Hydroponic Connection – Hydroponics & Garden Supplies

Great People, knowledgeable

These guys are great… Knowledgable and always a smile. Wouldn’t give my business to anyone else. If they haven’t got it, they can get it…

Jose greeted me within seconds of entering the store. He was awesome! He gave me a wealth of knowledge and was very patient with me. Most shops are hit or miss with customer service, but I get consistency with Hydroponic Connection. He walked me through my options and gave me my trade offs. Patience was vital to me considering I am a Rookie. Best prices and If there is better they match it! Thanks for the experience Jose!

This isnt the only place in town to get «nutes».But its the best. The guys (& occasionally gals) have always treated me w/​respect& COURTESY, somthing thats rare these days. Even tho I’ve been growing for years, there’s always something new to learn from them. Ther advice on how to save me $$, is very much apreciated as well.

Really?!
I thought Unilocal reviews were to let a business owner know how their doing, help them better their business.
THESE PEOPLE use Unilocal to filter who they let in their store.
ONLY «grow store» that requires you to be Buzzed in through a Locked door.
They quote different prices every time.
Some fat dude jolts out of the back room (w/​two way mirror)
Starts shouting «GET OUT OF MY STORE — I DON’T WANT TO SELL ANYTHING TO YOU»
Clearly not the owner
Clearly doesn’t know anything about Customer Service
Gets this Little Kid Rage if you point out that he doesn’t know crap about plants or gardening.
My guess is that he is doing something illegal there.
Uncontrollable Hate towards «outsiders»
Glad there are plenty of other grow stores in the city that aren’t this sketchy and overpriced.

1 bad service
2 bad prices
3 bad location
4 dangerous business practices that could get you busted.
5 retaliatory for negative reviews of their service, anti free speech, anti american.

Huge selection of liquid and solid fertilizers. The guy at the counter was very helpful and knew exactly what I was talking about and where the right product lived in the warehouse. This place is no-​frills-​attached, exactly what you want when you know what you want.
Seems like these guys specialize in bulk orders, so maybe don’t head this way to get just a tiny amount of something.
In addition to fertilizer, I asked about HydroTon because I’ve had difficulty in the past finding it and, no surprise, they carry it here.
Excellent experience.

Best spot in city HANDS down… They run it like the warehouse spots I’m used to up north. Best pricing in sf, easily… Hard to get parking sometimes, they got a DL truck for deliveries too… Surprised not many reviews, they come thru 4 folks doing it!

Great store in a safe location .the staff is super friendly and knowledgable and have mostly everything you need and they price match so if you already have a price in mind they work w ya just bring in your quote or receipt .i have had nothing but good experiences w them and I’ve been shopping here for a few years now.

If you have wheels, then this is hands down the spot to go. They are on top of having all the cutting edge equipment and have the Best prices.
I have been to every SF/​Oakland hydro and these guys win EASY.
Its like going to your homies house to go pick up supplies, these guys are down and can help you in your newest or age old endeavors.

Do you want the best in hydroponic growing advice and product knowledge? Visit this store and talk to Mike. Possibly the most technically savvy and friendly hydro store manager in the Bay Area. As him a question and you will get a class of learning. Bring your notebook!
They also carry all major brands so they will have what you need. Go for it.

not a bad spot … they carry what Plant It Earth doesnt … so that makes it easy … they will match internet prices. and order anything you wanna get they dont have … kind of hard to find. cause its tucked away in a high fenced off parking lot … look for the opening in the gate …

I love this store — it has everything needed for a perfect garden. If they don’t have it, they direct you to another store that does. They were also very clear about when delivery of goods will arrive when they ran out of a product I needed (never in the dark, unlike the fellow with the long statement).
The sales people really want to help make it happen for me. They are full of good information and may be willing to give a better price for a product if you buy in bulk or if you simply ask. I said to one of the sales guys the price of a tray at another store, and not only did he match the price, he offered a lower price– which was really not necessary (but awesome) as matching the price is fine for me.
Anyway, I will be going back to this store, it has most of the things I need and it’s fun to see some of the new products in the industry-​Im always luving a new idea.
Thanks THC– my project is coming together better than I could of ever imagined.
Sincerely, SGM of SF

The Hydroponic Connection is an awesome store stocking the best products on the market and being capable of helping their clients with all questions, big or small. They are expanding to a new store opening in Berkeley later this month.

