This is in response to a lot of posts I see regarding the use of Bio Bizz nutes & compost here in the Uk.....
Lets see if I can clear up some of the confusion regarding the Bio-bizz nutrient range. Firstly you need to understand that when we grow using compost for our medium we need to look at the whole picture in terms of our plants requirements in the way of nutrition and where it's going to come from. The nutes we choose is only part of the picture, you have to take into consideration the nutrient content of the compost and the water you use for mixing your nutrient solution. Bio-bizz nutrients are manufactured in Holland and are mostly formulated around their water which is very soft across most of the country, it contains very little in the way of mineral salts. Here in the Uk the water quality varies massively from hard to very soft, i've seen Ec's that range from 0 in parts of Scotland north to 0.9 in London south, this usually means that some supplementation will be required to replace some minerals in affected areas, see water quality chart below. This is why you see so many different results when using Bio-bizz in the Uk it's mainly down to regional variations in water quality.
Lets look at compost and what it does and what we require from it. Compost comes in many variations in terms of consistency and its pre loaded nutrient content. When choosing a compost you have to consider how much additional feed & supplementation is going to be required based on what it contains and the stage of growth your plants are at. You need to decide how much control you want over your feeding regime, if you want full control over feeding then you want a very lightly fertilised compost like Plant magic soil supreme, Bio-bizz light mix or even a multi purpose seedling compost. If you dont want to start feeding from the off then you want a compost that already contains enough nutrients for a few weeks, a general purpose compost like B&Q verve. Keep away from composts that are recommended for hanging baskets and planters as these often contain some form of water retaining ingredient which hinders the drying. You want to be running a wet & dry cycle when feeding/watering compost the quicker it dries the quicker you can water again.
Nutes & compost are just tools that are needed to grow our plants, we need to learn how to use and adapt them to our plants requirements based on the compost & water quality being used. Bio Bizz are essentially organic nutes, these type of nutes need to be used in harmony with the compost.
Your compost is alive, yes it contains millions of little helpful fellas know as the micro herd, these little guys are busy consuming organic matter that is in the compost and the nutes we pour in. They turn the nutes and organic matter into a usable form that can then easily pass into the root system. The plants can't use organic nutes directly like they do with chem nutes they depend on this complex interaction between nutes, water and oxygen for the magic to work. Now the thing is, going back to Bio bizz nutes, they are a 2 part nutrient system that consists of grow and bloom components, the grow contains mainly N and the micro elements and the bloom contains mainly PK & molasses, these nutes are meant to be used in conjunction with each other in the bloom phase so you maintain your micros throughout flowering. To me this seems to be a bit of a strange configuration given most 2 part nutes have a dedicated bottle for veg and another for bloom, this is where most folks fall foul of the Bio bizz curse. Another thing with Bio bizz is that they have changed their formula a few times in recent years and charts to match, some folks will be going off the old charts which causes further issues, they also give different guides for light mix and all mix. These charts ain't worth a shit they have no relevance to all the various composts available and water variations here in the Uk. That goes for all grow charts regardless of manufacturer, for example canna coco A&B are probably the best out there for coco grows but the feed chart is a load of rubbish, you have got to tailor the feeds to your own situation and what the plants are asking for. Worth mentioning also is Ph, for some reason people read these forums and see the hydro guys talking about Ph adjustment and jump to the conclusion that Ph adjustment is necessary for all types of growing, well if you are growing in the Uk using the water from your tap then there is absolutely no need to adjust Ph when growing in compost, the micro herd in a well balanced compost is more than capable of buffering the Ph to where it needs to be easily....
My conclusion is this...If you're in the uk and want to grow organically or just in compost generally then don't use Bio bizz nutes go for Plant magic old timers grow and bloom, one bottle for veg and another for bloom its designed and formulated to work with Uk water and is a piece of piss to use.
I recommend it for use with most lightly to medium loaded composts with the exception of all mix which in my opinion is way to hot and takes the control away from the grower.
Regards BL
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