I currently use the following in veg:
H&G Aqua Flakes A+B, H&G Roots Excelurator, H&G Magic Green, H&G Drip Clean, H16 Prime, H16 Foliar (I alternate between this and Magic green twice per week, huge results, great way to deliver calmag via H16 foliar or if your plants are stressed or experiencing some deficiencies/lockout issues - hit them with this during the flush and they will perk right up), H16 Finish, Orca, Growtastic EPG, H&G Algen Extract, H&G Multi Zen (enzyme, Z7 water conditioner (if you use tap water, get this stuff, slime and pH issues gone, swear by it)
In bloom I am using:
H16 Bud A+B
H16 Prime
H16 Finish
H&G Drip Clean
Dutch Master Potash+ (P/K booster)
Z7 water conditioner
After using H16, I plan on replacing the DM with Fire and possibly the H&G RE with H16 Roots...but haven't really seen anything out there in the way of good comparisons or shootouts. I recently added RE to the mix (maybe the last month or so) and can't say that I have seen drastic results, but I think it did make a positive difference. The Orca made the most noticeable difference for me as far as root development (however this was one of the first things I added to address some issues I was having so there was a larger contrast compared to adding things now that make a difference, just not as surprisingly noticeable, but I am pretty stoked to see how the Prime helps things out...just added that. I have also heard that adding Fire in smaller dosages in veg can help the root zone development as well. A guy at one of my local grow shops swears by it, he uses it throughout the whole lifecyle of the plant.
The stuff is kind of expensive, but honestly, it doesn't seem all that much more when you look at the rest of the stuff on the shelves. It all looks expensive to me LOL! I have had zero nutrient lockout issues and know of many people who use H16 religiously and haven't had those issue either. I think the price complaints are more around their additives (which, like H&G are expensive), however they are so concentrated that buying 250 or 500ml bottles is totally doable when you consider using 0.5-1ml per gallon in most cases.
Here is what I typically see on these threads.
"I used that, I had issues, that stuff sucks". You just might have had issues due to potentially a million other things. I seriously doubt that any major brand out there has the serious issues that I see people label them with - "causes lockout", etc. If they did have this, no one would buy it after a certain amount of time - and yet they are all doing just fine and you can do a simple search and find people who are devoted to those nutrient lines growing amazing, healthy, and beautifully yielding plants.
I have personally found that Canna, H&G and H16 are the most stable and cleanest nutrients in MY experience, using my particular water (tap), and growing in MY environment. pH was all over the place before, but these three have all shown to stabilize and maintain a good pH without any major issues. They also are very, very clean and easy to run through various grow techniques and methods. They seem to be pretty flexible.
I am sticking with my H&G + H16 regimen for now to let a few grows finish out for some data. But as of right now, I am super happy with the results.
