I've communicated with several nutrient companies' reps over the years. Seems like they all offered to send
something except for Fox Farm, who invited me to fly across the country, visit some expo or other, and ask for a sample there. And then, when I replied that... my schedule (lol) would not allow me to attend it this year, suggested that I open a hydroponics store, because they give them samples. Which would have been nice, since there wasn't one within 125 miles at the time, lol, but...
When General Hydroponics announced their General Organics line, I could have gotten an entire "Go Box," or something like that, whatever it was, it was supposed to be enough to do a complete small grow so that the grower could actually evaluate the product line. And, at the time, I was quite interested in the concept of using something that was both a GH product (this being before the Scotts Miracle-Gro monster bought the company) and "organic," which I had practically no experience with. But I would have had to pay the shipping - which was understandable - and I just couldn't afford it. Eating was a challenge at the time, as it was a worse year than usual and I hadn't even recovered from the previous "no work Winter" yet.
I contacted some random company I found via a web search once. I
think the name was Rich Earth. It must have been a small company - or maybe I just got lucky? - because it turned out that my contact was the boss. The person stated that they didn't have samples, or sample packs. But they'd be happy to throw one of everything that they had into a big box and ship it right out. A lot of their products seemed to be for mainstream farmers with
acreage. So, as far as samples went, they'd have probably been enough for a couple of years of indoor organic soil maintenance/refreshing. I never tried them, because a good friend was heading out west somewhere to a tiny little piece of land he'd bought over the Internet to go permanently off-grid, and I gave him the whole box. I haven't heard from him since, but I hope he's doing well and got full use out of those... "samples."
I've received "odds and ends," too. General Hydroponics sent me, IIRC, a little bottle of Floralicious Plus(?), some vegan "sweetener," and a tiny bottle of something else. DNF (Dutch Nutrient Formula) sent me 8-ounce bottles of Grow A, Grow B, Bloom A, Bloom B, and Fulvic Acid. I haven't touched anything except for the Fulvic Acid, which I've used as a general supplement here and there. I'll probably try all of the DNF samples if I ever have enough "extra" money to order a replacement pH probe for my Milwaukee pH56 meter.
I've noticed that some samples come with a little hole punched through the lids. IDK what's up with that, but it's annoying to learn about it by
shaking the bottle :icon_roll .
Do you know exactly what you're getting yet?
Well finally got my new hps bulbs in...I ordered sunlite brand and seem to be brighter and don't really have that orangish color more clear but idk...says it's 2100k 150w hps bulb...but got 2 of em for like $18...didn't really see a better brand for 150w but it's ok
The choices for low-wattage HPS bulbs are pretty limited. It's not helped by the fact that they appear to come in two socket sizes for that wattage (mogul and medium). The Lumatek branded 400-watt HPS bulb I've got has a listed color temperature of 2,100k, so you might have gotten some pretty good bulbs - and at nine dollars a piece, that seems like a bargain. I hope they perform well for you!
A light bulb is a light bulb they all grow plants
Err... I once tried to grow cannabis with a mercury vapor lamp.
Once.
I think the massive dosage of UV-A and UV-C killed the plants quicker than the heat did, lol.
BtW, I just checked via a web search - it was definitely Rich Earth that sent me the giant box of samples. Looks like it's still "organic." They even have things for one's animals to consume.
