Imagine what ur pipes prob look like hahaha
Having a swamp cooler on my last place def presented all the calcium having to clean the pads once a week
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I called Athena about possibly using the Pro line. They said its def more cost-effective, but said the Blended line is more geared towards the home grower in small scale.
They mentioned the Pro nutes dont have the shelf life of the blended once they are mixed. Blended can sit in their jugs for two years. Although, once mixed blended is only good for a week or two per Athena.
They wouldnt tell me specifically how long the Pro mix is good for once you blend the 2lbs in the jug. Im guessing not long enough to make it through a few grows or so.
Whats your feelings on the Pro line? How do you use it?
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Iāve had to do my fair sure of fixes on the plumbing thatās for sureā¦ check itā¦ This is what the water does here.
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Ya looks about right, had to replace the kitchen and two bathroom faucets for my old roommate when I was in bullhead off the parkway by Fox Creek jr. Shit will eat away at the valves too on the toilets and under the sinks, gnarly how bad it is out here
Was that before or after u put in the water softener?
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Absolutely more cost effectiveā¦
Not sure why theyād tell you that its honestly so much easier than their blended line. Blended is fine I guess if you have it available in a local hydro shop I guess but I donāt have that luxury due to location. I have no local hydro stores close to me unless I drive to vegas and I donāt do that often any more.
Iāve had batches Iāve made last me just find for extended periods of time and honestly when mixing their concentrates they should last just fine unless you make your core/grow mix kind of like you mentioned with blended and at the point you should be using it up any way within a couple days to feed your plants. Though I do not do like Athena recommends any more. I do not make concentrates I literally measure out my individual parts and then mix with a pump. lol Iām sure they would cringe and say Iām doing it wrong but its easier sometimes just to make a quick 5 gallon batch mixing a few grams of each and then just watering. Plus it works just fine this way and Iāve had no issuesā¦
Here is a plant photo grown completely with weighed measurements and not concentrate mixes.
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This was actually with a softener BUT the house did not have one when I moved in so who knows how long that shit was messed up before I replaced itā¦ and the only reason I knew it was this bad was because the garage was completely gutted to be turned into my grow since I was going to foam insulate it like I did. Almost a good thing I found it when I did as Iām sure this would have turned into a bad mold issue.
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Bro these a couple to few, u got the seed place Iād never buy a bean from cuz they charging 40 a pop and hear they donāt germ right next to malows ski rentals but hear they carry supplies, then they got one in ft Mohave in the same strip mall as the old probation building and I think there was one more in bullhead I canāt put my finger on where it was
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These havenāt existed in years lol theyāre long gone and the lady that ran both of them had shit prices.
Iāve heard from buddies that seed place is laughableā¦ so I havenāt even stepped foot in there or want anything to do with it honestly.
The only place I know of is the one out in Kingman that @DefNSmokn has mentioned to me and goes to occasionally.
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Hmm interesting, kinda interesting they went out of business and now weāre legal haha. Ya that place is a joke, if u got some down time and need a good laugh go look at the reviews on Google for em, shit is hilarious, feel bad for some of them though cuz they be driving from PHX paying top dollar to not even get a sprout, guess when they opened they gave out a bunch of freebies of Willie Nelson but also in the reviews no one got one to take off haha
Well Iām all around this county and Vegas, ever need anything in a pinch and I could prob snag it for ya. Iām actually cruising to bullhead in a lil bit to fuel up my car and 7 cans, wish ur testers were dry cuz id drop ya some sacks but will likely be next week I can @Rhai88
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So youre doing kinda the same as me. I mix my individual Blended āingredientsā together in 5 gallon batches typically.
It worked on my last grow using the electric siphon with the five traditional pots. Now Im doing the Octopot and its too easy.
Ill have to speak with Athena again if I have time. Id like to know just what the shelf life is on the Pro once mixed from dry. Using dry ingredients confuses me a bit. Id LOVE to be able to just add a teaspoon of A and 3 tsp of B etc. But the Pro would be similar to Blended once its in liquid form.
Good thing is, Im in no hurry. Ive got enough of the blended for another grow or two, Its all one gallon bottlles.
I really need to look into ratios compared to using Blended vs Pro.
