Simple question regarding nutrients

A

alpha don

Active Member
i just couldnt figure it out..

when using organic potting soil,
(im sure the soil only contains a bit off zinc and mg and such, but nothing more)
do i use fertilizer or can i use nutrients (NPK)?
 
K

kermit2692

Well-Known Member
lol....ya same same but make sure in organic soil you use organic nutes not chemical....also to save you some trouble later down the road, organic soil does not need to be flushed and further more it is impossible to flush because the nutes are within the soiless mix itself whereas chem nutes are salts built up on the dirt and other crap and so you can wash away chem nutes and flush the soil. not necesary with organic because you dont have that toxic salt buildup but again not possible anyway.
 
K

kermit2692

Well-Known Member
the only difference i could even derive would be fertilizer is nutes mixed into a medium and if that is the difference you are looking for then yes you can buy blood/bone meal or whatever and mix it with some dirt and top dress or you can mix concentrated nutes into water and feedd that way.
 
K

Kryan

Member
NPK rating (or N-P-K) is used to label fertilizer based on the relative content of the chemical elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) that are commonly used in fertilizers. The three elements promote plant growth in three different ways. In simple terms, these are:

  • N – nitrogen: promotes the growth of leaves and vegetation
  • P – phosphorus: promotes root and shoot growth
  • K – potassium: promotes flowering and fruiting
Unlike the N number, the numbers for P and K do not reflect the amount of elemental phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer. Rather they represent the amount of oxide in the form of P[SUB]2[/SUB]O[SUB]5[/SUB] and K[SUB]2[/SUB]O that would be present in the fertilizer if all the elemental phosphorus and potassium were oxidized into these forms

I am a fan of sprinkling a little ironite on my soil. Marijuana definitely would appreciate more nutrients than the soil will provide on its own. I have also found that not providing your plant with all the lesser nutrients and using any time release soils with high N will be very stressful, add a bit of sea kelp based nutes to raise the PK values helping the plant utilize some excess nitrogen. Seemed to help me a lot when transplanting to a fresh mix of time release. <---which I am not a fan of especially in colder/humid conditions as the soil stays wet longer allowing more capsules to dissolve.
 
K

kermit2692

Well-Known Member
i agree though i dont know why he brought that up lol...stay away from time release..though you said your in organic soil and most isnt time release ..and also most organic soil does have some nutrient content to start with but once your plant has been in the dirt for about 3 weeks and/or is idk about 8-10 inches tall you should need to start the veg nutes..
 
K

Kryan

Member
kermit2692 said:
i agree though i dont know why he brought that up lol...stay away from time release..though you said your in organic soil and most isnt time release ..and also most organic soil does have some nutrient content to start with but once your plant has been in the dirt for about 3 weeks and/or is idk about 8-10 inches tall you should need to start the veg nutes..
Click to expand...

Actually the most accessible organic soil from local stores is Miracle Grow. It has a time release formula, and can be a tad strong for some seedlings. I have used it and been successful with very little burn/no casualties. http://www.scotts.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-organic-choice-potting-soil/prod70318/

I was trying to answer as full as possible in case it may be relevant to his or her situation.
:)
 
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