Plagron - Power Buds

Power Buds is a biostimulant Plagron put in at the moment you switch from growth to bloom. It supplies no nutrients. What it does instead they explain themselves, and the explanation is unusually candid for this shelf.

What a biostimulant is, and why the word fits here

A fertiliser feeds the plant. A biostimulant does not: it stimulates the processes by which the plant handles nutrition, with the sole aim of improving one or more of its characteristics, for instance how efficiently it takes nutrients up. That is not our distinction but Plagron's, and it is also the legal category.

For Power Buds it means two things in practice: more bud formation, and faster flowering. Plagron describe the bottle as a specialised molecule that helps your plant synthesise amino acids.

The stress response, and what actually happens

This is the part Plagron explain and almost nobody repeats. When you flip the light schedule, the plant itself starts producing a substance that gets flowering under way. Power Buds supplies that substance manually, which speeds up the start of the flowering process.

The consequence is a stress response: the plant feels the need to reproduce, and starts making buds. That is the mechanism behind the claim of more buds. Plagron add that the stress is hypothetical, in the sense that no deficiency arises in the plant.

We put no percentage on it. Plagron carry a figure for the increase in buds on their American site, asterisked for experimental conditions, and it does not appear on the site serving this market. So we do not repeat it.

Without PGRs, and here that is not a footnote

Plagron state explicitly that Power Buds contains no PGRs, meaning no plant growth regulators, and no hormones or other harmful substances. They call it a safe, hormone-free way of stimulating the plant.

On this shelf that is not a redundant statement. Anything that accelerates or forces flowering raises the question, and a growth regulator is legally a different thing from a fertiliser or a biostimulant. A manufacturer who answers the question themselves rather than leaving it open gives you something to go on.

It does not raise your EC

Plagron state that Power Buds does not increase the EC value, and that you can therefore combine it freely with whatever you already use. On a bottle you add during bloom, alongside a base feed that is already climbing and often alongside a PK, that is a comfortable property.

Dose and period

A maximum of 1 ml per litre of water, meaning 1:1000. Shake the bottle well before use. You start at the moment you move from the growth phase to the flowering phase.

Where many pages stop, Plagron continue: for optimal results they recommend giving Power Buds until the end of the flowering phase. So it is not a product for the switch alone.

Asked whether you need hydro, Plagron say no: it works on peat too. They do add that on their own test results it performs best in a hydro setup.

Available sizes

Technical Specifications:

• Type: biostimulant, not a fertiliser
• Manufacturer: Plagron
• Effect: more bud formation and faster flowering
• Component: a specialised molecule that helps the plant synthesise amino acids
• Without: PGRs and hormones
• Effect on EC: does not raise the EC value
• Dose: a maximum of 1 ml per litre of water, 1:1000
• Start: at the switch from growth to bloom
• Continue until: the end of the flowering phase, for optimal results
• Substrate: usable on peat as well, best on hydro according to Plagron's tests

Frequently asked questions

Does it contain hormones or PGRs?
No. Plagron state explicitly that Power Buds contains no PGRs, hormones or other harmful substances.

When do I start?
At the moment you switch from the growth phase to the flowering phase. Plagron recommend continuing to the end of bloom.

Do I need to adjust my EC?
No, Plagron state that Power Buds does not raise the EC value.

Does it only work on hydro?
No, on peat as well. Plagron do say it performed best on a hydro setup in their own tests.

Does it replace my bloom feed?
No. A biostimulant supplies no nutrients; you give it alongside your regular feed.