Research paper claims ideal Cannabis NPK: 4-1.3-1.7 (October 2017)

Indoor Growing Hydroponics
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Hey yall. I saw this paper, I think in full when in came out…can’t find it on my pc, but here’s an article describing it in brief from hortidaily .com

It seems to coincide with everything I’ve read about organics/soil/microbes… in practice, using any fertilizer over 10-10-10 is killing most of the microbes & fungi?

any thoughts? I’m sticking with my granular 4-4-4 fertilixir in my peat-lite mix and 2-2-2 liquid espoma organic for now. :slight_smile:

North America’s first scientific paper on how to produce cannabis under controlled environment
PhD candidate Deron Caplan, Dr. Youbin Zheng and Mike Dixon at the University of Guelph have published their first of a series of papers on how to produce cannabis under controlled environment in HortScience.

Cannabis producers, especially those with organic operations, lack reliable information on the fertilization requirements for their crops. To determine the optimal organic fertilizer rate for vegetative-stage cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.), five rates that supplied 117, 234, 351, 468, and 585 mg N/L of a liquid organic fertilizer (4.0N–1.3P–1.7K) were applied to container-grown plants with one of two coir-based organic substrates.

The trial was conducted in a walk-in growth chamber and the two substrates used were ABcann UNIMIX 1-HP with lower water-holding capacity (WHC) and ABcann UNIMIX 1 with higher WHC. No differences in growth or floral dry weight (yield) were found between the two substrates.

Pooled data from both substrates showed that the highest yield was achieved at a rate that supplied 389 mg N/L (interpolated from yield-fertilizer responses) which was 1.8 times higher than that of the lowest fertilizer rate.

The concentration of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in dry floral material was maximized at a rate that supplied 418 mg N/L, and no fertilizer rate effects were observed on Δ9-tetrahydrocannabidiolic acid (THCA) or cannabinol (CBN).

The highest yield, cannabinoid content, and plant growth were achieved around an organic fertilizer rate that supplied 389 mg N/L during the vegetative growth stage when using the two coir-based organic substrates.

The full study can be obtained at HortScience. Click here for more information

Publication date: 10/19/2017

from: North America’s first scientific paper on how to produce cannabis under controlled environment

:evergreen_tree:
c.s

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@cannabissequoia This is the paper.

caplan2017.pdf (407.8 KB)

Thanks much for the link. We need a “Double like” button for posts like this.

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Imo this doesn’t pass as good research. They used one nutrient, just at different ratios. There’s so many more variables. Were the plants even flushed at any point, who knows? Here’s a link to one of my personal favorite nute studies.

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you da maaaAAN. :tophat:
edit: i love seeing jorge cervantes cited in a research paper. times are a changin’ :slight_smile:

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I (honestly) skimmed it…looks to corroborate organics/wormshit/low nute #'s tho…
What i didn’t like was no smoke report or bud evidence. Could be all made up. But I think my question is more what do you make of the low #'s?

I remember the 0-20-60 i used on my earliest grow… yowzers. poor landscape.

:evergreen_tree:

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Maybe I miss read the article but think it said highest thc content was 0.31% and that was with a higher nute ratio. If that’s true obviously they’re doing something wrong and also brings the question of quality vs quantity. I’d go with lower yeilding high thc content myself.

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it seems like they used only 4-1.3-1.7 so was there a previous study which determined it was the ideal n-p-k ratio? i think i’d rather have 20-20-20 than 2-2-2, it’s the same ratio i could just mix it at 1/10th the strength and it would last 10x longer, assuming they both cost the same amount for the same volume.

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Dude, awesome link. Just read it in entirety, racing my battery life.

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This is another fav link read it top to bottom multi time

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