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The hydro shop that tells you what NOT to buy
Most growers only need three bottles. Pick how you grow and we will show you which three, and what to leave on the shelf until you actually need it.
There are 25+ nutrient brands on our shelves. These are the ones growers here actually buy, best seller first, so you can start this week without the 12-bottle kit.
The soil setup
Good potting mix already has about three weeks of feed in it. Most soil problems in the first month are too much water and too much food, too early.
Once your base is right, this is the one extra worth buying, before any booster. A root hair is only about half a millimetre long. Everything past that, your plant never gets. Mycorrhizae lets the same roots reach further.
Cal-Mag, soil holds its own. A bloom booster. A stack of different root products, one good microbe is enough. And any feed at all for the first three weeks: let the pot dry back until it feels light before you water again.
The 3-bottle coco setup
Coco holds almost no nutrients of its own, and it grabs calcium and magnesium out of whatever you feed it. Buffer it with Cal-Mag before you plant, feed a little every watering, and check runoff EC.
Once your base is right, these are the extras worth buying, before any booster. Mycorrhizae lets the roots reach further into the coco. Silica stiffens the cell wall, so a heavy plant holds itself up and shrugs off heat.
A 12-bottle kit. Bloom boosters, PK, sweeteners, or more root products on top of the one microbe. Get the base right first, then add one thing at a time when you can see why.
The hydro setup: DWC, RDWC, NFT
In hydro the water is the soil. Most root problems are not pH at all, they are warm water without enough oxygen. Keep the reservoir between 18 and 22°C, run air 24/7 and change the tank weekly.
Once your base is right, these are the extras worth buying, before any booster. In hydro the roots live in the water, so a microbe that colonises the root zone earns its place. Silica stiffens the cell wall, so a heavy plant holds itself up and shrugs off heat.
A chiller, unless your water sits above 22°C. A dosing controller. pH Up, until you have seen your tank drift low. A second microbe or a stack of root products, one is enough.
Setting up from scratch
Tent, light, fan and filter. Then pots, a growing medium and one base nutrient. Then a pH pen. Everything else waits until you actually see a problem. Ring us for the tent and fan, they depend on your space.
Once your base is right, this is the one extra worth buying, before any booster. A root hair is only about half a millimetre long. Everything past that, your plant never gets. Mycorrhizae lets the same roots reach further.
CO2, a second tent, smart controllers, or a light bigger than your tent needs. For the bottles, pick your medium from the boxes above.
Every box above has a way to measure pH in it. This is the pen growers here buy most.
Bluelab pH Pen
- Accurate to plus or minus 0.1 pH (Bluelab)
- Automatic temperature compensation
- Waterproof, backlit display, hold reading
- Calibration indicator, AAA battery included
| Pen | $145 |
Most growers need three bottles
A base, Cal-Mag if you are in coco, and a way to measure. That is the start.
The forum list is the expensive mistake
Buy everything on day one and most of it sits in the cupboard for months, or forever.
Buy when you see a problem
Then send us a photo. We will tell you which bottle fixes it, or that none does.
Start every bottle at half strength
The chart on the bottle is written for the strongest plant in perfect conditions. Yours is not there yet. Read the feeding guide before your first mix.
A microbe for transplant day, a pen that does EC as well, and the cheapest way to check pH.
- 15 species of mycorrhizal fungi
- 19 species of beneficial bacteria
- 2 species of trichoderma for root disease
- Plant vitamins and glycine
| 150g | $400/kg | $60 |
| 750gBEST VALUE | $291/kg | $218 |
- Measures pH, EC and temperature
- IP67 waterproof, and it floats
- Dry storage electrode, no need to keep it wet
- Replaceable electrode, calibration reminder after 30 days
| Pen | $155 |
- Colour chart reads to within 0.5 of a pH unit
- 150 mL pH Up and 150 mL pH Down included
- One drop of indicator per test
| Kit | $26 |
All in stock. Price shown is the smallest size.
| Product | What it is | Best for | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluelab pH Pen | Accurate to plus or minus 0.1 pH (Bluelab) | Anyone mixing a feed. Soil, coco or hydro. | $145 |
| Great White Mycorrhizae | 15 species of mycorrhizal fungi | One jar for the whole root zone. Soil, coco or hydro. | $60 |
| Aqua Master P110 Pro 2 pH/EC Pen | Measures pH, EC and temperature | Coco and hydro, where you check EC every feed and every runoff. | $155 |
| Hy-Gen Complete pH Kit | Colour chart reads to within 0.5 of a pH unit | Soil growers who just want to know they are in the right range. | $26 |
| CANNA Coco A & B | Complete nutrient for plants grown in coco | Coco, from the first feed to the last. | $48 |
| BudTrainer Fabric Budpots | 400 GSM fabric (BudTrainer) | Soil and coco. Any pot you top water. | $8 |
| Canna Terra Professional 50L | Peat, wood bark and perlite | Anyone growing in soil. | $35 |
| Professors Hydro Clay Balls (100% Leca) | 100% expanded clay (Leca) | DWC, RDWC and net pots. | $20 |
| Professor's Original Nutrient A & B | One A and B for both grow and bloom | Low cost hydro. Also fine in coco. | $25 |
| Aqua One Precision Air Pumps | Four models, 160 to 800 L per hour | DWC and RDWC tanks. | $15 |
| Canna Calmag Agent | Balanced calcium and magnesium | Coco on rainwater, filtered or RO. Buy this if you run a CANNA feed. | $50 |
| Canna Coco Professional 50L | 100% natural coco flakes | First time in coco. | $35 |
| Hy-Gen pH Down 250mL | 85% food grade orthophosphoric acid | Coco and hydro feeds that sit above your target pH. | $11 |
| Canna Terra Vega 1L | Complete nutrient for plants in potting mix | Soil, from about week 3 of growth. | $35 |
| Ulight 600W Eco LED | 600 W full spectrum | A 1.2 x 1.2 m tent. | $325 |
| Time-R Digital Timer | On and off times set down to the second | Every light. Also fans and pumps. | $48 |
| Seahawk Clip Fan 150mm | 150 mm, two speeds | Small to mid size tents. | $24.50 |
| Pathway 40% Mono Silicic Acid | 40% mono-silicic acid, high analysis | Growers sick of silica pushing their pH around and clouding the res. | $42 |
Do I really only need three bottles?
Is my welcome discount applied?
How fast do you ship?
Feeding guide
Mixing order, half strength, and the EC and pH numbers by stage.
Read the feeding guideCal-Mag
In coco under LED, the medium takes its cut of calcium and magnesium before your plant does.
See the cal-mag rangeLED grow lights
Match the light to the tent, not the biggest number on the box.
See the light guideStart with three bottles, not twelve
Everything on this page is in stock and ships today if you order before 3pm. Not sure which box is you? Ring us and a real person will look at your setup before selling you anything.
Happy Hydroponics, 1/35 Gwen Road, Cranbourne West VIC 3977 · Mon to Sat 9:30am to 5:30pm