Nutrients — Hydro

With no substrate to buffer, everything the plant gets comes out of the nutrient water. There is one choice that often gets skipped and it decides which bottle you need: does your system recirculate, or does it run to waste?

Recirculating or drain-to-waste

If the water runs through and you discard it, the plant gets exactly what you mixed, every time. If it recirculates, the same water comes back after the plant has eaten from it selectively, and the ratio between elements drifts slowly even while the EC holds steady. CANNA builds two separate lines around that: Aqua Vega and Aqua Flores A+B for recirculating systems, Hydro Vega and Hydro Flores A+B for drain-to-waste.

Refresh the tank, do not just top it up

In a recirculating system, topping up with water and feed stops being enough at some point, because whatever the plant uses least accumulates. So refresh the reservoir periodically rather than only adding to it, and measure pH and EC after mixing rather than before. A meter for that sits under Measuring & Control.

The hydro lines

Beside CANNA there is Hy-pro Hydro A&B with Epic Boost, Rootstimulator Hydro, a Starter pack and the Smart box discovery pack, Atami B'cuzz Hydro Nutrition A+B with the Hydro Booster Universal and Premium Plant Powder Hydro, Bio G Power Basis Voeding A+B and Plagron Hydro A&B with Hydro Roots. On tap water high in lime there is the Terra Aquatica TriPart starter kit in its hard water version.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I pick the wrong CANNA line?
Nothing fails immediately, but in a recirculating system a drain-to-waste line drifts out of ratio faster, because it assumes the run-off disappears. Over a longer run that shows up as a deficiency you cannot correct by adjusting.

How often do I refresh the reservoir?
It depends on the size of your system and the number of plants, so the pH tells you sooner than the calendar does. If it drifts away within a day of setting it, it is time.

Do I need CalMag on hydro?
On tap water usually not, because it brings calcium and magnesium along itself. On reverse osmosis you do: the water starts at zero and everything has to come out of the bottle. See CalMag.