ADDITIVES :



Safergro Biomin Calcium (2-0-0) and Magnesium (2-0-0) :



These are two different products but I'll group them together in application and description. These nutrients are in chelated form. This means they are readily available for plant absorption. In soil, micro organisms and plants all produce organic and amino acids in the form of enzymes to decompose organic matter and bio-chemically process nutrients so that they are readily available for plant uptake. This process has essentially already been done with these nutes. These are fast acting and a highly efficient way to provide nutrients. Each micro nutreints is encapsulated in a shell of amino acids of sorts. This shell prevents any medium interaction. Once the plant absorbs the encapsulated micro nutrient it will shed it's shell and become available.



As we all know calcium and magnesium are of significant importance in the world of marijuana. On every stigma tip for example, there are deposits of calcium. Adding calcium created denser and larger buds. It is an important building block in cellulose. Cellulose is what a plant is primarily made of. Marijuana is a fast growing and demanding plant and large amounts of calcium are needed as a result.



Magnesium is of equal importance. It has less specific duties inside a plant and aids in a number of functions from chlorophyll composition to carbohydrate absorption. As plants grow the demand for magnesium increases. It is commonly deficient indoors with marijuana specifically because it's most available at a higher pH. Chelated nutes work under a wider pH range and hence are available even in the acidic soil cannabis prefers.



These nutes when combined properly satisfy all calcium and magnesium requirements. It was too strong in fact when applied with any kind of quantity. Only 1/4 tsp of each nute was more than satisfactory. The one negative thing with these items is the presence of strong nitrogen making late flowering applications difficult. I tend to apply it early in the 12/12 cycle and refrain from use after the fifth feeding of flowering. In testing this nute combination I simply removed any cal/mag formula included and replaced it with these products for a few plants in each 12 plant set. It absolutely made the General Organic version seem weak in comparison. Results were faster and stronger than Botanicares solution also. The thing is however, the included high nitrogen levels created much of the deep green color observed and can account for some of it's effectiveness. In any case, it is cheap, organic and a wonderful alternative to typical cal/mag solutions. It also gave me more control over individual plants needs. Some plants for example, process plenty of calcium but need only magnesium. These two products allowed for adjustment. Highly recommended, specifically in hydroponic environments. The Dynagro had the best results with this addition. Plants that received them actually out produced some others in the same test. With Earthjuice it quickly cleaned up minor deficiencies and promoted slightly denser buds.



All plants reacted well to these nutes with the exception of those in Test 2 which had high Nitrogen levels from the start. The additional Calcium and Magnesium were over kill.



Botanicare Cal/Mag + (2-0-0) :



Calcium and magnesium are frequently weak in many nutrient solutions and indoor soil substrates. The above description of these nutrients importance obviously applies here. Botanicare adds iron also. Iron is extremely important in plant functions. It assists in chlorophyll production and photosynthesis. It is also vital in the transpiration process. Briefly, transpiration is the absorption of nutrient fluid through the root zone and the transfer of these fluids throughout the plant. Eventually, this fluid is released (transpired) through stomata on the undersides of leaves. Stomata are valves of sorts the plants open and shut to control this procedure. (I find Iron is one of the few nutrients effectively applied through foliar applications)



This solution is effective and relatively potent. The added iron creates healthy, green looking plants and the cal/mag is provided in a balanced manner. This is not organic. It's not as fast acting as Safergro but results were similar from a cycle perspective. I followed manufacturers recommendations for applications.





Hygrozyme :



I've done extensive research on this product. I'm extremely confident with the findings. If you've read my thread "Hygrozyme for soil/soiless" than you already have a firm grasp on the benefits. I need to better explain a few things however. As mentioned in the above information enzymes are responsible for decomposing numerous things in our world. Spiders and flies, for example use enzymes to digest food. Various enzymes are used in cleaning solutions, breaking down toxic items like gasoline and oil spills. In regards to soil, enzymes are responsible for the decomposition of almost all organic matter. Understanding how this works is important to understanding the benefits of enzymes.



Bacteria and Fungus produce the majority of enzymes we are concerned with. Most of us are familiar with compost. Think along those lines for a moment. Very simply put, composting happens because billions of bacteria and fungus naturally are attracted to and live in the compost pile. These organisms break down the material by releasing acid based enzymes. These enzymes decompose the nutrients bio-chemically. The microbes then absorb the decomposed nutrient. The nutrient is now unavailable to the substrate. It is locked inside the micro organism. Only with eventual rhizosphere interaction and/or the death of the micro organism will these trapped nutes become available. Compost usually has many different species of bacteria and fungus all efficient in different ways at decomposing certain ingredients and eventually providing potential nutrients. That is important, if we were to compost only certain ingredients we naturally will attract only certain organisms and hence be using specific enzymes. ( This also means we can control what the medium is strong in by controlling included microbial life - certain microbes will decompose certain materials ) Companies have learned how to isolate these enzymes and we add them to nutrient solutions. Naturally when we add enzymes, decomposition of organic matter will increase and nutrients will be more readily available. None of your current bacteria or fungus was needed in producing these added enzymes so there fore not enough microbial life exists to absorb all the available nutes - making them temporally unavailable. This means the plants will happily take the nutes directly from your substrate without working with microbial bacteria or fungi. It does not mean that plants will cease the relationship with microbial organisms - it simply means it will absorb nutrients in a more diverse, chelated manner.



