Growing Cannabis: The Essentials of Macro & Micro Nutrients!

Are you suffering from macronutrient deficiencies?

You can almost hear the American guy’s accent for the infomercial.

Are you suffering from macronutrient deficiencies?

If you’re not getting enough nitrogen, phosphorous or potassium, or NPK as it is known, you may not be feeling at your best.

If you’re lacking in carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, chances are you are really unwell.
What you need are ionic nutrients!

We won’t bore you to death with w two-hour-long chemistry lesson, so let’s break this down into something brief.

Cannabis plant roots don’t absorb nutrients directly – those nutrients have to be broken down, and in a broken-down form those nutrients are either in the form of cations – with a negative charge, or anions, with a positive charge.

These charges help the plant absorb the chemical elements, such as the nitrogen in ammonia, or the two anions in phosphorous.

Beyond that, plants need carbon to grow, which they absorb through their leaves from the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Maybe now you’ll understand why trees and other plants are so important in the fight against global warming, as it is the increased levels of CO2 that are killing the planet.

In truth, if we all became potheads and grew our own hash, there probably wouldn’t be any global warming, but that argument isn’t going to currently hold water with a policeman or judge!

Where hydrogen is concerned, plants convert water – which is H2O, into hydrogen through a process called photosynthesis. The hydrogen is easily absorbed by the plant as it has a single ion which helps drive the transport chain during photosynthesis.

Plants get their oxygen from the breakdown of CO2 molecules through the stomata in their leaves, or absorption of water through the roots.

Then there are all those micronutrients obtained from the soil.

Phosphorous is absorbed as an anion and can be found in every single living cell on the planet. It helps with energy transfer, such as transforming starches to sugars, while also protecting the plant from disease.

Potassium is great for water conservation and activate enzymes in protein synthesis.
Then of course there’s also the micronutrients, which are needed in much smaller doses, but which are essential all the same for good healthy plant growth.

There’s zinc, Sulphur, molybdenum, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, calcium and boron to consider, and each and every one required in varying amounts depending on the growth stage of you cannabis plant or plants.

If you have anything to add on the subject we’d love to hear from you, let us know in the comment section below.