BIONOVA - Stimulators and Supplementary Fertilisers for Comprehensive Plant Support

Every Sunday we bring you an article focused in detail on the most interesting products that are, whether newly added or long-established, an integral part of our store’s range. Therefore, right at the start we recommend the first standalone article about the BIONOVA brand, where across different cultivation methods we cover all the other products (base fertilisers, substrates, plant protection against pests etc.) except for the stimulators, which are now covered in the following lines.

Let us introduce the unique additives, which, in combination with Bionova base nutrition and proper plant care, can truly simplify and shorten the path to an exceptionally abundant, fragrant and tasty harvest, whether you are growing herbs, fruit or vegetables.

Our TIP: In the mentioned first part you will also find advantageous sets for the entire cultivation cycle, which contain both base fertilisers and stimulators. One example is the starter pack for growing in soil.

Root stimulator - more roots means more flowers

• Bionova Roots is historically one of the first products Bionova brought to market. For many years it was researched and produced in cooperation with several European horticultural companies and universities around the world.
• Intensive support for the plant root system is based on a rich composition, dominated by the following ingredients:
• Humic acids, which improve oxygen uptake, accelerate root and cell development, and speed up ion transport (Under the article you will find a link to a separate article on humic acids and fulvic acids).
• Kelp. These seaweeds stand out for their abilities such as wound healing or chlorosis treatment, and further increase chlorophyll production as well as the intensity of root hairs.
• Ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
• Thiamin (vitamin B1).
• Myo-inositol is a vitamin B7-like compound for better cell wall formation.
• L-glycine is an amino acid with a beneficial effect on plant resilience and growth.
• The natural root stimulator (root booster) will accelerate and generally improve the development of your plants’ root system. This means:
• More fine root hairs.
• A higher level of absorption and more efficient use of nutrients by the plant.
• Increased plant resistance to various types of stress
• Significantly higher yields in all tested crops!
• Growers use Bionova Roots more often during periods of high stress and extra specific nutritional needs. For example, when producing mother plants and clones just before cutting and just after cutting.
• This root stimulator can also help significantly in the following situations:
• Slowed or blocked growth.
• Problems with the root system caused by insects.
• The occurrence of fungal diseases in plants.
• Overwatering. In this case, some growers recommend drying the substrate thoroughly and then applying Bionova Roots at a rate of 2.5 ml / litre as a foliar spray.
• Bionova Roots root stimulator can be applied in two forms:
• As a feed in the first 3 weeks of the cultivation cycle at a rate of 8-5 ml per 10 litres of water.
• As a foliar spray for better rooting of cuttings (0.5 – 0.75 per litre of water).

Bionova Silution - a reliable organic solution for maximum yield

• Bionova Silution is a plant-strengthening liquid stimulator with a composition based on stabilised silicic acid in combination with fulvic acid. Applying Silution brings growers the following benefits:
  • Better nutrient uptake.
  • Stronger cell walls, branches and stems.
  • Plants form more internodes, which allows them to carry more weight (larger flowers and fruit).
  • Increased plant defence against viruses and infections.
  • The cultivated crops are also much more resistant to the negative effects of stress, for example during transplanting or due to temperature fluctuations. If you would like to learn more about the stressors affecting your crop, read the separate article: Stress also harms plants, or abiotic plant stress.
  • Higher dry matter content in the final product.
  • Young seedlings and clones need relatively high air humidity for their development. However, higher air humidity encourages the occurrence of various diseases, especially fungal ones. Therefore, Silution is the perfect prevention and tool for strengthening plant tissues precisely for plants in the early stages of development, for which propagators are used for cultivation. (TIP for an article: How to choose a propagator and what to equip it with?) Growers recommend applying Silution every 10 days to seedlings and clones as a foliar spray.
  • Bio Nova Silution is also a suitable product for strengthening mother plants. In this case, it is appropriate to apply Bionova Silution to the leaves of the “mother” just before taking clones (cuttings), in order to strengthen the plant cells and tissues. At the same time, subsequent rooting of the cuttings is accelerated.
  • The supplementary liquid fertiliser Bionova Silution can be used from the first week of growth until the last week of flowering and is fully compatible with all other fertilisers and preparations from the same manufacturer as well as with all cultivation methods.
  • In addition to foliar spraying, Silution is also commonly applied as a feed, mixed into the water before all other fertilisers.

Bionova The Missing Link (TML) - the missing link that gives your plants everything they need to fulfil their genetic potential!

