Marijuana growers spend a lot of money on hydroponics nutrients because we want big, phat, sugary buds.
We see marijuana growers using major hydroponics nutrients brands like General Hydroponics, Canna, House and Garden, Botanicare, and their marijuana plants grow, mature, and produce buds.
But the question you can ask yourself is: how do hydroponics nutrients designed and tested specifically for marijuana give me the most grams and THC per watt?
When I started growing marijuana, I used General Hydroponics 3-part base nutrients, like most people did.
Their nutrients were easy to mix.
I could count on getting about a pound per 1000-watt light.
But General Hydroponics nutrients often gave me problems with pH buffering, and bloom phase performance.
I often had to deviate from the General Hydroponics recommended mix ratios, especially when it came to the micronutrients portion of their 3-part base.
When I called and told them their nutrients were giving me problems with my marijuana plants, they hung up as soon as I mentioned the word “marijuana.”
It came to me right then what the company’s name tells you is that General Hydroponics nutrients are in fact general hydroponics nutrients…designed to work on lettuce, beans, and houseplants, not marijuana.
Another time I contacted General Hydroponics, advised them I’m a legal marijuana grower, and asked for specific advice on using their hydroponics nutrients to grow marijuana.
At least they didn’t hang up on me this time.
But they told me General Hydroponics does not use marijuana plants in any of its testing.
They said General Hydroponics has “nothing to do with marijuana or marijuana growers.”
“Our products are for ornamental plants and veggies, not for illegal crops,” the General Hydroponics man said.
Look at the General Hydroponics website or talk to their reps at an indoor gardening expo…they’ll make it clear they’re not dedicated to helping you grow bigger and better marijuana.
That’s just not who they are.
Their website proclaims: “We are developing new hydroponic systems and perfecting nutrient formulas to enhance flavor and yield plus vitamin and mineral content in food crops for higher nutritional value. Our farm division is testing many varieties of vegetables…”
The obvious reaction you have to this is–hey, General Hydroponics, marijuana is not a vegetable or a food crop.
Hydroponics insiders, including former employees of General Hydroponics, know that GH’s hydroponics ingredients, ratios, and manufacturing processes produce generic hydroponics fertilizers that have no specificity to marijuana, and GH is proud to tell you so.
In fact, General Hydroponics avoids any event openly meant for marijuana growers.
Take a look at this rather rude video, and you’ll see what I mean…
When you look at a product such as General Hydroponics Flora three-part base nutrients, you see where the problems are for you and your cannabis plants.
The problems are there because GH nutrients aren’t designed for marijuana plants.
That’s not good, because marijuana plants have unique nutritional needs and only when you give them nutrients tailored to meet those needs do your cannabis plants give you the maximum weight and cannabinoids they’re capable of producing.
Yes, some growers get acceptable results with General Hydroponics, or else the company would be totally out of business.
Marijuana plants are incredibly forgiving. They can handle even the crappiest fertilizers and still give you at least a few buds.
But the percentage of GH users who’ve had worries about their base nutrients is higher than anyone would like to see.
When growers ask General Hydroponics, Botanicare, Technaflora or most of the other North American hydroponics nutrients companies if they do any scientific research for cannabis growing, their answer is NO and HELL NO!
How does that make you feel?
It made me feel I better get off the General Hydroponics and use hydroponics nutrients tested on marijuana, even if it meant switching away from what I’m familiar with.
It’s not like General Hydroponics products are totally useless. For example, I highly recommend their mite-killer Azamax.
They have a seaweed product called BioWeed that’s pretty nice too.
On the other hand, General Hydroponics makes a dangerous, health-harming product called Bush Load that contains PACLO.
Marijuana growers who care about their health don’t want PACLO, and public health officials have banned it in fertilizers, but GH is still making money selling it.
The other thing is, I want to do business only with companies that embrace the marijuana growing community.
But General Hydroponics does NOT make hydroponics nutrients for marijuana.
It’s General Hydroponics corporate policy to deny that marijuana growers are essential to the hydroponics industry.
All GH does is take our money selling us generic fertilizers made for veggies and ornamental plants.
In fact, after General Hydroponics was purchased by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scotts Miracle-Gro in early 2015, the company’s founder Lawrence Brooke bragged that GH had NEVER been designed for cannabis.
The dude said he always made sure to distance himself and his company from marijuana growers. Wow!
That’s why I said goodbye to GH a long time ago.
When you want the best for your marijuana plants, you’ll stop using General Hydroponics too!
