Fertmax Pro Pack - Complete Hydroponic Nutrient Kit

I was offered a free sample of this fertilizer kit and thought it might be an awesome, unusually involved but hopefully effective way to start new climbing roses, which I dearly love. I noted the ludicrous cost and the slightly odd statement that it would take care of "up to six plants", but did not think much about it, other than "wow, some people must be awfully serious about their tomato plants". Now I am totally embarrassed, realizing that 1+1, in most cases,=2. This kit appears to be designed, IMHO, for indoor hydroponic pot growing.Few things have made me feel stupider than having 10 jugs of apparently dangerous pot fertilizer sitting in my living room. While it is possible to use as outdoor plant fertilizer, directions are bizarrely complex for this long-time gardener, and include ominous warnings about the extreme danger of mixing some of the solutions incorrectly/before tremendous dilution. Not the kind of stuff I want to handle or expose birds and animals to. I have no idea how to even throw it away without risk of accidentally blowing up the garbage truck or asphyxiating the driver (the ominous warnings are vague but very firm). Seriously? No one I know would use this stuff for normal gardening.For normal gardening I feel this is a one star product-- dangerous, difficult to use, and above all ludicrousIy expensive. Back to compost for me.Finally, for those who appear to be the target market for this kit, you might want to think twice about applying dangerous chemicals to indoor plants based on complicated, hard to follow directions. Maybe think twice about putting this stuff in your body, too. :(

This pro-pack should give you everything you need to get your hydroponic garden up and running. It contains:Fertmax Bloom A - 4-0-4, to be mixed withFertmax Bloom B 0-6-4Watermax - 99% water with a very small percentage of hypochlorous acid, the disinfecting agent of chlorine, but this does not contain chlorine, just a byproduct of chlorine's dissolution in water. Used for flushing your plants root systems and preventing mineral build up.Fertmax Booster (Liquid Bloom Enhancer) 0-4-4, to be used during the flowering growth stage to promote bloomsFertmax Grow A 4-0-1, to be mixed withFertmax Grow B 1-3-5 to provide nutrients during the growth phaseand finally:Fertmax Powder Booster 1-37-20, also to drive bloomingThe whole kit comes with a card that lists when you should use each product and how much of that product you should use.... from seedling stage through vegetative through early regenerative through full bloom and maturation. So for example you don't start to use the powder booster until the plants have reached the "full bloom" stage in week 4.Why do I get the idea we are talking about a green plant named Mary Jane here? hmmm....Ok back to the review.The instructions mix metric and imperial measurements ("5-10 milliliters in one gallon of water") but fortunately my Amazon Echo was able to translate that to about 2 teaspoons (I love the Echo, but that's a different review...)There are many WARNINGS about not mixing parts "a" and "b" before they are diluted, so I'm guessing some terrible chemical reaction takes place. (EDIT: Manufacturer in comments below says that is not the case)This is the other end of the spectrum in complexity from, say, Miracle Gro where you either stick the "grow" or "bloom" in your feeder and spray away at your garden. This seems to be targeted towards the serious grower who is spending hours a day monitoring and working on their garden, taking measurements etc.Given that most hydroponic gardens are for human consumption (whether eaten or smoked), I would also suggest you take a look at some of the organic hydroponic supplements on the market, such as General Organics Go Box Starter kit. If you are feeding your plants directly at the roots, why not give them natural nutrients instead of chemicals?That aside here are my pro's and con's for this product:Pro's:+ all in one inclusive kit for hydroponic gardeningCon's:- directions confusing and aimed at the professional, not garden enthusiast- not organic - phosphate based fertilizersOverall, I will give this a shot and report back if the results are off the charts, but my inclination at this point is to try to stick with more organic and user-friendly growing systems.Hope this helps.

I have to admit that this fertilizing system is much more complex than I usually do, but I have a large yard with a big variety of plants, so I decided to try it. A month really isn't long enough to test out plant fertilizers - especially in early spring, but my results so far have been good. The only thing I have planted hydroponically is a rhododendron branch that got broken off about a month ago, and it is starting to bloom! Once it has some roots established, I'll plant it outside and see if it continues to grow and flourish. Everything else is in the ground or in pots. The instructions do recommend the fertilizers for hydroponics, but they also state that these plant foods are good for any kind of growing medium. Again, it's a little too soon to be able to fully evaluate the effectiveness of these fertilizers, but the plants (indoor and outdoor) that I have used them on all look really good. I will update my review in a few months if I spot any negatives.I did put the a and b parts together briefly in my watering can, and there was no explosion or lethal fumes, as one reviewer suggested might happen. I added the recommended amount of water immediately. There is very little odor - especially once the liquids are diluted. I would take care to not get it on my/your skin - or wash it off thoroughly ASAP - but I do that with any plant fertilizers.The instructions say the kit will take six plants through all growth stages, but I am using the "growth" and "maturity" stages on the enclosed card as a guideline for which of my various landscaping plants to use the various solutions on. I suppose if one were growing pot hydroponically, that would be good info (that it will grow six plants), but I've been using the various mixtures as appropriate all over the garden.When I first received the kit, I was a little baffled because the instructions on the packages were very vague, but the Amazon page is hugely improved with more specific info about how often to use the fertilizers and where. Thank you! The kit is quite expensive, as plant foods go, but a little goes a long way and if the results are great, it would be worth it!