Flora Series® Quart Trial Pack

The Flora Series® Quart Trial Pack from General Hydroponics bundles 1-quart bottles of FloraMicro®, FloraGro®, and FloraBloom® in a single box. It is the original 3-part liquid nutrient system, designed for growers who want to mix stage-specific ratios for seedlings, vegetative growth, and bloom. The trial format keeps the entry cost low so you can run a full crop cycle before committing to gallon or larger sizes.

Flora Series Quart Trial Pack Specifications

The trial pack ships as three separate concentrate bottles, each at full label strength. The guaranteed analysis below is sourced from the General Hydroponics label data for each component. Dose rates change by growth stage and are covered in the dosing section further down this page.

Specification	Value
Brand	General Hydroponics (Hawthorne Garden Company)
SKU	HGC718070
Format	3-part liquid concentrate trial pack
Bottle contents	1 qt FloraMicro®, 1 qt FloraGro®, 1 qt FloraBloom®
Bottle size	1 quart (32 fl oz / ~946 mL) each
Total liquid volume	3 quarts (~2.84 L)
Shipping weight	8.199 lb
FloraMicro® guaranteed analysis	5-0-1 plus calcium, chelated micronutrients, and trace minerals
FloraGro® guaranteed analysis	2-1-6 with 0.5% water-soluble magnesium
FloraBloom® guaranteed analysis	0-5-4 with 1.5% magnesium and 1.0% sulfur
Target solution pH	5.5 to 6.5
OMRI certified	No (not organically certified)

Why Choose the Flora Series Quart Trial Pack

The Flora Series is the original 3-part liquid nutrient line from General Hydroponics, in production since 1976. The trial pack format packages all three components at the smallest available bottle size, which lowers the cost of running a full feed cycle for the first time. If the program works for your crop, you re-order the same three bottles in gallon or 2.5-gallon sizes without changing the recipe.

The three components are mineral salts dissolved in water at differing N-P-K and micronutrient ratios. By adjusting the proportion of FloraGro® and FloraBloom® relative to a constant base of FloraMicro®, the grower controls the nutrient profile delivered to the plant at each growth stage. That manual control is the point of the system — the recipe is not pre-blended for you.

• Three concentrates in one box: FloraMicro® (5-0-1), FloraGro® (2-1-6), and FloraBloom® (0-5-4)
• Mix ratios shift by stage using the published “1-2-3 Rule” for seedling, vegetative, and bloom feeds
• Compatible with hydroponic, coco, soilless, and in-ground grows — not limited to recirculating systems
• Quart size is enough to run a small tent or a few plants through one full cycle before committing to larger volumes
• Backed by the General Hydroponics label data and forty-plus years of brand history in hydroponic feeding

The trial pack is also the standard sample format used by hydro retailers and grow shops when a customer wants to confirm the program is compatible with their water source and crop before placing a larger nutrient order.

Best Uses for the Flora Series Quart Trial Pack

The trial pack is sized for short-duration grows and pilot runs. Three quarts of concentrate, fed at typical dose rates, will mix several dozen gallons of finished nutrient solution — enough for a single grow tent or a small bench of plants from clone through harvest.

• First hydroponic nutrient program. New growers can run the full FloraSeries® protocol without buying gallons of each part upfront. The bundled format means there is no risk of buying FloraGro® without the matching FloraMicro® required for safe mixing.
• Evaluating the line before scaling up. Experienced growers who currently run a different brand can test the FloraSeries® against their existing recipe on a small subset of plants. If yields and runoff EC match the operation’s targets, they re-order at gallon scale.
• Small tent and personal grows. A 2×2 or 2×4 tent with two to four plants typically uses well under three quarts of concentrate per cycle. The trial pack covers the entire grow without leftover bottles.
• Multi-stage feeding across seedling, veg, and bloom. Because each component is bottled separately, the grower can run a low-EC seedling mix, a heavier veg push, and a phosphorus-and-potassium-loaded bloom feed from the same three bottles without buying stage-specific blends.
• Travel kits and demo setups. Quart bottles fit checked luggage limits for liquids better than gallons, and the trial pack is the format most often used for grow-shop demos, hydro classes, and trade-show samples.

If you are building a complete starter kit, the trial pack pairs with reservoir-storage items like a CVault storage container for keeping dry inputs separate from concentrates, and with a properly sized enclosed grow space such as a 48x48x78 grow tent that matches the small footprint the trial-pack volumes are designed to serve.

Flora Series Quart Trial Pack vs Other Multi-Part Nutrient Systems

The most common alternative format on the same shelf is a 2-part A+B system such as the Advanced Nutrients pH Perfect Sensi line. The two approaches solve the same problem — delivering a complete nutrient profile to the plant — but they differ in how the grower controls the feed and what the bottles cost.

