Rooting Around for a Booster?

Strictly speaking, you don't need a root booster.  But pretty much everyone uses them, for good reason. Root boosters:

• Increase root mass
• Speed up nutrient uptake
• Drive growth
• Bolster root strength
• Ward off diseases
• Ramp up cutting success rate

So, on your head be it if you try to grow without one! Don't forget to use yours alongside your base feed.

Everyone's got their favourite rooting boosters, additives and stimulants! Here are our top picks!

SHOGUN Katana Roots is a brilliant root booster. It's great for root initiation and root elongation - very few boosters do both. It reduces stress, too. You won't get any root staining with Katana Roots, and it doesn't affect the pH of you feed, either. 

• Great in soil, coco and hydro
• SHOGUN instructions: 
  - Hydro, soil & coco - 0.2ml per Litre 
  - Foliar spray - 5ml per Litre as and when required

Canna Rhizotonic is very popular for rooting cuttings, either as a spray or for wetting media.

It's made from vegetable extracts and contains vitamin complexes, which are good for stress relief when transplanting. It will also increase resistance to illness.

• Thin brown liquid, mixes well with no sediment
• Suitable for soil, hydro or coco
• Canna instructions: 5ml per 20 Litres

Superthrive is an old favourite that we've sold for years now! It's a blend of natural vitamins and hormones for healthier, faster growing plants. It'll boost any stage of growth and is derived from natural sources.

• Great for stress relief, shock and reviving plants
• Suitable for soil, hydro or coco
• Superthrive instructions: Various dilution rates depending on use

For stress relief and transplanting, use 10 drops per Litre. For normal everyday use,  add 1 drop per Litre.

Nitrozyme is a mix of natural growth enhancers, exotic micronutrients and biostimulants. It promotes vigourous new growth and is often used as a spray to prepare mother plants for taking cuttings. You can use it throughout your grow in soil or hydroponics.

• Thick dark solution which mixes well into solution
• Suitable for soil, hydro or coco
• Nitrozyme instructions:  
  - For hydro systems -  5ml per 10 Litres  
  - For foliar feeding - 1ml per Litre  
  - For soil gardening - 2 – 5 ml per 10 Litres 

Whatever you do, don't use it during the 2 or 3 week crossover from vegetative growth to flowering - it's a very strong hormone booster.

Root Juice  is a popular root booster from BioBizz that contains humates and other secret ingredients. It stimulates biological activity around the rootzone.

• 100% organic, very popular in soil and coco
• BioBizz instructions: Use on just rooted cutting for 1 week (1 to 4ml per Litre) 

Use as instructed, then use once a week for the rest of vegetative growth at 2ml per Litre, or experiment.  

Cannazym breaks down old and dead root mass to make space for new, healthier roots. This means nutrient uptake and growth also increase.

Dead roots are broken down into minerals and sugars, which your plant can then use. By removing the dead roots that bacteria and harmful mould thrive on, Cannazym is awesome for root health, too. 

• Great in soil, hydro and soil
• Cannazym Instructions:
  - Cutting/Seedling - 2.5ml per Litre
  - Vegetative Stage - 2.5ml per Litre
  - Flowering Stage - 2.5ml per Litre

If you're going to re-use your soil, use Cannazym to help clear it of dead root debris.

Hygrozyme, like Cannazym is an enzyme that destroys old roots to make room for new ones. 

It's a 100% organic (OMRI listed) and top secret formula that's also bacteria-free! It contains active enzymes with unlimited shelf life and has been laboratory and field tested with proven results.

It seriously increases root mass, nutrient uptake and plant growth. As it's bacteria-free, H2O2 can be used in low ppm with this product.

• Works well with any feed
• Good for soil, hydro or soil.
• Hygrozyme instructions: 
  - Seedlings – 6ml per 4 Litres  
  - Cuttings – 6ml per 4 Litres  
  - Hydroponics – 8 to 10ml per 4 Litres  
  - Soil – 8 to 10ml per 4 Litres
  - Foliar – 4 to 6ml per 4 Litres

We always recommend dipping cuttings and seedlings in Clonex Rooting Gel.

It's a nice, thick gel that sticks to stems and seals cuts. This helps relieve the stress of being cut, and improve cutting success rate.

On top of this, Clonex is full of rooting hormones, vitamins, nutrients & anti-fungal agents to help cuttings root faster. 

• Great for all cuttings
• No dilution

VitaLink Plant Start  is a popular 'baby plant feed' that aids the rooting process and early vegetative growth. 

It contains the right amount of key micro-nutrients like Calcium and Iron, as well as Vitamin B1 to reduce the stress of cloning and Humic and Fulvic acids to aid nutrient uptake.

• Gentle formula for cuttings & seedlings
• Dilution rate:
  - 3-4ml per Litre for pre-soaking
  - 6 - 8ml per Litre for cuttings and seedlings

SHOGUN Silicon generally strengthens your entire plant by fortifying cell walls.

Plants can overcome extreme conditions, fend off bugs and prevent infection and disease - including rot.

Roots really toughen up when you use Silicon - they can uptake more nutrients and are more resistant to nasty root diseases.

• Strengthens plants and buffers pH fluctuations
• Dilution rate: 1ml per Litre