My plant is deficient, what should I do?

“Real” deficiencies rarely occur in hydroponics, assuming that you use nutrients that are specifically formulated for this type of growing and that you follow the growth programmes. Visible symptoms do not always indicate a nutritional issue but are often linked to a change in the plant’s environment, which will affect the absorption of nutrients and lead to one or several deficiencies. These are known as “secondary deficiencies”.

Therefore, before putting the symptoms down to a real nutritional deficiency, you need to check all environmental factors: oxygenation of the solution, pH levels, EC, temperatures (both external and of the solution), light, condition of the roots or presence of pathogens…

In every case, the treatment is always the same: empty the system and discard the nutrient solution. Fill your system again with pH-adjusted water without nutrients. You could also potentially add a root stimulator to the solution to help the plant develop a healthy root system and provide a leaf fertiliser in the form of a light nutrient solution (the same as that used for seedlings).