🌟 Happy New Year! 🌟

Advanced Nutrients Logo

🌟 Happy New Year! 🌟

🌟 Happy New Year! 🌟

How The Chelation Process Facilitates Better Plant Performance

If you’ve been growing with hydroponics or soil for a while, you’ve probably heard the terms “chelate,” “chelated nutrients” or “chelating agent.” However, you may be unsure of what these terms mean — or how chelation can help you grow better performing, higher quality plants.

Chelation 101: What Are Chelates?

In its simplest definition, a chelate is a compound that is bonded to a metal atom at two or more points. But what exactly does that mean — and what does it have to do with growing crops?

The word “chelate” — pronounced “KEY-late” — is derived from the Greek word for “claw.” Understanding this, the word’s definition becomes a little clearer: The chelate bonds itself to a metal atom in a clawlike fashion.

As it relates to growing, a chelate is an agent that bonds to a micronutrient, thereby making the micronutrient more readily available for uptake in plant cells.

Let’s unpack this concept a little more.

The Chelation Process

Most growers know about the three major nutrients that plants need: potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. But many novice growers don’t realize that plants also need other nutrients, like iron, zinc and magnesium. Because they are needed in relatively high quantities, potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen are referred to as macronutrients.

Your plants need lower quantities of elements like iron, sulfur and calcium, so we refer to them as micronutrients. While they’re not needed in the same quantities as macronutrients, micronutrients are every bit as vital to your crop’s diet and healthy growth.

The problem is that most of those necessary micronutrients are unavailable to your plants while in their basic form, because metals like iron and zinc have a positive charge, and the pores on your plants wherein the metals would enter have a negative charge. The positively charged micronutrients cannot enter through the negatively charged pores.

This is where chelates come into play.

When a chelate bonds to a micronutrient, it surrounds or encapsulates individual ions and gives them a negative or neutral charge, allowing the nutrient to enter through the negatively charged pore and travel into the plant’s tissues.

Chelation isn’t a phenomenon limited to plants; many of the nutrients and minerals humans ingest are chelated.

Chelating Agents In Hydroponic Solutions

Now that we have a basic understanding of what chelates are and how they enable micronutrient uptake in your plants, let’s look at chelating agents in hydroponic solutions and pH levels.

There are several types of synthetic chelators used in hydroponic grow nutrients, including:

  • Ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA)
  • Diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA)
  • Ethylenediaminedihydroxy-phenylaceticacid (EDDHA)

There are also several naturally occurring chelating agents. The three most often used in grow nutrients are fulvic acid, humic acid and amino acids. Fulvic acid is soluble in all pH ranges, while humic acid is soluble in a pH range of 6.0 and above. Amino acids are most effective in pH ranges of 5.0–7.5.

Similarly, EDTA is better suited to pH levels of 7.0 and under, while DTPA works better in higher pH ranges. EDDHA can function well in both high-pH and low-pH environments.

The different types of chelates also vary in the way they function in your hydroponic garden. Synthetic chelates — EDTA, DTPA and EDDHA — only stay bound to the micronutrient ions until the point at which they enter your plants’ cells. Once this occurs, the plant unbinds the chelator from the nutrient and releases it back into the hydroponic solution, where it becomes free to chelate another nutrient and escort it into the plant for absorption.

The same concept is true of natural chelators. Fulvic and humic acids are not absorbed into the plant — they are released upon escorting the micronutrient ions into the plant. However, amino acids are absorbed via plant tissues, which is why it’s important to have a range of chelators in your grow; if the plant gets too full of amino acids, it may not have room to absorb all the micronutrients it needs to thrive.

Chelated Nutrients In pH Perfect

As you can see, the chelation process is essential to healthy, robust crop growth — but it’s also one that requires precision pH balances in your hydroponic solution. If your nutrient solution’s pH is too high or low, then the chelating agents will be rendered useless and your plants won’t receive the micronutrients they need.

Because of this, Advanced Nutrients has developed a line of chelated plant nutrients that not only provide your plants with the essential macro- and micronutrients they need to thrive, but also ensures the pH of your solution remains at a level optimal for maximum nutrient absorption.

This technology is called Advanced Nutrients pH Perfect.

All of the pH Perfect products contain crop-essential nutrients and chelates. They also use a proprietary mechanism that brings your grow solution into the pH sweet spot, between 5.5 and 6.3 pH.

What’s more is that pH Perfect locks in that pH, which means you don’t have to spend time checking pH levels twice a day, making adjustments to your solution.

Another remarkable facet of the pH Perfect technology is its use of zwitterionic chelates. While certain chelates function better in higher pH ranges and others are better suited to low pH environments, zwitterionic chelates are able to function in a range of pH levels.

The extensive matrix of chelates found in pH Perfect — including zwitterionic chelates — means your crop will be able to absorb all the necessary micronutrients, regardless of slight variations or changes in your solution’s pH level.

