I've gotta put in my 2 cents. Been growing hydro only a year. First grow, bought into what the boards were saying, spent money on shit that made matters worse. Second grow, came across Uncle Ben's approach, tried to blend his philosophy with board consensus, still had tons of problems. Next grow, I did one reservoir as board consensus, one reservoir as UBs advice. Hands down, better results with UB. Now, I keep it as simple as possible. Use Dyna-gro, best my plants have done. I have hundreds of dollars worth of half used bottles that did nothing but provide me problems, wasted my time and poorly effected yield. My cheap ass DG has proven to be effective and hassle free. I can leave my hydro grow alone for 1-2 weeks and my girls don't have issues. Buying into "snake oil," as UB calls it, I had issues every few days.
So while you may not agree with his methods, I've experimented and found his way is most fruitful. What I don't understand is why everyone has to get so bitchy and personal. So you don't agree. Get over it. If you like your way, great if it's producing.
Bottom line is that you can't reinvent the wheel, plant botany is plant botany. I've seen UB attacked for pointing this out time and time again.
It's a fucking weed, it knows how to grow.