Hydrolife Magazine February/March 2017 (USA Edition)

grow
With more and more people interested
in growing cannabis at home, the
question arises: Is organic better? There is
no easy answer as there are no one-size-fitsall
solutions to growing quality cannabis.
Many times, your purpose will determine if
organic is the best solution for you.
There are many misconceptions about organic
cannabis production. Some think that
organic is automatically better, and that
isn’t always the case. The questions to ask
before undertaking an organic cultivation
regimen are, “Why am I interested in organic
production? Do I want the best quality?
The best flavor? Do I just want to pump out
as much a possible? Am I concerned about
pesticides?” Understanding the benefits of
organic cannabis cultivation will help you
answer these questions and determine if it
is the right production method for you.
Fertilizers and Pesticides
In food production, organic holds a very
different meaning than in cannabis
cultivation. In agriculture, "certified
organic" not only indicates the seed was
not genetically modified but was raised
using an organic method of cultivation.
Products throughout the grocery store say
they are “organically produced,” however,
only infers that the process of growing the
seeds was organic.
Genetically modified cannabis seeds haven’t
made their way onto the market yet, so when
you talk about organic cannabis, you are
only talking about the cultivation method—
specifically about the types of fertilizer and
pesticides used. What differentiates organic
fertilizers from non-organic? Non-organic
fertilizers are typically made from combining
raw elemental salts whereas organic fertilizers
are made from plant and animal waste.
With the large number of commercial
cultivation facilities popping up and vast
quantities of marijuana being pumped
out, many are asking how the big facilities
are doing it. Due to the sheer volume of
required nutrients, it is by far more costeffective
to use elemental salts, as large
scale production with organic nutrients cuts
into profits big time. Just because that’s how
they do it, doesn’t mean you should. Organic
cultivation techniques are much more suited
to home grows and boutique-type strains
than for mass production.
Pesticides are another area that usually
confuses people when it comes to organic
cultivation. Organic doesn’t mean you can’t
use pesticides. There are a range of organic
pesticides that are non-toxic and leave no
residues behind that affect smell or taste.
Organic pesticides are generally safe
and have a very short re-entry time. The
“interval of entry” refers to the amount of
time needed after an application before
humans can re-enter the area safely. Nonorganic
pesticides can have a re-entry
interval of days, if not weeks, compared to
organic pesticides, which have a relatively
short re-entry time of hours. Organic
pesticides can also be applied up to the
day of harvest in most cases, whereas with
non-organics, your pre-harvest interval can
be weeks or months. The reality is, organic
pesticides are effective and all but gone
from the plant by the time of consumption.
The biggest question to ask is, “Why is organic
better?” The single biggest reason is increased
nutrient bio-availability. Organic nutrients are
closer to the forms of nutrients plants would be
exposed to in the wild and are more readily absorbed
by the plant, which by definition, results
in higher bio-availability.
“ Non-organic fertilizers are
typically made from combining
raw elemental salts whereas
organic fertilizers are made
from plant and animal waste.”
30 grow. heal. live. enjoy.
myhydrolife.com