Do Your Plants Know the Difference Between Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers?

Organic farming has just been politicized. There is a place for it.... but it can never be more than a niche market.
I'm just a realist. Wishful thinking doesn't feed hungry people.

Organics can never do the heavy lifting that commercial farming does now.

There just isn't enough bountiful farm land left to go organic. Besides, all the green areas will soon be solar panels, wind turbines, and power lines.... lots and lots of powerlines....everywhere.

CrackerJax said:

The evidence for the superiority of organic food is mostly anecdotal and based more on irrational assumptions and wishful thinking than on hard scientific evidence. There is no significant difference between a natural molecule and one created in the laboratory. Being natural or organic does not make a substance safe* nor does being synthetic make a substance unsafe. Organic food does not offer special protection against cancer or any other disease. Organic food is not "healthier" than food produced by conventional farming, using synthetic pesticides and herbicides. Organic farming is not necessarily better for the environment than conventional farming. There is scant scientific evidence that most people can tell the difference in taste between organic and conventional foods. The bottom line is: fresher is better. Organic produce that travels thousands of miles to market is generally inferior to the same produce from local farmers, organic or not.

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Yes, organic plant-based foods are, on average, more nutritious.

From the executive summary available here: http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/Nutrient_Content_SSR_Executive_Summary_FINAL.pdf

Full report: http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/5367_Nutrient_Content_SSR_FINAL_V2.pdf

As the article mentions...it has more to do with freshness, not which fert was used. Plants can't tell the difference between organic and commercial fert's.

Hayduke said:

As a Naturalist, I am sure you would agree...It is not nice to fool with Mother Nature...I am not so sure that it is a good idea to eat corn and soybean products in which the plant expresses the the genes of BT, or will not die if you spray the shit out of it with round-up. My bottle of BT has all sorts or warnings about getting it in you...and Round-up is just plain evil.

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Interesting report here: http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/Full_first_nine.pdf and one on marestail here:http://www.btny.purdue.edu/weedScience/2003/Articles/horsetail7-23-03.pdf

organics vs synthetic is once thing, but GM food will be the downfall of us all.

For me there is no problem. If a guy wants to buy £ 1,000 of fertilizer = this is his problem. If anyone of you consider the difference between organic manure and chemical fertilizer = this is silly to criticize without knowing. I worked for 2 years for Mandala before of create Bundy Bud Seeds in 2001 = ask a Mandala with which he grows ? And why he cultivates Bio ?
I am not to explain that chemical fertilizers are the SHIT ! I just give information ! Ask a Delicatessen Seeds why he cultivates Bio ? I have to give lessons and everyone does as he wishes. Everyone is free to provide dollars to manufacturers of fertilizer ... but explain that the positive organic fertilizer is uthopique or irrational is evidence that people unfamiliar with organic fertilizer ...
If you grow tomatoes in hydroponics and Earth with fertilizers BIO = there is a difference! LOGIC! To say otherwise is LYING ... This is exactly same as here! Before criticizing fertilizers BIO = work with organic fertilizer !
This is the minimum ....
criticize without knowledge is small ...
This helps anyone! If a farmer knows no fertilizer BIO. The simplest is to say = I dont NO !!!!
Play an advocacy role for the chemical fertilizer is idiotic réaction ! there is no harm not know a thing ...
For maximum quality of Weed simplest is a land of great quality.
Not understanding this is a concern for a serious farmer. Working in hydroponics fertilizer IN HYDROPONIE system = logic ! but the final quality is very very very different ... in the odor, taste, flavor.
Ask a GHS or Bionova WHY ?
If people here think I'm telling nonsense = free has them ! I do not care ...
But do not criticize without knowing !
Many pro breeder laugh a lot and heard that ...
I gave a recipe that has been proven. Now if a farmer wants to buy fertilizer = this is not my problem. But a minimum of study, research, testing fertilizer is needed before saying idiocies enormous.
I spent 4 years in Morocco in 1994 for the WEED ! I spent 2 years in Thailand for the WEED = will explain go to big farmer land as fertilizer BIO are the SHIT !
This will make them laugh a lot ...
that a farmer works with an organic fertilizer or fertilizer chimic = for me = no problem ! This is not my problem !
But respect people who grow for 28 years when they say one thing. This will be a good start to communicate properly...

1 person with 200 000 posts on the forum not mean that she knows more than someone who has 20 posts on the forum. We must not mix egocentrism and know !

RESPECT HAS ALL !

The END of Post for ME !

PEACE...

I agree with you. I use organic fert's myself. There are times that it is a good way to grow. It just can't replace the way we grow food on a global basis.

I think for anybody except a large food corp/farm, organics is just fine.

