Cannabis Nutrient Basics

Giving your cannabis plants precisely timed and measured doses of cannabis nutrients is essential for a successful and large yielding grow. Cannabis plants mostly go through two distinct phases: the vegetative stage and the flowering stage. Each of these stages have different nutritional needs. Growing taller and bushier requires different nutrients than what the plant uses when growing larger and more buds.

Even though companies may use somewhat varied formulations and manufacturing processes, many companies that sell weed nutrients provide quality goods. What differs is that each company has a slightly different time and way of delivering healthy ratios at various stages of the weed plants development.

Providing too much cannabis nutrients can kill the plant, providing too little will provide leave you with less buds and smaller plants. Finding what nutrient gets you the results you want and on the schedule you prefer is the trick.

Nutritional Factors

Various chemical and organic component combinations may achieve the same nutritional ratios. The compounds interact with one another in multiple ways. This implies that even though two bottles of plant food seem to have the same NPK ratios on the label (NPK means Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium), the actual amounts of those nutrients delivered to your plants may vary.

Whether growing in soil or hydroponically, your nutrients should match your growth medium. It’s important to receive the proper cannabis nutrients since “soil” nutrients are not the same as “hydrophobic” ones.

Hydroponic fertilizers, in general, may be used with any growing medium since they already include all the ingredients plants need. Pelletized fertilizers are obviously best for soil grows.

Things To Be Aware Of

Avoid mistaking vitamins and minerals for supplements. Low NPK ratios (such as 0.2:0.2:0.1) on the top of a bottle indicate that it is a supplement. All the NPK and micronutrients that plants need for development are already present in the base nutrients, so adding anything further is unnecessary. While plant supplements might be useful, using too many at once could potentially burn or harm your plant. Do you need extra cannabis nutrients to cultivate high-quality weed? Remember good soils like Coast of Maine’s Stonington Blend have the quality nutrients in a good organic soil. This means you don’t have to provide extra nutrients. If you are really trying to do a long grow or grow some record holding plant, then you will need to beef up what you offer your plant for nutrients. However, remember you can over feed and kill your marijuana plant.

When possible, stick to nutrients made by the same company to reduce the risk of nutrient imbalances which can burn, kill or hurt your harvest.

It’s best to introduce new cannabis nutrients one at a time and monitor plant responses before moving on to anything else. If you add five things at once and burn your plants (you see brown spots on the edges or middle of your leaves, they crumple up, plant dies and things like that) it is harder to understand if you put too much calcium vs. potassium or something like that.

If this is your first grow, stick to no more than two step applications. My first grow I didn’t add anything to keep it simple. Check out our 8 step grow guide for keeping things simple for your first weed grow.

Best Cannabis Nutrients for Weed Growth

Each fertilizer product on this list is tried and true and has been proven effective by actual marijuana farmers and growers. Not only that but we have used them ourselves. The following are some reliable fertilizer brand names that are effective while producing marijuana.

FoxFarm FX17090 Cultivation Nation Growing medium

The 70:30 staple ratio of perlite to buffered coconut coir in Cultivation Nation’s Seventy Thirty Growing Media is tried and true. Coconut coir is often used because of its high capacity to retain water, and perlite is included in the medium to provide air holes that aid in aeration and drainage. Placing this in a fabric pot will help build a great foundation for your weed grow.

Stonington Soil – Coast Of Maine

I have said this time and time again. This is the soil I used when I first started growing. With just this soil, water, and some quality seeds from somewhere like Seedsman, you will have multiple ounces of marijuana per plant. You don’t have to always use a ton of cannabis nutrients to get great yields from your weed grows.

It’s that simple because this soil has everything your cannabis plant needs. Why? Because they designed it specifically for growing marijuana. They are from Maine after-all.

Don’t believe me look it up, but at the end of the day a great grow starts with great soil and the Stonington Blend is as good as it gets.

General Hydroponics FloraNova Bloom

The simple pair from General Hydroponics consists of one bottle for the vegetative stage and one for the blooming phase. This nutrition system produces high-quality harvests in soil, Coco, and hydro at a low cost and little effort on your part. Fairly simple way to supplement your plants to get fatter faster.

The Flora is a tried-and-true favorite of mine and produces excellent cannabis crops. Lush green bushy canopy that turns into massive nuggets. The results have been outstanding in a variety of mediums from soil, coco coir, to hydroponics. The more grows you do with these cannabis nutrients, the better the results get each time.

CANNA CA1260+CA1270 Coco A & B, 1 L, Set of 2 Plant Growth

Great results may come from soil or Coco by following the directions on the bottle’s label at half strength. Coco supplements should be used in conjunction with purified water, Coco, and LED grow lights (all tend to increase the Cal-Mag needs of your plant). Coco, the GH variant, is my go-to, and I use it at a rate of 1 teaspoon per gallon

This stuff from General Hydroponics has everything you need to start growing plants. Canna supplement for general hydroponics. If you want Coco, you can get it on Amazon.

