Re: 2014 HeavyWeights Duke it out for the Silver Coin with Rock Nutrients
I feel like I'm bloating my own thread with all these posts, but I'm just trying to keep you in the know.
Of the two plants above, GH on the left, Rock, on the right... I chose the GH plant to move forward with for this contest, and set the Rock plant to the side for now. I'll continue to only feed it Rock for the rest of it's vegetative state, but for now I'm going with the bigger one. And I'll feed it rock too, until the end.
But it wasn't because GH performed better. The GH plant on the left started out as a bigger clone. In addition, one cannot compare ONLY two plants side by side, and determine which is better. These are living things and even though they are the same genetics, sometimes one will naturally excel. For a real test, one would need to grow out at least 4 of each.
That said, after a month,
I feel like I can safely make these statements about ROCK VS GENERAL HYDROPONICS.
1. Rock nutrients did not out-perform general hydroponics in vegetative growth.
2. General hydroponics did not out-perform Rock nutrients in vegetative growth.
3. Rock nutrients (in veg) are easier to use than GH. You can literally use the grow + supercharge + any cal/mag supplement, and nothing else is required. Best of all, you can actually follow the recipe on the chart, and it works. It would be good for beginners, or stoners. ha. A beginner picks up GH, and it's a little overwhelming, and the recipe on the chart is too strong (at least for hydro).
3.5. Rock doesn't drop out PH like most other nutrients do. I didn't have to use any PH up after adding the nutrients. VERY NICE! And I don't understand why other nutrient companies don't do this.
4. The GH line is more diverse and customize-able, but more difficult to understand. You can use additives like florablend, which I feel gives me an edge. With GH you can also do a "transition" stage where you slowly change the mix over to a flower recipe. However, I rarely do that anyway. I usually change the recipe from full veg to full flower when I switch to 12/12.
5. Rock is slightly more expensive to run, than GH. However, you only need to start up with three things (grow + supercharge + any cal/mag supplement) so getting started might be cheaper with rock.
6. Rock doesn't have a phone number you can call. I went to their web site and found an email address of admin@. I emailed them and never received a response. Since then, I see they updated their web site with the email addresses of their reps. I have not emailed again.
7. I called GH a few weeks ago. The person who answered the phone was SUPER knowledgeable. I wasn't put on hold, I wasn't transferred. Within 5 minutes I had my answers. That's nice.
8. Rock seems to have a broken web site. If you go here:
The Rock Nutrients Journey | Rock Nutrients you will notice many of the links are dead. That doesn't have anything to do with the way the nutrients perform, but it's kind of stoner-ish, not to have a professional website.
9. Speaking of "unprofessional", they are paying this guy to advertise for them. Obviously they are not afraid to appeal to cannabis growers. But what they forget, is not everyone thinks it's cool to act and talk like a gangsta. This guy can't get through one sentence without dropping the F bomb. I would like to imagine my nutrient company has chemists in white lab coats behind the scenes, not stoners mixing up some concoction and slapping a label on it. If this guy is representing the company, that's the picture I get in my head. But hey, I may be totally wrong.
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In Summary, And I'm speaking in terms of vegetative growth only, if you're a new grower or casual grower looking to simplify, Rock is simple and it performs just as well as GH. I've run a few other lines and have never had one that is significantly better than the other. It seems they all have the right ingredients in there. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend rock nutrients.
When making a decision about what nutrients you should buy, my suggestion remains the same. Find someone who's grow you respect. Get in touch with that person and see if they will help you. If so, go with those same nutrients they are using. That way, you can get help when you need it.