Nutrients [shop]
Nutrients are a very important part of the hydroponics growing process. BUDGREEN has sourced the best nutrients that are available on the market today. There are three basic nutrient formulations;

• The rooting and propagating formulas
• The vegetative formulas
• The flowering formulas

To flourish, crops need a balanced supply of essential nutrients. The main nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These and most other nutrients are normally dissolved in water. From their plant roots as small electronically charged particles known as ions take them up.
Plants also need oxygen and carbon, which they extract from the air for respiration. That is why plant roots need well-structured growth medium, which allows air to flow.
A deficiency of any single nutrient is enough to limit yield.

There are many different nutrient solutions on the market and BUDGREEN has and will continue to search for the best products. Nutrient selection is a critical element of hydroponics culture; the wrong solution could seriously affect individual plant growth and overall crop production.

Dutch Master is considered to be the market leader in field of nutrient technology. With a highly dedicated staff of scientists Dutch Master has developed a program for hydroponics culture that continues to astonish the world of hydroponics with amazing results. Dutch Master is truly a world leader.

Hydroponics nutrient solutions must be complete, containing every element needed for plant growth in its most soluble form. This is why hydroponics solutions tend to be more expensive. Do not be put off by this as the total cost of nutrients is still a very small part of your overall expenditure and saving money on nutrients is to run the risk of serious problems. Always use the best quality nutrient solutions, as the solution is the only source of nutrition in hydroponics so it must be of the highest quality. The advantage of course is that every time you water your hydroponics plant, you can be sure that it has a full profile of nutrients in exactly the right proportions. You can never be sure of this with plants in soil. In fact, it is almost impossible to maintain a good balance of nutrient with soil in containers.

Nutrients and their chemical symbols

Major Elements		Secondary Elements		Trace Elements
Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) Potassium (K)		Sulphur (S) Magnesium (Mg) Calcium (Ca)		Chlorine CI) Iron (Fe) Manganese (Mn) Zinc (Zn) Copper (Cu) Boron (B) Molybdenum (Mo)

Nutrient Conductivity and pH
The conductivity of a solution is an expression of the capacity of that solution to conduct an electric current. Distilled or de-ionised water will conduct virtually no electricity at all and will therefore have a conductivity reading of zero. As salts are dissolved in the water so the conductivity of the solution is increased. The conductivity of a nutrient solution is therefore a measurement of its strength as indicated by the actual amount of salts dissolved.

Conductivity is usually expressed in terms of CF. CF stands for Conductivity Factor and the units of measurement are usually milli-siemens, micro-siemens or siemens. The difference between these is purely in the placing of the decimal point. There are a thousand microsiemens in a milli-siemens. A CF unit is equal to a hundred micro-Siemens so there are 10 CF units to a milli-siemens.

CF Meters
CF meters usually read in milli-Siemens or CF units but for the grower it is simply a matter of getting the decimal point in the right place. As a rule of thumb it can be said that a good conductivity level for most purposes would be 2.0 milli-Siemens (expressed as 2.0mS/cm2). We can call this a standard working solution.

Therefore Standard working solution =2.0mS. =2,000 us = 20 CF units.
Parts per Million.

Conductivity is sometimes expressed in terms of parts per million (PPM). One gram of any salt, dissolved in a Litre of water will make a solution containing 1,000 PPM of that salt. However different salts have a different capacity to conduct electricity so two solutions made with different salts could both be 1,000 PPM, but have quite different readings in a CF meter. It is therefore not possible to make an exact conversion from parts per million to CF units, however as most nutrient solutions have approximately the same ratio of constituent salts we can make an approximate conversion; 1 ms = 10 CF unit= 640 PPM. Therefore Standard Working Solution 2.0mS= 20 CF =~ 1280 PPM.

