Simplest, yet most effective hydro nutes

Good evening rollitup family!

I'm towards the end of my first grow after a 7 +/- year hiatus. While some things have come back to me like riding a bike, others still elude me. It's been a re-learning process, if I do say so myself, but I'm excited to dive back into it.

The method that suits me best and what I'm currently running is a DWC system with 5 gallon buckets and regular tap water. Prior to my hiatus, I grew for roughly 10 years, the majority of which was in soil and self taught. Towards the latter end of that run, I started with hydro and fell in love with it. The simplicity and ease grabbed a hold of me and never let go. I ran the floranova line (just grow/bloom) and liked it aside from it being a little messy. This go around, I had the means to run the entire floranova line, which means I'm adding a maximum of 9 nutrients during my nutrient change (includes hydroguard and calmagic). At the end of the day, I feel like this is just too much and a money grab by the company.

So with that being said, I would love to hear from someone, that has much more hydro experience than myself, to guide me in a direction that isn't as complex, but still provides the results...ie quality and quantity. I've read about Jack's 3-2-1, but admittedly so, I don't fully understand it. If that is your go to, a little elaboration on how you run it, would be great as well.

Any and all insight is greatly appreciated

I use Floranova by itself because it is simple and I am lazy. I did side by side comparisons of different nutes for years but have settled on the Floranova for the last couple years. In the middle of flower I use a little Floralicious and a little epsom salt. People still call me all the time wanting my sweet tasting meds.

I'm about to start a grow using Jack's for the first time after years of using GH's Maxi series (primarily using Lucas formula, ie all Maxibloom). Maybe I can help; 3-2-1 is just a poorly marketed way of saying their recommended mix ratio per gallon when growing cannabis specifically; 3.6 grams of Part A, 2.4 grams Part B (which is just cal nit you can buy from any other supplier), 1.1 grams of Epsom salts. Their recommendation diverges mid-grow (whenever you flip to 12/12) where they recommend you use their Bloom formula in lieu of A/B for 1-2 weeks, then it's back to 3-2-1 until late flower where they recommend using their Finish formula before flushing. Some people rock 3-2-1 full grow until flush. Here's a good video that should help you.

jacks RO or Tap formula. 1 part dry nute depending on your source water.

Yeah. Just plain ol jacks, calnit, Epsom, spend 50$ and what I get will last me years for my grow size.

70's natureboy said:

I use Floranova by itself because it is simple and I am lazy. I did side by side comparisons of different nutes for years but have settled on the Floranova for the last couple years. In the middle of flower I use a little Floralicious and a little epsom salt. People still call me all the time wanting my sweet tasting meds.

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See, that's kind of where I'm at. I'm lazy and don't want to spend 2 hours changing out my nutrients. At what point in flower do you start adding the floralicious and/or Epsom salt?? What measurements per gallon??

Major Blazer said:

I'm about to start a grow using Jack's for the first time after years of using GH's Maxi series (primarily using Lucas formula, ie all Maxibloom). Maybe I can help; 3-2-1 is just a poorly marketed way of saying their recommended mix ratio per gallon when growing cannabis specifically; 3.6 grams of Part A, 2.4 grams Part B (which is just cal nit you can buy from any other supplier), 1.1 grams of Epsom salts. Their recommendation diverges mid-grow (whenever you flip to 12/12) where they recommend you use their Bloom formula in lieu of A/B for 1-2 weeks, then it's back to 3-2-1 until late flower where they recommend using their Finish formula before flushing. Some people rock 3-2-1 full grow until flush. Here's a good video that should help you.

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I appreciate your response! I'll definitely check out the video.

MVincent420 said:

I appreciate your response! I'll definitely check out the video.

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No worries. After that post I decided fk it, I'm sticking with GH Maxi series. It's super simple, super reliable, and I've never had an issue using it so why fix what ain't broken? It's a 2 part dry nutrient system (Gro for veg, Bloom for flower) that you supplement with cal/mag if you're using RO (or as needed). I don't use the Gro though, I use Bloom only which is the Lucas recipe. Scroll down to Lucas Formula MaxiBloom

MVincent420 said:

See, that's kind of where I'm at. I'm lazy and don't want to spend 2 hours changing out my nutrients. At what point in flower do you start adding the floralicious and/or Epsom salt?? What measurements per gallon??

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I'm not that scientific about it and I'm not all that convinced that it works but it makes me feel good lol. When I'm changing out a rez/tote around week 4-5 I add some Floralicious around 2-3 ml/gal and throw about 3/4 teaspoon of epsom in the tote. I have had plenty of great harvest with just the Floranova alone.

I was almost ready to try Jack's after watching this thread. Then the video started getting complicated. I almost thought about using the bags of Maxi stuff I have on the shelf then I was reminded about the hot water and the mixing, forget it been there done that. The easiest for me is 1/2 tsp of ph down in my tap water and 1 tablespoon of Floranova in a 5 gal pail gets me around 1 EC, right where my babies like it.

70's natureboy said:

I'm not that scientific about it and I'm not all that convinced that it works but it makes me feel good lol. When I'm changing out a rez/tote around week 4-5 I add some Floralicious around 2-3 ml/gal and throw about 3/4 teaspoon of epsom in the tote. I have had plenty of great harvest with just the Floranova alone.

I was almost ready to try Jack's after watching this thread. Then the video started getting complicated. I almost thought about using the bags of Maxi stuff I have on the shelf then I was reminded about the hot water and the mixing, forget it been there done that. The easiest for me is 1/2 tsp of ph down in my tap water and 1 tablespoon of Floranova in a 5 gal pail gets me around 1 EC, right where my babies like it.

