HGV Nutrients Ready-to-Mix Nutrient Package

HGV Nutrients Ready-to-Mix Nutrient Package Questions & Answers

TOP HGV FAQs

Q: Nitrogen Levels In HGV

A: In all my years cultivating (48!) I have only seen one case of N toxicity. What people are constantly mistaking as N toxicity is almost always Ca deficiency and K toxicity OR overwatering of their plants. The only true way to know for sure if you have a toxicity of any element is through laboratory tissue analysis. The tissue samples we have had done over the last 10 years verify this!

Q: Sulphur Levels in HGV

A: HGV has more sulfur than most, if not all, of its competitors. Simply looking at the derivative statement on each bag shows two of the most used raw materials as Magnesium SULFATE and Potassium SULFATE. Typical Sulfur levels at an EC of 3.0 with HGV are 250ppm!

Q: Does HGV affect the terpene profiles or potency levels of my plants?

A: No. Genetics, environment, and proper handling, drying, and curing of the flowers will have the biggest impact.

Q: Will HGV turn my plants purple?

A: No! There are only two ways a plant turns purple. Genetics and nutrient DEFICIENCY. Anthocyanins are responsible for giving purple strains their vibrant color. Starving a plant of Phosphorous will also induce purpling due to P deficiency but that is completely different than a plant turning purple from Anthocyanin. Ways to induce P deficiency include reducing it in your nutrient solution and cold temperatures in the room as well as rootzone.

Q: Will HGV affect the maturation time of my plants?

A: Genetics are solely responsible for the maturation times of HEALTHY plants. Plants that are not healthy will typically finish earlier because they are under tremendous stress. Proper nutrition will not speed up or slow down maturation!

Q: What is the difference between Calcium Nitrate & Calcium Chloride?

A: Calcium Nitrate is 15.5% Nitrogen and 19% Calcium. Calcium Chloride is 27% Calcium and 66% Chloride. Replacing 10% of Calcium Nitrate with Calcium Chloride in your nutrient solution only drops the N level by 17ppm and adds 74ppm Cl. If your starting Cl levels are low, then this is not a big deal BUT for only lowering N by 17ppm you are not gaining anything by doing it. Plants will not show any difference by removing 17ppm N at any stage of growth when following our standard feeding regimen. By replacing all of the Calcium Nitrate with Calcium Chloride, you will not only have 0ppm N in the solution which is not good for your plants, but it also raises the Cl levels to 530PPM to reach the same level of Ca!!!! There is absolutely no benefit to replacing 10% of the Calcium Nitrate with Calcium Chloride. Using 100% Calcium Chloride in place of Calcium Nitrate will be damaging to your plants even if only during the last 3 weeks of flowering.

Q: Are there different feeding charts for lights types or grow media types

A: We do not have "feeding charts" as that assumes everyone is doing the exact same thing and we all know that is not the case. Starting all methods with an ec of 3.0 is always safe. The grower should interpret the results they are getting and adjust from the starting point as necessary. There are too many factors such as media, pot size, environment, genetics, etc. to have a standard one-size-fits-all answer on this topic.

Q: Shake the bag before use

A: The materials used to produce HGV plant nutrients vary in size and can settle during transportation. Larger particles rise to the surface while finer materials sink. When you receive a bag, make sure you shake it up to redistribute all particles evenly or even better, turn the entire bag into a liquid concentrate (see directions) to ensure the most homogenous blend of everything in the bag.

ADDITIVES

Q: Can I use mycorrhizae or other root inoculants with HGV Nutrients?

A: Yes. I am all for anything that helps develop and keep roots as healthy as possible. One of the keys to yield and quality is a strong, healthy root system.

Q: Do I need to use Cal-Mag with HGV Nutrients?

A: No. Our products contain all the calcium and magnesium needed to sustain healthy growth through all phases. Whether you use RO, well, or municipal water in your grow, you won’t need to worry about calcium or magnesium deficiencies if you are feeding correctly.

Q: Do I need silica, boosters, additives, or finishers with the HGV program?

