Which Nutrients for Soil, Coco or Hydro? Base Feeds Compared
A base nutrient is the main feed: the bottle or bottles that supply nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and trace elements; everything else is an additive. Which one to buy depends first on what you grow in, because soil, coco and hydroponics hold and supply food differently. This guide compares the main base nutrients we sell, medium by medium, and shows how to choose.
How base feeds differ
- NPK. The three numbers on a label: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in that order (see our growers' glossary).
- Parts. Some feeds are a single bottle; many are A and B, two bottles added to the water one after the other and never mixed neat. T.A. TriPart has three.
- Stages. Most ranges have a grow feed and a bloom feed. Some, such as Canna Coco, use one feed throughout and change the dose; its page notes customer feedback that some varieties then run short of nitrogen, which shows as yellowing (see our yellow leaves guide).
- Mineral or organic. Mineral feeds are more immediately available to the plant, the Biobizz All Mix page says. Organic feeds work with the life in the soil, so you go by the chart, not an EC meter (see our Biobizz feed chart).
Soil nutrients
Soil holds on to food. A rich soil such as Biobizz All Mix feeds the plant for its first 2-4 weeks, its page says, so a mineral feed usually starts from around 3 or 4 weeks. A light soil such as Biobizz Light Mix leaves the feeding to you; the Canna Terra page recommends one for greater control. See our premium soils.
| Feed | What it is | Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Canna Terra | Vega for growth, Flores for flowering | Canna Terra feed chart |
| Biobizz Grow and Biobizz Bloom | Organic; NPK 4-3-6 and 2-7-4 | Biobizz feed chart |
| Plant Magic Soil | Grow and Bloom; same version for hard or soft water | Plant Magic feed chart |
| Dutchpro Original Soil A & B | Grow and Bloom; hard water version | 2-3 ml per litre of A and of B |
| Hesi TNT Complex and Hesi Bloom Complex | TNT for growth, Bloom Complex for flowering | Hesi feed chart |
| Plant Magic Oldtimer | Plant Magic's organic Grow and Bloom | 2-4 ml per litre |
Coco nutrients
Coco carries almost no food of its own, so it needs a feed made for it (see our coco coir guide). Coco feeds contain less potassium, the House & Garden Cocos page explains, because coco releases plenty of its own. For organic coco, our Biobizz feed chart has a Coco·Mix schedule.
| Feed | What it is | Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Canna Coco | A and B, one feed throughout | 2-4 ml per litre of A and of B; Canna Coco feed chart |
| Plant Magic Coco A & B | Seedling to harvest | Plant Magic feed chart |
| Hesi Coco | One-part, for flowering, after TNT Complex | Hesi feed chart |
| House & Garden Cocos | A and B; humic and fulvic acids | About 5 ml per litre |
| Advanced Nutrients Sensi Coco Grow A & B and Sensi Coco Bloom A & B | pH Perfect, which its page says balances the pH | Advanced Nutrients feed chart |
| Intense Coco | A and B, one feed throughout | At the rate on the label |
Hydroponic nutrients
Rockwool and clay pebbles are inert, so the feed supplies everything (see clay pebbles and rockwool). In a recirculating system the feed returns to the tank and changes as plants take up some nutrients faster than others, the Canna Aqua page says, so check its pH and EC every day or two; run-to-waste uses it once.
| Feed | What it is | Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Canna Aqua | Recirculating; pH buffers; Vega and Flores | Canna Aqua feed chart |
| Canna Hydro | Run-to-waste; hard and soft blends | At the rate on the label |
| Plant Magic Hydro A & B | Seedling to harvest | Plant Magic feed chart |
| Dutchpro Original Hydro/Coco A & B | Hydro or coco; hard water version | 2.5-3.5 ml per litre |
| House & Garden Aqua Flakes | Run-to-waste rockwool or recirculating NFT | Up to 4 ml per litre of A and B |
| Hydrotops Hydro | NFT, DWC or drip; hard and soft versions | 1-4 ml per litre |
| Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow A & B and Sensi Bloom A & B | pH Perfect; soil, coco or hydro, the Bloom page says | Advanced Nutrients feed chart |
Feeds for any medium
| Feed | What its page says | Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Athena Grow - Blended Line and Athena Bloom - Blended Line | Any medium, system or water type | Athena feed chart |
| T.A. TriPart | Hydro, soil and coco; very concentrated | At the rate on the label |
| FloraMax VegaFlora A & B | Soil, coco and hydro; seedling to harvest | 1.7-3 ml per litre |
| Mills Basis A & B | Soil, coco or hydro; mineral and organic | At the rate on the label |
| GreenHaze Grow A & B and GreenHaze Bloom A & B | Made for hydro; also soil and coco; hard or soft water | At the rate on the label |
How to choose a base feed
- Start with the medium, and in hydro, whether the feed recirculates or runs to waste.
- Check your water. Where a feed comes in hard and soft versions (Canna Hydro, Hesi Coco, Hydrotops Hydro, Mills Basis A, TriPart Micro), buy the one for your water; makers draw the line differently, and our reverse osmosis guide shows how to tell. Soft or RO water usually means adding a cal-mag additive (see our cal-mag guide), though the FloraMax VegaFlora page says it needs none.
- Buy the base feed first. Additives come second: our Intense pages recommend a root stimulant early on and a PK boost for heavy flowering (see our root stimulants and PK boosters guides).
- Measure and start low. Check the pH of every feed, and the EC of mineral feeds (see pH and EC meters). Not with Hesi TNT Complex: its page says most of its nitrogen is organic, so do not work to an EC reading. The Canna pages warn that overfeeding can lock plants up: less is more.
Quick answers
Which nutrients are best for coco?
One made for coco. Canna Coco has been one of our top sellers for many years, and feedback in our shop puts Intense Coco up there with it for productivity.
Which nutrients are best for soil?
One made for soil. For mineral feeding, the Canna Terra page calls it one of the best soil feeds on the market, and the Intense Dirt page says it seems to be up there with the best of them. For organic feeding, Biobizz Grow and Bloom.
Plant Magic or Biobizz?
Biobizz Grow and Bloom are all-organic soil feeds, fed by the chart rather than an EC meter. Plant Magic Soil, with humates, calcium and magnesium, has a chart that gives an EC for each week. Plant Magic's organic range, Oldtimer, contains a non-organic preservative, its page says, so for all-organic feeding it is Biobizz. For coco or hydro, Plant Magic make Coco A & B and Hydro A & B.
Are there organic hydroponic nutrients?
Not among our base feeds: Oldtimer is made for soil, Biobizz for soil or its own Coco·Mix (see our Biobizz feed chart), and Hesi TNT Complex, with its organic nitrogen, for soil or coco. The nearest is Mills Basis A & B, which mixes mineral and organic nutrients and suits hydro, its page says.
More Growers' Guides
- Canna Coco feed chart
- Biobizz feed chart
- Plant Magic feed chart
- Cal-mag and deficiencies
- Hydroponics: the systems explained
Not sure what you need? Call the shop on 0117 971 3000 or pop in to the Bristol store and we'll help you pick.