Advanced Nutrients
Hydroponics is the growing of plants without soil-meaning, the nutrients that are usually supplied through the soil to the plants should come from another source, usually through the water solution. Obviously, the advanced nutrients solution fed to hydroponic plants has a direct effect on their growth, health, and their yield. Soil has around seventeen different elements that would promote a plant’s growth - fortunately, even the most basic solutions for hydroponics have all these elements. The need to use formula made specifically for hydroponics should not be underestimated as regular fertilizers typically lack some of the elements needed by the plants. Also, special formulations and/or additives made to particularly evoke certain growth patterns in plants are available. Understandably, making the best nutrient mixture is not a very easy business, because there are so many factors to be considered: the kind of plant, the nutrient blend on which the plant thrives, the desired result, etc. The combinations of elements and quantities are endless. Essentially, this is chemistry; and if you took chemistry in high school, you probably remember that the right blend of chemicals can be beneficial, while the wrong blend can be catastrophic. Thankfully, there are a lot of products available where the homework has been done for you; but you still have to be aware of your plants and their needs, and read labels to ensure you are giving them the right thing-especially when it comes to advanced nutrients and additives. It is safe to conclude then that while basic nutrient blends promote the needed health of plants, it is the advanced nutrients that provide the extra push on some areas. Several blends deal with keeping the right pH balance in the water, which is very important in hydroponics. Others are about increasing the yield of harvest, encouraging thicker foliage, affecting the blooming stage and promoting accelerated growth. However, it is not as simple as placing an additive in your gas tank, or applying the right formula to get the desired result. 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. In the same way, plants would feel some unwanted effects in some areas by the mere “taking” of a booster. Therefore, it’s really important for you to know about the different nutrients that affect plant growth, this way, you have a clearer idea of their results. Thankfully, many hydroponic developers want you to have the right result from their advanced nutrients, so they’ll put important information on the label. It is therefore very important to read the label before buying a certain product. Among the many pieces of information found in the label are the benefits of as well as the elements that make up the solution. If you don’t feel that the label has sufficient information, then follow your hunch - don’t trust it.
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