Advanced Nutrients

Hydroponics is the interesting practice of growing plants without the use of soil

- this goes without saying then that nutrients that should've been supplied by soil must come from another source, like the water solution. Obviously, the advanced nutrients solution fed to hydroponic plants has a direct impact on their growth, health, and their yield.

Soil has around 17 different elements that would promote a plant's growth - fortunately, even the most basic solutions for hydroponics have all these elements. It's noteworthy to use formulas specifically designed for hydroponics, since regular fertilizer products would not normally have all the elements needed.

In addition, special formulations and/or additives made to particularly evoke certain growth patterns in plants are available. Understandably, creating the best nutrient mixture is a complicated business, because there are so many factors to be considered: the kind of plant, the nutrient blend on which the plant survives, the desired result, etc. True enough, there is an endless list of combination of elements and quantities. Essentially, this is chemistry; and if you took chemistry in high school, you probably recognize that the right blend of chemicals can be beneficial, while the wrong blend can be catastrophic. Thank goodness for ready-made mixtures, the nitty-gritty of chemistry is taken off of your shoulders; still, you need to learn about your plants and read the product labels to ascertain that you're doing the right thing.

It's safe to conclude then that while basic nutrient solutions promote the needed health of plants, it's the advanced nutrients that provide the extra push on some areas. For example, there are blends that focus on keeping the right pH balance in the water. Some elements promote accelerated growth; some affect the blooming stage; some encourage thicker foliage; some boost the yield of harvest. Remember, however, that while looking at them makes this idea so simple, it is not - it is definitely not like putting an additive in your gas tank.

Everytime you put something in the water, you're feeding the plant something that'll ultimately affect it for good or ill-just as "we are what we eat." Just as taking a particular medicine, it may treat some symptoms but the fact that side effects could be felt is also there. It is the same for plants; simply adding a booster to the water may have a positive effect in one way, but have negative effects in other areas. The more you know how different elements affect your plant, the better you will be able to decide what the best things are to feed your plant.

Thankfully, most hydroponic developers want you to have the "correct" result from their advanced nutrients, so they'll put essential information on the label. It's therefore very important to read the label before buying a particular product. The label will typically tell you what the formulation is for, and what plants it benefits. If you do not feel that the label has sufficient information, then follow your hunch - don't trust it.

by: Iris Caesar

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