A 2-part system uses a single ratio (often 1:1 of Part A to Part B) and folds pH-buffering chemistry into the concentrate so the finished solution self-corrects within a narrow band. That removes a step but also removes the grower’s ability to push a higher N or higher P-K profile by adjusting one bottle independently. The Flora Series uses three bottles and asks the grower to change the ratio at each stage. The trade-off is more pipette work and more attention to pH and EC monitoring, but with finer control over the actual N-P-K delivered. Per quart of concentrate, the FloraSeries® trial pack sits below the entry price of most pH-buffered 2-part starter kits, which is the second reason many growers begin here before deciding whether to move to a pre-buffered line.

Within the General Hydroponics catalog itself, the trial pack is the lowest-cost way to acquire all three Flora Series bottles. Buying FloraMicro®, FloraGro®, and FloraBloom® as individual quarts costs more than the bundled trial pack at typical retail pricing — the pack is specifically positioned to lower the barrier to running the full 3-part protocol.

Compatibility

The Flora Series is formulated to work across a wide range of growing media and watering methods. General Hydroponics specifies the line for rockwool, coco coir, peat-lite soilless mixes, potting mix, in-ground soil, and water culture systems including deep water culture (DWC) and ebb-and-flow. The same three bottles cover hand-watered pots and recirculating reservoirs without a formula change.

On the crop side, the line is labeled for hemp, vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers, and other high-value crops. It is suitable for indoor and outdoor grows and does not require specific spectrum or temperature conditions beyond standard horticultural ranges. The trial pack is appropriate for all experience levels, including first-time hydroponic growers, because the published dose rates are stated in teaspoons per gallon rather than in PPM or EC targets that beginners may not yet be measuring.

For a small indoor setup, the trial pack pairs well with a sealed grow space and a fixed-output light source — for example a Sun Blaze T5 HO 8-lamp fixture for low-heat veg lighting in a 4×4 tent. The line does not have any electrical, voltage, or temperature compatibility constraints of its own; the only operating-range parameters worth tracking are reservoir water temperature (ideally 65–72°F for root health) and finished solution pH (5.5–6.5).

Note: the Flora Series is not OMRI certified. Growers operating under USDA organic certification or local organic compliance rules should select a separately certified organic line instead.

Dosing Guidelines

The Flora Series follows the published “1-2-3 Rule” from General Hydroponics. The numbers in the rule refer to the relative emphasis of each bottle by growth stage, not literal teaspoon counts. Dose rates below are the brand’s published values per US gallon of fresh water.

Growth stage	FloraMicro®	FloraGro®	FloraBloom®
Seedlings / cuttings	¼ tsp / gal	¼ tsp / gal	¼ tsp / gal
Vegetative growth	1–2 tsp / gal	1–3 tsp / gal	1 tsp / gal
Bloom to ripening	2 tsp / gal	1–2 tsp / gal	2–3 tsp / gal

Hold the finished solution between pH 5.5 and 6.5. Monitor electrical conductivity (EC) or PPM and adjust the dose rate within the published ranges based on plant response, leaf colour, and runoff readings. General Hydroponics recommends replacing the nutrient solution weekly or biweekly to prevent salt buildup and ratio drift as the plant draws nutrients at different rates than they are supplied.

Begin near the low end of each range for the first feed of a new crop or a new water source. Step up dose rates as plants establish and EC tolerance is confirmed. Reduce or skip the bloom-stage feed in the final one to two weeks before harvest to flush residual salts from the medium.

How to Mix the Flora Series

The mixing order for a 3-part system matters. Combining concentrated FloraMicro® with FloraGro® or FloraBloom® before either is diluted in water will cause calcium and phosphate ions to react and precipitate out of solution — you will see white solids drop to the bottom of the bottle or reservoir, and the plants will be short on those nutrients in the finished feed.

1. Start with fresh water at room temperature in the mixing reservoir or jug. Reverse-osmosis or low-EC tap water is preferred; if using municipal water, allow chlorine to off-gas or use a carbon filter.
2. Shake the FloraMicro® bottle thoroughly to suspend any settled chelates. Measure the stage-appropriate dose of FloraMicro® and add it to the water first. Stir until fully dissolved.
3. Add the FloraGro® dose next. Stir until fully dissolved.
4. Add the FloraBloom® dose last. Stir until fully dissolved.
5. Measure pH and adjust with a pH-down or pH-up solution to land between 5.5 and 6.5. Measure EC or PPM and confirm the reading is within the target range for the growth stage.
6. Apply the finished solution to the medium or fill the reservoir. Discard any nutrient solution that has been mixed for more than seven to ten days, as ratios will drift as components are taken up at different rates.

Always replace caps tightly between uses and store the three bottles in a cool, dark cabinet. The concentrates are stable at room temperature but should not be allowed to freeze or sit in direct sunlight.

Sources & Further Reading