Changed reservoirs

This morning I refreshed both pepper reservoirs, using this formulation:

-4 gallons tap water (left to sit overnight to dissipate chlorine and chloramines)
-4 teaspoons Maxi-Bloom dry nutrient powder (less 1 teaspoon from my usual recipe)
-1 teaspoon Kool Bloom dry bloom enhancer (this is half the strength suggested on the package)

I have read some reports of gardners burning their plants with these high-powered bloom enhancers so I decided to try to introduce Kool Bloom gently. I used one teaspoon less of my basic bloom nutrient and half the suggested dose of Kool Bloom.

Last night I read an awesome article in Urban Garden magazine that discussed the differences between hydroponic and soil-grow food crops. There was an interesting bit about the aroma and flavor of hydroponically grown foods. I believe the gist of the statement was that mineral salt nutrients will develop healthy plants with larger fruit yields, but additional organic supplements are required for plants to develop full-flavored produce.

So, with this in mind I decided to add some additional products to my reservoirs:

-1 Tablespoon Roots Organics 'Trinity' (for Humic acid)
-1 Tablespoon Technaflora 'B.Seaweed' (vitamins & enhanced nutrient uptake)

In total, the solution had this profile:

-pH 4.83
-PPM 1283 (spot on!)

Two teaspoons of pH UP brought me to a perfect pH of 5.8 and I moved the plants into their new reservoirs!

Cost of nutrients

 This is something I've been wanting to do for a while- figure out how long nutrients that I have purchased will last me, and what my unit cost is. I just decided to start purchasing my nutrients in bulk. Including sales tax, a 16 pound container of Maxi-Gro costs me $95.

This means that I'm getting a unit price of about six dollars per pound. Next I need to compute how many batches of nutrient solution I am getting per pound.

Measuring by hand, I have determined that there are 20 tablespoons of Maxi-Gro powder in each pound, so the volume breaks down like this:

1 pound = 20 tablespoons = 60 teaspoons

for the entire container:

16 pounds = 320 tablespoons = 960 teaspoons

This makes the cost of each teaspoon of Maxi-Gro almost exactly 10 cents.

Peppers and tomatoes, which are heavy feeders, receive nutrient solution at a concentration of 1 1/4 teaspoons per gallon of water. I use four-gallon reservoirs, so this means that each time I change out the water in a plants' reservoir, I use five teaspoons of Maxi-Gro powder, for a cost of 50 cents.

I change reservoirs weekly, so the total cost of fertilizer is 50 cents per week per plant.

Now our breakdown of volume looks like:

16 pounds = 320 tablespoons = 960 teaspoons =  192 five-teaspoon doses @ 50 cents each

This is enough nutrient to feed one plant continuously for 3 1/2 years, or a year's supply for four plants.

I assume that the volume measurements are similar enough that the same applies for Maxi-Bloom.

Nutrients

I have selected the "Maxi" line of dry nutrients from General Hydroponics as the official nutrient of The Bucket Farm. Two main factors make these products the ideal choice in my opinion:

-Value for dollar: Dry nutrients are far, far less expensive than any competing liquid nutrient formulas; even those from the same manufacturer.

-Conservation: 100% of the shipping weight of dry nutrients is nutrients. Liquid formulas are mostly water, which is heavy, expensive and inefficient to ship.