Basic Semi Hydroponic Fertilizer Recipe

One of the things I enjoy as part of the hobby of house plants as a more right-brained person is making my own fertilizer to address the specific needs of my plants. I spent a bunch of time researching fertilizers and growing techniques, and realized ultimately that an incremental approach would be best. I want to share some of what I've learned here and in future posts that go deeper.

As I was getting started in the hobby I was frustrated to find that the "trial" size of the General Hydroponics Flora series that I wound up purchasing was close to $50 and would last a semi-hydro hobbyist approximately 1,000,000 years, so I wanted to share some of what I've learned and simplify it for people who don't want to spend all that money without even knowing if they like the product. To that end, if you see me at a plant expo, I sell my recipe along with free samples of the fertilizers that I use if you aren't ready to commit to the expense of buying all the raw materials.

Before you can create your own magical plant potions and get creative, you have to start somewhere. I really struggled to find very specific instructions, so I created this base recipe after reading a bunch of blog posts from other planty people who are growing semi-hydroponically in LECA, which is my preferred substrate -- special thanks to LECA Addict, and Botanically Insane for sharing their resources.

You don't have to grow in semi-hydro to benefit from this recipe. I also use this fertilizer for my plants in regular soil, I just dilute it to 1/4 strength or 1/2 strength (depending on the plant) instead of using full strength.

For the basic mix I use equal parts of General Hydroponics FloraMicro, Flora Gro, and FloraBloom. This fertilizer isn't super shelf-stable, so I usually make 1 liter a week, rather than a gallon. After mixing, you really should use it within a few days, but I've had it be usable for at least a week without issues (verified with a PPM meter.)

I'm also a cooking nerd, so I'm putting this in recipe format, and making recommendations for tools based on how deep down the science nerd rabbit hole you have gone.

Semi Hydroponic Liquid Fertilizer Base Recipe

A basic recipe for semi-hydroponic fertilizer that can also be diluted and used in soil setups. Best used within a day or two, keeps up to a week.

Ingredients and Tools

Ingredients

• Distilled water

• General Hydroponics FloraMicro

• General Hydroponics FloraGro

• General Hydroponics FloraBloom

Tools

• Beginner

  • 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon measuring spoons

    • pro-tip: I strongly advise using a dedicated spoon for chemicals, and not re-using it for food, just keep it with the fertilizer and not in the kitchen

  • One Liter container

    • a clean one liter soda bottle is great, just don't ever use it for food again

• Intermediate

  • A disposable pipette or syringe

  • A 16 ounce boston bottle

• Advanced

  • A micro-pipettor

  • A 1 liter reagent bottle

Recipe

1 Liter

• Place 900ml of Distilled Water into a one-liter container

• Add 1/2 tsp (or 3.3ml) of Flora Micro (Maroon color) and mix well

• Add 1/2 tsp (or 3.3ml) of Flora Grow (Green color) and mix well

• Add 1/2 tsp (or 3.3ml) of Flora Bloom (Pink color) and mix well

• Add distilled water to top it off

1 Gallon

• Open a gallon of distilled water and pour off about a cup put aside for later

• Add 2 tsp (or 10ml) of of Flora Micro (Maroon color) and mix well

• Add 2 tsp (or 10 ml) of Flora Grow (Green color) and mix well

• Add 2 tsp (or 10ml) of Flora Bloom (Pink color) and mix well

• Top the jug off with remaining distilled water