Has anyone used mantis buffered nutrients?

Blue lab and Milwaukee are the two brands , Bluelab being the dearest of the two

They are expensive but you get what you pay for as you say : )

2 Likes

I’ve actually seen it used twice, once on autos once on photo (clones) worked out decent. ( both crops were a 6-7/10 , I just don’t like the idea of being able to change things up as I go, I’m all over the place sometimes depending on strain and stage. I think it would be worthwhile for a truly experienced grower to try out on a strain they k ow very well. It definitely works, just not positive of how well. PH swings are just a fact of life for me now and it’s never drastic and I never see adverse affect even with large swings 6.4 to 5.5 . I’ve thought about a ph adjuster, still thinking tbh. Maybe one day. I love and swear by blue lab products so I may end up buying their PH adjuster/stabilizer just for peace of mind when I’m away . As far as the mantis goes. I would really like to see someone give it an honest shot just for my own interests as it would definitely have its time and place imho

1 Like

A little late to this conversation but I personally use it on about 20-30 different strains at a time and they all love it. I haven’t used a PH pen in about 2 years as Mantis keeps the PH in optimal range at all time. Honestly will never switch back to traditional nutrient systems as this is just way too easy.

1 Like

I’d recommend maxsea all purpose plant food 16-16-16 for veg and maxsea bloom 3-20-20 for flower, it’s a powdered amendment thats super easy and my plants love it, just my two cents hope it helps

Happy growing :seedling:

2 Likes

Thanks for the info, I ended up grabbing a bottle to test on the rks coop

1 Like

For hydro, if you want to emulate how to buffer the PH, see the following as an example:

MES being the strongest buffer. There is also a buffering gadget that basically contains an ION exchange resin which has gotten good reviews. Can’t remember the name, if you’re interested I can look it up. It’s on here somewhere.

1 Like

Thanks @Northern_Loki! That looks like a good read. When I have some time this evening I will sit down and read through it.

1 Like

@Kushking902 Wish I could comment on your other post about Mantis! I’ve been using Mantis for 3 years now and would love to be able to chime in!

1 Like

How’s it work for you? I picked up a bottle to use on my co op, I’m hoping it runs smoothly

1 Like

It’s a fantastic product. Mixing all the nutrients together and messing with PH was always my least favourite part of growing. Not having to deal with that anymore has increased my love for growing a lot! It’s the simplicity of it. Especially if i have to go out of town and need someone to take care of my plants I know the person looking after them is unlikely to mess up the watering :joy: 10/10 would recommend for any level grower. Also, you can get the price even lower by ordering 4+ litre at a time or they also have 19L pails.

Torus pH perfect :v:

1 Like

Oh right. Thanks. Has received good reviews here.

1 Like

Yeah I remember the reviews a good while back about them being excellent. My only issue is they need recharged every so often so you still have to check your pH using a pen regularly. For me that was reason enough not to buy one. If I’m already checking the pH anyway adding a drop or two of pH up or down won’t kill me :rofl:

1 Like

That’s a good point. Buffering is an excellent tool to control wild or rapid swings, usually indicative of other issues. As an interim fix, valuable. And it’s a really powerful tool. Larry’s thing was way out-of-control and nothing he tried could get it stabilized. He was able to get it under control with some buffering until the root of the problem was corrected (organics in aeroponics).

For the slower moving or relatively normal PH swings value might not be as great but it would be sensible if you have to let it go hands-off for a length of time, out-of-town, etc.

1 Like

Hey! Since I can’t comment in your other thread I will comment here. Are you feeding your plants at full strength 5ml Mantis solution per 1L water? I run Coco coir and expanded clay as Mantis loves an inert substrate. It’s recommended to start with a neutral substrate so it won’t be so hot and you can use mantis same rate seed to harvest. I know a lot of people like to use promix HP or FFOF so will tend to do half strength just so the plants don’t get burnt.

1 Like

Are some of your plant in just perlite?

1 Like

The 4 bigger ones are in promix and are doing fantastic but the smaller ones all all in straight perlite, those are the ones not doing great.
Yes I shake well and mix 5ml per litre from start to finish.
That’s weird it won’t let you post on the other thread, I wonder why.

Forsure! I think you are probably the first person to document Mantis with 100% perlite! I can’t imagine many nutrients doing well in straight perlite unless you have it dialed in like you do with your normal nutrient system. I think because perlite tends to be fairly dusty it might mess with ppm and cause build up. I know it would do well if it was perlite into DWC.

Those 4 in promix are what i’m use to seeing! PH has never been an issue for me using Mantis. To be honest I haven’t used a PH pen in 3 years growing out 30+ strains and have only had one strain that needed a little extra calmag (she was finicky with every step of the process) :joy:

The other group says closed so no new comers :frowning:

1 Like

Oh that’s my first co op. I didn’t know it worked like that.
I also just started a solo cup challenge and will be using the mantis for that as well. I haven’t started feeding that yet it’s pretty small so I’m waiting a bit to start feeding

1 Like

Solo cup challenge! I have been meaning to do one. Just saying, autoflowers work beautifully with Mantis as you don’t have to guess when they switch to flower. Are you using a photoperiod or autoflower?

1 Like