A: We constantly test "additives" at our grow facility. The metrics I use in determining if an additive is worth the cost are yield, potency, and terpene production. If I do not see an increase in one metric (preferably all 3) then why would I spend money on a product that gives me no return on the investment? As of today, we have not found a single product that justifies the added expense. I strongly encourage people to run detailed side-by-side testing on any additive they want to use or are already using to see if they actually get anything from it. We have had hundreds of customers reduce their input costs by eliminating things they thought they had to use.

Q: Are products like hypochlorous acid and potassium silicate necessary?

A: In most cases, no. Hypochlorous Acid can assist with keeping lines and emitters clean, but there are few situations for which this will have any effect on your results. Potassium Silicate has a pH of 12.7! For people running RO water, it helps with keeping the pH in range BUT it also precipitates easily out of solution and COULD cause clogging of filters and drip emitters. If you need a pH-up product, Pure Potassium Hydroxide is the correct product to use. If an additive or additional input is not adding value (e.g., increase in weight, potency, terpenes, quality) than it is a waste of money and time. In CERTAIN situations these products might have beneficial use, but make sure you are not OVERPAYING for these products. We recommend products like HYPE and TUNE from Remix Chems; they are not only affordable but also much stronger than competing brands on the market.

Q: Are bio-stimulants recommended?

A: If growing in rockwool or coco then they are not necessary. If growing in reused or poor-quality soil then you might see some benefits from these products.

PRODUCT STORAGE

Q: How long do HGV Nutrients last?

A: There is no expiration date for HGV water-soluble nutrients! Once HGV nutrients are made into liquid concentrates, they can last many months if properly stored and if the grower is using clean water and properly sanitizing all surfaces. Since the latter practices are harder to standardize, it’s generally best to plan to make enough liquid concentrate to last a month or two, then thoroughly clean out the liquid concentrate tanks and repeat.

Q: What is the best way to store HGV Nutrients?

A: HGV nutrients should be stored in a cool, dry place to avoid clumping or caking. It’s important to understand that dry water-soluble nutrients are inherently hygroscopic, which means they will take up water over time. This is natural and unavoidable if given the right conditions. Therefore, extreme hot or cold and particularly high humidity should be avoided to keep HGV nutrients flowable. HGV nutrients are manufactured in a sealed, climate-controlled facility using the best equipment that avoids breaking up or shearing the nutrient salts (which also leads to caking). However, once it leaves our factory, it’s difficult to guarantee the product will not cake if improperly stored. It’s therefore important to have a dedicated storage area that is climate controlled if our customers wish to avoid caking completely.

Q: Is caked or clumpy product defective?

A: No, the product is completely fine to use and there will be no difference in performance. It’s important to understand that the chemical makeup of our nutrients does not change based on if it has absorbed water, or the mineral salts have adhered to each other, forming clumps. Therefore, caked, or clumpy products are not defective, and will not perform differently. One difference is that the nutrients(s) may have absorbed water if left in a hot, humid area. So the best practice would be to fully dissolve whole 25lb bags of clumpy product in water, to ensure all the nutrients is used at once.

Q: What is the best way to use caked or clumpy product?

A: Clumped product should first be broken up into smaller chunks if necessary. Get some hot water ready. Begin by slowly adding the broken-up chunks of nutrients to the hot water (the hotter the water, the faster the nutrients will dissolve). Using a paint mixer head on a power drill or similar will make the dissolving process much faster. Continue to agitate until the nutrient solution is homogeneous and clear, and no undissolved bits of mineral salts remain.

USAGE & DILUTION

Q: How do you recommend mixing HGV Nutrients?

A: Here are some general tips and tricks:

• Start with hot water if possible. This will greatly speed up the dissolving process.
• Remember that the fertilizer salts will increase the volume of the stock solution. If you need to make 25 gallons of concentrate, don’t use a 25-gallon reservoir, size up at least 5 gallons to be safe.
• Use a light-tight reservoir or tank with a sealable lid. Keep in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight or extreme temperature fluctuations.
• Use a powerful agitator like a paint mixer and drill.
• Slowly add HGV nutrients to the water tank while agitating.
• Remember to never mix up different HGV nutrients in the same concentrated stock tank. Each fertilizer (Base, Growth, Flowering) should have its own concentrated stock tank.
• There is no need to continuously agitate the nutrients once they are mixed, but if the grower desires to do so use a paint stirrer or other method to stir the concentrate. Pumps and air stones are NOT recommended

Q: What is the correct mixing order for HGV products?

