Maxsea 16 16 16 ( Made from Bloodmeal)

by Frankie
(Orlando, Fl)

Hello Jason,
Thank you, you have a very informative website.
You recommended the Maxsea 16 16 16, yet you would not use it, because it is made from dried blood. What nutrient would you recommend (NFT System) for tomatoes?

Best Regards,
Frankie B

Answer: When I first started this website, I was still using Maxsea products....they are less expensive than "professional" hydroponic nutrients, are very nearly complete all by themselves, and they produce very good results when all other factors in the garden are maintained.

Unfortunately, since the mad-cow scare (aka Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), I have had very conflicted feelings about using any bloodmeal or bonemeal products. In case you are not aware, mad-cow disease is related to Anthrax. It is caused by something called a prion, which is many times smaller than a virus and is actually not a living organism! When it comes in contact with living cells, however, it becomes "animated" and goes to work destroying the host organism....very nasty stuff.

Although it costs a little more, your best bet would be to use some "proper" hydroponic nutrients. If you are trying to keep things organic, I suggest using the Canna Bio line of products (they contain NO animal products). These are one-part stand alone fertilizer products....there is one formula for vegetative growth, and another for flowering. This makes it a little easier to mix up your nutrient solution. Also, these fertilizers mix up at just the right pH, so you won't need to check the pH every time you adjust the nutrient solution (and you won't have to buy any pH Up or pH Down!)

If you are not too concerned with keeping things strictly organic, I suggest using B.C. Nutrients....they are my personal favorite. If you have a small garden (say 4 to 6 plants) you can pick up the nutrient sample pack for a very reasonable price from Alternative Garden Supply. These nutrients are a three part system. You mix Veg and Micro for the vegetative growth formula, and you use Flora and Micro for the flowering formula. It is actually very simple to use, just read the directions that come with the nutrients and be sure to follow them!

Obviously, other professional hydroponic nutrients will work just as well (General Hydroponics, for example). All of these fertilizers have a vegetative formula high in Nitrogen and a flowering formula high in Phosphorus that will work very well for tomatoes.

The biggest factor that will determine your success is how well you maintain your nutrient reservoir. This means maintaining an appropriate nutrient solution strength, keeping the pH adjusted, and completely changing the nutrient solution every two to three weeks.

That should be enough to give you some good results, and keep things relatively simple at the same time. If you find you are having good results and you want to take things to the next level, there are three additional things I recommend adding to the nutrient solution. They are....

Vitamin B1 (Thrive Alive, for example)
liquid seaweed (Maxicrop)
and a Silica product (like Silica Blast)

You really only need to add half as much as they recommend of these products to make a real difference.

Unfortunately, I have not yet found another "cheap" hydroponic nutrient product like MaxSea. I have experimented with making my own compost teas using worm castings and bat guano, but getting the mix just right is very tricky, and these ingredients end up costing just as much as the professional hydroponic nutrients. I hope this helps!