BIOTABS – organic fertilizers and soil supplements

Biotabs fertilizers work wonderfully. And their application in practice? A piece of cake! The Dutch manufacturer is based on natural processes in the soil and openly states that the way each product works essentially mimics nature. So let nature do the work even for plants planted in pots. In addition to introducing the unique BIOTABS products, we will also give practical tips for growers directly from the founder of the now world-famous brand. We will touch on proper plant watering and reveal a proven method for transplanting young plants.

Unlike controlled, human-managed indoor cultivation, in the forest there is no need to fertilize, measure EC or pH. This is due to an interconnected system of chemical reactions, and the coexistence of microorganisms, plants and animals, which together we call an ecosystem. But what if we brought this system into indoor gardening? It is precisely on this idea that the founder of the Dutch company, Karel Schelfhout, explains the principles of organic cultivation with Biotabs products.

Microorganisms and small soil animals (e.g. earthworms) that live in the soil consume organic material and are eaten by each other. Through their excretions, soil in the wild provides trees and plants with readily available nutrients. No chemistry is needed and the results are even better. After a quarter century of experience with chemical cultivation in rockwool, Karel Schelfhout decided to devote his career to developing purely natural products that are environmentally friendly, easy to use, and above all create a natural, maximally productive environment for plants grown in pots to achieve perfect yields. He succeeded, and it has been ten years now. So let us introduce the complete Biotabs range in more detail. We will then focus on the use of individual products in common cultivation practice.

Biotabs tablets

Basic plant nutrition in the form of practical slow-release nutrient tablets for indoor (indoor) and outdoor (outdoor) growing is becoming increasingly popular among growers. Experienced growers appreciate the time and energy savings while achieving great results, and for beginners it is the perfect product to make their first cultivation attempts as easy as possible so they can also achieve the yields they dream of. BIOTABS tablets are here to make ecological growing almost child’s play. To activate the tablets, just add water — it really is that simple in practice. In addition to the organic fertilizer (NPK 15-7-8) the BioTabs tablets also contain beneficial bacteria and fungi which, through their microbiological activity, modify the substrate (soil or coconut) and significantly improve the plant’s nutrient uptake.

We’ve covered the basics. There is an alternative that completely removes the need to measure EC and pH. These are the Guerrilla tablets, which we mention at the end of this article. Below you will learn, with a practical example, how to place any nutrient tablets into a flower pot. Next are other Biotabs products you can combine them with.

While on the topic of combinations, we’ll make a short digression, because you sometimes ask about combining organic and mineral products. We’ll answer directly that this combination definitely does not make sense. It is important to realize that in ecological agriculture and from the grower’s perspective you are not so much fertilizing the plants as caring for the health of the soil environment and a rich micro-life; as we explained, the soil will then create nutrition for the plants itself. If you want to use mineral fertilizers or boosters together with organic products, mineral fertilizers kill soil life, without which this process disappears. So if you are using Biotabs nutrition (or another organic nutrition), there is no point in mixing in anything that does not have 100% natural composition. Biotabs has also developed products that create a truly balanced nutritional system. So when you use various different products together, this balance is unnecessarily disturbed and the results will not be as good as they could be.

Biotabs Mycotrex

This powdered soil additive with a purely natural composition contains beneficial rhizobacteria, seaweed meal and humic acids (see separate article: Fulvic and humic acids: importance and use in plant nutrition).

Among growers worldwide it is famed for creating an ideal soil environment for healthy and rapid plant development thanks to its composition. 9 species of beneficial Endo Mycorrhiza colonize the root system, dramatically increasing its capacity to absorb water and various nutrients from the soil, by up to 700%! If you read our articles regularly, you can probably vividly imagine what that means for the health and growth speed of your plants!

Mycotrex can be used for growing in soil and in coco. It is very useful for all types of plants, from ornamental flowers to medicinal herbs and various kinds of fruit and vegetables, up to trees and shrubs.

Biotabs Orgatrex

A 100% VEGAN liquid fertilizer for plant cultivation, its composition and effects rank it among growth and bloom stimulators. Within the Biotabs comprehensive cultivation strategy it complements the products Mycotrex and Bactrex.

