Tower Garden Nutrients Explained: What's in Mineral Blend A & B?

What's in Tower Garden Mineral Blend A & B?

Tower Garden Mineral Blend is a two-part fertilizer formulated for the Tower Garden aeroponic growing system.

According to Tower Garden's current U.S. product specifications, the two parts provide the following nutrients:

Some nutrients are required by plants in relatively large amounts, while others are needed only in very small amounts. Both are important for normal plant growth.

Why Does Tower Garden Mineral Blend Come in Two Parts?

Mineral Blend isn't separated into A and B because plants need one bottle at one time and the other later. You use both A and B when preparing the nutrient solution.

The reason for the two bottles is the concentrated formula. Keeping certain minerals separate while they're concentrated helps prevent them from reacting with one another and forming insoluble compounds or crystals before they're diluted in water.

How Do Plants Use Mineral Nutrients?

Plants require mineral elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron to grow and complete their life cycle.

In a soil garden, many of these nutrients become available in the soil solution around the roots. The roots then absorb the nutrients in dissolved ionic forms.

Hydroponic and aeroponic growing use the same basic plant process, but instead of relying on soil to supply the minerals, the grower provides the necessary nutrients in the water.

What do the major nutrients do?

• Nitrogen is an important component of proteins, chlorophyll and other plant compounds.
• Phosphorus plays important roles in energy transfer, plant development and reproduction.
• Potassium is involved in processes including water regulation and enzyme activity.
• Calcium contributes to cell walls and normal growth of developing plant tissues.
• Magnesium is part of the chlorophyll molecule and is important for photosynthesis.
• Iron and other micronutrients are required in much smaller amounts but are still essential to normal plant function.

Is Tower Garden Mineral Blend Organic?

No. Tower Garden Mineral Blend is not certified organic.

The word "organic" can be confusing here because plants require mineral nutrients regardless of whether they're growing in soil or in an aeroponic system.

In soil, organic matter must first be broken down through biological and chemical processes before many nutrients become available for root uptake. In an aeroponic system, the necessary mineral nutrients are supplied directly in the water in forms the roots can absorb.

Tower Garden's formula also contains chelated iron. Chelation helps keep iron available in the nutrient solution so plants can access it under hydroponic growing conditions.

Why Does pH Matter With Tower Garden Nutrients?

Having nutrients in the reservoir isn't enough. The pH of the nutrient solution also affects how available different mineral nutrients are to the roots.

For Tower Garden, we recommend keeping the reservoir at pH 5.5–6.5. If the pH moves too far outside the appropriate range, some nutrients can become harder for plants to absorb even though those nutrients are still present in the reservoir.

This is one reason nutrient problems can sometimes look confusing: adding more fertilizer isn't necessarily the answer if the real problem is pH.

Learn how to test and manage Tower Garden pH →

How Much Tower Garden Mineral Blend Should You Use?

For established plants, the standard rate is 20 mL of Mineral Blend A and 20 mL of Mineral Blend B for each gallon of water added.

Small seedlings start with a weaker solution. We use 10 mL of A and 10 mL of B per gallon for seedlings. Nutrient strength should also be reduced during very hot weather.

Because dosing changes with plant stage and growing conditions, we've covered those instructions separately rather than turning this article into another nutrient-dosing guide.