my 3 plant soil scrog is finishing up and im about to replace it with a home made ebb and flow setup. my question is regarding what nutes to get for a beginner. i can get a flora nova high five starter pack for like $50. it comes with a Coco Tek Planter packed with Flora Nova Grow (16oz), Flora Nova Bloom (16oz), Liquid Kool Bloom (16oz), Floralicious Plus (4oz), Sub Culture (1oz). i've heard that the flora 3part is good too, but i dunno if i can get away with only spending 50 bucks on the 3 part.
main reason im trying to keep costs down is the fact that i think i need an ec/tds pen. a buddy of mine told me that thay use the 3 part and the chart that comes with it and dont use a ec/tds meter but i dunno if i wanna take that risk, im trying to grow some good medicine here.
im gonna be growing paradise seed company's belladonna in a 13 site sog. the strain is rated at 45-60days flowering.

Dude... get floranova series. You don't have to mix up 3 different parts to get going. With flora nova, all you do is just mix the grow with the water and that's it. When you get ready to bloom, You do a 1 week transition feed of both bloom and grow with a 50/50 mix. Then go straight to bloom feed. Only have to mix 1 part most of the time. Flora series is more time consuming as far as mixing your nutes. I have used both and prefer the floranova. Also there is more stuff in the floranova nutes for happier plants

All i can say is:
Latewood's Legacy: GH 3-part and CalMag tutorial and discussion

Ever Since I've been using GH Flora i have substantially increased my weight each harvest...

Grow 1 (B*Cuzz Nutes, 2 plants) - .5 oz dry

Grow 2 (B*Cuzz Nutes, 5 plants) - 2.5 oz dry

Grow 3 (GH flora Nutes, 4 plants) - 5 oz dry

Grow 4 (GH flora Nutes, 4 plants) - 17 oz dry

Perhaps experience and system tweaks have also contributed to the yield increase. But read through that thread. you may be convinced.

good luck.
Skeet

so im assuming that you guys both use an ec/tds meter?

I don't. I just try not to mix too strong and just wait to make sure no nute burn occurs. I just try to keep the ph level aroun 6.0.

I do use a TDS meter.

Latewood's recipe leaves my TDS around 1400ppm. My tap water starts off at around 180ppm. Might seem like a light feeding but his guide is just that...a guide line.

I'm going to be adding a bloom booster this next round. Dunno which yet, but i want to see if i can push these ladies a little.

I suppose i can see how the FloraNova is so attractive...this flora series is a lot of mixing, 3 parts plus booster...YOW $$$ !!!

let us know what you decide.

Skeet.

PS: I dunno if you care...I see SAP420 mentioned it...so...i keep my pH around 5.8-6.0

well i read through latewood's feeding schedule and i must say it sounds like alot of work. for this time around i think ill try the nova starter pack and see what kind of results i get. im really looking forward to goin hydro. the growth rates just seem amazing.
also if anyone cares i successfully finished stage one of my breeding program, stage two will begin next summer...
also thanks for the replies guys!

Dude, just follow the directions on the flora series or floranova nutes and you'll be fine. You don't need all the extra stuff to grow decent size plants. All I ever use is bloom and grow and nothing else. Start off with cutting/seedling feed for you seedlings when they show 3rd set of leaves. Give that a week, then flush and start early feed chart mixing. Then do general feed a week after that. By that time you will have to switch those babies to bloom in like 3 weeks no joke!