Introduction

Growing plants is one of the healthiest, satisfying, and rewarding hobbies a person could have. Connecting with nature, spending hours in your garden weeding, watering, raking, harvesting, or just looking at the spring blooms is a fulfilling experience only gardeners can relate to. Outdoor gardening isn’t the only way to connect with plants. Gardening is a multi-faceted area, encompassing indoor gardening and hydroponics among others.

No matter what type of gardener you are - your ultimate goal is to keep your plant happy, well-lit, well-watered, and well-fed. Your gardening arsenal is incomplete without Humboldts Secret Supplies Starter Kit.

Here’s a comprehensive piece on what it does and why it’s a must-have for indoor and outdoor gardeners.

We’ll cover:

• Plant Nutrition Basics
• Macronutrients
• Secondary Nutrients
• Plant Nutrient Deficiencies
• What’s in the Starter Kit
• How to use the Starter Kit in soil, hydroponics and aeroponics and
• The Top 12 Reasons to Choose the Humboldts Secret Starter Kit!

When it comes to feeding, the Humboldts Secret Starter Kit is all that you’ll ever need. Over 100,000 pleased growers can't be wrong!

Let's get started.

Do Plants Need To Be Fed?

Yes! Whether you’re a beginner or an expert gardener, one thing you should know inside out is plant food. Plants, much like all other living things, need food to produce energy and grow. However, you may remember from your primary school science classes that a plant can make its food. Do you recall learning about the process called photosynthesis?

Nonetheless, plants take certain nutrients from the soil. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the key nutrients that plants need to survive, but many other nutrients that are important for them to thrive too.

Different nutrients serve different purposes. Some also help the plant photosynthesize. In the absence of these nutrients, the plant’s internal processes will suffer. Eventually, the plant's deteriorating health will start to show visible symptoms. You’ll see stunted growth, and color change of the leaves, until ultimately the plant withers and dies.

It may surprise you to know that a plant does not need soil to grow. Soil is simply a means to anchor them to the ground, provide support and the necessary nutrients to survive. If you were to provide that support and nutrients without it, as in hydroponics, a plant will happily thrive with no soil at all!

What Nutrients Does A Plant Need?

Before growing and feeding them, you need to know what they need. Before having a cat or a dog as a pet, won’t you research what they eat? Plants, after all, are living things too. Knowing what they eat pays off with a brighter, healthier garden, better blooms, and bigger yields. So what makes plant food? Nutrients! There are multiple nutrients needed to grow and survive. Some are needed in bigger quantities, while others are needed in smaller quantities. However, they are all equally important.

Macronutrients For Plants

 

Primary macronutrients include:

1. Nitrogen (N)
2. Phosphorus (P)
3. Potassium (K)

You’ll often notice the nutrient ratio label on chemical fertilizers - it looks like this: 4-0-2. This is the infamous N-P-K ratio of fertilizers. It tells you the ratio of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) that that particular fertilizer formula carries.

Nitrogen encourages leaf growth, while phosphorus helps with root development and supports the formation of flowers and fruits. Potassium, on the other hand, is an indispensable macronutrient needed during the flower and fruit development phase. Phosphorus is especially a requirement of food crops, including tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, and legumes. Other than these three primary macronutrients, there are also secondary macronutrients that are required.

Secondary macronutrients include:

1. Calcium (Ca)
2. Magnesium (Mg)
3. Sulfur (S)

Calcium is essential to root development and also helps new growth. Certain plants, including fruit trees, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, and broccoli, are more susceptible to calcium deficiency than others. Eggplant, leafy greens, cucumber, broccoli, and tomatoes are especially particular of magnesium and will show deficiencies if it’s not adequately accessible to the roots.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients are just as important as macronutrients and have many benefits. The only difference is that they are required in smaller amounts. The absence or inadequacy of any of these micronutrients can cause deficiencies in a plant.

Micronutrients required include:

1. Boron (B)
2. Zinc (Zn)
3. Manganese (Mn)
4. Iron (Fe)
5. Copper (Cu)
6. Molybdenum (Mo)
7. Chlorine (Cl)

Even when these nutrients are present in adequate quantities in the soil, it’s not guaranteed that roots can absorb them in the required amount too. For nutrients to be absorbed, they need to be available in a suitable form. For example, roots can absorb Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions. Even if sufficient iron is available in the soil in other forms, its availability is not ascertained.