The pH Perfect Lineup

Advanced Nutrients’ pH Perfect line includes formulations suited to meet every grower’s preference and experience level. If you prefer three-part base nutrients, then the pH Perfect Grow-Micro-Bloom formulation is for you.

If your preference is two-part base nutrients, you can opt for the pH Perfect Sensi Grow or pH Perfect Sensi Bloom formulations.

Experienced growers may opt for the pH Perfect Connoisseur Grow or pH Perfect Connoisseur Bloom versions.

Regardless of your personal grow style or experience level, the pH perfect line has you covered. Not only will you rest easy knowing your plants are receiving the chelated minerals and nutrients they need to thrive, you’ll also save time in meticulously measuring your solution’s pH level twice a day, every day.

Like This Article? Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more info-packed content like it in the future, then sign up for our newsletter. It’s absolutely free, and you’ll receive grow tips, tricks and advice to help you maximize your garden, directly to your inbox.

Categories

Latest Posts

About the Author

The Advanced Nutrients Team

Since 1999, Advanced Nutrients has been committed to educating the community and bringing the most up-to-date knowledge to the forefront of grows across the globe. Every article you read here has been curated by Advanced Nutrients’ industry experts, so you can continue raising your bud weight… and your reputation.

Advanced Nutrients Leaf Logo

Get More Articles Chock-Full of Cultivation Tips, Tricks, and Strategies Delivered Straight To Your Inbox

Sign up for our free newsletter and receive more relevant cannabis cultivation content right in your inbox! Subscribe below.






Chat with Buddy AI

buddy image
buddy image
minimize chat

minimize chat window

Hi, I'm Buddy, and I am powered by OpenAI' ChatGPT. Ask me a question. Here are some example topics: Example 1: What is the best way to germinate my seeds? Can you explain in much detail as possible. Example 2 : What Advanced Nutrients' base nutrient should I use for growing cannabis at home? As AI is prone to errors, the information provided should be used as a general guide, not as a definitive source. If you are experiencing problems and trying to troubleshoot, contact our experts here for free.

send message

Change Region

If your country/region is not listed on this page, please find your local Contact Details, Authorized Retailer and Grower Support on our Global Site.

United States

Canada

Need Help Growing?

Over time, components within the nutrients settle on the bottom of the bottle. When you pour a bottle without shaking it, you can potentially be pouring out an unbalanced solution. Shaking up the nutrient bottle ensures you are pouring the right blend into your reservoir, giving your crops the nutrition they need.

Usually, it’s not a problem. But some products are incompatible with each other and can damage your plants when they’re used together. For example, bloom boosters with high PK numbers or low-grade silica products can destabilize your nutrient mix and cause nutrient lockout.

Nutrient manufacturers design their products to be used with each other. In doing so, they include specific portions of each nutrient in each product, so crops receive the right nutrition through each stage of the grow cycle. When you stick with one manufacturer, you don’t have to worry about inadvertently destabilizing your nutrient mixture. One example of why you need to stick with only one manufacturer’s products is Advanced Nutrients’ pH Perfect line. These products are designed to keep your crops’ root zone within a specific pH range. When you use them alongside products from another manufacturer, we can’t guarantee your root zone will maintain its optimal pH level.

Yes! If you’re growing with Advanced Nutrients products, you can use our easy nutrient calculator to generate the correct nutrient chart for your crops in seconds. Check out Advanced Nutrients’ nutrient calculator here. Another great resource is our library of free custom-growing recipes. Try our expert grower-tested nutrient schedules here.

You can also download our official BudLabs app to generate nutrient schedules and receive real-time notifications for specific tasks, including feeding your crops. Upgrade to BudLabs Pro to maintain profiles on an unlimited number of crops.

If you are a grower, visit this link to find the closest Advanced Nutrients Authorized Retailer. If you are a retailer, visit this link to identify our official distributors.

Our greatest passion is growing great cannabis—and helping other growers do the same. That’s why we offer complimentary cultivation support 24/7 from Monday to Friday and from 9 AM until 7 PM PST on Saturday… With the same level of advice licensed producers would pay consultants tens of thousands of dollars to unlock.
Just call 1-800-640-9605 or email support@advancednutrients.com. For Spanish-speaking growers, email spanishsupport@advancednutrients.com.

Yes! If for any reason you are not absolutely thrilled with the results you achieve when you use our products, just bring the unused portion, along with your original sales receipt, back to the place of purchase within six months, and ask for your money back. Find out more about our Grower Guarantee here.

Advanced Nutrients has spent many thousands of man-hours developing a technology that automatically balances your pH for you — putting it in the “sweet spot” and holding it there for one week.

And the technology is so “smart” that it can account for many of the aforementioned variables in your grow room. Our proprietary pH buffering agents and stabilizing mechanisms became the foundation of a new system aptly called pH Perfect® Technology. Learn all about it here.