I see Amazon has Athena Pro Line Mix Complete Kit (1 Gallon) for $77. It comes with 3x Gallon mixing jugs and 2lbs each of Core, Grow, and Bloom. Its much like Blended at that point, but only one nutrient per phase instead of two, and no need for Cal/mag. I did notice the amounts are basically doubled for everything in grow and bloom, That makes sense, as its one product doing the job of two in the Blended line.
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That shot is a Beauty!
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Since weāre on the subject of Athena nutesā¦
Do you use Balance and Clease in your feeding schedule? Or just the 3 parts?
Thanks!
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yeah this is exactly what I was doing when I was running a single tent but Iāve since upgraded and now running a couple 44g brute cans since Iāve got way more tents now. lol
This is exactly what I do with a scale. I measure out my CORE then measure out either GROW or BLOOM depending on where Iām at in the grow. Then just look to find the EC Iām shooting for. Great thing is you keep batches small this way and you donāt have to worry about nutes going bad sitting. You batch exactly what you need for either a few days or a week or so then make another batch.
Yes I doā¦ I love cleanse. Keeps things clean and sterile. I will forever use cleanse and actually you can make your own hypochlorous acid or even buy a higher concentration on amazon for so much cheaper than cleanse. $20 ish compared to what they charge you for cleanse.
I also do use balance a PH up.
Yes along with the hose filter I mentioned above.[quote=āsupersecretjim, post:29, topic:125406ā]
What kind of nutrients are you using? And what PPMs are you at after adding your nutes?
[/quote]
Iām using Amori si/silica and jacks 321 .
Thatās it this grow.
I think my poms with jacks and silica themselves is about 1200 ppms/then you add the 430 ppms from my tab water so Iām about 1600-1700 ppms in total.
Cool! Thanks for the info, Toker!
Do hard water PPMs count toward total PPMs?
As in, if a recipe called for 800ppms, would that include the built-in minerals of my 450PPM tap water or not? Should total PPMs be 1250 then, for example? or Only mix an addtional 350PPM to meet the 800 recipe goal.
Or, if using my RO water at roughly 50PPM, the total would then be 850 for the 800PPM recipe?
Ive never fed with PPM before. Always just added a certain MG per gallon.
Now its getting scientific!
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Yes always add your water ppms on top of your nutrients ppms.[quote=āsupersecretjim, post:55, topic:125406ā]
r, if using my RO water at roughly 50PPM, the total would then be 850 for the 800PPM recipe?
[/quote]
If your nutrientās mix letās say for example should bee 800 ppms then your total ppms are going to be 850 ppms
800 ppms from your nutrients plus you 50 ppms from your RO water reading will put you at 850 ppms.
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I use a PUr water filter.
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Just had a very informative conversation with Ryan over at Athena.
He confirmed Stack PPMs. His basic reasoning is: you dont know what chemicals are causing your PPM. So if recipe is 800 ppm and Im already at almost 500ppm with tap water, he says PPMs should be almost 1300. I guess its about quality and ratio of minerals.
Athena may just want to sell more chemicals, lol.
Ive noticed the Athena feed chart for blended has changed. The old chart is much less material with a choice of Light, Normal, and Heavy. Now its just one figure and they are all higher than āHeavyā on the older schedule. Are they maximizing our grow or their profit margin? Maybe a bit of both.
Also got into the whole Blended vs Pro program. Iām going to go Pro after this grow. More cost effective and easier. I just need to create a program that kinda sorta mirrors my Blended program. They will help with the ratios.
Ryan confirmed that once the Pro dry mix is fully mixed with water it is good for two years as well.
He mentioned Cleanse starts to break down after 36 hours, but everything else mixed together is good for 1-2 weeks. May just adjust cleanse if desired. 1-2 weeks is same for Pro or Blended once products mixed together.
Each system designed by totally different teams, so ratios are off when converting. Pro mix came after the Blended.
Bam.
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My opinion. ā¦ your best option is to veg out some plants for a month or two and see how they react to using tap water. Also, look up your municipal water info. What if a majority of those PPMs are rock dust or something? 
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My tap water comes out about 250-350 ppm mostly calcium carbonate, I just pH it down from the 7.7 it comes out and use it. Seems to be working so far. I use humic Acid to neturlize the chlorine and Vinegar to pH it down.
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