I'm not looking for replies like...I use AN and I love it...or.. AN is just all marketing..
I really want to know if it really outperforms most other nutes.
Here's a bit of background.
I've been growing on and off for about 20 years. Before GH I was using EcoGrow dry 3-part nutes and was happy. Switched to GH and liked it just fine too. Then I moved to a different province and took a break for a few years.
FF to now.
I'm using Plantlife's Holland Secret 3-part base nutes with amazing success. I don't and have never used any of the additives that are available these days. My control room does look like a bit of a growstore though because I do use stuff like DM Zone, SM-90, CalMag...I have Great White, Rosemary and neem oil, NPSs, Mosquito dunks, pH up and down, calibrating solutions...
I'm making HUGE budz with my RDWC trees. I know I know...if it aint broke...but...
It's pretty boring. All I get to do these days is go in and take a look..temps, rh and everything always looks great. Once a week I get to mix new batches of nutes. I tie-up the odd branch pretty much daily but yeah...Other than harvests and rotations and looking after mums and babies...it's pretty smooth.
I'm ready to make a change. My systems seem to be working without a hitch for a very long time now. I kinda wanna give AN a shot. I've searched here and at other sites and real info on it seems hard to find. Most threads end up in pissing matches, forums for secret product reps to push their wares, people who haven't tried AN but being haters, people who swear by it but have never tried anything else...
I'm really interested to know what peoples' results with AN are/have been compared to other nute lines like GH. AND...which line of AN base nutes to use.
I know that it's more $ but if it's worth it I don't really care.
What really bothers me though (and not just about AN) is that there are SO many additives available. I realize that different people, strains and growing systems and stage of plant development require different "diets" but...it seems that these companies are saying...if you use our base nutes you'll have deficient plants unless you use all these additives...
While Plantlife does sell a line of additives and has mixing instructions for different stages (seedlings, mild general, veg, beginning flower, bloom and ripen), they also have "better" more selective feeding schedules available online according to what week of growth you're in. For instance, each of the 8 weeks of flowering (for an 8 week strain) lists different ratios of the base nutes.
SO...my questions are...does AN really outperform most of it's competition? AND...are all these available additives (boosters, sweeteners, enhancers...) worth it or necessary...or better yet...for those of you who have run with AND without additives...did you notice a tangible difference?
Just to let you know...I run a sterile res so am not interested in organic nutes or additives...nor sweeteners or carbs or enzymes.
AND
I know that AN has big ads, a lot of marketing money, is expensive and hated by a lot of growers. All the politics and speculation aside...will I see improvement by using AN base nutes and will I see a difference using additives and if so which ones. In my books even a 10% increase in yield and quality will make it worth it.
Hopefully we can get this sorted once and for all.
Thanks in advance for your info.