Its use is again completely safe for all types of plants, trees and shrubs. The natural composition consists of ingredients such as alfalfa meal, vinasse, molasses and important trace elements (iron, copper, calcium, magnesium, manganese, sulfur, zinc).

Biotabs Bactrex

Increase soil fertility! The soil enhancer BioTabs Bactrex acts in the plant’s root zone, where it provides protection against pathogens (including pythium) and converts organic matter into nutrients. This powerful soil aid can be used to protect newly rooted cuttings or germinating seeds. It is a dry powder in terms of consistency, easily dissolvable in water. In terms of composition, expect a large amount of beneficial soil bacteria and root microbes (including 6 strains of Bacillus spp.), Trichoderma fungi and actinomycetes.

It is important to realize that Bactrex is literally a living product, so always apply it within 6 hours of dissolving in water.

Biotabs Silicium Flash

For growers used to using soil without significant pre-fertilization or coco substrates, which contain no nutrients, Karel Schelfhout recommends this organic mix of basic nutrients (N-P-K - what it is?) with well-absorbed silicon (The effect of silicon on plant health).

Biotabs Startrex

This natural soil improver is also rich in silicon (Si). In addition, it contains fulvic acids and a bunch of probiotic bacteria, whose high concentration immediately after application initiates the development of mycorrhizal fungi in the root system (Mycorrhiza — High yields without chemistry).

Biotabs boosters ensure explosive flowering!

Now comes a pair of products that Karel Schelfhout likes to compare to nitroglycerin for your blooms — meaning truly explosive flower development to ensure maximum yields! Although NITRO and GLYCERIN are famously an inseparable pair, the founder of Biotabs also understands that two products at once may be too much for some. In that case he recommends favoring his absolute favorite product, which is the organic compost mix PK Booster Compost Tea with a fantastic effect on plant health and yield, containing bat guano, seaweeds, bacteria that release nutrients from soil — especially phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Karel Schelfhout emphasizes that the best solution is the combination of PK Booster Compost Tea with the booster Bio PK 5-8, following this application schedule:

• PK Booster Compost Tea: week 4, week 6.
• Bio PK 5-8: week 5, week 7.

It would therefore not be effective to use both boosters together from week 4 through week 7 of flowering.

If you are a grower who doesn’t stop at root watering and also likes to use foliar sprays, you can try the effects of the foliar spray fertilizer Biotabs Boom Boom Spray on your plants as a strong biostimulant containing 100% natural amino acids, peptides, glycosides and minerals.

Biotabs SeedPlugs for successful seed germination

This practical kit will give you a quality foundation for future yields in 5 easy steps!

1. Empty one sachet of the starter fertilizer Bio Startermix into 0.5 liters of water and mix well.
2. With a small amount of the prepared solution, water the SeedPlugs (seed tray with plugs) and drain the excess water from the tray.
3. Now it is important to have clean hands or use clean gloves. Then gently place one seed about 3 mm deep into each seed plug soaked with the solution.
4. Keep the prepared seed tray at 22–24°C and after 3–5 days the seeds will start to germinate.
5. Then simply remove the germinated seeds gently along with the plug from the tray and transplant into a 1-liter pot filled with substrate mixed with perlite (see above).

Care for seedlings with BIOTABS products

Whether you have a germinated seed in a plug or a larger well-rooted seedling, you will later want to safely transplant young plants into larger flower pots. The following trio of Biotabs products will serve you perfectly:

1. ORGATREX
2. MYCOTREX
3. BIOTABS

Karel Schelfhout recommends a proven procedure consisting of these steps:

