The Problem With Hyperaccumulators: How to tell if you have contaminants in your Cannabis product.
Plants with the capability of accumulating heavy metals above concentrations that would typically cause harm or toxicity in plants are known as hyperaccumulators. Cannabis is a well-known hyperaccumulator with the ability to remove heavy metal contaminants from soils. This characteristic is desirable for soil remediation but troublesome when cannabis is grown for consumption.
If the nutrients you use are contaminated with heavy metals, your buds will be accumulating these heavy metals, exposing those who consume them.
List of some Cannabis Nutrient Heavy Metals
The Problem: Cannabis Is A HyperAccumulator Of Heavy Metal Contaminants
Plants with the capability of accumulating heavy metals above concentrations that would typically cause harm or toxicity in plants are known as hyperaccumulators. Cannabis is a well-known hyperaccumulator with the ability to remove heavy metals contaminants from soils. This characteristic is desirable for soil remediation but troublesome when cannabis is grown for consumption.
If the nutrients you use are contaminated with heavy metals, your buds will be accumulating these heavy metals, exposing those who consume them.
How can you tell if you have heavy metal contaminants in your final cannabis product?
We care about heavy metals just as much as you do
Licensed producers of cannabis are required to test their finished products for heavy metal contaminants. Plant-Prod® is pleased to make heavy metal analysis results available to growers for our Plant-Prod MJ™ water soluble cannabis fertilizers line. When cannabis growers are aware of heavy metal levels in their crop inputs, they can anticipate potential levels within their buds.
Outsourced analysis of Plant-Prod Cannabis Fertilizers’ heavy metal concentrations:
Links to older blogs or related webpages
Want to learn about improving your cannabis plant productivity? Download our Cannabis Fertilizer Growers Handbook and learn how to get 5X more buds with 80% less fertilizer.
For beginner growers, a common question is “how old should seedlings be before nutrients are applied?” However, more experienced growers will know that question should actually be “how old should cannabis cuttings be before adding nutrients?” The reason is that starting from seedlings is much more time-consuming than starting from cuttings from mother plants.
With that quick grower tip out of the way, let’s get into answering the main question:
How old should cannabis cuttings be before adding nutrients?
Choosing the right water-soluble cannabis fertilizers for your plants is important, but timing your fertigation is vital. That means that you shouldn’t start adding nutrients until roots are present. You also want to go easy on the nutrients initially. For reference, Plant-Prod MJ™ recommends starting with a low-nutrient concentration (20-50 ppm Nitrogen) such as Plant-Prod MJ™ Grow.
Additional cannabis fertilizer tips:
To recap, here are the steps you need to take to insure your cannabis cuttings or seedlings are ready for nutes:
Apply nutrients ONLY when roots are present
Seedlings should be fertilized when they develop their first true full set of leaves 2-3 weeks after germination
Young seedlings are sensitive to high EC (electrical conductivity) so only a small amount of fertilizer should be added
Start with a low-nutrient water soluble cannabis fertilizer concentration (20-50ppm nitrogen) Mist or water enough so that the plant is wet, but not saturated Utilize light to speed up the rooting process if needed
Following these tips should help improve your success with cutting product.
For more information on water-soluble fertilizers and cannabis growing tips, check out some of our other publications below:
Master Plant-Prod Inc. has an extensive product line of 100% water soluble fertilizers and water soluble cannabis fertilizers. Cut your costs, and increase yields. For more information about chelated iron for plants, zinc fertilizer, and more, please contact us here.
We take pride in staying on top of the industry innovations and regulations. We have been updating our labels to comply with the new Hazardous Products Regulations and we are taking part in an initiative to update the Fertilizers Regulations. …Read more
On July 15-18 we will be in Columbus, Ohio for the Cultivate’17 trade show. We will be showing the new Plantex by Plant-Prod Duo-Tote™ which is a new bulk packaging format for pre-mixed plant nutrition formulations. It is suitable for larger growers and is quicker and easier to use than bags, giving time-savings for mixing a large tank of around 70%.
Nutrients in the correct proportions can be customized to the specific requirements of each grower and their water conditions. Incompatible ingredients co-exist in separate compartments. This new delivery format makes it quicker and more reliable for greenhouse staff to prepare the optimal concentration in the solution tanks.
Visit us at booth 2211 and 2213. We have coffee and chocolates waiting for you.
What is Cultivate?
Cultivate is the industry’s preeminent event for business, networking, professional development, trends, industry research, and business growth. It’s where the entire green industry gathers for an event that’s unparalleled in quality of education, variety of exhibitors, and cross-channel networking and learning. Visit their website here.
Come and see Plant Products on November 16, 17 and 18, 2016 at Expo-FIHOQ in the Centrexpo Cogéco – a new location in Drummondville.
The premier show in Quebec for ornamental horticulture, green space and municipal professionals is at a new location in Drummondville. Representatives from Plant Products will be happy to answer your questions about high productivity plant nutrition. The booth will be in hall D2 on the bridge that connects the hotel to the convention centre. There will be product demonstration and more details on Master Plant-Prod as well as a contest!
Expo FIHOQ
Venez nous rencontrer à l’Expo FIHOQ au Centrexpo Cogéco à Drummondville. Par contre, ne nous cherchez pas sur le plancher des exposants. Notre kiosque sera dans la salle D2 sur la passerelle qui relie l’hôtel au centre des congrès.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by at Canadian Greenhouse Conference in the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Canada on October 5th and 6th, 2016. It was a great success and we had a great show.
We were pleased to answer questions relating to high productivity plant nutrition, provided advice and bounced around some ideas. We were also giving away gardening gloves to anyone who stoped by our booth.
If you are a licensed grower of medical marijuana we can help you increase the quality and productivity of your operation and explain the purity and solubility of Plantex MJ Bloom, a formulation for the budding stage of growth.
About CGC
The CGC has two days of sessions devoted to Garden Centres and the trade show is expanding to include nurseries. Valuable information and experts in the industry help you grow your business business. You will find people who know your business challenges. It is all about establishing relationships with others in the horticultural industry-relationships that can benefit you professionally and personally.
On July 15-18 we will be in Columbus, Ohio for the Cultivate’17 trade show. We will be showing the new Plantex by Plant-Prod Duo-Tote™ which is a new bulk packaging format for pre-mixed plant nutrition formulations. It is suitable for larger growers and is quicker and easier to use than bags, giving time-savings for mixing a large tank of around 70%.
What is Cultivate?
The premier show in Quebec for ornamental horticulture, green space and municipal professionals is at a new location in Drummondville. Representatives from Plant Products will be happy to answer your questions about high productivity plant nutrition. The booth will be in hall D2 on the bridge that connects the hotel to the convention centre. There will be product demonstration and more details on Master Plant-Prod as well as a contest!
