Fertilizers A+B: Why Isn't It in One Bottle?

Beginning growers often ask how these two-part fertilizers work and why they must be kept separate. Today's article summarizes the answers, focusing specifically on basic plant nutrition, which is always produced in two bottles.

High-quality two-part fertilizers represent a truly nutritious cocktail of essential nutrients, minerals and other substances that support rapid and healthy plant development. They are available for use in soil, coco and for hydroponics.

The high concentration of beneficial substances is reflected not only in the question of dosing, where it is essential to follow certain limits and procedures, but also in the fact that some substances would react with each other in a concentrated bottle, causing certain nutrients that are needed by the plant and present in smaller proportions to be literally consumed by other dominant substances.

Another reason why two-part fertilizers are most often sold in two bottles is soil life. A healthy and well-branched root system, as the basic prerequisite for a bountiful harvest, represents a complex ecosystem in which a wide variety of microorganisms play a key role. Their balance should be as even as possible. Small predators have their place here just as much as peaceful strains. In the micro-world, that is in the soil or similar soil substrate (soil mixes) where your plants grow, the same rules apply as in nature as a whole.

If we were to place these elements that the plant needs for its development into a single bottle, the results of even the best fertilization would be poor, because in one bottle after some time a large portion of the beneficial substances would simply disappear in favor of some dominant substance. That's the law of nature and fertilizer manufacturers must respect it. An ideal example from the big nature is the African savannah, where giraffes, elephants, lions, goats, zebras and monkeys live side by side. Such an ecosystem has been stable and functional for ages. We can map a certain food chain, but it is part of the ecosystem and the individual species naturally and permanently coexist. But what happens if you keep a pride of lions in one big cage together with the other species? The answer is obvious. Soon there will be only lions left. And that is of course an undesirable reaction.

Therefore, it is necessary already during production to sufficiently separate dominant substances and microorganisms in plant nutrition products from the others, and that is also the reason why we have basic grow fertilizers labeled GROW available in one bottle, and bloom fertilizers labeled BLOOM in the second bottle, even though they are dosed together and many a grower understandably asks in the beginning: "Why don't they just put it into one bottle?"

If the different elements are delivered to the growing medium separately in the form of bottles A + B, they can coexist and support the plant's growth through their action.

The same applies to various additives, whether they are bloom boosters, growth and root stimulators, enzymatic products or, for example, soil improvers:

• They are not always dosed the same way.
• They cannot always be mixed with the base fertilizer.
• The content of certain substances found in quality additives would disproportionately increase the price of the base.
• The ratios of the individual bottles differ depending on the plant's growth stage, allowing them to be adjusted appropriately.

A safe choice when applying individual plant nutrition products are the procedures and dosing tables recommended directly by the manufacturer.

Our TIP: Get a practical Starter Kit / Starter pack - complete fertilizer sets contain everything you need during the growing cycle, from seed to a plentiful harvest! Try, for example, the bestseller in the fertilizer kit range from Advanced Hydroponics, the Dutch fertilizer set BioNova AutoFlower Supermix for autoflowering varieties, and a very popular basic fertilizer kit of Czech manufacture is also favored by our customers: Jungle in da Box Starterpack Urban Mini.

We also recommend these products:

• Atami B´cuzz Soil A+B (from 239 CZK) professional mineral fertilizer for soil cultivation.
• Plagron Cocos A+B (from 329 CZK) biomineral fertilizer for coco cultivation.
• BioNova Coco Forte A+B (from 549 CZK) top-quality Dutch organic nutrition for coco cultivation.
• Plagron hydro A+B (from 339 CZK) biomineral fertilizer for hydroponics.

What to read next?

• How to improve soil properties?
• What are the best fertilizers for hydroponics and how to use them correctly?
• Growing under artificial lighting: HPS vs. LED

If you have any questions about two-part A+B fertilizers, whether about their application or if you need help choosing a specific product, do not hesitate to contact us at the usual address info@higarden.cz.