What kind of nutrients should I use to grow cannabis?

 

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When growing marijuana, a common question is what sort of nutrients should be used? There are a million answers to this question. Growing weed can be accomplished successfully many different ways. Some people like to mix their own nutrients, and that can definitely save a bit of money, especially if you're growing a lot of plants. For new, small-scale, or hobbyist growers, it often makes more sense to just buy a nutrient system that has already been formulated for you by proffessionals to be successful when growing marijuana.

Basically, you need a set of nutrients that has been designed for a flowering/fruiting plant. These type of plants get a different amount of nutrients depending on their current growing stage in their life cycle. Almost any set of nutrients designed with this purpose in mind will be able to give you great yields. Tomatos have similar nutrient requirements to cannabis plants, so you can use any nutrients designed for tomatos. Once you get the nutrients, simply follow the instructions given by the manufacturer.

As long as you check and adjust the pH of your water, you aren't likely to run into any problems with cannabis nutrient deficiencies.

Also, ensure that you get a set of nutrients that is made for your growing medium. If you're growing in soil, get nutrients designed for soil. If you're growing without soil (such as in a soilless medium or in water), you need to make sure you get nutrients designed for hydroponics.

Any nutrient system which follows the above specifications will definitely work. However, if you're still not sure or feeling overwhelmed by all the choices, I personally recommend Fox Farm Hydroponic Nutrient Trio with your hydroponic grow, and Fox Farm Soil Nutrient Trio for your soil grow. This set of nutrients has everything your marijuana needs; you can follow the instructions exactly (that come with the nutrients).  I have personally used the hydroponic Fox Farms formula with great results(here's the detailed Cannabis Grow Tutorial). All I did was feed my plants regularly per the Fox Farms instructions and made sure my plants didn't hit the lights. They pretty much took care of themselves and I got over two ounces of dried bud off each plant at the end of four months.

Once you get a few grows under your belt, you may want to start experimenting with different sorts of nutrients. There are also additives which some people swear will give you higher yields. For example, the Fox Farm company has a "Soluble" line  of nutrients that is supposed to be used to supplement your grow and supposedly helps increase your yields. However, as long as you provide your plant with the regular Nutrient line, your marijuana plants will grow great. I definitely recommend waiting until after your first grow before you start experimenting with different nutrients.

View the updated version of this page here 
(includes tons of pictures, information, and lots of extra cannabis nutrient suggestions!)

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