Additives change your substrate rather than your plant. That sounds like a detail, but it sets up the most practical point on this page: when you apply them. Mix in something that should have gone with the water, or the other way round, and it does not work, or only half works.
Through the substrate, before planting
This group gets mixed dry through your soil or coir and then left alone. Plagron Bat Guano is phosphorus-rich and goes in towards bloom. Mega Worm is worm castings: mild nitrogen, but mostly soil life and structure, so it feeds the ground rather than the plant. Super Mix combines several organic components in one addition. Calcium Kick tops up calcium in the substrate itself, which is a different thing from a CalMag in your water. And Perlite adds no feed at all but air; it also sits on its own under Perlite.
Along with the irrigation water
Aptus makes the distinction explicit with two versions of the same idea. Micromix Soil is meant for soil, Micromix Drip is formulated to pass through a drip system without clogging it. Running a system, that is no small matter: an additive carrying solids blocks your drippers, and you find out when one plant falls behind. What to do about it is under System Cleaning.
The living additives ask for restraint elsewhere
Aptus Mycor Mix introduces mycorrhiza, a fungus that attaches to the root and enlarges its uptake area. It establishes once and then needs time, so it goes in at planting or transplanting rather than halfway through. Important: a live culture and an oxidative cleaner do not belong in the same system, because the latter clears organic material without discriminating. The same holds for enzymes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I just scatter this on top of the soil?
With the dry additives that works badly. They belong through the root zone, not on the surface, where they dry out and where roots do not reach. Mix them in before you plant.
Does this replace my feed?
No. Guano and worm castings supply something, but slowly and not in a calculated ratio. They work alongside a complete line rather than instead of one.
How much do I mix in?
Follow the brand's dose and work it out against the volume of your pot, not the number of plants. With organic additives the mistake is usually too much in too small a pot.
