this..."The more u give hur wat she likes the more she gives u wat u like... Carbs=20-30% increase in yield.. Sweet is 1 of the best for it...

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i think im gonna try that. i read about a few others ranting about "sweet" a little while back, now Im really curious.

mj plants have no difficulty producing as many carbs as they need. Any possible gains would be negligible considering the cost of the supplement. Even produced and sold in bulk by major fertilizer manufacturers such products were found not only not cost advantageous but also negligible in yield increase potential. Sure mj is worth more but agricultural carbohydrates supplements are a dead horse supplement simply dug up again simply to milk the mj growers. There are dozens and dozens of such low benefit supplements being dug out from university book shelves and archives by such people as Fat Mike's crew at AN. Every graduate student or Doctoral candidate writes a report/book on their research work. The corporation or government agency paying for the research grant(s) get a copy as well as the universities library and the feds. The feds get a copy for the National library. They get a copy of all such research reports/publications just as they get a copy of every book published in the US.

You really don't think the manufacturers really do much research on their do you. Way to expensive and time consuming and it requires education, training, experience, over sight, record keep and equipment for scientific research and documentation of that reserach. That is why nearly all of it is done by universities. If done by private companies it is done only for very expensive products sold in huge quantities or a huge costs. IE automobiles, pharmaceutical drugs, etc.. Not mj growing supplements. Even Fat Mikie, the owner of AN, can not get away with charging that much money to defray real research costs on brand new "discoveries."

Gh 3 part with a little epsom salts has always worked ok for me. not very expensive either when you look at the over al picture.

fatman7574 said:

mj plants have no difficulty producing as many carbs as they need. Any possible gains would be negligible considering the cost of the supplement. Even produced and sold in bulk by major fertilizer manufacturers such products were found not only not cost advantageous but also negligible in yield increase potential. Sure mj is worth more but agricultural carbohydrates supplements are a dead horse supplement simply dug up again simply to milk the mj growers. There are dozens and dozens of such low benefit supplements being dug out from university book shelves and archives by such people as Fat Mike's crew at AN. Every graduate student or Doctoral candidate writes a report/book on their research work. The corporation or government agency paying for the research grant(s) get a copy as well as the universities library and the feds. The feds get a copy for the National library. They get a copy of all such research reports/publications just as they get a copy of every book published in the US.

You really don't think the manufacturers really do much research on their do you. Way to expensive and time consuming and it requires education, training, experience, over sight, record keep and equipment for scientific research and documentation of that reserach. That is why nearly all of it is done by universities. If done by private companies it is done only for very expensive products sold in huge quantities or a huge costs. IE automobiles, pharmaceutical drugs, etc.. Not mj growing supplements. Even Fat Mikie, the owner of AN, can not get away with charging that much money to defray real research costs on brand new "discoveries."

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thats an interesting theory. what are your sources?

Phosphorus is added as a product needed for buffering. Potassium is use also to that same effect. The plants do not needed additional, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium or iron during budding. The increased need is to continue the buffering process properly and to replace precipitated salts. Buffering of a nutrient solution in a recirculating reservoirs is the issue not a non existent increased nutrient uptake of calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus or potassium. Potassium does increase the EC to make up for the EC decrease proportionally caused by the typical lowering of the EC caused by the decreased nitrogen in most budding formulas. This balancing by increasing potassium concentration allows for adequate transpiration that other wise would be decreased. Inceasing calcium to raise the EC is a bad idea as it causes a decrease in transpiration and when presentt in excess it lowers uptake of boron, magnesium and phosphorus. mj nutrient manufacturers are being deceptive or flat out liars when they encourage others others to believe that the plants themselves have a higher need for those fertilizers during budding as they do not. The increased need for those salts during budding is due to the increased buffering needs during budding. This "need" is eliminated by drain to waster nutrient systems, or better handled by daily pH adjustments and frequent additions of nutrients to replace those lost as buffer as well as the more expensive route of more frequent reservoir changes rather than adding cal-mag or pottassium and phosphorus to an already inbalanced nutrient solution in a recirculatory reservoir. You just can't make a silk purse out of a rats ear by throwing a lot of crap at it.

diowk said:

thats an interesting theory. what are your sources?

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Theory, those are facts, not theory. Besides, I am a source. You can easily look up the data though as it is readily available. I do not perform others research without being paid nor do their home work for them. Just go to your local university library and pick up a couple books on hydroponic nutrient formulation. Or read up on calcium carbonate chemistry for a while.

Wernwer Stumm & James J. Morgan have a really good professional reference text in publication called "Aquatic chemistry." Another really good reference text is "Carbonate Chemistry of Aquatic Systems: Theory and Application" by Lowenthal and Marais. Even a non professional publication like "Plant Nutrient Facts for Hydroponics & How to Make Your Own Fully Formulated Plant Food" by McAskill. Or read any of thousands of research reports on hydroponics nutrient solution buffering.

Quit reading the half truth crap posted by nutrient manufacturers and the myths and baseless opinions posted and reposted my most hobby growers in growing forums that have almost no knowledge of how to formulate nutrients for hydroponics and that have no idea of what buffering is about as few even have any idea that roots discharge carbonate ions or hydrogen ions. Even fewer know the ionic charge of the common fertilizer salts or whether the charges are negative. Few growers have an understanding of what determines solution pH.

Interesting theory. Who are your sources. Thats funny!!!!

Do I need to post stoichiometric equations few would understand to make you happy. I can likely quiet quickly roll your eyes back into your skull with stoichiometry but that would only prove things to those capable of understanding what a stoichiometric equation is and what is shows or represents. Likely that is not you.

I have over a decade of college education in the sciences and over 25 years formulating hydroponic nutrients. I have over 35 years experience growing hydroponics. I can not simply post every every experience, whai all I have read, or learned just to please every one who says crap like "thats and interesting theory. What are your sources?"

How lame can you get.

Just follow the suggested GH schedule for the 3-part system and you'll do well. You'll do even better if you add the suggested additives but you should really hone in your grow skills first.

auto22 said:

Gh 3 part with a little epsom salts has always worked ok for me. not very expensive either when you look at the over al picture.

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I use the gh 3 part series I am curious about Epson salts how much to give etc?

Badjem said:

I use the gh 3 part series I am curious about Epson salts how much to give etc?

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I rarely had to add them using the 3 part from GH. If you end up with a magnesium deficiency you can add .5-1.0 grams per gallon of water with each watering and that should be plenty. Foliar spraying works best and fastest if you have a serious deficiency, just not in flower.

Badjem said:

I use the gh 3 part series I am curious about Epson salts how much to give etc?

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that person you replied to hasn't been here since 2010. just a FYI