FAQ

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What is Terpmax? What does chelated mean?
What are terpenes? Dimming Grow Lights?
Why powdered nutrients? The best hydroponic grow medium?
Do I need weighing scales? Choosing a growing method?
What are humates? Recirculating or run to waste?
What is fulvic acid? Nutrient reservoir location?
Benefits of using humates? Nutrient solution ideal temperature?
What is kelp? Nutrient reservoir size?
Foliar spray or not?  
When to foliar spray?  
Use Titan products with other brands?  
   
 PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

What is TerpMax? 

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 Terpmax is a highly soluble 3 component, powdered nutrient formula for growth and bloom with the perfect ratio of chelated minerals that medicinal plants need to produce their full terpene profile, without sacrificing yields and designed for everyone to use, from hobbyist to commercial production facilities.

  

What are Terpenes? 

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Terpenes are compounds responsible for how food smells. Some plants produce oils and or resins which is where the majority of terpenes are concentrated.The resins are used as bio physical defence from insects and UV, and these terpenes attract pollinators. Plants with a poor nutrient intake usually produce less active compounds.  
 Why are your products in Powder Form? 
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 A large % of liquid nutrients price is the cost of freight and the amount of space required to store and ship them. The huge carbon footprint involved in shipping liquids around the planet is something we would like to change. The grower has more control when using a dry feed, it will be in exactly the same formulation as it was the day it was blended and you will be saving money and the planet while giving your plants the very best nutrients available.  Our decades of retail experience, supplying many popular liquid nutrient brands has taught us nutrients stored in concentrated solutions can be very unstable and sensitive to temperature extremes which cause some elements to react together and fall out of suspension, rendering them unavailable to your plants and can also have unstable pH once mixed. (this is called precipitation)

  
  Do I need weighing scales? 
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No, we have different pack sizes available starting with small batches which are pre measured to achieve ideal EC in 100Litres of water as a majority of growers use 100L reservoirs. Our larger packs come with a pre marked measuring beaker with guide for how much of each product in our range so weighing isn't necessary, although we would always recommend having weighing scales. We also offer a  selection of digital weighing scales as well as a digital weighing spoon to make dosing more accurate.


  
What is Humic or Humates? 
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 Humates are result of microbial degradation or organic matter from 1000's of years ago, the organic component of soil. Humic acid, being the liquid extracted from humin and is a colloidal mixture of organic components in suspension. basically soil soup. Humic acid is key component to vibrant, healthy crops. Humic contains K (potassium) as well as many trace minerals, they make an excellent cloning treatment for freshly rooted clones / cuttings. 

  
What is Fulvic Acid?
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When humic acid is processed it is very alkaline, when it is acidified, most of the solids fall out of suspension leaving a solution of water and the soluble components of humic acid. Fulvic acid is a refined soil soup without any particulates. We source a very high quality fulvic which has been dehydrated to a powder form and milled, and is highly soluble and very beneficial to any hydroponic or soil nutrient recipe. Contains trace minerals also, ensuring your plants have everything needed for healthy growth and blooms.

  
Why should I use Humic or Fulvic? 
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Both humic and fulvic acid are very beneficial in horticulture, humic is an excellent soil conditioner, solubilising rock minerals into a readily available form and improving the structure of the soil. Fulvic Acid chelates minerals which improves their availability, increases microbial activity, increases nutrient uptake and can maintain maximum growth rates even in shaded conditions. Adding fulvic acid to your hydroponic nutrient program results in increased vigour and more bioactive plants that produce more aromatic compounds and flavonoids.

  
What is Kelp?
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 Kelp are long brown seaweeds, one of the oldest plant species thought to be up to 5 million years old. They contain a wide range of trace minerals and natural hormones that are known to be very beneficial to plants. Seaweed extracts can also be consumed as a dietary supplement by humans and livestock. contains useful amounts of potassium and sulphur. Kelp is probably one of the most effective natural biostimulants used in horticulture as it accelerates every stage of growth and bloom.