• This exclusive product from Bionova, with a purely natural composition (100% VEGAN), is designed to naturally stimulate the plant immune system and prevent common deficiencies in their nutrition, paradoxically caused by an overly cultivated environment. 
• The Missing Link (TML) is a certified blend of organic materials, including the world’s highest-quality fulvic acid. Add to that precious metals.
• The result of application is exceptional plant defence, which among other things reduces the need for various fungicides or pesticides.
• It is known that as a result of a lack of basic nutrients, organisms can no longer develop fully. This is related to a separate article: Symptoms of deficiencies in important nutrients. Absorption of these indispensable nutrients leads to an unprecedentedly positive effect on the quality and yield of crops treated with TML. And because this product literally fills a previously unknown gap in the food chain, the Dutch manufacturer quite rightly decided to name it in Czech as The Missing Link.
• Also TML has enormous potential for growers during cloning (cuttings). Simply spray it on mother plants just before taking and just after taking cuttings.
• In the case of seedlings or young plants in a very humid environment, TML helps prevent many infections in young plants caused by high humidity.
• During the vegetative phase, it is recommended to use TML as a foliar spray once a week until the start of flowering.
• Bionova The Missing Link is used as part of the feed (throughout the cultivation cycle at a rate of 6 ml per 10 l of water) or as a foliar spray (during the vegetative phase and the first week of flowering at a rate of 0.25-0.50 ml per litre of water), and at most three times.

Bionova Vitasol - natural composition for natural and above all more pronounced flavour of cultivated crops

• Vitasol also belongs among 100% organic stimulators. Its task is to develop a sweeter flavour in every treated plant.
• The composition, rich in natural sugars, also includes beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi, which ensure high efficiency in the absorption of these sugars by plants. Vitasol further contains calcium, magnesium, copper, lime, potassium, vitamins and a large amount of vegan trace elements.
• Growers use this product as a converter of available nutrients. Plants then especially appreciate more energy during periods of high production and rapid growth when grown under artificial lighting or in the event of growth stagnation caused by a lack of nutrients.
• Vitasol is used as a feed (5-15 ml per 10 litres of water), in the last weeks of the cultivation cycle during the flowering phase.
• Vitasol is, like the previous stimulators, compatible with all other products from the Bionova brand, but it does not suit all irrigation systems. This is mainly due to its natural composition, which is not ideal for cultivating plants in hydroponic systems in terms of system clogging or other complications. We will be happy to advise you whether Vitasol is useful for your cultivation method, or your equipment (see below).
• Especially when growing in soil, however, Vitasol is not used exclusively during the ripening of flowers and fruit. Growers’ experience speaks clearly. During the vegetative phase you can use it at a rate of 0.5 ml/l–1 ml/l to enrich the life of beneficial microorganisms and increase their activity in the substrate.
• Once the flowering phase begins, Vitasol can be applied up to three times a week (from 0.5 ml/l up to 1.5 ml/l) to feed beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi, which return more available nutrients to plants for subsequent absorption. This applies especially to phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and iron (Fe).
• Are you involved in, or planning to get involved in, growing plants outdoors? Then, in addition to the separate article we have prepared for you, “How to grow outdoor?”, you will certainly appreciate the fact that this preparation is also an irresistible attraction for important pollinators. To increase the percentage of insect pollination of fruit and vegetables, spray Bionova Vitasol on the plants at a rate of 2.5 – 5 ml per 10 litres of water.

Bionova X-cel - up to a quarter higher yield!

• Bionova X-cel Booster can safely be applied to all types of flowers. Why should you do this? The reasons are related to the certified and 100% organic composition of this stimulator, dominated by a sophisticated combination of biological components that stimulate biochemical processes in plants at all levels.
• The main ingredients are:
  • All important vitamins and amino acids, trace elements and other natural substances supporting growth and flowering.
  • Beneficial bacteria.
  • Enzymes.
  • Seaweed and humic acids.
• And what effect can you expect thanks to these valuable organic extracts?
  • Better metabolism - support for plant metabolism and photosynthesis.
  • As a result of higher photosynthetic activity, carbohydrate production also increases.
  • Hormonal balance in plants (thanks to active stimulation with a suitable combination of amino acids).
  • Young plants thanks to BioNova X-cel Booster root more quickly and this trend is reflected further during growth and flowering. You can therefore look forward to unusually vital plants with an extensive root system.
  • It has been proven that Bionova X-ceL significantly increases the quantity and quality of yields of all tested crops!
  • You can use the X-cel flowering booster either as a standard feed, continuously from the first day until harvest at a rate of 5–10 ml per 10 litres of water, or as a foliar spray at a rate of 0.25 – 0.5 ml per litre of water, but at most three times.