After previous research with this product I determined it assists in nutrient availability so efficiently I could feed the plants with less nutrients each application. Results with this solution were the biggest stand out in these tests. Earthjuice responded excellent, as did General Organics. In both tests the biggest producering plants were fed with Hygrozyme. The quality was improved in almost every test it was applied. I say almost because in the case of Bio Canna for example, Cannazyme is nutrient specific, meaning it was designed for those unusual and unique ingredients. Replacing Cannazyme with Hygrozyme showed no real benefit, it did not however loose points with the switch. In the Marine based test it produced better bud development and more trichromes than with-out. With Advanced Nutrients, Sensizyme was actually more effective than Hygrozyme. This is no doubt due to specific priorities in developing the solution. Sensizyme is a fantastic additive and contains alginic acid. The results of various acid additions are known benefits in plant nutrition. Hygrozyme was my main enzyme tested so it was only compared to these other enzyme products with in their schedule. Not broadly enough to find real comparison results with the other enzyme products. Remember to mix-in this solution right before feeding your plants. Even when working with teas, Hygrozyme should not be added to the solution until feeding time. I begin in the vegetative stages with 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) and increase every watering by 1 ml until I reach 5 ml (1 tsp). During early flowering I begin to increase again by 2 or 3 ml every watering/feeding and max out around 10ml (2 tsp). I stop use the last few weeks to prevent residual nitrogen availability. This improved every substrate it came in contact with and increased plant production. Earth Juice had an almost 10% gain in plants with this addition. Even with the all chemical blends it helped with maintaining a healthy root environment. I can't recommend it enough.







Advanced Nutrients Piranha :



This is an incredible formula. It is beneficial fungus. These fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants and prefer acidic environments. As stated on the bottle it provides trichoderma and 18 species of endomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi. These fungus have different ways of providing nutrients to plants. Endo-Mycorrhizal Fungus for example actually penetrates the root system and expands in search of food, then excretes enzymes for decomposition and funnels the available nutrients back to the plant. The plant processes these nutrients and releases it's own fluid called exudates. Exudates are used by the fungus to grow. One organism depends on the other. Ecto-mycorrhizal fungus grows outside and around the roots and serves a similar function expanding the root system and bringing food back to the rhizosphere. Trichiderma also decompose nutrients but are specialized in defeating pathogens, unwanted nematodes and bad microbial life. Interestedly, Mycorrhizal fungus are an intricate part of a suspected 90%+ of all living plants. Colonies can grow massive and supply multiple plants of different varieties. Fungi are truly a fascinating part of soil biology. I urge all you organic growers to learn more about them if you haven't.



One issue with building your own soil microbial web with home made compost and organic material is we can easily introduce unwanted microbes that lead to disease and problems. Adding these beneficial fungi ensures out-populating these bad organisms. More importantly in most sterile environments like the mediums we all typically use, fungus helps in the decomposition of matter and nutrient availability.



This product works fantastic with organic solutions. It produced temporary growth surges in the chemical based products after application but did eventually lead to larger plants. I pointed to a quick fungal life cycle with chemicals and contributed the surges to this. Earthjuice, BioCanna, the Marine based schedule and even Foxfarm all had positive growth results and maintained healthier plants with this solution. It's primarily fungi so adding additional bacteria can help balance things out. Non the less it does it's job effectively and produces efficient root systems. General Organics had the best results with this addition. Test 8 is bacterial dominated and the additional fungi seemed to help in making specifically Bloom nutes more available. Buds took on a more full appearance and developed better scent.



Many companies offer a wide variety of microbial rich solutions. Some strong in bacteria, some Fungus and some both. They all primarily apply the same beneficial microbes. Most of these items are rather expensive and have similar results. Developing an organic, rich microbial substrate early in your plants life is important. Marijuana prefers a fungi dominated acidic medium environment. This environment is relatively easy to create with some research and getting your hands dirty. A relatively isolated compost system with specific ingredients can ultimately create a rich microbial tea that easily can match the effectiveness of these products. In saying all that however, Piranha will truly make this happen.



Advanced Nutrients Bud Blood (0-39-25) :



After using this product in a few cycles of Advance Nutrients I quickly realized it's potential. Bud Blood works, plain and simple. It induces earlier flowering and hence speeds the entire flowering stage up. This was noticed in every plant it was applied to. Potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and sulphur are the specified nutrients included. This specific combination is designed to force the plant to "trans-locate" it's carbohydrates. This basically means it will primarily focus it's energy into bud growth. It is chemical based and plants require only a tiny amount responding very quickly.



On the strain tested here, which is a smaller Indica, the plants stayed relatively small and flowered sooner. Production was not increased as claimed however. Time wise, some plants treated with this addition finished in 43 days. The fastest finishing plant was in the Fox farm test treated with an early application of Bud Blood. Potency was diminished in this fast finisher however, and so was flavor.

I continue to use this additive on some longer flowering Sativas and only when I grow the plants large. They respond excellent and maintain quality production. If faster flowering times or even maintaining a smaller, more compact garden are a concern for you this could be a useful item.