Solid Nutrient Product Companies

Fox Farm’s Brand

Because marijuana plants thrive on a wide range of natural sources of cannabis nutrients, including earthworm castings and bat guano, the FF trio is a favorite fertilizer scheme among cannabis farmers. Increasing cannabis nutrient levels will help not only improve your final yield but create lush and bushy weed plants.

• Soil
• Coconut fiber (or coco coir)
• The Ground Level Edition
• Nutrient Trio for Soil from Fox Farms

Extremely focused; sometimes, a little is more. Both “Grow Big” and “Tiger Bloom” provide your cannabis with most of the macronutrients it requires.

In contrast, “Big Bloom” offers a wealth of micronutrients and beneficial chemicals that promote cannabis nutrient absorption and root health.

Just follow the feeding regimen from Fox Farms, starting with half the strength, and this trio will work wonders for you.

• The Fox Farms Nutrient Trio is an excellent choice for cannabis cultivation.

• The Coco Version

• Fox Farms Cal-Mag, Nutrient Blend, and Nutrient Trio for Hydroponics

On Amazon, you can get the Fox Farms Hydro Nutrients 3-Pack. The nutrients in this mix are ideal for marijuana plants grown on many different grow mediums. Having used these cannabis nutrients I can say it definitely boosts your plants growth and bud size.

Botanicare

I’ve used Botanicare supplements in the past, and their Hydroguard supplement is by far one of the most effective I’ve tried to help avoid root rot in a hydroponic system. Still use it to this day in fact.

• Soil
• Hydroponics
• “Ground version” (Organic)

You will use their “Grow” while the plant is still in a vegetative state and “Bloom” when the marijuana plant is flowering. It is simple to use and does provide some improved results over a straight water and organic approach. Cannabis nutrients can elevate your grows!

If you want to buy Botanicare Grow, it is available on Amazon or you can help support the site by purchasing through this link by CLICKING HERE.

General Hydroponics

I just recently made the switch to a hydroponic grow setup. My first harvest proved to be my largest indoor yield per time spent growing yet. I will know better after another grow or two if this is the cannabis nutrient brand will be the one I plan to use going forward.

I personally like the 3 part series that includes FloraGro, FloraBloom, and FloraMicro. This three part system will be what you need for supplementing nutrients from seedling to harvest.

Look in our pictures with the grow tent and you sill see usually to the right my hydroguard and this General Hydroponics 3 part set.

Ideal NPK ratio

“NPK” stands for nitrogen, “P” for phosphorus, and “K” for potassium— usually shown large on the labels of cannabis nutrient bottles. The percentages indicate how much each nutrient is included in the bottle.

In other words, during the initial phase of development, known as the vegetative stage, you should use a “Vegetative” (high Nitrogen) or “general purpose” nutrition formula. Vegetative cannabis nutrients should be applied around the time the plant opens its first leaves unless you are using high-quality soil and can wait three to four weeks as the plant uses up the nutrients in the ground. Too early and you can shock your little marijuana seedling

To illustrate, below are several plants in the vegetative stage of the cannabis plant’s life cycle that are both healthy and green. Cannabis only produces leaves and stems at this stage of its development; thus, it needs a lot of nitrogen. More leaves leads to more photosynthesis, remember that lesson in grade school? Photosynthesis provides food and energy to your plants to grow further and rinse and repeat until you are ready to go to a 12/12 light cycle and begin the budding phase.

For the blooming phase, use a nutrition formula high in phosphorus and potassium called less Nitrogen as it used heavily in leaf grow which you no longer need. As soon as buds appear, it would help if you begin feeding your plant bloom cannabis nutrients to ensure it receives enough amounts of Phosphorus and Potassium.

Phosphorus boosts bloom production, whereas potassium increases blossom size and weight. Remember that too much of either might be harmful to your plants. Nutrient burn is a real thing and easy to do. Don’t think more food means always bigger plants. There is a balancing point.

Takeaway

A general-purpose plant fertilizer isn’t suitable in the blooming stage since too much nitrogen might hinder bud growth and take away from creating amazing flavored buds. Low in N and high in P & K, Shultz “cactus” or “succulent” nutrients may be used in the blooming stage until better cannabis nutrients can be acquired. Amazon sells formulated fertilizers that are specifically catered to delivering quality cannabis nutrients.

Too much nitrogen (N) will impact bud development during the blooming stage, so avoid using non-organic time-released nutrients like fertilizer spikes or “slow-release” fertilizers. To produce mature buds, cannabis requires high phosphorus and potassium levels throughout the blooming period.

This is a cannabis plant that has entered its blooming phase and is building large, plump buds. The highest yields may be achieved with flowering nutrients that are high in P and K and low in N. Even the healthiest cannabis lacks sufficient nutrition. Preventing nutritional deficits in plants requires monitoring the pH of the water used for watering.

I would try to stick to fertilizers like the ones listed above that are specially formulated to provide exactly what and when your marijuana plant need for cannabis nutrients. Using formulated cannabis nutrients reduces the chances you will