Bionova BN Zym – for a healthier substrate

• Bionova BN-Zym is among natural biocatalysts (catalyst = process accelerator). This preparation based on specific enzymes can also be described as a soil improver or substrate energiser.
• Enzymes, as specialised protein molecules, stimulate the growing medium’s ability to retain water, which allows faster and better penetration of the feed into the medium, and while Bionova Zym penetrates the substrate, it creates more oxygen in the root zone!
• If we wanted to illustrate the powerful effect of specialised enzymes with a simple example, the conversion of sugar into alcohol would serve us well: using chemicals it usually takes several weeks or even months, whereas with enzymes it takes only a few seconds!
• What can BN Zym do?
• Increase the activity of beneficial bacteria that convert nutrients and minerals in the substrate into directly absorbable organic compounds.
• Speed up, or catalyse, the conversion of waste substances and return them to crops in the form of absorbable nutrients.
• Another advantage is that the growing medium remains clean, i.e. free of all kinds of excess components. This is useful, for example, when reusing soil and especially coconut substrate.
• This preparation is never used as a foliar spray, only as part of the feed, continuously throughout the entire cycle and at the recommended rate of 5 ml per 10 litres of water.
• Growers using the natural power of BN-Zym agree that it helps speed up and make the flushing process more efficient during the last week of the flowering phase. (Flushing or flushing is discussed in a separate article: How to flush?) This is because the composition of this preparation helps break down nutrients that remain in the substrate.
• In hydroponic systems, let water enriched with Bionova Zym flow for 24 hours at least 2-3 times, up to harvest, at a rate of 0.5 – 1 ml per litre of water.
• BN-zym is compatible with all other Bionova products.

Phosphorus + potassium - PK-type supplementary fertilisers

Bionova produces these phosphorus- and potassium-based preparations, generally widely used as flowering stimulators, in two variants:

• Bionova PK 13-14 is the classic variant, containing minerals of food-grade quality that are highly available to plants. In short, a perfectly balanced combination of phosphorus and potassium (NPK 0-13-14).
• Thanks to one of the purest forms of minerals, the final product contains practically no ballast salts or heavy metals.
• In this way, PK 13-14 from Bionova is also directly absorbable by the root system and no heavy metals remain in the final product, i.e. in the cultivated crops.
• PK 13-14 should always be used in combination with one of the main fertilisers (Soil Supermix, Hydro Supermix, Aero Supermix, Autoflower Supermix, Longflower Supermix).
• This product is used during the flowering phase except for the last week before harvest, which is already devoted to flushing.
• As a feed, the recommended amount is 2-6 ml per 10 litres of water. Foliar application is also possible at a rate of 2.5-5 ml per litre of water.
• To support faster root development, growers have found in practice that this mineral additive can also be used in the 2nd week of the vegetative phase, at a rate of 1–2 ml per 10 litres of water.
• Bionova Veganics PK 3-5 is then the vegan alternative (NPK 0-3-5) to the above supplementary fertiliser for larger and stronger flowers.
• The 100% organic composition without
• The 100% organic composition without animal ingredients is useful for BIO quality of the final harvest, without having to give up an impressive yield. On the contrary, for organic plant cultivation it is a perfect main flowering booster.
• The vegan version of PK 3-5 should always be used in combination with the main fertilisers Veganics Grow and Veganics Bloom.
• As a feed, it is applied from the first to the last week of flowering at a rate of 4-12 ml per 10 litres of water.
• PK 3-5 can also be applied as a spray, with the plants treated a total of three times:
• The first treatment should be carried out one week before the start of flowering (0.25 ml / litre of water).
• The second treatment is carried out one day after the photoperiod changes (0.35 ml / litre of water).
• The third treatment is carried out the following week, at a rate of 0.5 ml / litre of water.
• Similarly to Bionova PK 13-14, the vegan version PK 3-5 can also be used, in addition to the flowering phase, for faster root system development in the 2nd week of the growth phase at a dose of 0.15 to 0.25 ml per litre of water.

Concentrated trace elements for solving and preventing plant nutritional deficiencies

Bionova also offers growers a varied range of so-called mono nutrients, which are of course also part of our range. Simply choose according to which deficiencies you need to address. With these products, the Dutch manufacturer also meets the needs of experienced growers who want to create their own blend made up of selected nutrients. It should be added that all these minerals produced by Bionova are food-grade quality and contain a negligible amount of ballast salts or heavy metals for truly clean mineral nutrition.

Trace element deficiency (so-called nutritional deficit) is immediately reflected in a disruption of the plant’s vital functions and can be observed especially on young leaves, because trace elements cannot be transported within the plant. Reused soil as part of the substrate revitalisation process also lacks many trace elements. When reusing soil, it is therefore crucial to improve the overall proportions of trace elements. So what are the options?

• Bionova Micromix is a high-quality blend of chelated microelements, characterised by excellent bioavailability. This unique product makes it easy and quick to restore balance in terms of the content of important elements for healthy plant development.

The products listed below, intended for supplementing specific nutrients, are also united by immediate absorption and rapid effect. You will find all the important details in the description of each product.

• Bionova K 20 (potassium)
• Bionova N 27 (nitrogen) 
• Bionova P 20 (phosphorus)
• Bionova MgO 10 (magnesium)
• Bionova Ca 15 (calcium)

The comprehensive answer to the question of how to dose stimulators correctly, as well as the base fertilisers from the Bio Nova brand, is provided by clear and detailed dosing tables.

And if you would like to ask us anything else in connection with the popular products of the Dutch manufacturer, please contact our specialists, for example at the well-known e-mail address info@higarden.cz.

We also recommend these products:

• BioNova AutoFlower SuperMix
• LUMii Black Digital Kit 600W
• LED Set 100W Viparspectra

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• UGro produces ecological coconut substrates and protects peat ecosystems