That’s where the Starter Kit nutrient formulas can help you. They guarantee nutrient supply in the preferred forms for optimal absorption by plant roots. In addition, the specialized Plant Enzyme formula helps roots absorb nutrients from the growing medium for optimal plant growth.

Deficiency Symptoms For Different Nutrients

You already know that the absence or inadequacy of nutrients causes deficiencies in a plant. Different nutrient deficiencies cause different symptoms in a plant. Though the symptoms are different, they will all gradually deteriorate the plant's health. If not addressed with proper fertilization to cover the requirements, these deficiencies may even kill the plant.

Here’s how you can interpret the most common deficiency symptoms:

• Yellow or light green leaves on old-growth: nitrogen deficiency
• Yellow edges of leaves on old-growth: magnesium deficiency
• Warped leaves on new growth: calcium deficiency
• Reddish or purple leaves: phosphorus deficiency
• Inhibited flowering and dropped flowers: phosphorus deficiency
• Blossom end rot: calcium deficiency
• Leaf tips appear burnt: phosphorus deficiency
• Wilting on old-growth: potassium deficiency
• Dark black leaves - potassium deficiency

The deficiency symptoms listed above are much more common on a plant grown without a complete fertilizing package, such as the Humboldts Secret Supplies (HSS) Starter Kit. The Starter Kit delivers the exact nutrients required from the beginning till the end of the growing cycle, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll face any of the above issues.

Use the Starter Kit To Help With Deficiencies

However, if you haven’t been using the Starter Kit so far, now is a good time to start doing it. Whether your plant is already showing deficiency symptoms or is healthy so far, starting the feeding program curated by the Starter Kit can benefit all plants, healthy and unhealthy. Those that are experiencing deficiencies are likely to recover from the problem with the steady supply of nutrients from the kit. 

What Is The Humboldts Secret Supplies Nutrient Starter Kit

You’ve already learned how important food is. Whether you’re growing plants outdoors in the garden bed, indoors in containers, in a hydroponic system, or something else, Humboldts Secret Supplies Starter Kit is the complete plant fertilizer package you’ll need.

Carefully formulated by our expert growing team, the Starter Kit includes 6 unique formulas, each to serve a different purpose and suitable to be used at different stages of growth. While expert gardeners often use a combination of different fertilizers, beginners are often baffled by the number of choices available.

If the variety of fertilizer packages standing on the racks of a gardening center confuses you, the Starter Kit is for you. However, since the HSS Starter Kit brings bigger faster growth, improved blooming and bigger yields, it’s just as beneficial for expert gardeners as it is for beginners. 

What’s Inside The Starter Kit?

The HSS Starter Kit offers the complete nutrient setup for you. No matter what you plan on growing and how you plan on growing it, one of the most important things you’ll need to keep in mind is fertilization.

Whether you’re growing shrubs, trees, flowers, or vegetables, and no matter which growth stage they are in, seedlings, blooming, or fruiting, the Starter Kit offers the best feeding solution for them.

So, what exactly is there inside this magic box? There are 6 formulas inside the package. Here’s what you will find inside each Starter Kit:

Grow & Bloom Base A

Grow & Bloom Base A (1-4-2) comes in a ¼ gallon bottle and comprises the basic nutrient formula important for all types and stages of plant growth. They deliver all the essential macronutrients from beginning to end.

As you can see from the 1-4-2 ratio, the formula contains all the three important macronutrients essential for a plant's growth - and is the first of the 2 part base nutrients included.

For those who don’t completely understand what the ratio means, it contains nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and, Potassium (K) in the ratio: 1:4:2. 

Grow & Bloom Base B

Grow & Bloom Base B (4-0-1), also a ¼ gallon package, compliments the Base A formula, designed to cover your requirements throughout the growing cycle. Whether you have seedlings, young or mature plants that are flowering or fruiting, Grow & Bloom Base B, together with the Base A formula, provides all the essential base nutrients needed to thrive.

