BubbaGumpHemp
Well-Known Member
and yes my methods are a little different than most. after college i figured if u want to see something different u got to try something different, so i stepped out of my old "by the book" way of growing and haven't looked back since (i prefer going by the latest science). there is a lot of new research out there regarding the need for synthetic nitrogen. if you use a live culture of both aerobic and anaerobic microbes they are constantly decomposing elements into usable form for the plants. forgive me but this is going to get a little scientific here. to understand why and when the plant truly needs nitrogen u need a basic understanding of how N is converted to different forms.
the first step would be the conversion of atmospheric N (which is happening in your roots all the time) through a process called nitrogen fixation which is carried out by beneficial bacteria living in the root zone the (diazotrophs) combine hydrogen with nitrogen to produce ammonia (NH4) in a process called ammonification. this is important because the latest research has shown that when soils are lacking N these beneficial organisms will produce ammonia (which is converted to NO2 during nitrification by the oxidation of ammonium) in exchange for some carbohydrates. (another fascinating thing that is yet to be fully understood by the scientific community is the fact that the plant trades back some of the amino acids it produces back into the bacteria inorder to skip the whole process of ammonium assimilation process. however NO2 still cannot be used by the plant, this requires another step, yet again by the microbes you should be adding to your soil every month at least. once the nitrites (NO2) are converted by nitrifying bacteria into nitrates (NO3) which is important because nitrite is toxic to plants, the N can finally be assimilated by the plants roots mostly as nitrate ions. once in the plant the nitrate ions are converted into ammonium ions. the ammonium ions are the final product of this long and fascinating process. once the N has been assimilated into ammonium ions the ammonium is what the plant uses to build amino acids, chlorophyll and nucleic acids, which as you know are the fundamental building blocks to life. that's the basic logic behind why i am getting away with lower N levels in early flower/late veg. microbes microbes microbes. did i mention microbes? lol this is a little overly simplified. there is a lot more complexity to the exchange of amino acids between microbes and the plant but i don't feel like typing a whole thesis here atm. BTW i do have a degree in microbiology with a minor in descriptive inorganic chemistry, i have to say this little symbiotic relationship that goes on between microbe and plant is only just now beginning to be understood. its been a lot of fun putting all these theories and research to real life application in the cultivation of cannabis
okay im done. just wanted to explain a bit of reasoning behind my madness. this transittion period is the part of the plant cycle that i have really been working hard to understand, as i believe it is the most critical point in the entire cycle for the best end result. yes N is very important however u can cut the added N way back in the transition. let the microbes do the fine tuning for u in transition and see your nodes get tighter and tighter
which in turn have drastically tightened the whole plant up, especially in varieties which are more sativa dominant