Note that this Dealer Day has already taken place - keep an eye out on our Facebook and Instagram pages for updates on the next one.
After a long hiatus, Dealer Days are finally back! To celebrate, we had to make the opener a special one, so we'll be joined by the mighty Shogun Fertilisers. Join us on Friday July 30th at our Cannock store and on Saturday 31st in Stoke. If you haven't experienced a Dealer Day before, it's a chance to meet the people behind your favourite products and ask the questions you've always wanted to ask. More often than not, there are free goodies, special offers and even a bit of free food! Come and celebrate with us - we look forward to seeing you!
New to Shogun?
The Shogun range features an array of products that deliver exceptional results, right the way from cutting (or seedling) to harvest. Dr. Callie Seaman, an expert in medical plant nutrition with a PhD in formulation chemistry, leads a team of people who produce Shogun products right here in the UK. They’ve invested years of time and effort into the research, testing, development and commercial application of the range. Try it and you’ll see that the results speak for themselves. When customers make the switch to Shogun, they never look back, which is why it has grown to become one of our most popular nutrient ranges, flying off the shelves at a rapid rate. Shogun products are all tested by independent third parties to guarantee quality and consistency, and they deliver exceptional value for money, coming in at great price points.
The core range consists of base nutrients for soil, coco and hydro, Sumo Boost (Active and Non-Active), Silicon, Calmag, PK Warrior and Dragon Force. You can find out more about these in one of our earlier blog posts. Since that post was written, the range has expanded, so now might be a good time to talk you through the later arrivals.
Katana Roots
Root systems are the driving forces behind plant growth: in short, healthy roots produce vibrant, healthy plants. Using Katana Roots boosts nutrient uptake, which ultimately leads to bigger and better crops. It contains an array of powerful ingredients, including B vitamins (like biotin), seaweed extract and hormones, as well as micronutrients like boron. These ingredients speed up the initiation of new roots while causing older roots to elongate. This two-pronged effect ensures that containers fill up with dense root-masses, making full use of the space. At the same time, it acts as a stress reliver and can even help your plants to thrive at higher temperatures, so it’s even more of a must-have in the summer.
Katana Roots is super-concentrated - you’ll only need to use it at 0.2ml per litre, so a little bit goes a very long way. One word of advice – if you really want your root-zone to be as healthy as possible, team Katana Roots up with some quality cloth pots, like Air Pruners. This will increase oxygen levels and further improve development.
Zenzym
Enzymes are types of proteins that work to break down dead root materials. These materials are converted to a form that’s usable by plants as feed. This increases nutrient levels while reducing the risk of encountering root diseases like pythium. Cleaning up waste materials stops the build-up of pathogens which delivers a much healthier root mass. Think of it as like supercharging the root-zone to make it run more efficiently.
When creating Zenzym, Dr. Callie and the Shogun team looked at a host of other popular enzyme products, with a view to making Zenzym stand out from the crowd. Most of the other products out there have relatively simple formulas, whereas ZenZym comes with a complex range of enzymes. Each enzyme is responsible for breaking down a different type of material, and this makes Zenzym much more effective.
Here’s a quick rundown from Dr Callie herself, which featured in our Zenzym interview:
- Cellulase - breaks down cellulose, the starchy material in plant matter, by a process known as hydrolysis. Glucose or other sugars are produced as a result.
- Xylanase - breaks down one of the major components in plant cell walls, the polysaccharide xylan into xylose.
- Pectinase - breaks down pectin, a polysaccharide found in plant cell walls.
- Beta glucanase - the enzyme aids in autolysis of yeast cells to release polysaccharides and mannoproteins. Allows nutrients to be released back into the media.
- Ferulic acid easterase (Hemicellulase) - releases ferulic acid from cell walls. Ferulic acid aids with cell wall rigidity, acting as a crosslink between the lignin's and polysaccharides found in lignocellulose of plant cell walls. This works best in the presences of xylanase and other enzymes
Another pro-tip – Zenzym is particularly useful for those running systems that are more prone to blockages, like drippers, as it helps to break down crusty deposits and biofilms. Use it a rate of 2.5ml per litre of nutrient solution.
Geisha
Geisha is a powerful, growth enhancing foliar feed that boosts vitality. It gives your plants a boost at any stage, but it really comes into its own before and after switching to a 12/12 light schedule. This is the stage that kicks your plants into the flowering cycle. Around this time, they experience a growth spurt, which plays a big role in deciding the size of the harvest. Put simply, plants that are stressed or under-par at this stage will never reach their full potential.
Geisha’s growth-stimulating properties help you to take full advantage of this growth spurt by enhancing water uptake and overall metabolic rates. At the same time, Geisha drives up the number of flowering sites. The greater the number of flowering sites formed during these stages, the greater the potential for developing fruits later on. A 5% increase in flowering sites can easily result in a 5% increase in yield.
Geisha is so potent that it’s important not to overdo it. Stick to using it once per fortnight - less is more here! It’s supplied ready to use, straight out of the bottle, and requires no pH adjustment.
Start
Shogun Start delivers a complete profile of macronutrients, micronutrients and trace elements - everything your plants need to flourish during the earliest and most vulnerable stages of their life cycle.
You can expect to see an improved strike rate when taking cuttings, with faster rooting times and development rates. Often, growers will start plants off with weaker doses of their regular base nutrients. Doing so, however, can also drop levels of valuable micronutrients to sub-optimal levels, which slows down growth, making young plants more susceptible to issues. You’ll get your plants off to a much better start if you opt for a feed with a formula that’s tailored to the job. Shogun Start packs in extra calcium and boron to push development as far as possible. It also includes humic and fulvic acid, which boost nutrient uptake, and Shogun’s SmartZen Maximiser, which speeds up rates of photosynthesis, reduces stress and boosts mitochondrial activity.
Use it at a rate of 4ml per litre of water and switch to regular base nutrients two weeks after your cuttings have rooted.
