FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

TLDR: Using 3-in-1 concentrate will save you a lot of money.

I recently ran out BioAdvanced 3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite Control and went online to buy some more. I found that the ready-to-use bottle was around $10, and the concentrate was around $20. I did a little checking and made a big cost-savings discovery.

• The concentrate label says to mix 5 1/4 tablespoons in a gallon of water.
• There are 128 ounces in a gallon.
• The size of the ready-to-use bottle is 24 ounces.
• 128 / 24 = 5.33
• If I refill the ready-to-use bottle with the concentrate, it takes 1 tablespoon (half a fluid ounce).
• 32 ounces of concentrate / 0.5 ounces per dosage = 64 refills

So, I can spend $30 on a bottle of ready-to-use plus a bottle of concentrate, or I can spend $650 on 65 bottles of ready-to use. It pays to check into the details.

A running peeve in our house are the many different volumes of the same product available in different stores, so it's harder to compare price-per-units. A 16 oz jar here, but a 14.5 oz jar there. Kingsford Charcoal drives my spouse nuts, because it comes in 8 lb, 12 lb, 14 lb, 15 lb, 16 lb...

I fire up the calculator on my phone and do the math. I'm the consumer that stores hate because I refuse to take their word that a sale item is actually the best deal (grocery stores in my area are notorious for pulling this crap).