The primary reason to avoid PK boosters is that most fertilizer companies use what's called "technical grade" fertlilizer. It's cheap. Dirt cheap. P and K by their nature are naturally contaminated with all sorts of heavy metals. They're filthy fucking elements. Now a good fertilizer company that knows what they're doing insists that their suppliers of raw elements that go into their bags of fertilizer contain zero heavy metals. Sure, it costs more to do this but it ensures the food and medicine you're growing with that fertilizer isn't contaminated with heavy metals that can have severe health consequences. And since we dry and smoke the flesh of the plants we're growing ensuring our base fertilizers are heavy metal free is probably the most important decision you will ever make in your garden. Keeping heavy metals out of your lungs is the primary benefit, but what also happens? Your pot burns better. It tastes better. It's not as harsh to smoke. It's downright more enjoyable, and a better quality medicine when it is free of all heavy metals.
When I started growing hydroponically I used General Hydroponic's flora series with their Koolbloom PK booster. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous. THC Bomb. And they were so harsh to smoke that the product was nearly unusable. It burned to a hard charcoal. Clean gray ash? Yeah, not even close. Every bowl had to be dug out with a paper clip because of the awful heavy metal contamination. The smoked scorched my throat. And this is something that most of us who have patronized a store front dispensary have experienced at one time or another. Tons of 'Dro grown pot that tastes like chemicals and is harsh as can be to smoke. But man it looked great in the jar at the dispensary. Even smelled amazing too! You can't smell or see heavy metals in the plant's tissue though can you? You will taste it though and you will feel it in your throat. You will see your bowl burn poorly to a hard charcoal. Those are the heavy metals contaminating your ash. Lovely eh?
When I tried Jack's 5-12-26 a couple years after my THC Bomb debacle I grew in the same water to waste hydro buckets, but ditched general hydroponic's fertilizer and omitted any use of any PK booster at all whatsoever. Just Jack's 5-12-26, epsom salt, and calcium nitrate PH adjusted to 5.8 at 1.6-1.8 EC. The strain was gg#4 grown under a single ended 600w HPS. I hit .75GPW and the pot tasted amazing! It burned beautifully to a clean gray ash. And it was an outright pleasure to enjoy. Then I switched to GH's maxi grow and bloom, because I thought cannabis specific fertilizer was going to make my pot better. For over a year I used maxi and could not figure out why my pot didn't taste as amazing as it did when I was using jack's 5-12-26. I asked around and got nowhere. I started reading and got somewhere. Heavy metal contamination in the fertilizer industry is pervasive and ugly. I learned that it is of paramount importance that you are using a professional grade fertilizer that is free of heavy metals, and that means purchasing from a reputable company that knows what they're doing. I switched my entire garden over to jack's about 10 weeks ago. I just harvested a blue dream grown under 360w Geyapex COB LED light, and had a chance to smoke 2 flowers that were dry enough to burn down yesterday. Oh my god I cannot tell you how relieved I was when I inhaled and tasted no chemical flavor. The smoke was smooth and flavorful. I attribute this to my choice in using a heavy metal free fertilizer. Jack's does use technical grade fertilizer, but they test all of their raw components for heavy metals to ensure they are free of any contamination. This means Jack's sources their raw ingredients from quality suppliers that remove those heavy metals, so they do not wind up in our food and medicine. Jack's does this, because jack's knows what they're doing.
I believe in using a balanced fertilizer from start to finish. I do not believe bloom boosters to be necessary. However, I also do not believe them to be harmful if sourced from a reputable company that ensures that extra P and K is 100% heavy metal free. And the problem is only a few companies are spending the extra money to do this. If you're going to experiment with P and K boosters buy it from a company like Jack's. At least then you have confidence knowing your P and K isn't loaded with disgusting heavy metals that will negatively impact your flavor, burn qualities, and ultimately your health.
Word to your mother homie
Source:
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/risk/studies/metals.html
