and little or no nutrients. Put another way, just plain,
pure water. Water with a neutral pH and little or no
nutrients is a perfect blank slate to begin building a
hydroponic nutrient regimen.
The Foundation (Base Fertilizers)
After a grower has secured a reliable and con-
sistent water source, he or she can begin building
the nutrient regimen. A good starting point is to
select a base fertilizer or nutrient. A base fertilizer
will contain all the essential elements needed for
basic survival and general plant health. A complete
base fertilizer will contain both macro- and micro-
nutrients. Essential plant nutrients are classified as
either macronutrients or micronutrients, depend-
ing on the amount of the element the plants need.
Macronutrients are nutrients that a plant needs in
higher amounts and include nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. Micro-
nutrients are nutrients used in lesser amounts by the
plants and include iron, manganese, chlorine, boron,
zinc, copper, molybdenum and nickel. Don’t let the
amount used by the plants fool you. Although used
in lesser amounts by the plants, micronutrients are
just as vital as the macronutrients when creating a
balanced nutrient regimen. Other “beneficial”, but not
essential, elements commonly used by hydroponic
growers are silicon, sodium, cobalt, and selenium.
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A close look at the fertilizer label will reveal a
lot about the base fertilizer, including the guaranteed
analysis. The guaranteed analysis is the listed per-
centages of particular elements contained in a fertil-
izer. The guaranteed analysis includes the available
percentages of individual macro- and micronutrients.
Nitrogen is usually broken down further into the total
percentages of ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen,
and other determinable forms of nitrogen. A quick
look at the guaranteed analysis can give a hydroponic
gardener a little insight as to the amount of each
essential element contained in the fertilizer. When
examining the guaranteed analysis, one particular ele-
ment to zero in on is calcium.
Adding Calcium to the Foundation
Calcium is a vital nutrient for plant health and is
not always included in the base fertilizer. Most base
fertilizers actually contain only a small amount of cal-
cium because it is assumed that the gardener’s water
supply contains more calcium. However, many grow-
ers opt to use a reverse osmosis filtration system or
another type of water filtration device which alters
the amount of calcium available in the water. This is
why it is important for hydroponic growers to con-
sider a specific calcium supplement. A calcium sup-
plement is a nutrient additive rich in soluble calcium.
By adding a calcium supplement to the base fertilizer,
a hydroponic grower can be sure to have ample cal-
www.GardenandGreenhouse.net
November 2018