i don't do what i do for profit, but i don't think there's anything wrong with people that do. nothing morally superior about selling any other product to customers, people should be allowed to profit from work. that said, $50/8th all the way up isn't all that compassionate so i don't think it affords you that label. consider that cannabis is worth considerably less here in CA due to all the competition, and people are still profiting selling pounds of indoor at 2400usd, $150 an oz average. only the best growers with elite strains will take in over 3200/lb(200/oz). rent is at least 2x as much virtually everywhere in CA, and electricity can cost over $.40/kwh here. how much is electricity in phoenix these days? i'm pretty sure i remembered paying anywhere from 6-13 cents per kwh. considerably less. on top of that you have far fewer risks in AZ, the air is dry so pm is virtually nonexistent and cannabis pests are rare. over a decade of growing in phoenix and i've never seen spidermites, root aphids, thrips, powdery mildew, pythium, or botrytis on mine or any of my friends' grows. all you really have to contend with is heat. phoenix is a dream environment for indoor growing in my opinion and the quality we produced out there was totally top shelf every time.
i don't mean to dog anyone so i won't name names, i know AZ produces some fire indoor that can run with anything in CA because i've seen it and done it.. but i've seen the meds from a number of AZ compassion clubs and i've yet to see anything impressive at all. so many of these places have last year or earlier's hot cali commercial strains like blue dream and green crack, and old school dutch shit that just doesn't compare to what we're doing out here in CA, and it's not even good enough to call top shelf out here. the quality of the blue dream i see out there would be worth like 1600 a pack here, it's so totally average. everything i've seen was either harvested way too early, or clearly grown with high-EC straight mineral nutes just going by mfgr's excessive feed charts, or grown with illegal and dangerous PGRs like paclobutrazol, daminozide, and chlormequat chloride (bushmaster, gravity, phosphoload, flower dragon, probably bud factor x and other AN bloom boosters, many others) that totally diminish quality and potency. those rock-hard gravity-fed flowers with tiny little trichomes contain PGRs with potentially carcinogenic breakdown products, the stuff isn't safe medicine. people out there need to get educated about these PGRs and the products that contain them, and start calling out growers that use that shit. if i see it, i'm droppin' the dime to your patients. people deserve to know if their meds are safe or not.
i recommend sticking with the tried and true AZ local badasses Botanicare. their organic amendments for hydro are the secret behind probably the tastiest herb you've had in AZ. synth/organic in hydro is often considered high risk and challenging but botanicare makes a complete line of products for the method that makes things as easy as possible. liquid karma increases nutrient uptake and leads to the biggest god damn foliage you'll ever see, my POG produces fan leaves with 14" blades. pureblend original increases nutrient uptake and provides a slew of things you're not getting from a full-synth base and dramatically increases flavors, smells, textures, and visual appeal when added to your low-EC mineral nute mix. aquashield provides composted poultry litter enzymatic root breakdown along with root zone protection from a handful of bacillus strains. ZHO is a killer root zone inoculant devoid of myco species that don't even colonize root zones on annuals, though it's expensive as hell so i use roots oregonism which works just as well. hydroplex 0-10-6 is a basic bloom booster devoid of PGRs that just works, and very well, and also contains a bunch of amino acids and trace minerals. CNS17 and pureblend pro are both powerful and easy to use base nute regimens, and cal-mag+ is pretty much the gold standard of ca/mg/iron/trace element supplements. even the power series with blast-off, and tri-flex have given us outstanding results. "sweet" is bullshit though, i can't recommend that or any sweetener product for hydro.
if you're bent on sterile full synth hydro, i like botanicare cns17/power/triflex lines or dynagro most for base ferts but for a whole line, dutch master is where it's at. they make everything you need for a complete sterile synth formula including a high quality oxidizer (zone) but DON'T FOLLOW THE FUCKING FEED SCHEDULE. on ANYTHING, ever. watch your EC. many lines have feed schedules that top out at 2500-3000uS/cm EC. no indoor cannabis plant needs that much fertilizer, it leads to herb that tastes like hose water and looks like shit. 1500-1900uS/cm peak is as much as you'll ever need to facilitate strong healthy growth of HIGH QUALITY flowers.
you want heavier yields like you get with the illegal and dangerous PGR bloom boosters, without ruining the quality and potency of your flowers and risking your health? there's a safe and natural plant growth regulator that'll help you accomplish that. Triacontanol. it's commonly found in alfalfa meal and beeswax. beeswax seems to be the best source, but failing that an alfalfa tea or soil amendment will provide the benefits. there are several bloom boosters on the market that contain triacontanol, either naturally or synthetically derived, but the best i've seen so far is Resinator from Rock Nutrients. it's the only thing i've found that gives you dramatic results almost overnight. it's a high-K bloom booster to be used in late flower along with beeswax derived triacontanol, citric acid, and a few other things i can't remember. i use botanicare hydroplex for the first half of flower and rock resinator for the second half, 2ml/g hydroplex then 1-2ml/g resinator. trichomes swell up bigger than you've ever seen and become more numerous. big enough you can visually inspect their maturity without a loupe on some strains, i'm not joking. calyxes swell fatter than ever, aromas are more pronounced, yields are better, colors are better, texture is better, potency is better. it does all the things that AN claims to do, but doesn't. they also make a root stimulant product called "supercharge" that works just amazingly and i've seen it save some pretty much trashed grows full of pythium, but i hesitate to recommend it because i don't know what's in it.
just kidding... ITS THE KIDS!..
