Ask the Hydro Store Guy!

[Daubinks]

subbed.

I worked for multiple hydro shops.

Most growers I know tell me I should open my own...that I'd make a lot of $...

I tell them to run mono cropped sealed rooms with small pots of coco & feed nothing but 600ppms of jacks/calnit. I'll even give them a winning cut to fill it up with...

I blame LSD & Shrooms...

Right on! jacks/calnit/epsom is very economical for hydro. Everyone wants to know about what's marked up the most, It all is!. Every store has overhead and taxes and unemployment and you name it that it has to cover, that's gotta come out of someones pocket and obviously its the customers. It's the same for the hardware store or a gas station, Hydro stores are for convenience.

 

[_tessarecting]

How often would fellow 'employees' vanish without a trace?

 

[Daubinks]

Can you elaborate on how humid acids "lock" out chlorine? That's a new one..

I posted the video above, where Elaine Ingham explains everything.
Geoff Lawton will say the same thing.

Humic acids are long carbon chains which can accept chlorine and other elements and put them into an organic compound where they are no longer volatile. It's chemistry class meets organic gardening.

Here is the link again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2H60ritjag

It's also explained in Geoff Lawton's Permaculture videos.

I run hydro indoors cuz it's fun and I love it, but compost teas and compost piles outdoors. I prefer all my ingredients come from on-site for the outdoor. I build loams instead of buying bags of peat and perlite.

 

[Daubinks]

Ok, thanks. Appreciate the answer

In my case i grow only a few plants for headstash. Brewing tea on the scale I will need wont be expensive. Plus im all about the end product. I use ancient forest humis, worm castings, organic blackstrap and R/O.
Ocassionally i put in some Fulpower Humic
To the mix.
I ph the tea before using.

Big yard at my house. Endless uses for tea.
None goes to waste.

ok, so, don't pH a compost tea. Watch the video I posted, then think about pH'ing a compost tea. And you don't need to RO unless your area has high heavy metals, or is just straight funk, you usually get this report with your water bill, you still want some of the carbonates and calcium or you will have to start adding them back in, and filters are expensive...
Adding some soluble kelp will help out for the microbes and the plant if it's worth it to you. And careful of too much molasses, osmotic pressure is a real thing and you end up brewing lots of yeast. I've brewed some funky krausens before... I also brew beer, but I want that in my belly, not in my tea.

 

[Daubinks]

dont ya know it's hydro store guy science... ugh...

I heard someone had popcorn stuck between their shoulder and somewhere else and it was pointy... Probably a bit greazy too someone ought to help him out...

It's not #hydrostoreguy science, it's doctorate in soil microbiology knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2H60ritjag

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

Forget about pH when you go full organic. In actively living systems it's all over the place all the time. If it's fungal dominated it will go basic, bacterial dominated it will go acidic, and it goes back and forth all the time. Use pH adjustments only for strict Hydro mineral salts.

I disagree with this statement. I've added organic products like some compost blends containing shells, and it raised my PH, and caused some problems. The plants didnt recover until I tried PH corrected water and applications of food that bacteria like.

Microbes are helpers.. but if the chemistry is wrong. Its not going to work.

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

Ok hydrostore dude got a question:

Whats the most common pest (insect or mold) in cannabis gardens today?.. What do people come in all freaked out about?.

 

[who dat is]

Why do you keep ignoring the fun questions?

 

[Daubinks]

How often would fellow 'employees' vanish without a trace?

Never happened at my store, I only employed solid good people.

 

[Daubinks]

Can you describe some of your customers that stand out the most? Weirdest, most eccentric, loudest personalities, idiots, etc.?

Most customers were awesome, had tons of regulars who it was always a pleasure to see.

There is usually the friend who goes in with the person buying things who will listen quietly, but you can tell they just want to be talking.

There is the "OMG chemies" type, fear stricken by anything they don't understand.

There is the wide eyed high-schooler who is about to start on the adventure of a lifetime.

There are the older couples who are super secretive, but just as wide eyed as the high-schooler.

Then there is the dude gettin' down to business, real nice and polite, knows what he needs, doesn't need to ask questions other than what do I owe you, and leaves, mission accomplished.

 

[Levitationofme]

When I approach a grow shop its with minor
Paranoia as its not exactly legal to grow dope. Once I go in i like to be left alone to check out what they have. Then im happy to talk to salesman.
Personally I dont expect them to be much more knowledgeable then a waiter at a restaurant is about the food and wine. I usually have scoured these boards searching out opinions of stuff I may be interested in. I compare what the salesman knows to what I have gleaned
From the forums and make an educated decision. Over time i might get to know one of these guys and understand his knowledge.
It would be great to think these people are all expert growers who are kind enough to share their time and expertise while making minimal money. Not practical.

I do expect a much higher level of expertise by the owner of
the shop.
After being in business for myself for 25 years, I dont blame anyone for trying to make a profit. If something is overpriced and overhyped it wont last.

Im glad these grow shops are available in anycase.
Gives me a place to escape Wife lol.

 

[Rico _El_Guapo]

I grow in pro-mix... I don't usually care if it's BX or HP... I have noticed more perlite in the BX, but I've encountered certain stores don't carry BX because it has vermiculite in there. Do you/have you noticed a difference in the two?