  
Should I use Foliar Sprays? 
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Plants can actually take up minerals through their leaves up to 10 x faster than they can at the root zone. Foliar feeding is an excellent way to ensure your plants never experience deficiencies or the fastest way to correct them or to supercharge growth rates. 1 + 1 = 3 When humic and kelp are used together, the specific plant functions they activate compliment one another, resulting in an accelerated growth response greater than when either products are used alone. This also applies to usual feeding at the root zone but is simply accelerated when delivered via foliar feeding.


  
When should I use a foliar spray? 
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Generally you should never spray anything on your leaves under full light conditions, sunlight or indoor  grow lights, such as hps (high pressure sodium),metal halide or ceramic metal halide etc. you should always spray first thing in the morning before sunrise or just before lights out in an indoor environment so the solution stays in contact with the leaf surface for the maximum time possible without the fear of scorching. Always add a surfactant (wetting agent) to break the liquids surface tension, and allow it to spread evenly across the leaves. Foliar spraying without results in water droplets sitting on your leaves magnifying the light to levels that burn them.


  

 Can I use Titan boosters with my regular feed?

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Yes, of course, you can use Titan Hydro boosters with any nutrient brand but we can't guarantee your results will be as optimum compared to using them with Terpmax 1,2,3 because we have balanced the content of all our feeds and boosters to compliment each other. If you do decide to try our boosters, just remember not to use instead any other P and K boosters. If you have separate reservoirs feeding separate systems, doing a side by side comparison against your usual bloom booster products will reveal how effective Titan Hydro PEAK really is.  

What does 'chelated' mean?

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A chelate is an agent that creates multiple bonds with a metal ion, such as zinc or iron. It may also bond with minerals such as nitrogen, potassium, or phosphorous, all of which are important elements for a plant's health. Because nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous are generally more readily available in soil in many areas, they are rarely chelated. However, because zinc and iron are not as available, they are often chelated and added to fertilisers.

If these elements are added to fertiliser or soil on their own without chelates, they will often become bound up in the soil and will not be available to the plants. Chelates prevent this from occurring and help plants absorb more nutrients.

When considering which type of chelated fertiliser to use, you will need to know your soil’s pH. For example, humic acid is a common chelating agent, but it is only soluble in solutions that have a pH of 6.0 or higher. On the other hand, fulvic acid is a chelating agent that is soluble in any pH solution. Amino acid chelates are most soluble in soil with a pH of 5.0 - 7.5. (source-maximum yield)

A chelate is basically an organic claw, grabbing onto a mineral salt, this organic coating enables it to be absorbed by plant roots very easily and adds an extra energy output to the equation.

 

  
Should I dim my Grow lights?  Back

There has been a lot of improvements in horticultural lighting over the years but offering digital (HID)high intensity discharge lighting with dim functions isn't one of the best innovations due to the dramatic different spectrum lamps emit at varying wattages. Horticultural lights are calibrated for optimum colour rendering at the rated wattage but if operated at a lower wattage than this it's light output will be of a different spectrum, 

"The spectrum output of a 600w lamp is better than that of a 1000w lamp dimmed to 600w"
in some cases it may be your best option to reduce heat load in your growing environment, during excessive hot days and especially if running multiple fixtures, the overall reduced wattage should reduce your heat output enough to help maintain closer to ideal temperatures for short periods of time. the spectrum might be slightly compromised but this is more beneficial than heat stressed plants.
 
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Where should my nutrient reservoir be sited?

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Always site your nutrient reservoir in a cool space outside of your grow space or you may run into a number of problems such as excessive evaporation resulting in constant topping up to maintain EC and constant pH adjustments due to the constantly changing ratio of minerals to water. but warm nutrient solution doesn't hold enough oxygen to allow peak growth rates and can also harbour anaerobic bacteria which can damage plant roots.  

  
 

What temperature should my nutrients solution be? 

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You ideally need to maintain a nutrient temperature around 18 0C, any warmer than this and you will encourage bad bacterial growth and weak roots due to warm water holding less oxygen than cool water. you don't want it too cool either or your plants will stop feeding resulting in waterlogged anaerobic (oxygen deprived) conditions which ultimately leads to root rot. Using am aquarium fish tank heater is recommended to maintain ideal temperature during winter months. In some cases where ambient temperatures are constantly above 24oC it is advisable to run an aquarium chiller to keep your nutrients within ideal temperature range 17 to 19 0C


  
 

Nutrient Reservoir Size? 

