Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ALL THE ELEMENTS CANNABIS REQUIRES
None of these elements are in reality more important than the others. Nutrient elements are
like everything else in nature's design; they all work together. Try and avoid the whole per-
ception that there is some kind of “magic bullet” within special nutrients only, because they
are all important. Another important aspect of TLO growing is never forgetting about the
living soil microbeasties. They require all these same elements themselves, especially oxy-
gen, nitrogen, and calcium in my experience.
Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air, while other nutrients including water are
obtained from the soil. Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients from the growing
media:
•
Primary Macronutrients:
nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K)
•
Secondary Macronutrients:
calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg)
•
The Macronutrient:
Silicon (Si)
•
Micronutrients:
boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper
(Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), and sodium (Na)
CARBON
Carbon forms the backbone of many plant's bio-molecules, including starches and cellulose.
Carbon is fixed through photosynthesis from the carbon dioxide in the air and is a part of the
carbohydrates that store energy in the plant.
HYDROGEN
Hydrogen also is necessary for building sugars and building the plant. It is obtained almost
entirely from water. Hydrogen ions are imperative for a proton gradient to help drive the
electron transport chain in photosynthesis and for respiration.
OXYGEN
Oxygen is necessary for cellular respiration. Cellular respiration is the process of generating
energy-rich
adenosine triphosphate
(ATP) via the consumption of sugars made in photo-
synthesis. Plants produce oxygen gas during photosynthesis to produce glucose, but then re-
quire oxygen to break down this glucose.