A: It makes no difference the order you mix the nutrients as long as you follow the proper directions. We do typically adjust pH either first or last depending on the situation but adding Base before or after Flowering or Growth makes no difference! Most important is that you NEVER add the nutrients before you have the correct amount of water in your concentrate tank/reservoir. For injectors, the same applies, and you need to be very careful that you are NOT injecting concentrates where they come into contact with each other before they are partially diluted.

Q: What is the maximum solubility of HGV Nutrients?

A: Maximum solubility refers to the highest mass of fertilizer that can be stably dissolved in each volume of water. Keep in mind that the maximum solubility changes based on temperature, the hotter the water the higher the solubility and vice versa. As the fertilizer dissolves, it will lower the temperature of the water which may make it difficult to fully dissolve if you are near maximum solubility rates. If you are using room temperature or colder water, reduce the amount of dry fertilizer per gallon. HGV Base fertilizer has a maximum solubility of 3.0 Lbs./gallon. HGV Grow and Bloom nutrients have maximum solubilities of 2.5 Lbs./gallon

Q: How do I make a concentrate for nutrient injectors?

A: Simple! First, you need to know the ratio the injector is set for, and second, the size of your stock tank. As an example, if your injector is set to 100:1, it simply means that 1 part of your stock tank will go into 100 equal parts of solution. Ounces, gallons, milliliters—it doesn’t matter because it’s a ratio. Let’s use gallons for this example, though. If you have a ratio of 1:100 then one gallon of stock solution will be diluted into 100 gallons of water. If your target EC is reached by dissolving 6 grams (example only, you might need more or less) of nutrient into one gallon of water then you would add 600 grams into a gallon of stock solution to reach the same EC. If your injector ratio is set to 200:1, then one gallon of stock solution would go into 200 gallons of water so you would add 1200 grams to 1 gallon of stock solution to reach the same EC as 600 grams in one gallon at 100:1. It’s important to note that you have to have separate concentrate tanks for the base formula and the growth or flowering formula. They can not be mixed together in concentrated form!

Q: Is agitation needed to ensure complete solubility once made into a concentrate solution for stock tanks?

A: Once the stock solution is fully blended there is NO NEED for further mixing, agitation, or aeration of any kind.

WATER

Q: I have very hard or very soft water. Should I take any precautions?

A: In general, very hard or alkaline waters carry a high pH and contain high levels of calcium, magnesium, and sometimes chloride and sodium. We recommend conducting an irrigation water suitability test from a certified agricultural lab. Our technical team would be glad to go over the results with you and make any adjustments to the nutrient system if needed. In general, an acid will be required to neutralize excess alkalinity and lower the solution pH. For growers using very soft or reverse osmosis (RO) water, irrigation solution pH and substrate pH become more difficult to control. This is because very soft waters lack natural water buffers that help regulate pH. This may require more careful monitoring overtime to avoid pH drift and possibly include adding bases to the nutrient solution to correct pH.

Q: The importance of understanding your water via water testing

A: The best money you will ever spend! It’s impossible to know how to properly design or retrofit a grow facility without knowing what is in your water. I have been to countless facilities that have spent tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on filtration systems that were simply not needed. Please contact your sales representative to get a test kit and then send the results back so we can interpret them for you before you buy any type of filters for your facility. Knowing what is in your water is critical to becoming an efficient operation

Q: Do I need RO Water

A: RO water is used in many commercial operations even when completely unnecessary. I constantly ask people WHY they are using an RO filter and the most common response is “because you have to”. Honestly, I see about 1 in 100 locations that actually need it. Using RO water when not necessary adds a tremendous expense and other issues that are constantly causing problems in grow facilities. Without getting a proper water test BEFORE installing filtration, you are literally shooting yourself in the foot! Even in cases where RO filtration is the only method to remove something from the water supply, you don’t need to run 100% RO water. Using a blending valve that most commercial RO systems already have, you can adjust the amount of filtration necessary and greatly reduce wasted water and other issues that arise from running straight RO water. Again, a simple water test is all that is needed to set this up properly.