As shown by the 4-0-1 ratio, the Base B formula contains Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and, Potassium (K) in the ratio 4:0:1. Base B formula is a nitrogen-rich fertilizer, which is important to boost vegetative growth. All the green parts of the plant that you see, including stems and foliage, thrive on nitrogen.

Together, the Base A and B 2 part base nutrients system make up the complete macronutrient formula essential for plant growth. Besides the basic nitrogen, phosphorus and, potassium, they also include calcium and magnesium, which are equally important for growth. 

Golden Tree

While Grow & Bloom Base A and B formulas together make an all-in-one plant fertilization solution, essential for all stages of growth, plants need an extra dose of potassium as they reach maturity. Potassium helps water utilization and enhances the development of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Potassium is also needed by seedlings and young plants to develop stronger stems.

That’s where you can benefit from the Golden Tree Vegetative and Flowering Additive (0-0-2). This package includes ⅛ gallon of liquid Golden Tree which needs to be diluted in water according to the package instructions before feeding.

Potassium isn’t the only nutrient offered by the all-purpose Golden Tree formula. It also includes much-needed Kelp, carbs, and minerals. All-in-all, Golden Tree is optimized to increase your yield quantity and quality. While improving the nutrient supply, the formula improves overall plant conditions, makes care easier, and reduces the number of products you need to use.

Flower Stacker

Flower Stacker (0-7-5) is designed to boost flowering and optimize yields by up to 30%. This flowering formula delivers phosphorus and potassium - the essential nutrients for flowering. In addition to these important macronutrients, it also includes Vitamin B1 in the formula which further helps during the blooming and fruiting stage.

CalMag & Iron

Besides the 3 macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, you also need other specific nutrients. Calcium and magnesium are also important macronutrients. Iron is an important micronutrient, which is essential for survival but needed in smaller quantities.

When using garden soil, growers don’t typically need to worry about these nutrients since the soil is generally self-sufficient in it. However, when grown in pots or a soilless growing medium, all these nutrients will need to be provided from additives.

CalMag & Iron (2-0-0) in the Starter Kit is designed with indoor and hydroponics in mind to prevent and correct common deficiencies. It is especially beneficial for systems where filtered water is used for irrigation or coco substrates are used as a growing medium. ¼ gallon of the concentrated liquid is available in the package. You’ll need to dilute it in water according to the package instructions before feeding it.

Plant Enzymes

The smallest 8-ounce bottle in the kit is your Plant Enzymes. Though a small and humble package, it’s a powerhouse. It’s a highly concentrated cellulase enzymatic formula that breaks down dead and decaying root matter and speeds up nutrient absorption. It’s especially recommended for those who are reusing grow mediums, or coco substrates for growing. It’s also incredibly beneficial for hydroponic growers.

Humboldts Secret Starter Kit Has You Covered

The 6 formulas listed above together make the complete nutrient package to walk you through your growing journey. Packed with quality ingredients, the Starter Kit forms the all-in-one solution to cover your plant's feeding requirements, regardless of the type of plant you’re growing.

After all, all gardeners are striving for the same - a greener garden, more flowers, and a bigger yield. The Starter Kit covers it all for you!

Top 12 Reasons For Choosing The HSS Starter Kit

While there are plenty of fertilizer formulas available in gardening centers, none of them will offer the complete solution as does the HSS Starter Kit. While there are many benefits, here are the most important reasons this Starter Kit makes the best solution for all your plant feeding concerns:

1. The Starter Kit is the go-to fertilizing solution for beginners and expert gardeners alike.
2. It perfectly complements all types of gardening, including outdoor gardening, indoor gardening, container gardening, hydroponics, and more.
3. The Starter Kit is suited to use in all growing mediums, including soil, sand, gravel, coco coir, water, air, or anything else.
4. Supplies adequate macronutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium.
5. Covers micronutrient requirements, including calcium, magnesium and iron to help with deficiencies.
6. Includes Plant Enzymes to speed up nutrient intake for faster and better growth.
7. A guaranteed increase in yield of food crops, with over 568% increase in yield observed in Burrito Pepper plants.
8. Healthier plants, with regular use of the HSS Starter Kit, offer better resistance to diseases and pests.
9. Hundreds of satisfied growers regularly choose the HSS Starter Kit to keep their gardens and grow rooms happy and healthy. 
10. The complete package makes 125 to 150 gallons of nutrient solution, enough to cover the monthly needs of most growers.
11. You get a 6-month 100% satisfaction guarantee with the purchase.
12. Visit the page and enjoy surprising discounts. Buy 1 kit at 30% off. The more you order, the bigger the discounts!

