by Nebula Haze
Table of Contents
You are watching: Which Nutrients Are Best For Growing Cannabis?
What’s the Difference Between Cannabis Nutrient Brands?
7 Examples of Great Cannabis Nutrient Brands
Best NPK Ratios for Growing Cannabis
Organic vs “Chemical” Nutrients
Once you start growing cannabis, figuring out the best nutrients for your setup can be confusing. There are many nutrient companies aimed at growing marijuana and each company creates multiple lines of nutrients and supplements for different purposes. Don’t worry, I’m going to break it all down so it’s easy for you to pick the best nutrients for your cannabis growing setup.
So many choices, so little information! How do you pick the right cannabis nutrients?
Life Stages and Cannabis Nutrient Needs
As a cannabis grower, your goal is to give your plants the nutrients they need, when they need it. There are two main life stages for cannabis plants (vegetative stage and flowering stage), and each stage has different nutrient requirements. The good news? Lots of nutrient companies make great products that work excellently for growing weed; they just use different formulas and blends.
What Makes Nutrients Different From Each Other?
Important Tips on Cannabis Supplements
Now that you’ve got the basics, it’s time to learn how to find the best marijuana nutrients for your setup. Let’s go!
I handpicked this list of nutrients for growing cannabis. Not only have I had great results with them, they have also been extensively tested by real marijuana growers. These nutrient systems are guaranteed to work well for growing cannabis when used properly.
Honorable Mentions – I don’t have personal experience with these nutrient brands, but they are popular for growing cannabis.
Many nutrient brands work great for growing cannabis from seedling to harvest
General Hydroponics Flora Trio
General Hydroponics offers a simple duo with one bottle for the vegetative stage, and one bottle for the flowering stage called FloraNova Grow + Bloom. This nutrient system is cheap, simple, and easy with excellent results in soil/coco/hydro. The biggest issue I have with the duo is the liquid is so thick it can be annoying to measure out.
However, their Flora trio is a winner. A tried and true favorite of mine, the Flora trio works very well for growing cannabis. I’ve had great success with it in every grow medium including soil, coco coir, and hydroponics. I used this nutrient system for almost a decade and have always been thrilled with the results. I’ve been testing new nutrient systems so I can report back to our readers like you, but based on my years of success I know you’ll be happy with the Flora trio. Best for…
·Soil, Coco Coir, or Hydroponics (DWC, Bubbleponics, etc)
General Hydroponics Flora Series Nutrient Trio + CaliMagic (add 1 tsp/gallon Hydroguard in hydroponics)
Follow the instructions on the side of the bottle at half-strength for great results in soil or coco. It’s recommended to also use a Cal-Mag supplement if using filtered water, growing in coco, or using and LED grow light (all tend to increase the Cal-Mag needs of your plant). I prefer the GH version called CaliMagic, and use it at 1 tsp/gallon. If growing in hydroponics with roots directly in water, use similarly to soil or coco, just make sure to also get Hydroguard to protect your hydroponic roots from root rot.
Add 1 tsp/gallon of Hydroguard to prevent root rot if growing cannabis in a hydroponic setup like DWC or Bubbleponics
Check out a few different grow journals featuring the GH Flora trio
Examples of cannabis I’ve grown with General Hydroponics Flora trio:
General Hydroponics Flora trio using a 315 LEC grow light
Fox Farm Nutrient Trio
The Fox Farm trio is a popular nutrient system for cannabis growers that contains a variety of natural sources for nutrients like earthworm castings and bat guano, which cannabis plants thrive on. Fox Farm’s original nutrients contain too much organic matter for DWC/hydro, which increases the chance of root problems, but all that organic matter is great for plants in a hand-watered environment to enhance smell and flavor of your finished product. Fox Farm offer hydroponics-specific nutrients that don’t contain any organic matter called the “Cultivation Nation trio”, but this trio is not as good as the General Hydroponics Flora trio for growing cannabis, in my experience.
Best for…
·Soil version
Fox Farms Nutrient Trio for Soil
Very concentrated, less is more. “Grow Big” & “Tiger Bloom” provide most of the major nutrients your cannabis needs, while “Big Bloom” has many micronutrients and beneficial compounds that help nutrient uptake and root health. This trio works extremely well by itself, just follow the feeding schedule (here’s a PDF, here’s a JPG) from Fox Farms at half-strength to start.
Check out a grow journal using the FF trio for Soil!
·Coco version
Fox Farms Nutrient Trio for Hydroponics & Cal-Mag
Use the “hydro” version of Fox Farms nutrients when growing in coco coir. Two bottles are the same as the soil trio, but the “Grow Big” bottle is formulated slightly differently for a soilless grow. Follow the feeding schedule (here’s a PDF, here’s a JPG) from Fox Farms at half-strength to start. Generally, the Fox Farms nutrient system will prevent Cal-Mag deficiencies, but it’s good to have extra Cal-Mag on hand just in case whenever growing cannabis in coco coir, if using filtered water, or if growing with LED grow lights.
