Organic Cannabis farming

Have you ever felt lost among feeding charts, dozens of products, and concepts like EC, pH, or stimulators? If so, know that you're not alone. Many growers taking their first steps feel overwhelmed when they discover the amount of fertilizers available on the market. The good news is that growing healthy cannabis doesn't have to be complicated. Today at Alchimia, we want to give you a hand with something very specific: understanding what your plant needs at each stage and learning about some of the simplest options to feed it without drama. We'll especially talk about solid and slow-release fertilizers, which are the novice grower's best allies, suitable for both autos and photoperiod plants. Will you join us? Adding fertilizer to irrigation water

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Korean Natural Farming (KNF), or Korean Natural Agriculture, is a cultivation method developed in South Korea by Cho Han-Kyu that relies on an idea as simple as it is profound: allowing nature to do its work with minimal human intervention. Instead of directly feeding the plant through fertilizers, KNF proposes activating the biological processes of the soil so that it provides the plant with everything it needs in a balanced and sustainable way.

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In a world where sustainability and health are growing priorities, organic farming is more than ever a useful and necessary alternative. This practice not only promotes healthier foods and products but also protects our environment and improves soil quality, ensuring that subsequent crops will not be compromised in quality. As the demand for organic products grows, it's essential to understand what organic farming entails and why it's a worthwhile option for both farmers and consumers. Today, we'll tell you all about this farming method and its main advantages. Let's go!

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As you've probably noticed in recent years, the world of cannabis cultivation has been gaining popularity towards more natural and sustainable practices thanks to the application of organic cultivation techniques. One of the most fascinating and effective methods that have emerged is living soil cultivation, a cultivation system inspired by natural ecosystems that seeks to imitate the biological processes that occur in the soil, thus achieving healthier and more resistant plants. In this article, we invite you to delve deeper into this cultivation method by answering questions such as: what is living soil, how does it work and why is it rapidly gaining followers in the cannabis-growing community? Discover with us all the secrets of this technique that is giving such good results in areas such as California or Colorado.

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Hydrogen peroxide is a substance that enjoys great popularity, since it can be found in most homes in the world, being used mainly as a disinfectant for wounds. Who does not have a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide in their medicine cabinet? However, these disinfectant properties can be very useful for the grower for various reasons, from disinfecting tools to increasing the germination rate of the seeds. But not everything ends here... Today we are going to tell you all the secrets of hydrogen peroxide applied to crops, you will see that there are more than you can imagine!

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The massive use of fertilisers on extensive crops over the last decades is leaving a pollution footprint, both in the soil and in the atmosphere, that is now beginning to be looked at with concern. While it is well known from numerous studies that the overuse of fertilisers (especially mineral fertilisers) damages the substrate for future crops, often - even if it works against them - growers only have one thing in mind: maximising yields in their fields and facilities. However, it is not just about how we use these products, but also about how the fertilisers are manufactured, processed and transported. Because, as in many other areas and sectors, each and every one of these steps causes pollution. It's a curious paradox... shouldn't we growers be the first to take care of the environment where we intend to plant?

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In nature, it's rare to find bare soil, exposed to the elements. Except for human or animal intervention and cataclysms such as landslides or wildfires which temporarily denude it, natural soil is always covered with some kind of vegetation or other. And if you're a gardener trying to maintain a clean vegetable patch, you'll be acutely aware of this, as no matter how much you try to keep the weeds away, they just keep coming back to colonise the bare soil. This is because living soil needs plants to grow in it so it can stay alive, it's just nature's way of keeping soil in optimal health - and we can all learn a thing or two from nature! The gardening techniques that mimic nature in this way, such as using cover crops, green manure and mulching are fundamental pillars of sustainable organic agriculture, in particular in no-dig or no-till cultivation systems. Depending on how they are managed, cover crops can prevent soil erosion, suppress weeds, increase biodiversity, reduce irrigation requirements, contribute organic matter to the soil and maintain healthy microbial populations in the root zone, all of which can greatly benefit the main crop: cannabis, in our case.

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Sowing season is upon us, and with it, we must finalise the preparations for the next indoor season. Today we will explain what Supersoil is and how to prepare some so that you can cultivate an entire crop irrigating exclusively with plain water thanks to a substrate that's as alive as it is fertile.

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Recently, the demand for organically-cultivated cannabis has increased enormously as consumers become more health-conscious and environmentally aware, with products labelled as "no-till","probiotic" or "living soil" fetching premium prices in California dispensaries for their superior flavour. As a result, the cannabis scene has also seen a growth in natural gardening methods and the sale of eco-friendly fertilisers and supplements. The use of compost tea in cannabis gardens has become very popular as growers move away from mineral or salt-based cultivation towards organic gardening methods. With its high content in beneficial microbes alongside soluble macro and micronutrients, compost tea is the perfect, natural way to boost plant and soil health and optimise the uptake, retention and cycling of nutrients.

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Along with increased ecological awareness, there’s been a growing interest in organic farming methods, which, besides being environmentally friendly, have a much smaller carbon footprint than other types of cultivation, especially regarding plant nutrition and pest prevention. Following this trend, you can now disregard mineral fertilizers and use organic nutrients, which already helps - a lot - to protect the environment. However, you can do much more, such as producing your own 100% organic fertilizer with waste from your garden or kitchen, as well as from other crops and agricultural activities. This way, you won’t make those plastic bottles filled with compost travel thousands of miles to get to your home, and instead you can recycle your own waste while obtaining a high-quality fertilizer. In our article on how to make your own compost, we explained a good way to recycle vegetable waste and harness it for your crops. Today, we’d like to introduce you to another method originated in Japan known as Bokashi that produces even better results in less time. We tell you everything about it below.

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What is Seed Sprout Tea or SST? Despite forming part of Chinese cuisine and medicine for centuries or even millennia, it's only been in the last 30 or 40 years that the western world has really woken up to the health benefits of eating seed sprouts, or germinated seeds. These days it's widely accepted that adding some sprouted beans or other seeds to our daily diet is highly beneficial for their high content of protein, enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. But did you know we can get some great results by adding seed sprouts to the diet of our cannabis plants too? Yes, it's true! Our plants can make the most of the beneficial properties of sprouted seeds and enjoy a natural boost in growth and plant health. Seed sprout tea (SST) is an easy, economical and environmentally-friendly way in which we can irrigate our garden with our own homemade plant growth stimulant, rich in phytohormones, enzymes, minerals and nutrients, and is suitable for use on cannabis plants in vegetative growth as well as during the flowering period, depending on the seeds being used.

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Feeding the soil The nutrition of cannabis plants is a key factor that to a huge extent will determine the success of the harvest. Naturally, achieving a high yield of flowers is one of the principal objectives of every gardener, and a good way to measure the success of the grow. As a result the use of fertilisers in cannabis cultivation is pretty much ubiquitous, although there are still many growers unaware of the benefits of a healthy and active microbial life in the substrate. To faithfully reproduce and accentuate the organoleptic characteristics (the aromas and flavours) of the cultivated variety, and to achieve a high cannabinoid content in the trichomes, are good indicators of a successful cannabis grow, and to achieve this, proper nutrition is absolutely indispensable.

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What is compost? Compost is an excellent organic fertilizer resulting from the controlled decomposition of any organic, solid or semi-solid material. Several microorganisms are responsible for breaking down organic waste to turn it into a digestible product for marijuana plants . Compost can be bought in different states: while in nature the creation process takes place by itself, if it's homemade, in addition to obtaining a good fertilizer for our marijuana plants, you recycle organic waste, thus contributing to the planet conservation.

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