Nutrient Deficiencies in Marijuana Plants in 2021

Every living organism, both plants and animals, requires an essential diet to survive. Marijuana plants require micronutrients and macronutrients in order to grow healthy. Cannabis plants show important indications if they lack any nutrients such as boron, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, nitrogen, and zinc.

Types of Nutrients in Marijuana Plants 

The detail of types of nutrients is as follows:

• Macronutrients

Marijuana plants need three principal macronutrients which are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K) for desirable growth. Fertilizers contain a specific percentage of these nutrients in them and N-P-K amount is mentioned on the packaging fertilizers. So, always pay attention to it before making purchase of fertilizers for marijuana plants as these macronutrients are important to be present in them.

• Micronutrients

As the name suggests, these are required in small quantities but these are significant too. They are essentially required for potted soils but for hydroponics, they are not really useful. Micronutrients includes Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sulfur (S), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B), Zinc (Zn),  Iron (Fe), Molybdenum (Mo), Chlorine (Cl) and Copper (Cu).

Nutrients Deficiencies

Indoor marijuana plants face more nutrient deficiencies as compared to the outdoor plants and leads to the abnormal development of plants. Nutrient disturbance can deteriorate the marijuana plants at a fast pace, therefore, an accurate quantity of nutrients is required. Although lack of these nutrients cause disorders but excess of them is also harmful for marijuana plants as it can result in overfertilization and hence, injects toxicity to marijuana plants. To see a bloom in marijuana growth, it is important to know the need of these nutrients as well as their required quantity..

Identifying the lack of nutrients

It is a hectic task to identify which type of nutrient lacks in marijuana plants as the effect of all nutrients looks almost similar to some extent, therefore, it requires a lot of practice to recognize it. If such a scenario arises, it is better to wash off the soil with water in order to ensure the removal of any surplus nutrient and the acquisition of a balanced state. The key points of  analyzing nutrient deficiency  in marijuana plants include:

• Step-1: Flushing the soil
• Step-2: Conducting a pH level test
• Step-3: Adding the required nutrient
• Step-4: Checking the pH level again.

How to avoid nutrient deficiencies?

To prevent any nutrient deficiency in marijuana plants, organic nutrients can be used. These types of nutrients help in avoiding the excessive intake of food since these nutrients are digested by microorganisms contrary to the synthetic ones which are fed straight to the roots. This way the plants only utilize the nutrients when they require it. But there exists a trade-off in everything; organic nutrients are although better but they are expensive, not every marijuana grower can afford it. For those who can’t use organic nutrients can make use of synthetic nutrients along with extra care and precautionary measures. They should check the pH level and ppm of the nutrient when they add it to the roots of marijuana plant in order to ensure that the plants grow perfectly.

Conclusion

Proper care and attention should be provided to the health of the  marijuana plants. If you experience any abnormal symptoms in plants, you should find out the root cause and then  effectively deal with it. Proper steps should be taken to restore the nutrient stability. It may take some time but eventually, you will acquire desired outcomes.