Organic Vs. Synthetic Nutrients

Ognatious

Member
Every month or so a new thread starts up and this same old tired argument gets fought over once again. View attachment 3894082

Let's debate religion or politics instead. Much less controversial and people can discuss those in a much more friendly manner. View attachment 3894084
The question may be cliche but that does not mean that new info cannot be gleaned. Interesting post a couple before yours, Dr. Who provided a nice service here. and of course someone here may be experiencing this debate for thefirst time.
 
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Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
you're probably right, and on a small scale i would support organic practices. i grew up partially in the south, and partially in Mn.
where there are farms measured in square miles. one acre is slightly smaller than a football field. what kind of compost heap do you need for a 1000 acre farm? or a 10,000 acre farm?
 

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Interesting conversation on a well worn topic. :-)

I grow in Ocean Forest potting soil and add Pure Blend Pro Grow as needed. I add nothing else but my moderately hard well water.

My flavors are better than when I used pro mix and Kind Trio. But only a little. And the effects are a bit more complex and potent. A little.

And adding better spectrum lighting also improved terpene and canabanoid content to my senses. I believe in the science of the spectrum influencing uptake and plant growth.

As far as organic tending to taste better than a nuetral medium style I think it is because of the wider amount of different elements available to the plant. Kind gives better results to me than the powdered nutes I tried because of the added seaweed in the formula. Seaweed extract has many more trace elements available to plants than the 16 that are included in most fertilizers.

Add in all the rest of the organic inputs like worm castings and rock dust and there is a vast profile of different forms of NPK and trace elements available potentially.

Beyond that the growers style and results are more important than most anything.

Just my opinion folks. I understand that the plant uses the ions from these broken down elements. And I believe that you can supplement hydro or a nuetral mix grow with humic acid and seaweed and get similar results.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Interesting conversation on a well worn topic. :-)

I grow in Ocean Forest potting soil and add Pure Blend Pro Grow as needed. I add nothing else but my moderately hard well water.

My flavors are better than when I used pro mix and Kind Trio. But only a little. And the effects are a bit more complex and potent. A little.

And adding better spectrum lighting also improved terpene and canabanoid content to my senses. I believe in the science of the spectrum influencing uptake and plant growth.

As far as organic tending to taste better than a nuetral medium style I think it is because of the wider amount of different elements available to the plant. Kind gives better results to me than the powdered nutes I tried because of the added seaweed in the formula. Seaweed extract has many more trace elements available to plants than the 16 that are included in most fertilizers.

Add in all the rest of the organic inputs like worm castings and rock dust and there is a vast profile of different forms of NPK and trace elements available potentially.

Beyond that the growers style and results are more important than most anything.

Just my opinion folks. I understand that the plant uses the ions from these broken down elements. And I believe that you can supplement hydro or a nuetral mix grow with humic acid and seaweed and get similar results.
Little things matter.
I got a gallon of Neptunes Harvest seaweed (0-0-1) super cheap and immediately noticed that it had a very low PH. (Probably why it was on sale.) Rather than look at this as something I might need to correct, I decided to just use it like PH down.
I swear my plants got healthier and taste improved. Could be placebo, but perception is reality, right?
ProTekt silica also works great as a PH up. When my plants don't need NPK, I like to give them some proTekt + seaweed at ph 6.5 (soil). Highly recommended!
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
If you look at the Organic Standards Act a lot of it is about care of the soil. For the chemical farmer the soil is a medium to hold the plants and is fed a salt solution of nutrients which eventually runs off into the environment. To me a fertile topsoil is a form of old growth ecosystem. It can take a hundred years to gain an inch of topsoil. Organics was to me meant for the small farmer. A way of living and growing without needing large outside inputs being added to the system. Big money came in and replaced the hippies/back to the landers with clean scrubbed soccer moms.
Anyhow, I grow with worms. It is part of being a closed loop and recycling my inputs. All the paper/cardboard/food scraps I produce becomes worm food. An excellent balanced plant food. Worms adjust the soils pH, give of CO2 and make nutrients available as it passes thru the worm. Here is the major advantage in growing organically. When I put a plant in flower I am pretty much guaranteed a harvest. Hydroponic systems fail without notice and they have no buffer. Plants in soil have a huge buffer. I can go away for a few days and not worry. Even if the power goes out. the plant will wait till it comes back on. A few hours with out pumps running and your plants are strangling.
With my setup the plants can and have survived for 48 hours without pumps but I wouldn't do it on purpose lol. I really think this is an argument that will go on for ever. As the Stanford study showed, there is no real health benefit with organic and it's more of a way to lessen the footprint on the environment, I'm still on the fence about that as I see less yield and more work re carbon foot print due to more use of machinery for less. I own 100 acres of certified organic fields (I don't farm, but rent it out) and the yield has dropped dramatically but the soil is much nicer. I am also of the minority in that I prefer a well grown hydro bud for taste than I do a soil grow, yes I do both lol. The one dispensary that I do visit (rarely) sells the indoor hydro for more than the outdoor soil. I would rather grow my crops outdoors for the simple fact it's cheaper and easier (if the weather cooperates) to pull in huge numbers but it's illegal here so much higher risk IMO. Great discussion though but again I think it's more of a personal choice than anything, carry on lol.
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
you're probably right, and on a small scale i would support organic practices. i grew up partially in the south, and partially in Mn.
where there are farms measured in square miles. one acre is slightly smaller than a football field. what kind of compost heap do you need for a 1000 acre farm? or a 10,000 acre farm?
here ya go. if you are open minded and have 90 min to listen, you can find out how much bullshit there is in the big ag industry and how those practices are destroying the earth and the people that live on it.

