Best nutirents to go with for rdwc with out breaking the bank. Also in canada so not all products are available here. Thanks for the help
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Check out:
Good value and quite a few folk here have tried their formulation. They have just recently set up distribution in Canadia, as well.
Best? Idk. Everyone has their favorites. Some are making their own or using multi-part formulas, etc. Try doing a search and maybe you’ll get some additional ideas.
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I use a common soluble fert and add some Calcium Magnesium Citrate Malate which has the most bioavialability of any of calcium supplement. I am a cheapskate and refuse to pay a 400% premium for exactly the same nutrients, including $30 a litre here for calimag so I just make the CMCM. I used to make calcium acetate but this is better. I may even post a how to for this at some point. I get the same results as when I was paying through the nose for nutes. The other option is to look for commercial hydro formulas. They tend to come in 20kg bags at a MUCH cheaper price.
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By way of a comparison here is the analysis of Maxibloom at $30 a KG vs Thrive soluble fert at $10 a kg.
Maxibloom
Thrive soluble fertilizer
There is less phosphorus in the thrive but it seems to make no difference, and it would be very easy to fix if it were.
That said the Mega Crop looks ideal if you want to keep it simple.
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When I was running my RDWC I went through a lot of different nutrients.
Trying to find something that was pH stable in a recirculating system with a lower EC was tough. I ended up settling on the Ionic line from Hydrodynamics International.
It was originally recommended to me as a new nutrient line from a company in Michigan. I gave them a shot since I would rather support a company in my state instead of another CA or CO company. It was only later that I found the link between HDI and CloneX.
If a stable pH at low EC is something you need I’d say take a look. It’s not a hugely popular nutrient brand but it worked wonders for me in all of my systems so far (RDWC, E&F, HPA).
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Also, I have found good soluble orchid fertilizers are pretty much bang on with regard to NPK ratio and trace elements you need and are normally available in a high nitrogen grow formula for summer and and a higher PK for blooming. They are mostly boosted with calcium as well so you won’t need cali mag. I can pick up a KG for about $12 here in oz. If there is one group of peeps even more fanatical than weed growers, it’s orchid growers!
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Vitalink hydromax on first inspection is good and pretty stable too. I paid £25 for 5l A & B
Wouldn’t recommend hydro and megacrop together. Other than coco
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12 percent urea??? 
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I’d try DNF if you’re in Canada.
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Oh yeah there is that one small problem. You just gotta flush it every week before the urea gets a chance to undergo hydrolysis into ammonia. 
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Which nutrients are you referring to with the urea?
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Most cheap soluble general purpose nutes use urea for their nitrogen unfortunately. I am going to be giving this a crack in my next grow. It can be bought in oz for $120 for 15kg.
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Wow $30 / kg. For maxibloom? Probably depends on where you are but in the US the maxibloom is only $10-14 delivered to my door. It works good for me with calmag
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Yep, if I could get it for $10 that’s what I would be going with. I have always had success with it, but I add a bit of calcium nitrate instead of calimag as it’s a cheap way to boost both calcium and nitrogen which is a bit low in Maxibloom,
I also think it’s got more phosphorous in it that is needed but at the end of the day it works well so, really what do I know? lol.
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If that’s what you decide on you’ll need to add sulfur. Magnesium sulfate would be your best bet.
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Thanks, well spotted, I had missed that. so I’ll keep an eye on it. So I’ve also been adding Humic Acid, Fulvic and a Tri Kelp to the mix which should contain adequate sulphur, though sometimes getting any detailed analysis on these kind of organic additives is a challenge. I’m only two weeks into a veg cycle testing this but am getting very solid growth above ground and good root development. No sign of any deficiencies currently. Kelp seems to always bring about very lush dark green leaf growth and more branch development. I figure it’s partly the cytokines but it also seems to boost generally plant health, and I notice that fulvic/humic at flower time definitely seems to boost early trichrome development.
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Here’s a pic of sulfur deficiency. You’re probably ok for now but hydro needs much higher amounts of sulfur then soil. It’ll happen eventually and spending 5$ on epsom salt is best investment you can make. Can rarely have too much magnesium to boot.
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Interesting, I am not sure I have ever seen a plant look like that to be honest! It looks proper sickly.
As you say for $5 or less it’s a no brainer. I’ll take your advice I think, cheers bloke. 
That is a sulphur def that is partially on the way to being cured, see the little bit of green near the base of the leaf?
This is a recent image of one of my plants. I had what I suspect to be sulphur def because of a lockout due to metals leaching into my nute solution. It was because my Ph went very low due to an accident last year and this started corrosion of my fittings.
Once I replaced them, they perked up. Just in case I also replaced my pumps which had iron casings. One of them was quite corroded on the inside as well.
Now they have started showing green veins and at the base of the leaves and on the growing shoots, so all will be good.
AFAIK if you have yellow leaves but you still have green veins, like the image above, that would be an iron def. Sulphur def is a solid yellow starting from the base of younger leaves.
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Hey bro that old valve has seen better days.
When I started brewing beer an old timer taught me to pickle brass fittings I used in brewing, kept the metal from reacting to the acidic beer wort.
Something like 2 parts hydrogen peroxide to one part distilled vinegar. Google pickling brass and it’ll come up. But ya your valves will be almost corrosion proof and it’s super fast.
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