The recent crackdown on the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides during commercial cannabis cultivation has led to the rise of natural fertilizers. Choosing the right type of fertilizer depends on your plant’s deficiencies, local availability and personal preferences.
Today we’ll cover five natural fertilizers that can help you grow potent, thick buds.
1. Bat Droppings (Guano)
Guano is an effective way to revive nutrient-deficient soil. This type of natural fertilizer is packed with nitrogen, phosphorus and natural salts. You can use it to activate your compost pile or turn it into a liquid spray using water. Depending on where you are in the world, it is possible to acquire the following selection of animal droppings for fertilizers: Seabird Guano, Belize Bat Guano and Fossilized Seabird Guano.
2. Fish Meal
Another fertilizer that can be used to boost nitrogen levels in soil is fish meal. The component is composed of different parts of the animal (mostly inedible bits), grounded up into a fine powder. Then there’s fish emulsion, or pressed fish oil. When used together, the fish meal pushes nitrogen to the soil, while the fish emulsion prolongs the release of the nutrients.
Also, there are also several types of natural meal solutions: Blood Meal, Soy Meal and Steamed Bone Meal. It is crucial to consider that bears are attracted to Fish Meals, Steamed Bone Meals and Blood Meals. To avoid unwanted pests (and deadly attacks), you should choose a type of meal that does not attract predators lurking in your area.
3. Compost Tea
Compost tea is a fancy term for a natural compost pile that was steeped using a liquid solution (in most cases, water). The pile is generally made up of kelp, compost, bacteria and molasses. When creating a mix, it is important to prioritize diversity by introducing a variety of components. After extracting the pile, you could apply the solution to the roots of your plants or directly on the leaves using a foliar spray. One should never use a drip line to distribute the fertilizer, as it could clog up the line.
4. Urine
Not recommended for indoor grows. Urine is loaded with special nutrients that can boost leaf and stem growth. With that in mind, you should never directly pee on your cannabis plants. This is because in natural form, urine is very potent and may kill sensitive live components living in the soil. To apply pee properly, you must dilute it with water ( beer is ok for pee production). Also, urine fertilizer should be used immediately, due to the risk of ammonia forming in the solution.
5. Worm Castings
Best to use in vegetation cycle teas – the product that comes out of a worm after it digests soil or other organic components is filled with tiny organisms and nutrients. “Don’t make a nutrient tea from worm castings and use it on your marijuana plants if they have flowers—you don’t want your pot to taste like worm poop. If you’ve transplanted already then you have fresh soil so you don’t want to throw off the balance of the soil too much by adding worm castings right now,” said Jay Kitchen and Uncle Tweezy, authors of The Kitchen presented by Uptowngrowlab.
