Has anyone used (MG) bloom booster with decent results

[Tdh101jr]

Just really curious about my nuit regimen, everything has been smooth sailing so far. Started at begging of veg with the all purpose nuits npk 24-8-16 then about 3/4 way through veg transitioned to the other box that is 15-30-15 and now into week 3 of flower its full bloom nuits with a bit of molasas week 3-6 and the flush till harvest. So far my plants look great and havent had many nuit problems just a little nuit burn but ive got my ratios down now so all in all is that how one would suggest using these nuits and if nothing else can i actually just use the 15-30-15 for flowering until can make a online order?

[DoctorJohnson]

You're question intrigues me... You may know that the MiracleGro line doesn't have a lot of snob appeal in the growing community. The classic scenario seems to be someone using just MG All Purpose and having less than great results, but I suspect that a lot of that may be attributable more to inexperience than fertilizer brand.

And first off, congratulations on growing healthy plants with your current regimen. Results are all that matters, so it looks like you are doing things right.

Anyway, I have been using Nebula's recommended General Hydroponics 3-bottle FloraSeries feeding regimen (plus CALiMAGic Ca/Mg supplement, but let's not talk about that now). They are about $8 a bottle.

FloraSeries in Nebula's recommended ratios has worked great for me both for hydroponics and for coco coir.

MiracleGro is easier to find and look like it costs less, so I was wondering if you could mix up dosages equivalent to the GH regimen. (That was the intriguing part.)

Below is a comparison, with label numbers on the left and ratios on the right.

What's immediately obvious to me is that:

• MG doesn't offer something with relatively more potassium (K)
• MG doesn't offer something with very little or no nitrogen
• MG nutes have trace elements ("micronutrients) in all three offerings, whereas GH has micros only in FloraMicro.
• MG nutes all contain NPK+micros, so they'd be safe to use alone for some time (whereas GH FloraBloom, for example, has no nitrogen or micronutrients and FloraMicro has no phosphorous, which is to say the GH nutes really are each 1/3 of a system, not stand-alone solutions).

My chart only compares package amounts. The next step in a complete analysis would be to compare amounts in GH's actual FloraSeries dosing schedule, so this is just a quick, back-of-the envelope comparison. You could have a look at Nebula's coco coir chart for GH FloraSeries to do a more complete analysis:

To answer your question, I think that yes, as you suggest, if I were using MG fertilizers, I would finish off with 100% Bloom Buster for flowering to get relatively more phosphorous and less nitrogen, the favored ratios for blooming.

• I would keep a close watch for deficiencies, and go back to or add All Purpose if it looked like K was low.
• I would also watch out for Ca and Mg deficiencies, especially if you have soft water and especially if you are using reverse-osmosis water. Nebula has good diagnostic pages for those, but it's generally brown spots for Ca deficiency and yellow bands between green veins ("intraveinal chlorosis" ) for Mg deficiency. (Both deficiencies are quite common.)

If you'd care to report back on what you do and how it works, I would be curious to see your results. Good luck!

	N	P	K		N	P	K
MG All Purpose	24	8	16		3	1	2
MG Rose	18	24	16		1.1	1.5	1
MG Bloom Buster	15	30	15		1	2	1
GH FloraGro	3	1	6		3	1	6
GH FloraMicro	5	0	1		5	0	1
GH FloraBloom	0	5	4		0	1.1	1

[DoctorJohnson]

Still thinking about this...

Nebula's recommended dosing for GH Flora series at mid-bloom is .5 tsp each of FloraMicro and FloraBloom per gallon, and 0.125 tsp per gallon of FloraGro.

If you do the arithmetic, that gives you a ratio of 1.0 N to 1.09 P to 1.13 K.
MG Bloom Buster is 1 N to 2 P to 1 K, which is pretty close. It has significantly more P, but that's no sin in bloom.

So again, I think a diet of just MG Bloom Buster should work for you at the end of your grow.

[Tdh101jr]

Thanks alot for that information and taking the time to explain it in depth as well! So what i do is take 3/4 tbsp per gal instead of 1.5TBSP per gal and a half then i only pour about 25% of that gallon per feeding to 3/4 part water idk what that brings those high npk values down too but i believe i need to get in depth myself! I love dealing with numbers precentages and ratios so wont take me no time i planned on getting that flora trio and calmag for a bubbler dwc grow after i run thriugh this big bag of soil. As for the reasoning behind grabbing the MG was it was readily available and didnt have to wait a week to come in the mail and at 5$ a box id rather get the GH Flora Trio you know. Heres a few pictures of what they look like and ive used all those MG nuits on them all thus far.

[Tdh101jr]

[DoctorJohnson]

It sounds like you have a working system.

Yeah, the nice thing about "chemical" fertilizer (as opposed to the blood, bone, and poop that the organic people seem so enamored of) is that you get numbers to work with, and in hydroponics (or it's cousin, coco coir growing) the numbers are really easy to change. I have a spreadsheet with the recommended values in which I can change a single dilution variable and adjust my entire weekly nute mix. Easy.

Hey, for DWC I'd recommend using Advanced Nutrients pH Perfect line of fertilizers. (I think they have about three different lines under the pH Perfect brand, and the cheapest should work fine.) Me, I have used GH FloraSeries and got great results, but the pH in my reservoir really moved around a lot, and everyone who has used pH Perfect seems to agree that's much less of an issue. No fussing with the pH twice a day.

Also for DWC, I'd recommend 5 gallons per plant minimum for a reservoir size, and 7 would be better. More volume leaves more room for roots (and roots can get huge in a successful DWC grow) and it's more chemically (pH and PPM) and thermally stable.

Hydroponics is fun and really interesting and can give OMG results, but coco coir has many of the advantages of hydro but is much easier. Drain-to-waste coco is amazingly easy and highly recommended. Nebula has a good tutorial on it.. Just my .02. Good luck and have fun!

[Tdh101jr]

Thanks for all the information man really appreciate it. I have to do a bit more in depth reasearching for hydroponics im super curious/scared at the same time that it will just go south faily fast or get the dreaded root rot. As everything else goes, just have to try and experiment with it like we all do with cloning for 1st time etc. Quick question is all i need is 1 of those rubbermade bens 20gal or 5gal bugget for a single plant, a air pump and air stones and of course the rockwool, hydroton, net pots and hydro nuits?

[Blazed227]

Best thing to do with mg is throw it right in the trash... However I am a bit biased an not saying it won't work I just personally would never give them a dollar of my money but that's just me

[DoctorJohnson]

Strong feelings about fertilizer.

[Tdh101jr]

Well if i had options at the time or not cruched on time to give them any nuits i woulda ordered bit this is literally all i could get my hands on in time but after this grow ill be grabbing gh flora trio and try dwc but all honesty its not that bad if dilute it quite a bit i havent had 1 deficeny pop its head up past 3 months had to use it so in a pinch its better then nothing imo but def wish woulda placed a order before dropping in the seeds!

[Tdh101jr]

Also forgot to say MG nuits do have a tendency to build up salts fast and throw ph outta wack didnt check runoff for 1month and mine dropped from 6.5 to 5 just got it back right today.

[DoctorJohnson]

If it's salting up you may be overfeeding.

[Tdh101jr]

I couldnt visually see salts maybe a few grains here and there in the soil. Thats what im assuming caused the ph drop , not watering till runoff and all those feedings building up, till i did. idk but i will look into a exact feeding schedule. I have to sit down and do the math.