 
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Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
She said synthetic fertilizers kill soil microbes, which isn't necessarily true.
I've grown more organic crops than I have synthetic, so I decided to give synthetic my best effort and see how it compares.
I recently started a new crop and went soilless from day 1. (Rock wool to custom mix)
Hate to admit it, but my organic plants never grew this fast. They are super healthy too. I'd post a pic but that feature isn't working on RIU yet...
All I've fed them is DynaGro Foliage Pro + a little cal-mag (CalliMagic by GH). Looks like they might need a bit more mag so I'll give em some epsom tonight.
 

Jubilant

Well-Known Member
She said synthetic fertilizers kill soil microbes, which isn't necessarily true.
I've grown more organic crops than I have synthetic, so I decided to give synthetic my best effort and see how it compares.
I recently started a new crop and went soilless from day 1. (Rock wool to custom mix)
Hate to admit it, but my organic plants never grew this fast. They are super healthy too. I'd post a pic but that feature isn't working on RIU yet...
All I've fed them is DynaGro Foliage Pro + a little cal-mag (CalliMagic by GH). Looks like they might need a bit more mag so I'll give em some epsom tonight.
You plant in one pot is not nearly on the scale nor the longevity requirements she is talking about. Have you tested your medium's biology? It's not gunna be there in a soiless mix fed synthetic nutes. Just because you can grow a cannabis plant with some synthetic nutes in a home grow better than your soil has very little to do with her topic.
 

GreenSanta

Well-Known Member
I'm curious about results in Organic vs Synthetic nutrients. I always eat organic when I can and was thinking maybe herb should be the same way.

I'm really interested in results. I know yield goes down with organics, but by how much?

Thanks!
yields goes up with organic, all this brainwash BS, only amateurs will yield less with organics. Simple, BIG POTS BIG LIGHTS, ok there are a few more tricks... sorry I had to say something have not read what anyone else had to say yet ,.. or should I even bother...
 

GreenSanta

Well-Known Member
She said synthetic fertilizers kill soil microbes, which isn't necessarily true.
I've grown more organic crops than I have synthetic, so I decided to give synthetic my best effort and see how it compares.
I recently started a new crop and went soilless from day 1. (Rock wool to custom mix)
Hate to admit it, but my organic plants never grew this fast. They are super healthy too. I'd post a pic but that feature isn't working on RIU yet...
All I've fed them is DynaGro Foliage Pro + a little cal-mag (CalliMagic by GH). Looks like they might need a bit more mag so I'll give em some epsom tonight.
do you own a microscope? sorry but I ll take her words.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
yields goes up with organic, all this brainwash BS, only amateurs will yield less with organics. Simple, BIG POTS BIG LIGHTS, ok there are a few more tricks... sorry I had to say something have not read what anyone else had to say yet ,.. or should I even bother...
Bullshit. Everyone knows synthetic yields more in a given pot size.
 
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