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The larger your nutrient reservoir is the more stable your nutrient solution's EC, pH and  temperature will be, but you should aim for a reservoir that holds enough solution to feed your plants for at least 3 to 7 days. To calculate your nutrient usage you should have a rough idea of how much solution will be required to saturate your growing media which will depend on the size of the pot you use and how much water is delivered to each plant (assuming you feed through drip lines to each plant), which will be determined by how many plants you are feeding and the size of your irrigation pump, usually rated by how many Litres per Hour it can deliver. 

1000L/hr pump / 20 plants = 50L to each plant if the pump was on for 1 hour. ( divide 50L by 60minutes) = 0.83L per minute, 8.3L per 10 minutes. It is good practice to place a few of your drip emitters, drip stakes into separate jugs and measure how much each one delivery in a set amount of time to enable accurate calculation of pump on times.

Ideal irrigation timing will deliver enough solution to re saturate your media and allow 20% to run off. The runoff is important as it pushes unbalanced nutrients from the growing media and avoids excessive salt buildup. the number of feeds per day will depend on the stage of production, ie small plants will only need feeding once per day while a large fruiting plant under full sun or high light conditions could require feeding every 6 hours. It is recommended to keep pot sizes to approximately 10-15L in hydroponics as large root mass is only required by soil grown plants as they need large roots to discover fresh nutrients within the soil, but with hydroponics, a perfect balanced meal is delivered to them regularly thus allowing the plant to focus its energy upwards to your canopy and flower sites.

So, using the above example as a guide, based on heavily flowering plants requiring feeding every 4 hours, ( 3x during 12 hour day) during the daytime, for 1 minute( 0.83L x 3 = 2.49L/Day x 20 plants = 49.8L/Day), the ideal reservoir size would be  250L which would allow for 5 day feed schedule.

  
 

Recirculating or Run to Waste? 

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Recirculating systems hold your nutrient solution in a reservoir which is delivered to your plants and the excess runoff nutrients are returned to the reservoir after each feed cycle. This is the most water efficient method of hydroponic cultivation but requires regular maintenance of your pH and EC ( ppm) of your nutrient solution on a daily basis, ideally a long enough time before your next feed is due so if you need to top up with water and or more nutrients, your EC and pH will be correct again before the next feed.

Nutrient Solutions are usually slightly acid 5.8 - 6.2 and water is approximately neutral (7.0 pH) so as your plants take minerals from your nutrient solution, the pH will gradually rise back to 7.0 or if more minerals are added the pH will usually drop, this also happens due to water evaporation. 

Run to waste systems should deliver perfectly balanced nutrient solution to your plants every time until your reservoir is depleted, this is because the runoff is diverted to a drain instead of back to your reservoir. Each time runoff goes back to your reservoir it is in essence diluting the reservoir as it has less minerals due to the plants using some. For this reason  you must monitor both EC ( ppm) and pH and adjust back to your starting point each day.  As plants don't uptake the minerals in your solution at exactly the same rate, ie they will take more nitrogen from your solution during vegetive growth and more potassium and phosphorous during blooming so after a while there can be an accumulation of certain minerals in recirculating solutions.
So, run to waste systems are lower maintenance due to the solution staying pretty much as it was set until it is depleted and refreshed with fresh solution, which will depend on the size of your reservoir and number of plants. This is less efficient than recirculating systems but usually results in a higher quality end product.


  

 Choosing a growing method 

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 There are a number of ways to cultivate hydroponically, we will cover them briefly here:

  
Passive Hydroponics - plants are potted in pots of absorbent potting media such as coconut coir or soilless mix, each pot needs a 12" wicking material buried with the growing media and half hangs out the bottom and  sits in a reservoir of solution. As your plants use moisture in the media more moisture is wicked up from the reservoir.

  • Pros - simple, low maintenance, ideal for mother plants
  • Cons - not a lot of oxygen available so growth rates are moderate
  

Drip Irrigation -  plants are contained in troughs or pots, most free draining growing media is suitable, coir, perlite, clay or rock wool and nutrient solution is delivered in timed intervals through spaghetti drip lines connected to a feed line from a nutrient reservoir, the excess runoff can be drained to waste or is returned to the reservoir.

