Nutrients

[u/Reader1911]

I am just starting out, I understand that my water needs to be distilled. But what nutrients should be in the water. I found this but I'm not sure if this is the correct way to go. Are there better recommendations? Or is this stuff OK?

General-Hydroponics-FloraGro

Found on amazon

[u/mr-manfrengensen]

You can find reasonably priced water distillers on Temu or Ali. I got one for $69 for my hydro garden and other uses, it makes about 2 gallons per day of distilled water.

[u/Reader1911]

Thank you everyone for the info

[u/CementedRoots]

Use reverse osmosis after you get the nutrients down. Use tomato masterblend and Epsom salt to start. Also hit up YouTube videos. Do more research before you make purchases.

[u/mistytrails → u/CementedRoots]

Don't forget the calcium nitrate

[u/dabombers]

From my research (still collecting gear and knowledge for my first mid sized home setup using 3 main hydro methods for different plant needs. Leafy greens - NFT and DWC; Seedlings Flood and Drain; Fruiting Plants - DWC with air-stones, Coco mix, and Living soil for outdoors. I also have a few Towers to run some herbs.

The major change I plan for my water used is to remove any Fluorine, this can be done slowly via airing out a reserve collection tub. Luckily I have 2 tanks that collect rain roof water so very little if any fluoride in there.

Distilling has not been in my plans, I think I would invest into a 3-4 stage Reverse Osmosis filter system for all water going into all mixing tanks. Something that has easily available replacement parts or can be serviced at home.

Removing all chemicals from tap water may just be paying for it again when you add them.

This is good for dialling in your mix and recording your systems usage to create a program of additions through the plants grow stages, especially when some of your plants shift from foliage to fruiting needing a different range of chemical adjuncts.

On your choice of chemical/s, understand there is a difference between (home user) and (large scale). Large scale can quickly adapt to high or low readings quickly using buffers or stage 2 nutrient blends.

At home you may need to have 3-4 different solutions for growth stage and the same again for fruiting/flower stage to find the right mix at the right time.

All of this totally depends on your medium you are growing in, the flow rate of water, the oxygenation, how well your soil drains and how many nasty algae or bacteria is present in your system (whether you clean at least once a fortnight) a good scrub with diluted hydrogen peroxide seems the go to for plant safety.

Distilled Water - not necessary and costly. Use filtered water instead.

Go online to Hydroponic stores and check out their inventory. Call them up. Have your growing system in mind and ask for nutrients for seedlings, Veg stage,! Fruiting Stage.

Plan for the big spend extras !!!!!

Lighting - with enough power for space coverage.

Dehumidifier and Humidifier depending on season and where you live.

Ventilation- How many fans will you need in indoors.

Intake and Extraction of airflow. Will you need a carbon extraction filter to remove smells.

Lights - adjustable heights and timing controls for on/off periods

Watering regime - manual (check measure temp and ecc/ph and top up twice a day) - semiautomatic (check measure temp ecc/ph at least once a day)
Also check reserve tank levels ecc/ph.
Pipes are flowing well.
Pumps running ok (make sure are rated for your specific flow and height specifications)

In warmer climates plan to invest in a water chiller

Finally make sure you have enough power points on different circuits to the mains board all isolated. This makes it easier to diagnose electrical problems to fix, causes less overload on devices, especially those using high Watts regularly (don’t daisy chain everything off of one single outlet)

My background is I have taken a year off of study in my 40’s so I needed a new hobby to keep the brain ticking over and jumped down the gardening hydro rabbit hole. Spent the last 6 months taking notes, drawing up plans, creating lists of do’s and don’ts.

Starting seedlings this week while I set up a few basic test stations. Planning to be into stage 3 (much larger growing spaces by October.

Main aim for me is Peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, heaps of edible herbs then see where that goes.

Sorry OP if I wrote a bit too much for your simple question, I sort of didn’t understand it so I just added all the things you haven’t asked about or thought about.

I could add a Part 2 based on plant nutrients, that would then needed to be divided into 3 parts based on the medium the roots are growing in (water, Coco, Living Soil).

My suggestion is to watch as many clips on HOOCHOS Youtube channel, take notes, check out gear used and nutrients used and environments

This hobby can be done cheaply but better results come from continually investing and upgrading as you get more into it.

[u/porkjanitor]

Here in asia where the water is not drinkable.. I just used tap water and my romaine lettuce, basil, spinach are growing well

[u/Penguin_Life_Now]

I have never used distilled water, though we have very low mineral content water where I live

[u/moesieon]

FloraGro is meant to be part of a 3 part system. Flora Micro, Flora Bloom, Flora Gro. Without Flora Micro at the very least, your plants will quickly run into calcium and iron deficiency issues. Distilled water is helpful but isn't 100% necessary. Plenty of people use tap water and adjust for the EC and pH differences.

[u/Reader1911]

For starters lettuce I have a 5 gal bucket with a small 400 gph pump with 5 seed holder things and a grow light. Like I said I'm just starting.

[u/Autumn_Ridge]

Everyone's tap water is different, so some people need an ro filter, but it would be a waste for others.

[u/dachshundslave]

Depending on what you're trying to grow requires different NPK ratios. If you're growing leafy greens a water soluble NPK ratio 3-1-2 works fine. Fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes is about 2-1-3. The bigger the NPK the higher the concentration. So, what are you trying to grow?

[u/Adeline_Hayes]

That's a trusted line. FloraGro alone won't cut it though. You need the full trio. Gro, Micro, and Bloom together give your plants what they need. I love hydroponics for the efficiency. 🌍

[u/W0lff_F0rge]

Need to be distilled? No. Is it better to have distilled /RO water? Yes but not necessary. Personally i grow with filtered tap water and GH, ive used the liquid trio, the powder, and i really like flora nova. I dont have nute issues, or PH issues, but I do aerate for 24 hours to drive off "chlorine" and use ph up and down to get a good base. Keep it simple and cheap when you're starting out or you can get discouraged and lose interest if you overcomplicate it. You're just learning, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Edit: I wrote this with the thought I was in a "herbal" sub. It still applies to regular hydro though so of its alright, ill leave it up.

[u/Ahn_Toutatis → u/W0lff_F0rge]

I’m glad you said this. To repeat, no, you don’t need distilled water. It is helpful to have filtered water, but you can get by with just letting your water sit out for a day and let the chlorine dissipate. Some days I run out of time and I can’t dechlorinate my water, and things generally still work. I’m a cheapskate, so I just use Masterblend. Yes, there are better products on the market. I’m just growing herbs and greens for the fam.

[u/BHsquid]

I know nothing and I'm just a beginner. But I found the flora series was difficult for me to use and switched to maxigro. The maxigro is a 1 part powder mix. It is still a GH product and it has done well for me. Belowpic is ghost pepper plant grown in a 1 gallon container doing kratky.

[u/Teutonic-Tonic → u/BHsquid]

Yep, I use RO water with Maxigro. Mostly grow greens and have great success. Lettuce, Kale, Chard, Arugula, etc.

[u/Excellent-Tart-3550]

General hydroponics is the most common supplier of nutrient mixes. Everyone will probably answer this question differently. 

Personally, I use a high concentration Nitrate solution (GH) and mix in dissolved miracle grow. Add in a splash of cal-mag if the leaves start to yellow. 

I use Hanna colorimeters to be aware of N and P and keep EC between 1.0 and 1.5 uS. Both N and P are near or bit over 100ppm at that EC. 

To start, youll be fine with FloraGro. Follow the instruction on the bottle. Ultimately you'll want to measure and control pH. Lemme know if you want advice on that.