Hi - I've been interested in the concept of hydroponics for a long time, but recently decided to get into this for real, and do some research as to what's available, etc.

A few weeks ago, a friend suggested going to the Maximum Yield Hydroponics Indoor Gardening expo at Ft Mason, in San Francisco, so we did. I was amazed at how many different vendors and products were there, a bit overwhelming actually.

It was a fun event, but I was there on a mission.

The hardware equipment seems pretty straight forward. I could make some reasonable choices or even try to build my own.

But where the choices get a bit more complex is in the nutrients.

There are a LOT of different nutrient products, and I spent an entire day stopping by dozens of different booths, asking questions, taking notes and all that.

Getting home, I unpacked an entire pile of literature and catalogs, much of it quite colorful, and was going over my notes trying to recall everything I had seen.

I liked the General Hydroponics booth and the people there.

They seem have a very solid 30+ year history of research and developing various nutrient formulas, and the people I talked with were very tech savvy, gave really excellent, clear explanations about their products and how they are used.

Of course, there were several other vendors who also had well developed nutrients and growing mediums, but it was hard to focus at times because the expo itself was so crowded and loud . . . it was sort of like a giant party mixed together with hydroponics and hi-tech botany.

So . . .

I'm just trying to get a handle on what my best choices might be, suggestions from other experienced growers, what seems to work best for them and so on.

Any help and suggestions offered is much appreciated!

Thanx