Shogun Start

Product detailed description

Neither a cutting nor a fresh seedling can handle a full dose of fertiliser - they need a precisely measured meal. Shogun Start is gentle nutrition for the first two weeks of a plant’s life: it provides a full spectrum of micronutrients and only half the dose of basic nutrients. The young plant gets everything it needs and nothing extra.

What is inside

Start contains calcium ammonium nitrate, magnesium nitrate and potassium nitrate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate and traces of boron - so in one bottle you have nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and boron. Alongside these, Start contains the biostimulant package SmartZen.

What Start does:

• a balanced ratio of calcium and boron supports auxin movement and rapid root branching,
• speeds up germination and root formation,
• SmartZen increases chlorophyll production and supports early growth,
• the product is tested by an independent third-party laboratory.

Shogun also states that commercial tests showed fertilisers with SmartZen to be 6 to 8 % more productive than fertiliser with the same composition without it. It does not publish the methodology for this.

How to dose Start

Dilute at 4 ml per litre of water. At this concentration, propagation cubes and plugs are pre-soaked, and the same watering is continued for the whole period until the plants are ready for transplanting. That is where Start ends: the dosage table and Shogun feed chart no longer list it during vegetative growth or flowering, and the plant moves on to the base fertiliser of its range. Shake the bottle before use and never mix concentrates together in advance - add them one by one to the measured water and stir each time. The recommended pH of the nutrient solution is 5.5 to 6.5. We offer Start in volumes from 250 ml to 25 l: the smallest bottle covers one propagation cycle, while larger packs make sense where cuttings are taken regularly.

Start or Katana Roots?

It is not either/or - each addresses a different part of the plant. Start is a weak complete fertiliser that feeds a young plant at a time when it cannot yet handle a full dose. Shogun Katana Roots, on the other hand, does not feed but encourages the roots to branch. In the dosage table they run side by side during the cutting and seedling stage: Start above ground, Katana below it. After transplanting, Katana continues, Start does not.

Frequently asked questions

For which medium is Shogun Start suitable?

For all three. Shogun’s dosage table lists Start in the cutting and seedling stage identically in the soil, coco and hydroponics sections, always at 4 ml per litre. It is a universal starter across systems - you choose the range only when selecting the base fertiliser after transplanting.

When should Start be stopped?

With transplanting, that is, with the onset of vegetative growth. In our dosage table, it says 'do not use any more' for it during growth, and Shogun’s feed chart leaves the Start row blank in vegetative growth and flowering. The cutting and seedling stage is its entire field of action.

Can I combine Start with other Shogun products?

Yes, during the cutting and seedling period it is commonly combined with Katana Roots. However, never mix concentrates together in advance - add them one by one to the water and stir each time.

Exact dosing for individual ranges can be found in the Shogun dosage table.