While this was still among the worst buying experiences I’ve ever had, HC did make everything right in the end. (See the update below.)
On 02/​01/​2011, I arrived at the store with a purchase order valued in excess of $ 2000. This PO listed explicit item descriptions and part numbers for each item.
All items listed were:
1. The precise specification for my need.
2. Available from Hydro-​Farm or Sun Light Supply, large distributors in the Hydroponics industry located in Northern California.
Out of the gate, Sales Person 1 began to tell me what I ‘should buy’ instead of what was listed on the PO. He did this with five of the first six items.
In one instance I agreed with him. I had listed ballasts from company «L». He ‘recommended’ ballasts from Company «Q.»
I was informed they had to order some items, thus my order would be ready to be picked up in three days (2÷4÷11).
I then PAID IN FULL FOR ALL the listed items. I requested that I be called when the complete order was ready. I left them a copy of the Purchase Order that included my contact info.
²⁄₄ came and went without my hearing a word. I actually didn’t mind this at first because I was still busy with other aspects of my project.
I actually waited until ²⁄₁₅ before going to pick up my merchandise Upon arrival I was told there were still multiple missing items.
When asked why I had not been called Sales Person 1 said he had LOST my original PO. I had paid via Credit Card and they took a copy of my driver’s license, so obviously they had my name and address? Yet they couldn’t be bothered to make a minimal attempt to contact me? Can you say 411 or ZabaSearch?
I also learn two of the missing items were those ballasts Sales Person 1 recommended. They were in stock on the day I paid for them? The salesman stumbled and mumbled about then offered yet another substitute.
Unfortunately this latest substitute lacked a feature found on both my original choice and on his recommended substitute.
Sales Person 1 had also neglected to tell me that I needed to purchase additional adapter cables to connect the Company «Q» ballasts he recommended to the lights I was purchasing.
Wanting to avoid trip after trip to the store I again asked to be called when the correct items were ready to go and left my name a phone numbers a second time.
Things went further down hill from there. Three days later after again hearing nothing from these folks I went to pick up whatever was available because construction time was passing. This time I encountered Sales Person 2.
It was pouring rain and in our haste to get the car loaded I failed to notice that two items I had ordered were not loaded into the car, an air pump and a box of ducting. I let it drop for the moment because of what happened next.
One of the items I had originally specified was a particular air filter. Sales Person 2 tried endlessly to sell me an air filter easily 2.5 times the length/​diameter I specified. There was simply no way I could adapt this gargantuan filter into my project. So I returned it and tried every way I could to explain my space limitations and how I needed a smaller filter.
Being reasonable though, I tried one more of Sales Person 2“s ‘recommendations.’ This filter also was not acceptable.
When I returned the second filter, I brought along pictures of a facility almost identical to what I was building. Even with pictures to guide him, Sales Person 2 was unable to grasp that you cannot put a 36″ long object across a 31″ space. In hindsight, the pictures seemed to exponentially increase Sales Person 2’s determination to sell me only what he had on hand, appropriate to my needs or not.
It is now February 19 and the second incorrect air filter ‘recommendation’ was the last straw. I was through with this company. At this point, I asked that the money for the remaining items be refunded so I could purchase them elsewhere.
Rather than helping me locate another source for the missing items I’m told they have a No Refund-​Store Credit Only policy. They ‘assured’ me they could get me the appropriate items if only I just kept on waiting. Sales Person #2 sprinkled this conversation with insistence their customer service was nothing short of superlative and with warnings that if I did not accept their ‘advice’ I’d possibly end up in jail since that already happened to another of his customers who didn’t listen to them.
I spoke with owner Steve Jones over the phone and explained my frustration. He agreed to a refund under the condition I agree to to wait for three items he normally did not stock and had «special ordered just for me.» I graciously agreed to this. That was on Feb 19.
Today is March 3 and I am still waiting for the phone call to come pick up the missing items.
UPDATE 3÷17÷11: After writing to the owner of HC detailing the trouble I had in making my purchase, I was finally contacted by these folks. A full cash refund for all the missing items was issued.

I can’t recommend this place highly enough. In fact, I pretty much never review anything on here, but feel it’s important to let everyone know this place is plain amazing. You’d be really, really hard pressed to find more helpful or knowledgeable service anywhere. I drive way out of my way to go here. It’s way worth it.

Still growing, and still going, to the hydroponic connection. Always helpful and helping us take our garden to the next level.

Great shop with most everything you need for indoor. If they don’t have it they will offer an alternative or try to get it. Decent selection of used equipment for those on a budget. Steve is very knowledgeable and easy to deal with even when you screw up as a customer as I have on occasion. One star from perfect because they don’t offer the discounts to large volume buyers that some do. Always a pleasure to shop there.