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What’s in Your Fertilizer? Emerald Harvest’s Guide to Nutrients
• Manganese: 0.03% • Copper: 0.01% • Nickel: 0.004% • Molybdenum: 0.003% As you can see, the macronutrients outweigh micronutrients by a huge margin. However, don’t doubt the importance of any single micronutrient. Deficiency in just one micronutrient can still cause lower crop quality.
In early 2021, Washington legislators attempted to pass a bill that would make it legal for consumers to grow cannabis at home. While many states allow this, Washington state does not. With the increased interest in homegrown cannabis, Cannabis & Tech Today sat down with Dan Mair, Product Specialist of Emerald Harvest, to discuss plant nutrients and supplements. With so many different nutrient and supplement options, and labels with mountains of information, how is one supposed to decipher what their plants need? “If even one essential plant nutrient is deficient, yields will suffer.” This bold statement from Mair describes the phenomenon “Law of the minimum,” which means that plants need at least a minimum amount of every essential nutrient in order to flourish. “It doesn’t matter if a plant gets more than enough of every essential nutrient but one,” Mair explained, “if even one essential nutrient falls beneath its minimum, it will suffer a deficiency, with yield and crop quality leaking away.” In addition to hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon—essential non-mineral nutrients that 86
Cannabis & Tech Today // Fall 2021
plants take from the air and water — there are 14 essential mineral nutrients: • The primary macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium • The secondary macronutrients: calcium, magnesium, and sulfur • The eight micronutrients: iron, boron, zinc, manganese, copper, nickel, molybdenum Different species will have different appetites for different nutrients during different times of their life cycles. Therefore, nutrients need to be applied in the right concentrations and formulated in the right ratios at the right times. According to Emerald Harvest’s own analysis, here is the breakdown of essential plant nutrients in the cannabis plant: • Nitrogen: 37.7% • Potassium: 28.5% • Calcium: 26.1% • Phosphorous: 3.4% • Magnesium: 3.4% • Sulfur: 0.45% • Iron: 0.25% • Boron: 0.08% • Zinc: 0.04%
When it comes to fertilizers, there are a few other ingredients outside of essential nutrients that can be a benefit to the plant. What Mair refers to as “non-plant-food ingredients” is jargon to indicate nutrients that are beneficial, but not necessarily essential, to plants, as well as plant-beneficial compounds not found on the periodic table. While base nutrients must include all of the essential nutrients, supplements often focus on these extras. Humic acid is a natural soil conditioner that forms chelate complexes with essential nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, and iron. Vitamin B1 (thiamine) activates a “whole plant” immune response, bringing out qualities that humans prize, and may encourage root growth in young plants. Cane sugar (or carbohydrates) is another beneficial non-plant-food ingredient that acts as a microbe food. According to Mair, it’s the knowledge of these important nutrients and ingredients that will make your grow successful. “There is no genie in the bottle: no magic, just science,” he concluded. “Nutrient companies that imply that there is something supernaturally superior about their products need to dial the marketing hype down a notch … Nutrients are nutrients. But to be successful, you need to choose the right nutrients with the right formulations. They’re not magic potions for your plants.” ❖