Q: Should I use an ozone generator?

A: Ozone water treatment is a water treatment method that reduces contaminants through ozone’s oxidative strength. Ozone is an oxidant, which means it reacts with other substances and accepts their electrons. For example, when iron is oxidized, it becomes rust. Ozone water treatment begins with the creation of ozone in an ozone generator. Then, ozone is injected into water, and immediately starts oxidizing and eliminating contaminants, such as bacteria, viruses, and metals. Ozone oxidizes organic material in the membranes of bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Ozone also oxidizes iron, manganese, and copper and zinc into solid particles that can be easily filtered from water by mechanical filtration which in turn, causes clogged filters! When trace elements are oxidized out of solution, they are no longer available to your plants which results in sever nutrient deficiencies leading to plant death. Because of this, we do not recommend using any type of oxidizer in any form. Whether it be through ozone generation, chlorine dioxide, zerotol, etc.

GENERAL

Q: What is the difference between dry and liquid nutrients?

A: Water! Ok, maybe a bit more than that, depending on the ingredients used by the manufacturer. For inorganic liquid nutrients using the same or similar ingredients as we do, then water is the biggest difference. Most companies are taking dry, raw ingredients and dissolving them in water along with some food coloring and bottling them. Depending on the ingredients used, the solubility is usually 2.5-3 lbs per gallon. The rest of that gallon is water! One of our 25lb bags would end up in 8-10 gallons of water and would weigh 65-85 pounds! imagine what that does to freight cost, not to mention storing all that water in containers in your valuable growing space.

Q: Are HGV nutrients compatible with all types of growing mixes or hydroponic cultivation methods?

A: Yes, HGV fertilizers are compatible with all hydroponics, soilless, and potting mixes commonly sold in the market today. HGV nutrients have been extensively tested in coco coir, stone wool (rockwool), peat mixes, and hydroponic liquid cultured systems. For growers growing in field soils, we recommend a soil test be conducted first. For questions, please contact our technical support teams.

Q: What about heavy metals in your product?

A: This is one of the most controversial topics these days and I could go on for hours about it. The important thing to realize is that every single nutrient line that is licensed and registered for sale in a state has gone through laboratory testing to be sure it meets federal standards for heavy metal content. This testing is public information and is available through your state’s department of agriculture. I encourage you to take the time and look up whatever line of nutrients you are using and see that they are compliant. Fancy marketing words like “pharmaceutical grade” or “technical grade” ingredients don’t make a difference in the end product in the numbers we are talking about here (parts per billion!). If you really want to be surprised, check out all of the “organic” nutrient lines. I think you might be shocked at the levels they contain. And no, there is no such thing as “organic lead” or “organic mercury.” Feel free to call or email me if you would like to talk about this subject more. I am never at a loss for words when it comes to this or any other topic about growing.

Q: CO2

A: In any sealed indoor grow room, supplemental CO2 is necessary for proper plant growth BUT how much is enough? How much is too much? How much is not enough? The only way to know for sure is through trial and monitoring at each specific location and even in each specific room. I see people running crazy high levels because they figure that if 1000ppm is good, then 2000ppm must be twice as good! The problem is that plants can only uptake and metabolize a certain amount of CO2 per day. The unmetabolized CO2 is then expelled from the plants at night. If you are seeing spiking CO2 levels in your grow rooms at night, try reducing the level you run during lights on and cut off CO2 enrichment early enough before lights out to bring levels down to ambient (350-400ppm) before the lights go off. Ideally, you will only supplement enough CO2 during the lights on period that your plants can actually use. This results in less wasted CO2 every day and optimal plant growth as well.