Making the Perfect Hydroponic Nutrient Formula

Getting the perfect hydroponic nutrient formula can be a bit difficult. Similarly using the right amount of fertilizer for conventional gardening can be difficult to judge. You risk growing weak, malnourished looking plants with not enough fertilizer; on the other hand you kill off your budding plants with too much fertilizer.

When you are figuring out the right hydroponic nutrient formula you need to add the fertilizers in the right ratio. Hydroponics kits include fertilizers, it can be a bit confusing when it comes to mixing them together.

Getting The Right Concentration

To ensure that your plants grow and stay healty, it is very important to combine the fertilizers that you get in the right concentration. Because fertilizers sold for use in hydroponic systems are concentrated it's important to make the hydroponic nutrient formula right.

You can start with a concentration of 150 to 600 parts per million. Usually though this concentration can be made even more specific, for most plants you can use a hydroponic nutrient formula of around 300-400 parts per million.

Stages of Growth

Plants go through different stages of growth and development, so it makes sense that plants need different nutrients during these different phases. There are different nutrients available that are specifically targetted toward the different phasess of the plants life cycle.

'Grow' formulae are typically targetted toward plants in the vegetative phase of growth in the plant's life cycle. Another popular naming for this type of formula is ‘growth’ formula. When your plants begin to flower you need to change to a different hydroponic nutrient formula. Look for hydroponic nutrient formulas called ‘bloom’ or ‘flower’.

The strenth or concentration, of the hydroponic nutrient formula, you use will depend on the plant's health and stage of growth. If you have a weak plant that is being grown in low level lighting then you should use a weak hydroponic nutrient formula, not a strong one. A strong formula should be used for healthy thriving plants, even if common sense would tell you to do the opposite.

If you are planning on changing the strength of formula you use, you must make small changes and gradually tweak it towards your target strength. Too quick and you risk killing off your plants. You must also make sure the plants are in a well ventilated area with lots of light for healthy growth.