hi, iv create this thread to discuss alternative nutrients to the ones targeted at the cannabis cultivation community. I personally believe that to a degree people have been brainwashed to convince them they need to buy 200$ nutrient line-ups to get good yields, and potency. Thats not the case! This year i used Gaia green organics all purpose fertilizer (4-4-4) as my base nutrient. i mixed it right into the soil (garden soil as this plant was grown outdoors). Its important to note that this product does contain some gypsum which will lighten up your soil (until it is used up in about 4 months) and it will release calcium so go easy on the cal mag. Another thing to note is that the garden already has an established microbiome (beneficial bacterial population) so if your going to try this method indoors in pasteurized soil (any soil you buy at a store has been pasteurized) then i would recommend investing in soil which has bacterial spore like pro-mix HP mycorrhizae, or i would personally invest in spores and apply them to the root mass in the form of a paste during the transplanting process. A couple cups of worm castings mixed into the soil is another good way to get beneficial bacteria. Now we have the soil ready for vegetative growth and its time to transplant. The 4-4-4 will support most strains right up until the final week of veg. now that i got the basics out of the way i think its important to discuss the varying nutrient requirements of each strain, although the 4-4-4 will support any plant on a 3-5 week veg cycle some strains require more nutrients, like sour diesel. with a strain like sour diesel i would mix the Gaia green at approx 125% (1.25 x what ever the regular recommended dose is) and even consider applying the all purpose fertilizer as a top dressing if signs of deficiency appear, in the later weeks. if you plan on remaining in the vegetative stage for longer then 6 weeks i would consider applying a top dressing at week 5 regardless of the strain. Now its time to start flowering, approx one week before you flip the lights (or around day 28 of vegetative growth for a auto flowering plant) apply golf green tomato fertilizer (6-12-12) or something with similar nutrient ratios/levels. Its important to apply this before you flip the lights because a top dressing fertilizer needs to be watered down before it can be used, so it get into the root mass about 1-2 weeks after applying it, depending on the frequency of watering. continue to apply the fertilizer every 2-3 weeks and stop applying it 1-2 weeks before you flush. Try to have 2-3 weeks where you dont have any applied fertilizer before you harvest to allow the nutrients to fully wash down and out. 2KG of Gaia green all purpose is 30$ CND and the golf green tomato fertilizer another 20$ CND, combine that with 30$ in soil (enough for 4 plants roughly) and 40$ in bacteria and your grow costs not including lights and ventilation is approx 120$ so 30$ a plant. Keep in mind that you probably wont even use all the nutrients! their will definitely be left over golf green.

honorable mentions for boosting yield/potency if you have the extra cash:

Cal-Mag supplement- i didn't use a cal-mag supplement for this grow but with that being said it wouldn't hurt to apply it at half strength every second watering careful not to overdo it or you could block the uptake of other nutrients by having an excess of cal-mag

terpanator- this product is highly recommended for increasing yield. It boosts resin production, and the resin is where all the goodies are (thc and flavor carrying compounds). apply every 4th watering during veg and every watering during flowering.

super thrive- this amazing kelp based product is good for reducing shock and increasing the rate of root growth. i personally apply this product before switching the lights, when transplanting or if my plant is stressed out. 1.2ml/gallon so you dont need much, buy small bottles so it doesn't expire.

remo's natures candy- natures candy is just a flavor enhancer and sweetener, i use this product exclusively on my indoor plants but you can notice the sent increase within 2 weeks of the first application. apply occasionally during veg like once every 4th watering, and then use it every watering during flowering)


The plant in the picture is an auto flowering jack herer at the beginning of the 4th week of flower. It got super thrive when i transplanted it and other then that iv watered it twice, rain, the 4-4-4 and 6-12-12 have done all the work. The plant is almost 8 weeks old so dont mind its somewhat small stature. This plant is thriving! honestly it might even be better then my indoor jack herer which is half a week behind (the bain of auto flowering is each plant decides itself when it wants to flower which leads to some plants being a week ahead sometimes)/ my indoor plant is on advanced nutrients big bud line up (bud igniter, big bud, overdrive) with PGP bloom as its flowering base nutrient... i also feed it terpanator and bud candy.

i hope you enjoyed this article, if you have any experience using organics, or non traditional fertilizers post about your experience and include some photos. thanks for visiting