OK Mr Imaulle, the lucky one who has stash now and I don't
Nice grow by the way, but I have to take up an argument with you, and maybe others, who think Jack's Classic is the best valued fertilizer of all time. It is, by it's own, but if you add other very significant factors in, it just isn't so. The fact that both ferts have massive urea for N, the medium used must be organic to process all this urea for conversion. The statement that you used $10 in fert is erroneous.
Each pot held maybe 4 gal Happy Froggy (3 new gallons + 1 gal transplant) at a cost (less shipping) of .75c qt = $12 bucket.
Let's say you got the Jack's for free. We won't even calculate how much you consumed. It would not be much per bucket. Maybe 20 grams.
I have a 4 gal 80/20 mix of coco and hydroton for .30c and .60c/ qt respectively. = .36c qt x 16 qts = $5.76. OK I use 24ml/gal nutrient for 84 days. 84/3 (feed every 3 days) = 28 feeds. 1/2 gal feed = 14 gal grow. 14x23ml = 322ml grow per bucket. I buy GH nutes @ $32/Gal. 322ml used = ~ $2.71 grow. My total cost for grow = $8.47
So far your per bucket = $12 Me= $8.47
Now I get 3 grows out of the coco and endless grows out of the hydroton. So if we took 3 grows , than your cost = 12x3 = $36 My cost is $5.76 + $2.71 + $2.71 = $11.18 a bucket.
1/3 your cost. Your fertilizer costs 3 times that of GH (sort of)!! Now I have to buy H2O2 to clean the medium so lets call it even since I gave you free nutes.
My point is
1) You bought Happy Frog which
is NUTES. @ 12$ a bucket, AND you had to buy Jack's on top of that. Far from $10.
2) Jacks is so cheap because of the urea, and active soil is required for it to work. (Bloom has some nitrate N though) Good soil costs money and must be calculated in the net fertilizer cost. Other nutrients, when the medium is weighed in, is sometimes equal if not cheaper as I demonstrated.
Don't get me wrong , Jacks is fine, in fact I may get some of that Botanicare organic fortifier and add to coco and do a grow with the Jack's line. I don't slam any one line of nutes, they all have their positive attributes (usually). Jack's is price, uses quality ingredients (see below) and does damn well in organic soil.
If you get on
http://www.aapfco.org/metals.htm and punch up peters, you can see the heavy metals of all nutes sold. I must say , Classic is some clean ass shit. It blows the doors off GH,AN and Dyna-grow. However, Happy Frog is high in lead and nickel. ( I think nickel is used in the urea/nitrogen process) .
Again excellent grow, love the frost on them. What camera do you use? Takes great piks.