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·Hydroponic version
Fox Farms Cultivation Nation Trio (Micro, Grow, Bloom) & Cal-Mag
This is a Fox Farm copy of the General Hydroponics Flora Trio. It has the exact same nutrient ratios and the exact same ingredients as the General Hydroponics Flora trio. I’ve used it with good results over 2 different grows, though I personally prefer the Flora trio because the Cultivation Nation bottles tended to leak if the bottle was tipped over. A leaking bottle means that air is getting in, which will cause your nutrients to go back more quickly. I also noticed these nutrients tend to crystalize, while the Flora trio nutrients always are fully liquid.
I recommend getting General Hydroponics Flora trio instead of the Cultivation Nation trio. The Flora trio is cheaper and the nutrients are better.
Botanicare
Botanicare is a great company that’s been around for as long as I’ve been growing, and whose supplements I’ve been using for years (specifically, their Hydroguard supplement is the most effective thing I’ve used to prevent root rot in a hydroponic setup). Best for…
·Soil version (Organic)
Get the duo: Grow, Bloom
Use “Grow” in the vegetative stage, and “Bloom” in the flowering stage. Organic. Claims to be usable in hydro, but I’ve only seen growers use it in soil and the label says “soil” so that’s what I’m recommending it for 🙂
·Coco or Hydroponic version
Get the trio: Grow, Bloom, Base (need all 3 bottles for all phases of growth)
The three bottles are all that’s needed to get your plants successfully to harvest time, just follow the feeding schedule from Botanicare [PDF], starting at half the recommended strength. Hydroguard is an important root supplement that will help prevent your plant from getting root rot in a hydroponic reservoir. The KIND series has been highly recommended by several hydro growers I know in real life and Botanicare makes the best root supplement I know of for hydroponics.
Add 1 tsp/gallon of Hydroguard to prevent root rot if growing cannabis in a hydroponic setup like DWC or Bubbleponics
From a grower: “Botanicare KIND is like the opposite spectrum [of the Botanicare Pure Blend series]. The Base is just Nitrogen and Calcium. Grow and Bloom both have most of the minerals in them, along with things like sea kelp. The Bloom is also 0-6-6. Grow at 2-2-4. So quite literally you can call the shots on Nitrogen and Calcium. That level of control hasn’t been around a great deal in our market. For the savvy grower, this is a pretty nice tool.”
House & Garden – Often difficult to find online!
The House & Garden lineup is an expensive but effective line-up. From a grower: “H&G was started by a top researcher from Canna. They are right outside of Amsterdam and because cannabis is legal there, so both Canna and H&G are able to do R&D using cannabis. I don’t know about Canna, but I know that House and Garden makes all their own nutrients in-house and they work great.”
The biggest downside of House and Garden (besides price) is it’s getting harder to find online. This brand is often best purchased in person at a hydro store. Get a custom nutrient schedule directly from the people at House & Garden via their free online nutrient calculator.
Name of base nutrients for…
This plant was grown using the House & Garden Line-up (A+B as base nutrients, plus the supplements Roots Excelurator, Algen Extract, Bud XL, and shooting powder)
Canna Coco
Canna Coco is a very popular company for pot growers. Their nutrients have been specifically designed to grow cannabis in coco coir (as you may be able to tell from the name).
Canna Coco A + B & Cal-Mag
This combo is a crowd favorite – many coco coir growers write in to tell us this is their favorite cannabis nutrient for growing in coco coir. Get a custom nutrient schedule from Canna or use this pre-made one [JPG].
From a grower: “Canna is a Dutch company and one of the best IMO. They make a great product line for growing in coco coir and test their products on real cannabis plants.”
Another grower said, “Canna products are one of the only nutrient lines to be developed primarily for cannabis (and tested on live plants). They’ve been doing so for almost 30 years. Cost is a little higher than competitors but worth every penny.”
A different grower added, “Canna – I have only used their coco line, but it is the highest quality you will find.”
Dyna-Gro
Originally designed for orchids, Dyna-Gro nutrients have proven to work exceptionally well for cannabis plants. If you want professional results without spending a ton of money or having to mix multiple bottles together, this combo gives your plants everything they need from seed to harvest. Dyna-Gro nutrients are suitable for any growing medium including soil, coco, or hydro.
Dyna Grow (Foliage Pro + Bloom) – Use “Foliage Pro” in the vegetative stage and “Bloom” in the flowering stage.
Dyna-Grow Foliage Pro + Bloom is my recommended nutrient system for newbies. One bottle for the vegetative stage, one for the flowering stage. Super simple!
Grow Journals featuring Foliage Pro + Bloom
Cannabis I’ve grown using Foliage Pro + Bloom
Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro + Bloom worked great under a tiny 65W LED grow light
One Last Tip…
When using a complete nutrient system like the ones listed above, always start at half the recommended strength by the manufacturer, and only increase nutrient levels if your plant is getting pale. If you’re giving too low levels of nutrients, the entire plant will start to appear overall pale or lime green. If you have a different nutrient deficiency (diagnose your plant here), chances are it’s caused by incorrect pH, not by too-low levels of nutrients.
