When growing cannabis, it’s essential to give your plants the proper nutrients necessary to produce the best quality bud.
Just like other plants and produce, cannabis must be taken care of by giving the plants an adequate amount of clean pH water, essential nutrients, micro-minerals, and other vitamins/supplements to help them flourish and blossom the way they should.
Growing cannabis is fairly easy as long as the grower is aware of the necessary nutrients the plant needs in order to prevent any deficiencies and/or diseases from occurring. Read on to find out which specific cannabis nutrients you’ll need to grow your plants and why they’re important.
Table of Contents
Main Nutrients: Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium
Cannabis is a unique plant, to say the least, and when it comes to growing and taking care of it, there’s a series of steps a grower needs to follow if they want to receive quality bud for their efforts. For starters, the terms “Nutrient Profiling” and “NPK” are commonly used among growers because they signify the names of cannabis nutrients that are essential to use when growing.
For example, ‘N’ stands for Nitrogen, ‘P’ stands for Phosphorous, and ‘K’ stands for Potassium. Beyond these nutrients, growers should give their plants micro-nutrients and possibly vitamin supplements, depending on the environment the cannabis is grown within.
Furthermore, cannabis plants go through photosynthesis in order to convert light into energy, thus, the cannabis plants require specific nutrients in order to properly bloom, produce full flowers, and prevent any nutrient deficiencies from occurring. Overall, cannabis nutrients are divided into three parts, which include the primary nutrients, the secondary nutrients, and trace elements.
All of these nutrients work together, and when growing, it’s best to find the right balance between the nutrients, including the timing, as mentioned by Herb.co. The purpose of each cannabis nutrient is different, yet the combination of the nutrients is essential when trying to produce a plentiful yield of potent buds.
Nitrogen is needed because it helps the cannabis plant make proteins, which are then used for healthy foliage growth. Without enough of nitrogen, a deficiency can occur, which often leads to stunted growth, as stated by Herb.co.
Phosphorous is important because it helps with root growth, flower development, and the production of larger seeds, as also noted by Herb.co. A deficiency in this cannabis nutrient leads to leaf death, which is a nightmare for growers.
Potassium helps in regard to the plant’s health and the development of the cannabis crop. As also stated by Herb.co, a deficiency of potassium often results in the cannabis plant catching one or more diseases and experiencing overall poor health.
The best soil ratio for growing is the execution of an equal balance of the NPK nutrients. Besides the NPK nutrients, cannabis requires micro-nutrients, which are categorized as trace elements that the majority of soils contain.
Regarding the amount of weed you can attain from a cannabis plant depends on a series of factors such as soil pH, light, the size of the cannabis grow room, the pot size, and the specific planted strain. Fortunately, in certain geographic areas, many cannabis nutrients naturally occur in the soil, however, some growers need to use special fertilizers to achieve the proper nutrients their plants need.
Thus, growers should always measure the pH balance of the soil as well as check the plants every day to make sure they look healthy and that they don’t show any signs of nutrient deficiencies.
Without all necessary cannabis nutrients, the plants won’t grow to their fullest potential, nor will they grow to their appropriate height and size. At harvest time, the cannabis nutrients are largely responsible for the specific flower/bud size, therefore, growers must keep track of how much and how often they give the plants their essential nutrients.
Without the right balance of cannabis nutrients, the plant will suffer considerable damage, which can result in root burn or even nutrient burn, as mentioned by CannabisTrainingUniversity.com.
Secondary Nutrients: Magnesium, Calcium, and Sulfur
Besides the basic NPK cannabis nutrients, there are the secondary nutrients, which include magnesium, calcium, and sulfur, and each of these is important in their own ways. For example, magnesium plays a role in the process of light energy absorption, whereas calcium is involved in the cannabis plant’s growth at the cellular level.
Then, sulfur is used because it aids in the production of certain vitamins and hormones that are essential for the cannabis plants.
Micro-Nutrients
Beyond secondary nutrients, there are the cannabis micro-nutrients, which include zinc, manganese, iron, boron, chloride, cobalt, molybdenum, and silicon. These micro-nutrients serve a particular purpose, and growers should be aware of what they can do and how much these nutrients can help their cannabis plants.
Overall, with the use and maintenance of proper cannabis nutrients throughout the growing process, the results should consist of strong and healthy plants that provide plentiful, potent yields. On the other hand, if there are any nutrient deficiencies, the cannabis plants will become weak, and they won’t produce as plentiful of a yield nor will the buds be the most beneficial for a medical and/or recreational cannabis user, as noted by Cannabis.net.
Final Checklist
Aside from cannabis nutrients, maintaining proper pH water levels is essential when it comes to the prevention of deficiencies. If cannabis is grown outdoors in naturally occurring soil, most likely, the environment will provide growers with the proper nutrients the plants need. However, sometimes growers use specific vitamin supplements, enzymes, and/or marijuana boosters, which help produce larger and more trichome-covered buds with high levels of THC.
The art of growing cannabis can be simple, but you must follow certain steps and guidelines, especially regarding giving the plants all of the cannabis nutrients necessary to help it fully grow and produce the best and most potent buds possible.
Unsure about growing cannabis from seeds or from clones? Read the article below to inform yourself further: https://www.leafbuyer.com/blog/seeds-vs-clones/
