Nutrients — Organic

Organic feeding works indirectly: you feed the soil life, and that releases minerals to the plant. It asks for patience and a living substrate, but it is more forgiving if you overdo a dose once. It also changes a few practical things that have nothing to do with the bottle.

What goes in the tank changes too

An organic schedule runs on live culture, and that survives nothing designed to clear organic material. So a cleaner from System Cleaning does not belong in the same tank as a bacterial product. Flush first, then introduce the culture. For the same reason organic works poorly in a bare, heavily aerated recirculating system with no substrate involved: the soil life needs something to live in.

What is on this page

Bio G Power Organic 1 Component covers the cycle in a single bottle, with Organic Boost beside it. Plagron has Vita Start and Vita Race, and the Easy Pack 100% Natural as a complete way in. Aptus Humic-Blast and Fulvic-Blast are not feeds but carriers: humic and fulvic acids that improve uptake of what is already there. Druid Nutrients Berkana is a powder, and No Mercy Supply Bacterial puts the culture itself into the root zone.

Also organic, filed elsewhere

Not everything biological sits on this page. CANNA's Biocanna line is filed by the phase it belongs to: Bio Vega under Growth, Bio Flores under Bloom and Bio Rhizotonic under Roots. The organic starter packs are under Starter Kits. If you are shopping organic and this page looks thin, look there first.

Go carefully with acids

A mineral pH down is a strong acid and it works against the soil life you are trying to build. Growing organically, use an organic acid instead; what there is sits under pH Control. In potting soil with good structure you often need to correct less than you are used to, because the soil does part of the work itself.

Frequently asked questions

Can I combine organic and mineral?
For the base feed, better to pick one. A mineral dose feeds the plant directly and bypasses the soil life, so you are paying for something you then work around. An organic add-on beside a mineral base is a different matter and works fine.

Does organic take longer?
It is slower in the sense that a correction is not visible the same day, because something has to break down first. In exchange, overfeeding is less often fatal, precisely because it does not all become available at once.

Can I use it on coco or in a system?
On coco you can, but the coir needs to be buffered and you lose part of the benefit because there is little soil life to feed. In a bare water system it is awkward; hydro is the more sensible choice there.