Hydrofeed Complete Hydroponics Nutrient Refills

Hydrofeed Complete Hydroponics Nutrients system is a good 2 part nutrient with minimum effort in measuring and mixing striking a balance between control and ease of use. We use it successfully to grow all types of lettuce and also fruiting plants like strawberry chillis. No need to buy lots of different types for different phases of growth, saving you money!

Although it is possible to use a 1 part / all in one system, it won’t contain all of the macronutrients needed. (Calcium and Magnesium ions clump together and do not dissolve. They therefore must be mixed in two separate solutions and only meet when sufficiently dilute). There are 3 or more part systems which can allow for endless tweaking of the nutrient balance but this is more for commercial growers and experts due to the complexity. For most growers the hassle is not worth the few days shorter growth time.

The nutrient pouches are pre-weighed to be added to 500ml of water (this can be tap or distilled water see below for more about this). After a few minutes, the powders fully dissolve in water and will keep for months when out of sunlight. Pre-weighed pouches eliminates the need for weighing the powder and minimise the risks of spillages or handling the chemicals. The pouches are also small enough to fit through the letter box helping to keep costs down and you don’t need to be home to receive it.

Hydrofeed Complete is great for using in the home as there’s no odour and so long as the nutrient isn’t lit, it will stay algae free.

Part A contains an NPK ratio of 3:4.8:31.5, with Magnesium (2.4), Sulphur (10.9) and micronutrients (Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum and Zinc).

Part B contains Calcium Nitrate, that’s 15.2 Nitrogen and 18.9 Calcium

Using both together provides all the macro and micro nutrients your plants require. The balance of nutrients can be easily shifted for different phases of growth

Vegetative growth - use equal parts of A and B to get N:P:K 9.1:2.4:15.8 and 9.4 (Ca) 1.2 (Mg) 5.4 (S)

Fruiting – Use 3 parts of A and 1 part of B to get N:P:K 6:3.6:24 and 4.7 (Ca) 1.8 (Mg) 8.2 (S)

Mix to the required EC for your particular plants, for example lettuce EC is between 0.8 and 1.2. Don’t have an EC pen? For growing lettuce try 10ml of Part A and 10ml of Part B to every 2 litres of water. As you plants mature you can add a bit more, for example 15ml of Part A and Part B. With a budget EC pen you can quickly get a feel for how much of each part is required to get to the necessary concentration. Don’t forget to monitor your EC and refresh the nutrients when necessary to ensure that no one nutrient is exhausted. No EC pen? For small volumes of nutrient and a few plants, change the nutrient every week or so to keep a good nutrient balance and minimise the chances of any one nutrient being used up.

For more technical growing the ratios of nutrients can be precisely matched to a specific plants composition and growth stage. The aim of Hydrofeed Complete however is to do a good job with minimal effort, a difficult balance to strike!

So how does the Hydrofeed Complete system make mixing the nutrients effortless?

Although the nutrients are supplied as powders, they are pre-weighed (50g pouches) for use in a 500ml Hydrofeed dosing bottle (available on ebay and at the HomeOfHydroponics web shop). Just empty the pouches into separate bottles and add the water. Mix for a few minutes and this forms your Part A and Part B solutions. Top TIP: when emptying the pouches, it is easier to bend the pouch opening and pour from the middle of the pouch with no spillage!

We also had to make mixing the nutrients as easy and quick as possible. With a Hydrofeed Complete twin neck dosing bottle a precise amount of nutrient can be measured in the chamber. Just remove the chamber caps from each bottle and squeeze to fill to the required volume. Add both chambers to the water to make the nutrient solution. Don’t forget to check and adjust the pH as required. That’s it.

The Hydrofeed dosing bottles come with child resistant caps so you can keep your nutrient safely. They have mixing instructions on the back as a handy memory jogger. They’re also recyclable and can be refilled with Hydrofeed Complete refill pouches saving both money and the environment. These are available at our HomeOfHydroponics shop online.

You’ll be saving the environment by not shipping water and even better the pouches are fully recyclable. We can package these two refill pouches in a large envelop saving you money on postage and you don’t even need to be at home as it’ll go through your letterbox. And you guessed it, the envelopes are fully recyclable too!

Simply tear the top off via the handy perforation, open the zip lock and pour the contents into the bottles. No measuring, no fuss. Top TIP: it is easiest to bend the opening of the pouch and pour from the middle rather than the edge..

Pour the Part A refill into the Part A bottle and Part B into the Part B bottle. Then add 500ml of water to each bottle, close the lid and mix. It will take about 5 minutes to fully dissolve, the opaque bottle makes it easy to see .Hey Presto! Your Hydrofeed Complete measuring bottle is ready to go again.

Part A contains an NPK ratio of 3 : 4.7 : 31.4, with Magnesium, Sulphur and micronutrients. Part B contains Calcium Nitrate. When Part A and Part B are used in conjunction, Hydrofeed Complete provides your plants with every macro nutrient required (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulphur) and every necessary micronutrient (Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum and Zinc). that your plants will need.

Our Mission to Save the Environment

When we developed the Hydrofeed range, we wanted to put the environment first. Hydroponics is great for reducing water usage, minimising fertiliser run-off, reducing the use of pesticides etc. but what about the environmental cost of the materials?

1. With the Hydrofeed range, all the chemicals are delivered as solids - By not shipping water, we save on unnecessary carbon emissions

2. All the packaging we use is recyclable, the bottles, the postage packaging and even the pouches (which are often metalised and cannot be recycled)

3. All the bottles are refillable, why throw away a perfectly good plastic bottle. It should be refilled and reused. We offer all our products with re-fills which saves waste and also your money.

How can we use our own water to mix the nutrients and pH powders?

When mixing the concentrates, it won’t make much difference using tap water as any minerals within the tap water will be in a vast minority to the minerals we are adding. It is possible to use distilled water, which is readily available at any supermarket however this is unlikely to be necessary in our experience.

Even when mixing up the nutrient solution, we’ve found that most tap waters in the UK will be okay to use. The tap water will add to the EC of the nutrient solution but will not drastically affect the growth of the plants. Just make sure to provide enough nutrient without being too strong for the plants. For example, lettuce requires an E.C. of 0.8 to 1.2. If your tap water was E.C. 0.6 then add enough nutrient to get to the upper limit for lettuce, about 1.2 to 1.4. This will still work well. Don’t forget to refresh the nutrient after a week or so to ensure that there is adequate nutrients in the water to feed your plants.

Another option is to use rain water as this will contain less minerals. The pH is likely to be more acidic however and so may mean using pH UP instead of pH DOWN.