You can get the same result with either one, organic is just easier to feed the plants all they need, with synthetic you are responsible for giving the plants exactly what it needs. So if a grower tried synthetic and said it wasnt has good as his organic then its his fault not the nutrients. No different than people blaming molasses or vermiculite for killing their plants.

In the end, you know what's really killing all of us who eat from the supermarkets.... corn. Corn is killing us all.

CrackerJax said:

Corn is killing us all.

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Corn syrup anyway...that nasty stuff is in EVERYTHING. Yuck.

Yes....what I meant.... it's all in the corn.....

corn, soy, flour, its all killing us.

Get off the beef. Beef should be once a week only. If we turned the plow on the cow fields and planted wheat grains, we could feed everyone much easier. Crops are more productive than cows per acre.

Oh but i love beef

wait that sounds kinda gay

me too.... oops!

CrackerJax said:

As the article mentions...it has more to do with freshness, not which fert was used. Plants can't tell the difference between organic and commercial fert's.

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Your right plants do not know what kind of ferts you are giving them, in fact plants dont know a thing because they have no conches thought, THEY HAVE NO BRAIN. But I do, and I have eyes and a tongue and I know that if i feed my plants organic nuts the Color, Flavor and natural sweetness, size of Fruit, Yield and everything you consider good about a plant culinary or not are all enhanced. If you are partially blind, dont have any taste buds, and you dont care what you are ingesting into your body go with chem nuts. But if you know anything about a good Chef who owns a Great Restaurant buys there product from local and organic farmers than you know they dont do it because its a trend, or a fad, they buy the product because they can tell a difference and so can there Customers, who havent already burnt there taste buds out with Old Age or Cigarettes. Any plant, tomato, herbs, root veg, Tubers, fruit... all grow based on what you feed them. If you dont feed them anything they will eventually know, if you feed them chem ferts they will know, if you feed them organic ferts they will know. So basically Organic ferts. will make a Tomato taste more like a Tomato, Basil taste more like Basil, and what ever strain of gang you are growing taste more like it should. Your Smoke or food should NEVER taste like Chemicals, only what it was intended to taste like.

That's a debatable point since science so far hasn't found much difference between the two in studies.

It comes down to a personal choice. As I posted earlier, at home or locally, if you wish to pay extra for organic ... go for it.

But feeding the world at this stage can ONLY be done with chemical fert's. Organics just isn't an efficient way to grow food. As far as I can tell, the world's population has only one direction ... up.

So, is the quality of organically produced cannabis better (using the criteria of Potency, Taste and Smell) than chemically produced?

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I have to say, I mostly agree with CrackerJax on this issue.

I have actually grown a crop in which half the plants were grown organically (subcools soil mix) and half chemically (Promix + AN 3-part). The organic crop yielded about 40% less than the chemically grown crop and took about 2 weeks longer to finish. So, organic definitely seems to be less effecient than chemical ferts. On the issue of quality, I didn't notice a difference between the two. It's anecdotal, but it's my experience just the same.

This has been beat to death but it is well known in scientific/horticultural circles that plants do not pull sugars, amino acids, bat guano, bonemeal or anything else organic through the root membrane, they only pull water and ions, that's it. Chemical fertilizer = Water + ions (ie. the perfect plant food). The only reason you will hear people complaining about the "harsh chemical taste" in chemically grown bud is because most "growers", and I use that term lightly, over-fertilize. You can create the same harsh tasting plant using organics as well. There's a fine line between enough and too much, and most people cross that line and end up producing over-ferted crap. When chemical fertilizer is used in the proper proportions with correct nutrient ratios it will produce a crop of equal quality to organically produced crop, while at the same time, produce more.

My personal opinion on the subject:

I think organic and chemical based nutrients both have their place in the context of growing cannabis. I find that chemical nutrients really shine when used in a hydroponic environment where PH, nutrient concentration, and nutrient ratios can be precisely adjusted. I have never grown such a beautiful, bountiful crop as I have with a good 3-part nutrient in a hydroponic environment. On the other hand, I think soil is better suited to organic ferts because of the inherent lack of control in soil mediums.

Ultimately, in the end, to each their own.

highpsi said:

My personal opinion on the subject:

I think organic and chemical based nutrients both have their place in the context of growing cannabis. I find that chemical nutrients really shine when used in a hydroponic environment where PH, nutrient concentration, and nutrient ratios can be precisely adjusted. I have never grown such a beautiful, bountiful crop as I have with a good 3-part nutrient in a hydroponic environment. On the other hand, I think soil is better suited to organic ferts because of the inherent lack of control in soil mediums.

Ultimately, in the end, to each their own.

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Thanks for sharing your opinion!