Its defently not just the taste Im looking at. like mistocles said, its the lifestyle of it, the feeling of al-natural, Ill defently look into that fox farm stuff though, should i go with liquid or soil nutes though?
You can still go cheap on the organics, look into the 5lb bags of blood, bone, and kelp meal as soil amendments.
For liquids, check out Earth Juice and Blue Mountain Organics. Both, low cost and high quality.
If you are forced to do chemical, look at Jack's Classic or Dyna Gro. Both use a much higher grade of salts than MG, but at the same price point as MG. Better quality for the same $$$$.
I've done grows with MG (the soluble powder, NOT the liquid), and it works just fine. No weird buds or misshapen plants or any of that.
This calls for some experience on the part of the grower to properly use them. If you follow the directions, you're screwed. LOL
You don't need elite nutes to grow elite plants, but you do need to be able to 'read' your plant and act accordingly.
Wet