Choosing Nutrients

Organic or Synthetic?

Is one better for growing cannabis?

Growing cannabis successfully requires an understanding of the different types of nutrients available. There are two main types of nutrients available for cannabis growers: organic and synthetic. When deciding which type of nutrient is best for your situation, you must consider its advantages and disadvantages. This article discusses organic and synthetic nutrients, their pros and cons, and how to choose the best one for you. Unlike synthetic nutrients, organic nutrients are derived from natural sources such as manure, compost, food waste and other naturally occurring resources. They have a much lower chance of causing any sort of harm to the environment and can be created locally/domestically. They also tend to be more cost effective in the long run because they use materials that are available in most areas.

Synthetic nutrients are created artificially through a variety of processes including: extracting minerals from soil or rock (e.g., seabird guano), combining chemicals (e.g., urea), and creating hybrids that combine different plants.

The newer synthetic nutrients are a better quality then the old school ones and one of the more easy ways to do things because they tend to be balanced for each stage of the plants life. They usually come in 2 or 3 bottles(Micro, Grow, Bloom) and the reason why is because the plant doesn't want bloom nutrients in the Vegetative stage. Some brands such as advanced nutrients even have a pH balanced formula, we will get into pH in another post but in short if the pH is off the plant cant take up the correct nutrients even in they are being given.

When it comes to organic growing its my preference but it I need to supplement with a synthetic to fix an issue I will. Organic nutrients usually get amended into the top of the soil and before potting but are slow to release because microbes need to break them down and make them bioactive available to the plant, over feeding is difficult with organic because the plant signals for the food needed. The issues people tend to have is they amend and it throws the pH off causing deceptive issues. Thankfully we can add pH buffers to our soil and water to help avoid those issues. Having a healthy soil with the right food and microbes, bacteria and fungi are what makes an organic grow so easy in my opinion.

Over all organic growing is more to learn in the beginning but turns out to be pretty easy and self-sustaining while also causing less harm to the plant, faster and easier and I get to reuse my soil. Mother Nature doesn't have to wash soil or throw it away so I don't think I should be either.

Hopefully this will help you decide on what path is best for you to take. I know I favour organic but I do suggest giving both methods a try.

For organic nutrients I use the Gaia Green line but mostly all-purpose and power bloom, earthworm casting, NPK Raw and Miicrobial Mass.

For synthetic I prefered Advanced Nutrients PH perfect trio (3 part base nutrients)

-The Friendly Grower