Best alternatives to maxi line?

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
Thank you friend. Is there any bulk silica powder you recommend as I'm only familiar with protekt?
AgSil 16 H.

The recommendation with AgSil 16H would be to prepare a stock solution at 15g/gal and then using this solution at a rate of 38mL/gal of final solution (injection rate of 1%). To increase the stability of your AgSil 16H concentrate you can add 1g/gal of KOH (POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE). The end addition to your solution will be +9.8ppm of Si as elemental Si and +11.55ppm of K. The KOH addition and low 15g/gal concentration ensures that silicate will already be largely present as monomeric silicate anions.

Second, make sure to add this solution to your water first. If you add this solution after nutrients, the Si will come into contact with Ca and Mg in its concentrated form, which will cause problems with its stability in solution. Add it first, then add your lowest pH fertilizer concentrate, then your Ca containing concentrate, then finally decrease the pH with an acid to the desired level if needed.

This procedure ensures you get a final solution containing monosilicic acid that will be stable. If you increase the Si in the stock solution, change the injection order, or increase the Si in the end solution beyond 20ppm of Si as elemental Si you might end up with precipitated and unavailable Si forms.
https://scienceinhydroponics.com/2023/02/common-questions-about-silicon-in-nutrient-solutions.html

Congratulations now you can produce gallons of monosilicic acid for a few dollars where a bottle of it from some company like Power Si charge ~$500/gal.
 
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calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
I generally mix five gallons at once but wouldn't have a issue getting a trash can and mixing 10 gallons or so.
I've used maxibloom and bunch of other hydro store stuff along the way.
I just can't justify the price nowadays.
Especially when I like tweaking the recipe according phenos, growth stages etc.

Now I have
25kg bag of Basefert for 50-60euros
25kg bag of MPK for 80euros
25kg bag of CalNit for 25euros
25kg bag of MgS for 20euros
and 5kg bag of just micros for 70euros.

Without micros, it's 100kg of nutrients under 200euros.
2eur/kg
Cheapest I saw Maxibloom is 229dollars for 22.6kg so 10dollars/1kg
Which isn't too bad.
But most of the "hydrostores" sell those 1kg bags for 30-40eur.

So don't pay too much extra! It's plant food.
That's insane your prices are so high. I get 50 pound buckets of MaxiBloom for $200 Out the door.
7.84 Euro per kg is the conversion..
Located in USA, Michigan
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Tracker

Well-Known Member
@taproot I use Maxi nutes for the simplicity. I'm on municipal tap water that is pH 7.9 and 200ppm. Bulk ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for pH down. I sometimes supplement with EasyWeed and CalMag+. I haven't tried Jack's or the other nutes mentioned on this thread. One each of the 16lb MaxiGro and MaxiBloom containers gets me through 2 runs of outdoor pictured below and 3 runs of indoor in 4x4 with a little left over.
IMG_20221008_120527_copy_3991x2993.jpg
 

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
@taproot I use Maxi nutes for the simplicity. I'm on municipal tap water that is pH 7.9 and 200ppm. Bulk ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for pH down. I sometimes supplement with EasyWeed and CalMag+. I haven't tried Jack's or the other nutes mentioned on this thread. One each of the 16lb MaxiGro and MaxiBloom containers gets me through 2 runs of outdoor pictured below and 3 runs of indoor in 4x4 with a little left over.
View attachment 5388931
Simplicity, Quality and yield. The performance of the Maxi line hasn't been beat by anything except the CYCO full line when I had money to run it. Now I just use silica (ph up) + maxi.
Some 10 gal ETHOS Purple Sunset in coco/perlite fed only armor si and maxibloom using RO water.
 
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taproot

Well-Known Member
That's insane your prices are so high. I get 50 pound buckets of MaxiBloom for $200 Out the door.
7.84 Euro per kg is the conversion..
Located in USA, Michigan
View attachment 5388932
The Jacks finish formula (7-15-30) looks close but has a little more nit and double the potassium. I wonder how it might compare with adding a little calmag to maxibloom?
 

Tracker

Well-Known Member
Do you use bloom from seed to harvest or add some maxigrow in veg?
Not directed at me, but figured I'd chime in...

Only MaxiGro up until bud formation starts
Then transition to MaxiBloom over the course of several weeks, increasing the Bloom/Gro ratio with each feeding, only getting to 100% Maxibloom for the last 2 to 3 weeks before harvest.
 

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
Do you use bloom from seed to harvest or add some maxigrow in veg?
I use MaxiGro until the end of stretch then begin using maxibloom. Usually 21 days into flower is safe to switch to flowering formula. I never liked using maxibloom start to finish. Both formulas are cheap. I run 1 EC in veg 1.2-1.6 EC in flower 5.8 pH no runoff in 5 gal pots of coco/perlite.

