Yes. A lot of the boutique "lineups" are overpriced and designed to lock you into a proprietary "schedule." Instead of thinking in terms of N, P and K (the way the plant does), they guide you into a world of "5ml Dirty Sanchez," "10ml Rhino Sweat." It's gimmicky. You're buying an experience, not nutrients.By the cartoon stuff r u talking the nutes
Whatever you use, I strongly advise you to enter the information from bottles into this spreadsheet, and keep a log of what you're *actually* feeding. This will give you two advantages:
1. After a couple grows, you'll know what NPK ratios you've been using throughout various stages of growth. You'll be able to compare what you *know* to other "lineups" -- or exit the "lineup" nonsense completely, feeding something simple and inexpensive, like Jack's Classic or Grow More Sea Grow (which is what I use).
2. If you have problems during your grow and there's any question about whether a particular nutrient is too low, you'll know exactly whether that was caused by some cartoon-labeled addon. For example, it's common for people to use Bloom Boosters in flower. (I don't think it does anything. But, whatever.). This, as well as reducing P too much too early, can lead to signs of N deficiency. If you know your numbers (such as: that you went from 1-1.2-2 (NPK ratio) to 1-4-3, that would be useful information to assess why your plant is falling apart.).
The boutique "lineups" work. And, having a schedule laid out for you removes the guesswork. But, they're worse than that because they hide what you're actually doing. You can't make objective choices (except that everyone else using the same "lineup" says "Monkey Snot in late flower is awesome."
If you keep track of what you're actually producing via those Mad Magazine bottles, you'll be glad you did in a year or two. You'll be better able to "read your plants," and compare other products, develop your own ratios, etc.