What are the best fertilizers for hydroponics and how to use them correctly?

Choosing the ideal plant nutrition is especially important for this popular growing method. Therefore we will help you navigate the market for hydroponic fertilizers including the wide range available from our shop.

As with other growing methods, if you want to produce a truly abundant harvest and don't want to wait forever, in hydroponics you can use a range of interesting supplements beyond the basic nutrition. We mean, for example, root or bloom boosters and other additives such as first-class enzymatic products. These products should form an integral part of the comprehensive nutrition for plants grown in hydroponic systems, where high quality and high yields are expected.

• Liquid fertilizers are a safe bet. You prepare a nutrient solution from water and the fertilizer in the specified ratio and apply waterings in smaller amounts but at more frequent intervals. Never use the nutrient solution for longer than a month.
• Tablet fertilizers are a full alternative to liquid fertilizers. Tablets are characterized by the gradual release of nutrients.

Less is sometimes more — and that applies to hydroponic fertilizers too

We have also prepared detailed fertilizer dosing tables to make using premium nutrition, including for hydroponics from our shop as easy as possible in practice. For each manufacturer, simply find the table and instructions that apply to hydroponic fertilizers. If you follow them, you will minimize the risk of overfeeding or other beginner mistakes and your plants will grow rapidly. However, hydroponics is an especially clean method that is less tolerant of nutritional errors than cultivation in soil or coco. Therefore you can’t go wrong by preparing the nutrient solution for hydroponically grown plants at only half strength at the start of the growing cycle and gradually increasing to the recommended dose over the following weeks.

In hydroponics there is a rule to wait with fertilization until the young plants have sufficiently adapted. How to recognize this moment? You will notice the white tips of newly formed roots.

Premium quality and precise application of fertilizers pay off in hydroponics

Using hydroponic fertilizers requires responsible measurement of the key parameters of the nutrient solution. You don't have to measure twice every time, as the saying goes, but definitely measure, and only then feed.

• Make sure the nutrient water is at room temperature (min. 16 °C and max. 25 °C), with the ideal temperature being 20–21 °C.
• Regularly measure pH of the nutrient solution. The optimal value can again be found in the tables and instructions from the manufacturer, since each manufacturer may recommend slightly different values.
• In hydroponics more than anywhere else you must have the electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution under control, known by the abbreviation EC. From it you can see how efficiently your plants are absorbing nutrients in the hydroponic system, preventing both burning and wasting of hydroponic fertilizers. Therefore you should have an EC meter in your equipment.
• We recommend getting a single device for precise measurement of both EC and pH, or a practical measuring kit.

Now it's time to recommend some leading manufacturers of hydroponic fertilizers and their main advantages. The complete range of the best hydroponic fertilizers from our shop can be found HERE.

Hydroponic fertilizers Advanced Nutrients

• pH Perfect technology helps maintain a stable pH, so you can say goodbye to adding acids to the solution for regulation.

Hydroponic fertilizers Canna

• Canna offers two product lines for use in hydroponics: Canna Aqua and Canna Hydro.
• The two-component nutrition from the AQUA range, i.e. Aqua Flores for bloom and Aqua Vega for growth is specially adapted for use in closed recirculating self-watering systems. You will achieve the best results in combination with the substrate CANNA Aqua Clay Pebbles.
• The nutrition from the HYDRO range, i.e. Hydro Flores for bloom and Hydro Vega for growth is the better choice for open hydroponic systems where the runoff water is not returned to the system but drained away.
• Hydroponics with the Canna brand means a perfect harvest, sealed by Canna Flush, a product developed specifically for the flush phase, usually performed during the last week of the growing cycle with plain water. Excellent taste and aroma and an ultra-healthy composition of the fresh produce, freed from unwanted salts and harmful residues, will simply impress you.
• Canna also gives growers the option to choose products for hard and soft water.

Hydroponic fertilizers BioNova

• Hydro Supermix is a single-component bio-mineral fertilizer specially designed for capillary irrigation. We warmly recommend the handy STARTER PACK for complete nutrition of a smaller hydroponic garden, especially for beginners.

Hydroponic fertilizers Terra Aquatica

• Finally, we reserved hydroponic fertilizers from the legendary manufacturer once known as General Hydroponics. Products from the brand whose co-founder is the author of the bestseller Hydroponie pro každého William Texier have a long tradition in the hydroponic nutrition market and have recently only received a new look, while the unique formulation and top quality remain unchanged as the result of many years of research and development. You can read more in a separate post on this topic so that you have an overview of T.A. (formerly G.H.) nutrition for hydroponics. The link can be found at the end of the article.

We recommend these products:

• BioNova Starter pack Hydro SuperMix (1990 Kč) contains everything for a smaller hydroponic garden at a discounted price.
• Hydroponic fertilizers Terra Aquatica (from 139 Kč) - a large selection of products developed for the needs of plants grown in hydroponic systems that complement each other very well.
• MAXQUARIUM reverse osmosis unit (7 790 Kč) for perfect filtration of the water circulating in your hydroponic system.

What to read next?

• Reverse osmosis (RO)
• General Hydroponics - T.A. or What's changing into what
• Growing under artificial lighting: HPS vs. LED

If you have any questions about hydroponics and fertilizers designed specifically for this method, or if you need advice on selecting products, do not hesitate to contact us at the usual address info@higarden.cz.