It’s a good idea to always start at half the manufacturer’s recommendation! Most nutrient companies recommend way too much for growing cannabis!
Why not keep adding more and more nutrients? Doesn’t more equal better? No, nutrients are more like a multivitamin than food. After your plant has enough nutrients, adding more gives you diminishing returns, and too much starts causing the following problems.
A cannabis plant turns pale all over (left) when it needs higher levels of nutrients overall. If plant is a healthy green (right), stick to half the recommended dose.
Too high levels of nutrients causes…
Now that you understand everything you need to know about picking the right nutrient system, check out some supplements!
Learn About Cannabis Supplements:
For the best results, your cannabis needs the following nutrient ratios…
Where is this information? Most nutrient bottles display 3 numbers, often called N-P-K, which stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium
Why “K” for Potassium? The atomic symbol of Potassium is “K” from Neo-Latin kalium.
In other words, you want to use a “Vegetative” (high Nitrogen) or “general purpose” nutrient formula for the first stage of life known as the vegetative stage. If using high-quality soil, you can skip vegetative nutrients for the first 3-4 weeks while your plant uses up the nutrients in the soil, otherwise, you should start with vegetative nutrients around the time your plant opens its first leaves.
Use a “Bloom” (low Nitrogen) nutrient formula with plenty of P & K for the flowering stage. Start using bloom nutrients when buds start forming to make sure your plant gets plenty of Phosphorus & Potassium, which are crucial to bud development.
Phosphorus tends to increase the number of flowers, while Potassium helps increase the bulk/weight of flowers. Be careful, though because going overboard with either one can burn your plants!
The main thing is to avoid giving too much Nitrogen in the flowering stage, as it can discourage bud development and add an unpleasant taste to buds, which is why a general-purpose plant nutrient isn’t a good choice in the flowering stage.
In a pinch, nutrients for Shultz “cactus” or “succulents” can be used in the flowering stage until you get better nutrients because it contains low amounts of N and plenty of P & K.
Note: Don’t use any type of non-organic time-released nutrients (like fertilizer spikes, or “slow-release” Miracle-Gro soil) because they deliver too much N in the flowering stage and may reduce bud growth.
Cannabis needs plenty of P & K to make buds in the flowering stage!
The Best Cannabis Nutrients Aren’t Enough! Check the pH of your water to plants to prevent nutrient deficiencies
It may surprise you that the most common reason growers get nutrient deficiencies is because the pH is too high or too low. This happens even if the right amounts of nutrients are present because your weed simply cannot absorb the nutrients if the pH isn’t in the correct range.
Optimum cannabis pH for..
Soil: 6.0 – 7.0Coco Coir: 5.5 – 6.5Hydroponics: 5.5 – 6.5
Checking the pH will make a huge difference to your grow by keeping plants vibrant and healthy. It only takes a few minutes each time you water your plants! If you get a digital pH pen, it only takes seconds to test your pH!
Learn more about pH & preventing nutrient deficiencies here!
This is a common question we get at Grow Weed Easy: Are organic nutrients better than chemical nutrients? It’s not a matter of which one is better, because they’re good at different things.
Organic Nutrients
Recommended Organic Nutrients
There used to be a ton of organic soil nutrients in bottles (like the now-discontinued GO Box) but many options have disappeared as growers switch to using amended compost for their organic nutrient needs. Why? The organic nutrients in bottles get similar results to mineral nutrients. The biggest difference in organic growing seems to come from using actual compost and/or amended soil.
Best supplement ingredients for organic growing
My favorite organic supplement contains all of the above: Floralicious Plus
How to Adjust pH in an Organic Soil Grow (regular PH Up and PH Down can harm the natural balance of the soil)
Learn more about testing pH with organic soil
Organic cannabis growing is rewarding!
Chemical Nutrients (including synthetic and mineral-based nutrients)
The General Hydroponics Flora trio is a synthetic nutrient that’s so effective it was used by NASA to grow plants in space!
Don’t want to use nutrients at all? Learn how to compost your own super soil (or buy super soil pre-made online)! Super soil compost contains all the nutrients your plant will need from seed to harvest so you just need to add water. As an added bonus, with composted super soil you rarely need to worry about maintaining your pH. Instead, the composting process develops a colony of microorganisms in your soil that will automatically take care of the pH for your plants to an extent (like in nature), while slowly providing nutrients on demand.
Super soil compost has been amended so no additional nutrients are needed. Just add water!
Can I create my own nutrient system?
Creating a nutrient system is more complicated than just adding “Nitrogen,” “Phosphorus” and “Potassium” plus all the various micro-nutrients in certain ratios. There several different chemical compounds that provide each of these nutrients and they’re not all equal.
Learn about creating a cannabis nutrient system from scratch
More About Cannabis Nutrients
Common New Grower Topics
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor
This post was last modified on 05/11/2023 10:38
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