P-K Boost

-Gabrial House-

During a plant’s life cycle it goes through several different phases of growth. At the beginning of its life, it wants a lot of nitrogen and a good amount of phosphorus. These nutrients allow the plant to grow in biomass, meaning the plant is creating a large root system and lots of leafy green material. As growers, we refer to this phase in a plant’s life as its vegetative stage. As the plant enters its reproductive stage, however, it shifts focus away from green, vegetative growth to a focus on growing flowers, fruits, and seeds. During a plant’s reproductive stage, it requires a large amount of phosphorus and potassium to reach its full potential.

In this blog post I want to focus on the benefit of using “bloom boosters” or “bulking formulas” to increase the size and weight of a hydroponic grower’s flowers and fruits. P-K boosters are hydroponic supplements that you feed to your plant on top of a regular base nutrient. A P-K boost is strictly phosphorus and potassium, whereas a base nutrient has both macro and micronutrients.

There are a lot of bloom boosters out there on the market, but in this post I am going to focus on two different options. The first is General Hydroponics’s Liquid KoolBloom, and the second is Veg+Bloom Shine. Both of these products are outstanding choices to use but are slightly different from each other.

Liquid KoolBloom is a liquid supplement that’s used through the entire reproductive phase of the plant’s life. It is a 0-10-10 so it packs a good hit of easily available phosphorus and potassium. As a very concentrated product, it only requires an application rate of 5-10 ml’s per gallon.

Veg+bloom Shine is a dry powder supplement comprised of very high-grade phosphorus and potassium. It is water-soluble so it will dissolve instantly when added to your nutrient solution. Shine is a very concentrated P-K Boost, boasting a 0-22-12 analysis, so please use sparingly. The application ratio on this product is 1-2 tsp. per 5 gallons of water, so a little goes a long way.

Whichever Bloom Booster you choose, by using this type of supplement during the bloom phase of plant growth, you should see your garden swell with enhanced flower and fruit devolvement, increasing your yields and flavors like never before.