My idiot theory, broscience theory is that the bloom formula is very rich in P&K but low in N, so what typically happens is you feed heavier bloom fertilizer to compensate for lack of N and end up with P&K toxicity/buildup etc.. Better to use grow formula when the plant is really growing a lot of branches/stretching and then once it starts to stack buds give it the P&K it needs with maxibloom formula.

My favorite way to mix maxi is
for veg I set EC to 8.0 using GH Pro UP
mix in maxigro until I hit 5.8 pH usually around 1.0-1.1 EC with RO starting water

for bloom I set pH to 8.0 and bring EC to 1.4-1.6 range at 5.8 pH.

Maxi is quite acidic, so in purified/distilled water it will require a lot of ph up. You want to add your ph up early off because if you add it in later on to adjust upwards, your chances of your reservoir clouding up (falling out of solution) are so high within 24 hours. I was getting clouding within 24 hours in my res from pH adjusting after mixing everything.
 

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
You don't have to add CalMag when using maxi with RO water? Question
No I never use calmag. Silica+Maxi

Sometimes I will add 2 ppm of chlorine to my water using Calcium Hypochlorite so maybe that's why I have no issues with calcium? idk haha.. I use the cal hypo to keep algae and other funk at bay in my standing reservoirs that are refreshed only every 3-4 days. Keeps shit sparkly & squeaky clean and the plants love it. 0.3 grams of HTH Cal-Hypo per 50 gallon drum of water using a .001g scale gets me right around 2 ppm of free chlorine on my test strips. Usually by 48-72 hours my levels will be back down to 1 ppm if I dont run airstones.
 

taproot

Well-Known Member
Sometimes I will add 2 ppm of chlorine to my water using Calcium Hypochlorite
Are you using pool shock? What does 2 ppm look like, 1gram per gallon? I contribute my hempy buckets looking so clean after harvest do to the chlorine in my city water but now I'm on a well and would like to add some back in a safe levels but unsure how to achieve it. I was wanting to use pool shock as it seems cheap and I see others using it..i need to figure out how to use it correctly.
 

deimos phobos

Active Member
I just found my old huge bag of MegaCrop 1-part and tried to make a solution today. I guess because it's so old it's hardened into a clump, and I had to re-break it up with a gardening shovel and swirl it around. I definitely agree it's dirty stuff, it's so unpleasant to handle and stinky and loves to aerosolize right into your nose.. Debating just throwing it out.. The major problem I've noticed is that a bunch of the balls seem to be in one area and powder in another. My scoops don't look like an even distribution at all, it's all powdery or it's all balls-y

I wish there was a MegaCrop-like 1-part product that came in a bucket, not bag - and no balls to deal with.. That would be dope
 

chuckeye

Well-Known Member
I just found my old huge bag of MegaCrop 1-part and tried to make a solution today. I guess because it's so old it's hardened into a clump, and I had to re-break it up with a gardening shovel and swirl it around. I definitely agree it's dirty stuff, it's so unpleasant to handle and stinky and loves to aerosolize right into your nose.. Debating just throwing it out.. The major problem I've noticed is that a bunch of the balls seem to be in one area and powder in another. My scoops don't look like an even distribution at all, it's all powdery or it's all balls-y

I wish there was a MegaCrop-like 1-part product that came in a bucket, not bag - and no balls to deal with.. That would be dope
Uh, transfer it to a bucket ;)

Definitely need to keep it super dry !

And the balls, I just run it through a coffee ball mill grinder...

Cheers
 

deimos phobos

Active Member
I cannot even fathom the gigantic mess it would make moving it into a bucket from the bag ! I can imagine a poop scented atomic dust bomb exploding into the air ‍‍‍

Good idea with grinding it but again must be some messy business!

I'll see what I can come up with.. just gave it to a plant in veg, we'll see how it goes

Cheers!!
 

7CardBud

Well-Known Member
Jack's Finish doesn't have the extra micros the 5-12-26 Base has, since it's meant to be used as a one part fert.
 
Jack's 3-2-1 system is the best I've used. Master Blend is also very good. They are both 2-part systems, though, so mixing is kind of a drag, but not that big of a deal. I always pH everything going in and make sure it's all in that same range coming out, too. I grow in soil-less mix. First month I feed nothing. After that, it's Jack's every watering until ~week 8 of flower.....then just water for the remainder until harvest -usually 10-11 weeks depending on the hybrid.
What mix do you use for Masterblend. The suggested mix uses too much cal/nit. I see jacks has a chart that is different. I’m going to try the jacks mix instead.
Masterblend suggested mix is 2:1:2
Jacks is 1:2:4. This seems better.
 
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