Hy-pro - Rootstimulator Hydro

The root stimulator from the Hy-pro Hydro line, dosed at the same concentration as your Hydro A&B. Contains beneficial microbes and sugars, which asks a little more attention in a recirculating system than in a pot.

There are bacteria living in this bottle

Hy-pro declare beneficial microbes and disaccharides in the Rootstimulator. Disaccharides are sugars. Microbes are living culture.

That is not a footnote. In soil such ingredients land in an environment already full of them and regulating itself. In a recirculating system you introduce them into a closed volume of water that you then pump around for days, usually at a comfortable temperature and in the dark.

Two things follow, and neither is a reason not to use it.

The first is that your reservoir is not sterile and is not meant to be. A slightly cloudy solution or a faint smell after a few days is expected behaviour from a product with living culture and sugars in it, not a fault.

The second is that a reservoir left standing changes composition. Refresh your solution on your normal rhythm and mix no more than you use in that period. That is good practice in a recirculating system anyway; with this product in it, it stops being optional.

What not to put in with it

This is the most useful thing we can tell you about this product, and it is on neither label.

System cleaners based on hydrogen peroxide, such as Aptus System-Clean, work by oxidising. They draw no distinction between the biofilm you want gone and the beneficial culture you have just paid for. Put the two in one reservoir and the cleaner is what you are left with.

That does not mean choosing between a clean system and this product. It means separating them in time: clean the system, flush it, and only then mix the reservoir the root stimulator goes into. The same reasoning applies to any other oxidiser, and to chlorinated tap water tipped untreated into a fresh reservoir.

No residue, and why Hy-pro stress it

The same claim recurs across the whole Hy-pro line: the ingredients are chosen so that nothing settles out or crystallises, keeping drippers and nutrient computers from silting up.

For this version that is the most relevant part of the story. A blocked dripper is an inconvenience in a hand-watered pot and, in an automated system, the difference between a plant that gets water and one that does not, often only visible once there is damage.

What Hy-pro publish

Declared components: macro-nutrients, trace elements, organic compounds, disaccharides and beneficial microbes. No analysis, no NPK, no content figures, in any of the three versions. So we print none.

Also fair to say: Hy-pro describe the Terra, Coco and Hydro versions in almost identical words and publish no compositional difference. What they do state explicitly is the pairing with a base feed.

In use

Always use Rootstimulator Hydro at the same concentration as your Hydro A&B. In Hy-pro's schedule that climbs from 2.5 to 5 ml per litre as the cycle progresses, so it is not one fixed figure throughout.

Give it through the whole growth phase and the first weeks of flowering. Measure EC and pH after everything is mixed, and hold 5.5 to 6.0 for the solution.

Available sizes

Technical Specifications:

• Type: root stimulator, matched to the Hy-pro Hydro line
• Manufacturer: Hy-pro
• Dose: the same concentration as your Hydro A&B
• In Hy-pro's schedule: rising from 2.5 to 5 ml per litre
• Period: the whole growth phase and the first weeks of flowering
• Declared components: macro-nutrients, trace elements, organic compounds, disaccharides and beneficial microbes
• Do not combine with: hydrogen peroxide and other oxidising system cleaners
• Analysis: not published by Hy-pro
• Recommended solution pH: 5.5 to 6.0

Frequently asked questions

My reservoir goes slightly cloudy or starts to smell.
With a product containing living culture and sugars that is expected behaviour. Refresh your solution on your normal rhythm and mix no more than you use.

Can I combine this with a system cleaner?
Not in the same reservoir. Peroxide cleaners oxidise the beneficial culture away. Clean first, flush, and only then mix the reservoir with the stimulator in it.

Will it block my drippers?
Hy-pro formulate the line specifically so that nothing settles or crystallises, keeping drippers and nutrient computers clear.

How much do I give?
The same concentration as your Hydro A&B, so rising from 2.5 to 5 ml per litre rather than one fixed figure.

Can I use the Terra or Coco version in hydro?
Hy-pro tie each version to a base feed. If you feed with Hydro A&B, this is the matching one.