You’re splitting hairs. There is nothing wrong with ammonical N. It’s converted into a usable nitrate form anyway.
Ignore the noise and find out for yourself.
Glad my pot isn’t stronger. Seriously, when is enough enough?
Uncle Ben
Respectfully imho it’s more complicated than this. It’s well known a mix of nitrogen from nitrate and ammonia is the most productive.
The ratio of nitrates to ammonia is important to growth due to lots
of factors and can have significant effects on the end result. This is especially the case on soilless media where solely relying on nitrogen from ammonia won’t cut it. It’s also not viable to use things like urea for water based media because nitrogen availability will not be constant, starting low and increasing at a non linear rate. The same is true of frequently water logged soil.
The electrical balance in the root cells has to remain in equilibrium, so for every positively charged ion taken up, a positively charged ion is released into the soil. Same thing is true for negatively charged ions,
meaning that when the plant takes up ammonium (NH4+), it releases a proton (H+) to the soil. Higher proton concentration around the roots decreases the pH around the roots, making it more acidic.
On the other hand when the plant takes up Nitrate (NO3-) it releases bicarbonate (HCO3-), increasing the pH around the roots and making it more alkaline.
It’s a big deal for soil-less media like coco etc because relying too much on ammonia for your nitrogen can cause rapid shifts in the pH of the root zone, causing nutrient lock out issues.
The other factor is that nitrogen uptake from ammonia vs nitate is via completely different metabolic processes, nitrate:nitrite conversion occurs in the plastids in the leaves and is driven by photosynthesis, whereas the ammonium in the roots has to be converted into organic N-compounds. This conversion process is fuelled by sugars and because of this it occurs at the cost of other plant processes, such as plant growth and fruit/flower production etc. These sugars have to be delivered from where they are made in the leaves, down to the roots where they are used, the efficiency of metabolic process is dependent on plant resources so it doesn’t come for free.
For plants where the majority of growth is leafy, i.e cannabis, sugars are consumed quickly near their production site and so are much less available for transport to the roots, so in this case it is more efficient to use a higher ratio of nitrate to ammonia as the plant is able to metabolise it more efficiently.
Also where high temperature is a factor, increased transpiration will result in lower availability of sugars required for ammonium conversion, whereas in cold temperatures, higher levels of ammonium:nitrate is preferable.
There are also differences depending on the microbes in the soil and other factors too. It’s not the case that all nitrogen sources are created equal.
I’ve used osmocote for many years, but I never had much luck with using it as the sole source of nutrients in coco, I think maybe partly due to coco’s water holding capacity but then it’s great to see others have had more success. It’s definitely simple.
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Also I know that you dismissed fluvic and humic acids, but that is in effect what you are adding when you are bulking up the soil with organic matter. These are the ‘active compounds’ in your decaying organics. There is a long list of things like improved cation exchange and nutrient availability that are improved by having good levels of humics in the soil and the addition of these as liquids can help increase the amount of it in soils while other organic matter decomposes, it will also significantly help to speed up this process.
Personally I swear by the stuff.
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Who’s telling you this. Obviously a Cannabis source since it’s backwards. Ammonia is the third most efficient form of N. The government would ban Nitrate fertilizer, the least efficient, if someone lobbied for it. Not for the huge waste of energy but the huge waste of water.
My drip trays are red and smell like fish when I scrub them. Only smell ammonia when carbon is low. Something tells me you have to have a real shitty soil for seed meal proteins to be converted to any other form of N but aminos. No idea why people use nitrate or ammonium. Oh yes, because they get their misinfo from the pesticide company. Roughly 2/3 of Cannabis pests depend on nitrate or ammonia as an essential part of their diet.
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It’s just biology and chemistry mate. Cannabis is not a root crop. I am happy to stand by what I said and see no convincing argument or evidence to the contrary. The nitrogen cycle isn’t exactly controversial.
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Me and a friend have sorta joked about breeding for a lower THC just for that reason. We both know quite a few old “stoners” who all say they just can’t take the strength of today’s strains. I think it’s one of the many reasons why edibles are so popular among the old stoner crowd. Wicked easy to regulate. Too strong?..have 1/2 piece of fudge next time 
But for those that want to smoke, finding something mild has been challenging, I guess.
Lob
It’s not complicated for me, never has been.
Glad my faves can’t read.
UB
So is this the same as the big bags of osmocote that you are using? I know this size isn’t ideal for multiple plants but curious thanks
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Yes that’s the stuff! I bought three 8# bags of it last winter when Walmart had it on sale, it’s great stuff! The only difference between that and the 15-9-12 6 month commercial stuff is the label. There are many other formulas available from the agricultural side vs just that and the green veg one that retail consumers get at Lowe’s or whatever
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So if I mix this up in the soil or at least top 2-3 inches I shouldn’t need to fertilize? Maybe kelp or other suppliments but no npk?
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Yeah, basically! Read this whole thread and I think you’ll get the idea but there’s also good dosage charts to follow:
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What he said…
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It’s all you need start to finish using a high quality soil-less mix. Like I said when I mix it in bulk I might throw in a handful or two of blood and bone meal and wet it down with a slop of horse nuggets soaked over night in a bucket of water.
Keep in mind I’ve used a slow release food on a commercial ag basis as have my friends. I’ve literally planted 10’s of thousands of trees, a vineyard, tropical fruit trees, veggies, etc. and given them a handful of Osmocote or Polyon when planting.
This whole feeding regiment is a stupid cannabis forum comfort zone folks get suckered into. Unless you’re a noob just getting your toes wet and don’t know any better, seems the more confusing, complicated and expensive it is regarding must have parts A,B, and Z and all the supplements, the more comfortable mentally folks are.
Less is more,
UB
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Homegrown pineapple is SUGAR sweet. If you’ve never taken the top off a pineapple and fruited it, you’re missing a real treat. Better than the ones I bought from roadside stands in Hawaii. They pick them green, like all fruit/veggie processors.
UB
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