Nutrients & Additives Buyer's Guide

If you are new to indoor gardening this guide will help you narrow down on the wide selection of nutrients and additives we offer, and get you educated on what you need to be doing. Also in this guide are several tips.

Read the "this is work" yellow box to the right.

Contents: 1) Choosing a nutrient line, 2) Using the nutrients, 3) Tips

Choosing A Nutrient Line

The first step is to choose a nutrient line. For some nutrient lines there is then a second choice of which sub-line to go with. For example General Hydroponics has the "Flora" line, "FloraNova" line, and the Organics line.

Organic vs Non-organic - The first choice is organic vs a non-organic line. You will know if you want to go organic. Otherwise most of the big selling lines are all non-organic and they will give you as much success as you allow for by controlling your air flow, temperature, and humidity.

Stick with a single line - You want to stick to a single brand versus picking different parts. The exceptions we see to this is some gardeners like to add the House and Garden Shooting Powder and Roots Excelurator to their usage. Also the Nature's Solutions Compost Tea and other beneficial creation systems are used with multiple lines.

Match your gardening style - Having chosen organic vs non-organic we recommend looking at the descriptions, images, packaging, and feed charts for several brands you are considering - and matching the product to your gardening style and personality. Do you find one chart easier to read? Do you like the "about us" information on one company? Are you a scientific gardener, or do you prefer to interact a lot with your plants and give them more love than numbers? Do you want an eight part system that you tailor to a specific life cycle, or do you want to keep things simpler with just a few nutrients? We don't sell products that gardeners don't re-order so you are safe with any choice. If you are feeling like there are to many choices read the "too many choices" column on the right of this page or choose one of the popular lines listed below.

Let others make the choice - Here are the most popular nutrient lines.

Check your growth medium - Make sure that the nutrient line you choose works with your growth medium. If there is nothing listed in their literature that generally means the nutrient is general purpose. There are quite a few lines that have you choose a medium specific base nutrient (the differentiation is generally between soil and something else).

Using The Nutrients

For many product lines you will be using just two to four elements at a time even though the line has many more. Usually there are two or three that you use the whole time then stage specific additives on top of that.

Once you choose the line you want to use the next step is to go to their website (search their name on the internet) and choose the link to their Nutrient Calculator or Feeding Chart. These guides will tell you exactly how much you need to use of each nutrient/additive part at what week in the grow cycle.

You will need to purchase a Nutrient Measuring Cup.

Continue reading for tips on nutrient use.

Tips

General Hydroponics
Featured nutrient line. Bringing nature and technology together.

Too Many Choices?
To keep things very simple you can use Humboldt Nutrients Oneness or House & Garden 1-Component. Both can be used by themselves through your plants' full life cycle. Another recommended option for simplicity is using General Hydroponics FloraNova Grow and FloraNova Bloom. - Or - For each nutrient line that offers a Micro, Grow and Bloom, you only need to use those and you can skip the additives. Also, choosing to grow in soil instead of a soilless medium will be much more forgiving as soil has everything plants need to start.

Nature's Solutions Compost Tea
Two Quart Liquid Bags of Natures Solution Compost-Tea-in-a-Bag.