Nutrient Parts - 1,2 or 3?

2-part, 1-part, 3-part, 100-part. All jokes aside; what is the difference between nutrients separated into different parts? In a nutshell, the more parts you have, the more control over feeding you have, but you also have more room for error. We will breakdown the parts for you, that way you can decide what type is the best for you and your gardening regime.

1-part

1-part nutrients, as the name suggests, are a 1 bottle mix for your plant. Flairform offer a 1-part bottle that can be used throughout the veg and bloom cycle. Canna offer a 1-part nutrient – with separate products for vegetative (Terra Vega) and bloom phases (Terra Flores). 1-part nutrients combine the minerals plants need into 1 bottle. Because of the minerals being combined into one bottle, 1-part nutrients do not contain as vast a range of micro/macro nutrients as 2-part and 3-part.

1-part nutrients are great for beginners, or those looking to simplify their grow. Many commercial growers also use 1-part nutrients as it stops over feeding and other issues from having multiple staff tending to plants. Before use, make sure you SHAKE your bottle. This is vital in mixing the nutrients up and letting them be available for your plant.

2-part

2-part nutrients are nutrients separated into an A and a B part – for example Nutrifield Elements Bloom A&B. Plants require a plethora of macro and micronutrients to grow successfully. 2-part nutrients separate minerals that bind together, otherwise they would bind together in the bottle and be unavailable to the plants. Having these two parts separated allows all the minerals to be available and taken up by your plant. In general terms the A part will contain nitrogen and other nutrients, and the B part will contain phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients.

It is important that you never mix your A and B parts directly together – otherwise you will cause the minerals to react and become unavailable to your plant. Mix your A and B parts into water, taking care to always use the same amount of A and B.  2-part nutrients can come as a set with 2-parts for the vegging phase, and 2 parts for the flowering phase. Or you can get a 2-part nutrient that covers both vegging and flowering – these are mainly designed for growers using coco.  

3-part

3-part nutrients give growers control over their plants nutrient requirements. With the 3 parts being added separately, seasoned growers can fine tune their feeding for every stage of plant growth. The 3 parts are a Grow, a Micro, and a Bloom. Our favourite 3-part range is Emerald Harvests Grow-Micro-Bloom. Generally, in a 3-part the Grow is more nitrogen based, Micro contains more of the micro/macro nutrients, and Bloom is more of a potassium-based product. You use different amounts of all three throughout your plants cycle, for example the Grow bottles are used more in the vegetative cycle than the bloom.

Using 3-part nutrients can have its disadvantages too. The parts will need to be mixed in correct ratios, if the parts are out, it will cause an imbalance within the solution which will lead to nutrient lockout and plant deficiencies. As with 2-part nutrients make sure you mix the parts into water. We recommend sticking to the manufacturers feed chart for 3-part nutrients, this way you are giving correct ratios to your plants.

Hopefully you now understand the parts a little better you can find a feeding regime that works best for you.