  • Pros - very productive, tailorable to your space, accurate nutrient delivery achievable with digital timers.
  • Cons - drip lines can be messy and need regular cleaning to avoid blockages.

 

  
Ebb & Flood - plants can be either contained in a pot of free draining media, in a large rock wool cube or without a pot and suspended above a tray, trough which sits above a nutrient reservoir. The top tray is flooded for a set time and allowed to drain back to the reservoir. 

  • Pros - simple to setup, from one plant to many, good growth rates
  • Cons - requires a large volume of nutrients, can increase humidity in growing environment
  
NFT Nutrient Film Technique - plants are usually started in rock wool cubes and sat on a tray, in a shallow stream of continuously flowing nutrient solution, the nutrient is recirculated constantly past the roots which take nutrients and water as and when required.

  • Pros - Very fast growth rates, simple to setup, ideal for small to med sized plants
  • Cons - pump critical, flow rate MUST be continuous as no media to hold moisture. pump failure results in fast loss of crop
  
Deep Water Culture - Plants are usually in mesh pots suspended above a  heavily oxygenated nutrient solution, the plants roots are submerged 100% of the time which is not a problem as long as there is adequate amounts of oxygen available at all times. 

  • Pros - Very fast growth rates achievable, large plant suitable
  • Cons - Water temperature critical, oxygenation critical,  or root rot can occur 
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How to choose a growing medium

  

Choosing the right medium for your method of cultivation is very important, in soil systems plants get most of their nutrients from the soil but when growing hydroponically you are delivering the nutrients via a nutrient solution which the plants have access to constantly such as with DWC or NFT or is delivered periodically via methods such as drip irrigation or flood and drain. You don't want a highly absorbent media in a DWC or NFT system but when delivering measured doses of nutrient solution a media that can retain some moisture and nutrients to keep the plant happy in between feed cycles is ideal.

There are multiple options available to for growing hydroponically, below is a brief summary of the various types available:

  
  • Soilless Mix - usually a blend of peat moss, perlite or vermiculite and sand.  It is a hydroponic medium as it contains no minerals so is ideal for hydroponics. the moss absorbs moisture while the sand and perlite keep it loose so it drains freely. Ideal for hand watering, drip irrigation or flood and drain systems.

 

  
  • Perlite - Is made from volcanic glass that is mined and heated in ovens till it expands, almost like popcorn.  it is porous and aids both drainage and water retention as each particle holds some moisture but has a honeycomb structure that traps a lot of air also. You can grow in perlite alone or use it to improve the structure of soil or soilless mixes. Suited to pot culture.

 

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  • Expanded Clay - is made by heating ceramic pieces to 1200oC which causes gas bubbles to form inside each particle forming a hard, smooth clay ball with a porous honeycomb internal structure.  it can be used as a soil improver or to line the bottom of pots to aid drainage. It is also used widely in deep water culture and flood and drain or constant flow irrigated pot systems.

 

  
  • Rockwool - also known as mineral wool,  is probably the most  widely used growing medium, it is made by heating rock until it melts into strands which is then woven  and formed into slabs or blocks. It has a good air to water ratio and is sterile and used in many forms but is widely used as small 1" propagation cubes to start clones and seeds.  It is not very friendly to the environment or human health as long exposure to rock wool can cause irritation to the skin, eyes and lungs. Ideal for propagation and as starter blocks to grow plants close together before being potted up. Also suitable to used for drip, flood and drain, NFT and DWC

 

  
  • Coconut Coir -  a by-product of the coconut industry, made from the outer hairy husks of coconuts which when chopped finely and or mixed with larger sized coir pieces makes a near perfect growing medium as each particle of coir is both water repellent and water retentive so has an ideal air to water ratio for root growth. available in many forms from loose, cubes, slabs and mats making it suitable for all hydroponic systems and is our favourite grow medium as its eco friendly, biodegradable and is a waste product put to very good use. 

 

  
  • Gravel - washed gravel is a popular growing medium for flood and drain and DWC systems as it simply supports the root zone and doesn't hold any minerals and drains freely. good for long term use as long as it is thoroughly washed and sterilised between cycles. also suitable for adding to pot culture to aid drainage.
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