This board is for questions about House & Garden® nutrients and for reports on how you run them. House & Garden is a nutrient brand that was founded in the Netherlands in 1990. It sells separate base fertilisers for hydroponics, coco coir and soil. It also sells a set of additives that you use alongside the base.
What the range is made of
Every House & Garden feeding programme starts with a base pair. A base pair is the main fertiliser, sold as two bottles marked A and B. You choose the pair that matches what your roots grow in.
| Base pair | Made for |
|---|---|
| Aqua Flakes A and B | Hydroponics, where roots are fed from a water tank |
| Cocos A and B | Coco coir, the fibre made from coconut husk |
| Soil A and B | Potting soil |
Additives are separate products that you add on top of the base pair. They include:
- a root stimulant, which supports root growth;
- bloom stimulants, which you use during flowering;
- a late-flower powder, which you add near the end of flowering.
What to do: Before you buy anything, confirm which base pair matches your growing medium. Using a base made for a different medium gives the plant the wrong balance of nutrients.
Why additive timing matters more in this range
In the House & Garden programme, the additives are a large part of the feeding. Some other brands put most of the feeding into the base bottles. With those brands, an additive that you start late or skip changes little.
With House & Garden, an additive that you start at the wrong week or skip has a bigger effect on what the plant gets. That is why additive timing matters more here than in base-heavy ranges.
What to do: Write down the week you start and stop each additive. Post that schedule with any feeding question. Without it, other growers cannot tell whether a problem comes from the base or from an additive.
Most of the cost is in the additives
The additives do much of the work, so they are also where most of your money goes. Before you buy every bottle in the range, find out what each additive does and at which stage you use it. Then buy only the ones your grow needs.
Translator’s note: In Thailand and Southeast Asia, imported nutrient ranges cost far more than local fertilisers. A cheaper way to learn the range is to buy the base pair first and add one additive at a time. Grow a few plants with that additive and a few without it, in the same room and on the same schedule. This shows whether the additive raises yield or quality enough to pay for itself in your conditions.
Translator’s note: Buy from the official distributor in Thailand, or ask other members in this board where they buy. Bottles from unofficial sellers may be fake, or they may have sat in a hot warehouse for months. Before you pay, check that the product is legally on sale in Thailand. The forum’s guide to checking a fertiliser’s legal status in Thailand explains how.
What to do: Make a list of the additives you plan to use. Next to each one, write the stage you will use it in and what result you expect. Test one additive at a time on a small group of plants before you buy the rest.
Before you post a feeding question: two rules
Rule 1: Add A and B to the water separately, never straight into each other
The base comes as two bottles for a chemical reason. In most two-part fertilisers, part A carries calcium and part B carries phosphate and sulphate. If you mix the two concentrates directly, the calcium reacts with them and forms a solid that does not dissolve.
That solid sinks to the bottom of the tank. The plant cannot take up the nutrients locked inside it. The solid can also block drip lines and fine filters. Once it has formed, you cannot fix the mix by stirring harder.
Mix in this order:
- Fill the tank with water first.
- Add part A and stir well.
- Add part B and stir well.
- Add any additives.
- Measure pH and EC last, so the reading shows the finished solution.
Use a separate measuring cup or syringe for A and for B. This keeps the two concentrates from meeting in the same cup.
What to do: Label one cup “A” and one cup “B”, and follow the order above every time you mix.
Rule 2: Coco coir must be buffered with calcium before you plant
Cocos A and B is designed for coco that has already been buffered with calcium. Raw coco carries potassium and sodium on the surface of its fibres. When it meets a nutrient solution, it takes in calcium and magnesium and releases potassium and sodium.
Buffering means soaking the coco in a calcium and magnesium solution before planting. This fills those spots on the fibre in advance. After buffering, the coco stops taking calcium from your feed.
If the coco is not buffered, it takes calcium from every feed in the first weeks. The plant then runs short of calcium even when you mix the feed exactly as the chart says. This is a form of nutrient lockout: the nutrient is in the pot, but the plant cannot get it. Changing the feeding chart will not solve it. The coco has to be buffered first.
How to check and fix a bag of coco:
- Read the bag. Look for the word “buffered”. “Washed” is not the same thing: washing removes salt but does not add calcium.
- If the bag does not say “buffered”, treat it as unbuffered. Ask the seller if you are unsure.
- Buffer it yourself. Soak the coco in water mixed with a calcium–magnesium (cal-mag) product, then drain it. Follow the cal-mag product’s own instructions for strength and soaking time.
- Measure the runoff. Check the pH and EC of the water that drains out, so you know what the coco is starting at.
- Test one pot first. Plant one pot and watch the new leaves for one to two weeks before you fill the whole room.
Translator’s note: Coco sold in local markets in Thailand and Vietnam is often neither washed nor buffered. It can also carry salt from processing. Rinse it with plenty of water until the EC of the runoff stops falling, and then buffer it. If you skip the rinse, the leftover salt adds to the EC of every feed.
What to do: Before you plant, write down whether your coco is buffered, washed or neither. Include this in any post about yellowing or calcium problems.
Thai water and heat
Translator’s note: Tap water and well water in Thailand differ from place to place. Some sources are hard water, which already contains calcium and magnesium. Measure the EC of your plain water before you add anything. This tells you how many minerals are already present. It also helps other growers judge whether a calcium problem comes from the water or from the coco.
Translator’s note: At 30–35 °C, store the bottles in a shaded, cool place and keep them out of the sun. Mix only as much solution as you will use soon. A warm nutrient tank holds less oxygen and makes root disease more likely. The guide to running a hydroponic tank at 31 °C explains the options. In the rainy season, the late-flower powder can absorb moisture and form lumps. Close the pack tightly after each use and scoop it with a dry spoon.
What to do: Record the EC of your source water and your room temperature. Add both to every feeding question you post.
How to use this board
Your questions and grow reports help fill this board. A product-by-product explainer, House & Garden: What Each Product Actually Does, and the Mixing Rules That Matter, is already on the forum.
When you post a question or a grow report, include:
- your growing medium, and whether the coco was buffered;
- the base pair you use;
- each additive and the weeks you used it;
- the EC of your source water;
- the pH and EC of your mixed solution;
- room temperature and humidity;
- clear photos of the affected leaves, both new and old.
Translator’s note: Grow reports here are for learning. In Thailand, cannabis flower is a controlled herb under the Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Controlled Herbs (Cannabis), B.E. 2568. Advertising and online sale of cannabis flower are prohibited. Do not offer flower for sale or advertise it in your posts.
What to do: Ask your question or post your feeding schedule as a reply under this topic. Use the checklist above so others can answer it in one reply.
Related topics on the forum
Two guides linked earlier in this post give the background for this board. The pH and EC guide explains how to measure and adjust your feed. The growing media guide compares soil, coco, perlite and rockwool.