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I feel like the video was a little convoluted, but when you push aside the scientific aspect of Jack's 321, it really is the perfect combination of simplistic and cost effective as anything around; which has me wanting to make the switch. Essentially, what it is, is 3.6g/gallon of Jack's hydro, 2.4g/gallon of calcium nitrate and 1.2g/gallon Epsom salt (I've seen/read/watched some preferential, but not required, modifications), throughout the entire grow. From what I've read, you can get through multiple grows on less than $100.

I think I'm going to finish out my GH line and then make the switch. I would half ass feel like a fool if I didnt give it a try. What I'll probably end up doing, is doing a side by side with my next grow (just about to harvest my first after 7 years off) and then make a decision, going forward, after that.

I have ran the jacks 321 style for several years now, its pretty easy to work with. Before that it was the maxibloom. Both work pretty well and are super easy. Went that road for the same reason as the op, its a bunch of bottles and felt like a rip off for most stuff.

I like the control you can get with jacks, you can absolutely run the same formula throughout, but I like to adjust the calnit ratio in flower to help limit N. Typically I don't add the Epsom unless I see a specific need. Normally I feed at 3.2 to 3.4g of part a, 2 to 2.4 of calnit. Current round I am adding a fulvic and feeding at a bit lower levels...can't really say if it's doing much, will see what the end result is like.

...and I can't really change now, committed to the 25 lb bags so have 50lbs total to work through.

HGCC said:

I have ran the jacks 321 style for several years now, its pretty easy to work with. Before that it was the maxibloom.

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May I ask, do you use Tap, RO, or some combination? If you're using tap, what is it's pH before any additives and what is the pH after mixing in the 3-2-1?

Ionic notes are probably the simplist to use grow and bloom simple as that. From the same people who make clonex rooting gell

Major Blazer said:

May I ask, do you use Tap, RO, or some combination? If you're using tap, what is it's pH before any additives and what is the pH after mixing in the 3-2-1?

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I just use tap, it fluctuates, but is 7.5-ish up to 8 I think. Jack's doesn't seem to move it much, been a while since I checked so apologies if it's off but I think it moved down around .5. I just ph down to around 6, though the big reason I was giving the fulvic a try was that it will lower ph and also make stuff more available at a wider ph range. (Oddly phrased but hope that makes sense.

HGCC said:

I have ran the jacks 321 style for several years now, its pretty easy to work with. Before that it was the maxibloom. Both work pretty well and are super easy. Went that road for the same reason as the op, its a bunch of bottles and felt like a rip off for most stuff.

I like the control you can get with jacks, you can absolutely run the same formula throughout, but I like to adjust the calnit ratio in flower to help limit N. Typically I don't add the Epsom unless I see a specific need. Normally I feed at 3.2 to 3.4g of part a, 2 to 2.4 of calnit. Current round I am adding a fulvic and feeding at a bit lower levels...can't really say if it's doing much, will see what the end result is like.

...and I can't really change now, committed to the 25 lb bags so have 50lbs total to work through.

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It's good to hear from someone that has run jacks 321 for awhile....this may sound like a newb question (and admittedly so, I feel like one, after the longevity of my hiatus), but can you elaborate on your "typically I don't add Epsom salt unless I see a specific need" comment?? Are you saying you don't use Epsom salt at all throughout the entire grow (with the exception of when you see the aforementioned specific need)?? Also, what would you constitute a "specific need"; ie, changes in the plant/oncomings of deficiencies, etc.

Thanks in advance bro!

MVincent420 said:

It's good to hear from someone that has run jacks 321 for awhile....this may sound like a newb question (and admittedly so, I feel like one, after the longevity of my hiatus), but can you elaborate on your "typically I don't add Epsom salt unless I see a specific need" comment?? Are you saying you don't use Epsom salt at all throughout the entire grow (with the exception of when you see the aforementioned specific need)?? Also, what would you constitute a "specific need"; ie, changes in the plant/oncomings of deficiencies, etc.

Thanks in advance bro!

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I would use it if I saw a magnesium deficiency, but from what I gather (think from icmag) the formula was changed several years back and there should be plenty of mag available in the part a for most varieties.

This was Jetdro’s feeding plan using Jacks. He uses the 2-2-2 for veg (pick shows tvf, but switched to jacks) , the 3-2-1 for early to middle flowering and 5-12-26 for the final few weeks. If you follow it, you really can’t miss. Good Luck!

Tiger said:

This was Jetdro’

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who the heck is jetdro?

I'm running Jack's RO at 50%-60% strength with drip clean for autos. I just use a little well water to get the ph stable and it's easy peasy.

I'm hoping to get some help. I just started running Jack's 321. Here's a little bit about my grow:

4x4 tent with a Blackdog Phytomax 2 800. Peak temperature inside the tent is 85°F (recommended by Blackdog). RH is right around 45%. I run DWC in single 5 gallon igloo coolers. Each cooler has two cylindrical airstones and visually, there are PLENTY of bubbles. The rez temp is right around 68-70°, but sometimes they rize closer to 73°. My PH is right around 5.8 and I will lower it again once it hits about 6.3. I started out measuring the nutrients for 3 gallons and everything was running smoothly. On Sunday, I did a rez change and measured it for 4 gallons and this is where my issues began. I started seeing drooping of the leaves and slight yellowing on the bottom. The roots have slowly started turning a little beige, but there is beautiful new white roots growing as well. I use hydroguard so I'm not sure what's causing the slow browning of the roots. My PPM is reading at 820, using tap water that measures a little high at 420. Over the last couple of days, I've noticed that the PH shoots from 5.8 to roughly 6.7 over a 24 hour period.

I've got two other plants in the same tent but using FloraNova and they are looking beautiful. These have maintained a PH of 5.8-6.

Any insight on what could be causing this issue is greatly appreciated!!