• First transplant the seedling into a small 1-liter pot. (Even better results are achieved using Hercules air-pruning pots.)
• Fill it first with a quality soil substrate, initially without Startrex.
• Then create a planting hole in the center of the pot.
• Using a spoon, first apply a little Mycotrex (0.5–1.0 g), because it is important that the seedling roots come into contact with Mycotrex as quickly as possible.
• Gently place the rooted plant into the prepared spot in the substrate with a bit of Mycotrex.
• Next, prepare a 1-liter watering solution composed as follows: 5 ml Orgatrex + 1 g Bactrex. Both products support maintaining optimal conditions for the soil microbiome.
• Water the seedling in the 1-liter pot sparingly.
• After 7–10 days the small seedling or cutting will become a more mature, growing plant that needs to be transplanted once more into the final pot. For a 10-liter pot you will need 10 liters of soil plus 50 grams of Startrex.
• Make a planting hole and add 5 grams of Mycotrex (approximately 5 coffee spoons).
• Then take 2 slow-release nutrient tablets (BIOTABS) and place them about 5 cm below the surface of the substrate.
• Now comes the prepared watering solution from 1 liter of water with 1 g Bactrex and 5 ml Orgatrex added.
• You can safely water the 10-liter pot with the whole liter of solution. Try to pour primarily into the spots where you placed the slow-release tablets.
• A frequent question is whether the BioTabs Starter Pack is also suitable for autoflowering varieties. The answer is clearly YES, but for autoflowering seeds avoid transplanting. Autoflowering varieties also do not like a high dose of nutrients at the very start of the cultivation cycle. So for example, when growing in a 10-liter pot use the slow-release tablets as usual, but place the first tablet at the start of the cycle and the second tablet only after a few weeks. That is the only difference.

Biotabs Starterpack contains enough material to grow 5 large plants in 10-liter pots. All you then need is the same volume of quality substrate with a perlite amendment (at least 10%) for aeration. If you choose this option at first, here is a guide on how to use it best right away:

1. First, manually mix the prepared substrate with perlite and 50 grams of STARTREX. 50 g corresponds to about 4 tablespoons. We recommend preparing the soil, for example, on a plastic tray not only to avoid mess but also so you can more easily transfer it into the pot.
2. When the soil is ready in the pot, make a planting hole in the center and pour in 5 grams of MYCOTREX. 5 g is in this case 5 coffee spoons.
3. Into this prepared planting hole you can now plant your plant.
4. For a 10-liter pot use 2 slow-release nutrient tablets. Place them by hand beneath the substrate surface at a depth of 5–10 cm.
5. The final step is to water the pot with a watering solution of the following composition, pouring mainly where you placed the tablets:
   • 1 liter of water
   • 5 ml Orgatrex (The practical measuring chamber integrated into the packaging fills with product and then empties after application, so there’s no complicated measuring.)
   • 1 g Bactrex (If it’s a bit more, nothing will happen, these are purely organic products, so there’s no need to worry.)
6. A frequent question is whether the BioTabs Starter Pack is also suitable for autoflowering varieties. The answer is clearly YES, but for autoflowering seeds avoid transplanting. Autoflowering varieties also do not like a high dose of nutrients at the very start of the cultivation cycle. So for example, when growing in a 10-liter pot use the slow-release tablets as usual, but place the first tablet at the start of the cycle and the second tablet only after a few weeks. That is the only difference.

Biotabs Guerrilla Box is a simple but effective kit for very easy organic cultivation of 5 large plants, which you can use in soil or coconut substrate. It contains a pair of products:

• Guerrilla Tabs - slow-release tablets rich in rhizobacteria, with whose use there is no need to adjust pH or EC during cultivation. That is their great advantage. They can also be bought separately.
• Guerrilla Juice - this liquid fertilizer forms a harmonious whole with rhizobacteria and other beneficial soil microorganisms including mycorrhizal fungi. It also contains a balanced amount of important trace elements.

OUR TIP: Don’t forget that for extra easy and effective dosing of Biotabs fertilizers you can use the detailed dosing tables. If you want to ask us anything, we are here for you at the usual email address info@higarden.cz.

We also recommend these products:

• Clip fan PF 15cm 15w 2 speeds
• VAPR Nano Spray Gun - automatic handheld mister
• CO2 Generator MOTHER NATURE

Read next:

• Beneficial microorganisms (microbes) are indispensable helpers
• Mycorrhiza — High yields without chemistry
• Hydroponics - what it involves and how to start?