How To Use The Starter Kit

As you’ve already learned, the HSS Starter Kit can be used on all kinds of plants and all kinds of growing setups. Whether you’re growing in the soil in a garden bed or a pot, the Starter Kit can be used as a liquid fertilizer through the entire growing cycle. In hydroponics and aeroponic systems, the Starter Kit can be used as a nutrient solution. Here’s how to use the Starter Kit in different growing mediums:

Soil (In-ground and Container Gardening)

The additives most suited to in-ground and container growing systems are the Grow & Bloom Base A and B and Golden Tree, though you may also use the additional additives in the package depending on what your plant needs.

The solutions are not to be used in their concentrated state. You’ll need to dilute them in water, according to the instructions on each fertilizer package, and water with the prepared mixture. Incorporate feeding this liquid into your usual watering routine. Avoid overwatering as it can result in root rot. So once you’ve fed with the diluted liquid fertilizer, you can skip a watering to avoid waterlogging the soil.  

You will need different fertilizers in different amounts, depending on the growing stage they are in. 5 to 9 ml/gallon of each Base A and B are required between weeks 1 to 4 of the vegetative stage.

During the flowering stage, give them 9 to 14 ml/gallon each of Base A and B during the first 6 weeks and then decrease the amount to 7 to 10 ml/gallon for the last 2 weeks.

You’ll also need to supplement with varied doses of Golden Tree formula throughout the growth. Consult the feeding chart for a detailed description of the recommended dosage of fertilizers.  

Water Or Soil-Less (Hydroponics)

Hydroponic systems that grow plants in water, or a growing medium other than soil, can also benefit from the additives included in the Starter Kit. In these systems, the Starter Kit is used as a complete nutrient solution to cover all your needs

In fact, the use of the Starter Kit is even more critical in hydroponic systems than it is in in-ground gardens. This is because, in healthy soil, organic matter can provide the necessary nutrients. In hydroponics, you rely solely on the nutrient solution for the elements they need for growth at an optimal level.

In addition to Grow & Bloom Base A and B and Golden Tree, the other three formulas are also designed keeping in mind hydroponic systems. Prepare the solution according to the instructions on the package of each and add them to the reservoir.

Once you’ve added all the required nutrients to the reservoir, you’ll also need to check the pH of the mix. The ideal pH is between 5.5 to 6.5. If the pH goes outside this range, your plant won’t be able to absorb the nutrients optimally. You will also need to consult the feeding chart to see what amounts of fertilizers are required during each growth stage.

Air (Aeroponics)

Aeroponic systems are similar to hydroponic systems, aside from the fact that plant roots are suspended in nutrient-rich air. Just like with hydroponics, aeroponic systems can benefit from all 6 of the fertilizer formulas, with different quantities required during different stages of plant growth, as described by the feeding chart.

Aeroponic systems come with a reservoir where you can store the nutrient solution. Here’s where you’ll add the diluted solutions created from the fertilizers available in the starter kit. The mist nozzles generate nutrient-rich mist from these solutions to feed the suspended roots of each plant.

You can measure and adjust the strength of the mineral nutrients with a meter to measure the EC (electrical conductivity) of the solution. Every crop has a certain EC at which it grows best. Lettuce, for instance, grows best at EC = 1.6. Measure and adjust the EC from time to time to keep the system functioning optimally.

Conclusion

Whether you’re an indoor gardener looking to give your plants a boost for lush growth, a vegetable gardener in search of ways to improve yield, or a hydroponic enthusiast, the HSS Starter Kit and its many benefits is all that you need!

Do you have your fertilization needs covered?

Check out the Humboldts Secret Starter Kit today! It can take your gardening game to the next level and bring you yields that you’ve never seen before.