Many different meters are available from BUDGREEN. We have the digital meters like Eutech or Adwa and we also stock the Amazing Conductivity Truncheon, Saltesta Wand and pH Wand from New Zealand which use flashing LED’s to show CF or pH reading. These are accurate and reliable and cannot be too highly recommended.

pH and Conductivity in rockwool systems
Plants grown in rockwool slabs need slightly different nutrient regimes than in other systems. pH should be somewhat lower, at 5.8 rather than 6. Conductivity should also be slightly lower than in other applications. It is very important to remember that the readings in the tank may not reflect the reality within the slab. Nutrient should be extracted from the slab regularly for measurement. In a well-maintained system there should not be too much variation between tank readings and those obtained from within the slabs. If Conductivity begins to rise in the slab it will be an indication that irrigation is either too infrequent or too short. It is necessary to trickle nutrient into slabs for just long enough to get a 10 - 15% run off. The Timer should be adjusted to provide this amount of nutrient at least four times during the daylight period. More frequent irrigation may be beneficial. Remember that as plants grow they will take up much more nutrients and watering cycle will need to be extended regularly throughout life of the crop. The regular check of nutrient from within the slab itself is the most important routine for the rockwool grower. If the Conductivity begins to rise then the grower will increase irrigation to ensure run off at each watering cycle. If Conductivity remains high then it is a simple matter to flush the slabs.

This is best done with a meter but there are various kits using liquid and papers available. Kits are adequate for applications such as pot culture where the nutrient is supplied to the plant once and is used up before being replenished. Growers using re-circulating systems such as NFT or Ebb and Flow will certainly need a meter to monitor their solution accurately. Meters will require regular calibration and instructions for this is supplied with them.

Active systems are ones in which the nutrient solution is supplied to the plants by pumping, Such as Ebb & Flow tables, NFT and Dutch Pot and Aeroponic. In most domestic systems the solution is re-circulated to the roots continuously over a period of time.

In an active system the pH will need checking and adjusting in the main tank on a regular basis. In most systems fresh water is added to the tank to replace that used by the plants. The incoming water is usually of a higher pH than the nutrient solution so there tends to be an upward drift in pH. This can be corrected by the regular addition of small amounts of pH DOWN. This process of pH control can be cancelled out with a pH kit but as it needs doing often the busy grower will be better off using a meter. If the water supply is classified as ‘hard the grower must be very careful with re-circulating systems.

Hard water is characterised by high levels of Bicarbonates and it makes itself known by depositing lime scale in kettles and by reducing the lathering capacity of soap. Hard water will usually have a high pH but not necessarily. What will distinguish hard water is that it will take much more acid to reduce the pH than with an equivalent sample of softer water? This is because the Bicarbonates have to be neutralised and this used up quite a lot of acid.

The obvious problem for the grower is that he will be adding quite large amounts of acid on a regular basis. If using Phosphoric acid this may lead to a build up of Phosphate in the nutrient tank over time. High levels of P in the solution can inhibit the uptake of other salts, Zinc for instance, and cause general nutrient imbalance.
Solutions to hard water problems.

1. The first and most obvious solution is to change the nutrient tank regularly. This will reduce the chances of Phosphate accumulation and ensure maintenance of a good nutrient profile. Frequency of changes will depend on tank size and number of plants. In very hard water arias however a large amount of Phosphoric acid will be needed to correct pH when nutrient is first made up.

2. It is possible to use Nitric Acid to control pH. This will overcome the problem of phosphate accumulation but Nitric Acid is a very unpleasant and dangerous liquid. It should never be handled by anyone who is mot experienced with aggressive liquids and all good laboratory procedures should be observed. Nitric Acid will only solve the Phosphate problem; it will not make any difference to the high levels of Calcium and other minerals, which will eventually accumulate, in the tank.

3. Best Solution by far is to use a specific formulation which is usually based on more acidic components. Hard water Canna nutrient rang available from BUDGREEN was formulated in response to demand from growers in various areas of t he United Kingdom such as London, Thames Valley and other arias with very hard water. It was formulated to correct the pH of alkaline water and minimise the amounts of Phosphoric Acid that are required to maintain it at correct levels. It also takes account of the other minerals to be found in hard water use of this product will ensure the best possible results in hard water areas.