How much "Secondary Nutes" is enough?

As a fairly recent "convert" from store bought "big name" products to Mix Your Own Organics, I have a whole new game to learn!

My main focus, right now, is on secondary nutes and trace elements. I'm familiar with that old Chestnut: "Hopefully you will get enough Sulphur, Calcium and Magnesium (and, presumably, all the "Trace Elements") in your compost or soil". Well - "Hopefully" don't feed the Bulldog, Okay? My questions are:
1. How much "secondary nutrients" and "trace elements" do plants (cannabis) actually require?
2. How can we be sure that our "mixes" are supplying everything, aside from using something like "Fritted Trace Elements"?

I have "a few" organic fertilizers on hand, so I decided to take a good look at the labels. The only one that really got more specific about the "Guaranteed Analysis" than simple N-P-K numbers was my bag of FoxFarm Marine Cuisine. To my surprise, I found the Calcium and Sulphur levels to be "roughly comparable" to the N-P-K numbers at about 5% each. But the Magnesium was much lower at about 1/2%. So, what's up - can anybody help me out, or point me in the right direction?

T.H.Cammo said:

As a fairly recent "convert" from store bought "big name" products to Mix Your Own Organics, I have a whole new game to learn!

My main focus, right now, is on secondary nutes and trace elements. I'm familiar with that old Chestnut: "Hopefully you will get enough Sulphur, Calcium and Magnesium (and, presumably, all the "Trace Elements") in your compost or soil". Well - "Hopefully" don't feed the Bulldog, Okay? My questions are:
1. How much "secondary nutrients" and "trace elements" do plants (cannabis) actually require?
2. How can we be sure that our "mixes" are supplying everything, aside from using something like "Fritted Trace Elements"?

I have "a few" organic fertilizers on hand, so I decided to take a good look at the labels. The only one that really got more specific about the "Guaranteed Analysis" than simple N-P-K numbers was my bag of FoxFarm Marine Cuisine. To my surprise, I found the Calcium and Sulphur levels to be "roughly comparable" to the N-P-K numbers at about 5% each. But the Magnesium was much lower at about 1/2%. So, what's up - can anybody help me out, or point me in the right direction?

Click to expand...

Not sure what exactly your looking for from your post. But magnesium and calcium can be found in the powdered form of lime/limestone proudcts.

Some areas you can't find it, but maybe if you look hard enough. Ask for Dolomite lime.

Sulfur can be found in Sulfate of Potash and a few other products.

All plants are different even inside the genus of cannabis. You just have to pay attention to your plants some require more and some less.

hope it helps

Thanks for the responce Triconomics! I'm already aware of the "added" benefits (Magnesium and Calcium) in using Dolomite Lime. I use it primarily to balance pH - but a little extra Mag. and Cal. are always welcome! I understand that "Epsom Salts" are a good source as well, plus, there's Sulphur in there too. What still remains unclear to me is "How much of these elements are we getting?". It would be nice if there was something similar to N-P-K numbers that went all the way down through all 16 (or 13) elements.

I'm also not clear about the "Staying Power" of these "processed" sources of elements. It seems to me that the elements would disolve out of Dolomite Lime more slowly, where Epsom Salts would "dump everything" more quickly and require more frequent re-applications.

I suppose what I am really looking for are "Natural" sources for all these elements that are contained in the amendments that I could use to formulate my own mix. Maybe I'm expecting too much, maybe supplimenting the secondary nutrients and trace elements directly with "processed" products, or products made especially for that purpose, is the more "Realistic" approach. I don't want to treat deficentcies later, I want to supply everything ahead of time.

There must be some "Ballpark" figures out there, some "Rule of thumb" ratios that tell how much Secondary Nutrients and Trace Elements we need (in direct comparison to N-P-K numbers).
Something like this (which is completely "fictional"):
"Assuming fairely balanced N-P-K numbers":
Secondary Nutrients - Cal. Mag. and Sul. "should be about 1/4 to 1/8 the amount of N-P-K".
Trace Elements - "should be about 1% to 1/4% the amount of N-P-K".
"Something like this!", easy enough to understand yet informative enough to be usefull. That's part of what I'm looking for! Do these "Rule of thumb" ratios exsist antwhere? Or am I just being a "pain in the ass"?

T.H.Cammo said:

Thanks for the responce Triconomics! I'm already aware of the "added" benefits (Magnesium and Calcium) in using Dolomite Lime. I use it primarily to balance pH - but a little extra Mag. and Cal. are always welcome! I understand that "Epsom Salts" are a good source as well, plus, there's Sulphur in there too. What still remains unclear to me is "How much of these elements are we getting?". It would be nice if there was something similar to N-P-K numbers that went all the way down through all 16 (or 13) elements.

I'm also not clear about the "Staying Power" of these "processed" sources of elements. It seems to me that the elements would disolve out of Dolomite Lime more slowly, where Epsom Salts would "dump everything" more quickly and require more frequent re-applications.

I suppose what I am really looking for are "Natural" sources for all these elements that are contained in the amendments that I could use to formulate my own mix. Maybe I'm expecting too much, maybe supplimenting the secondary nutrients and trace elements directly with "processed" products, or products made especially for that purpose, is the more "Realistic" approach. I don't want to treat deficentcies later, I want to supply everything ahead of time.

There must be some "Ballpark" figures out there, some "Rule of thumb" ratios that tell how much Secondary Nutrients and Trace Elements we need (in direct comparison to N-P-K numbers).
Something like this (which is completely "fictional"):
"Assuming fairely balanced N-P-K numbers":
Secondary Nutrients - Cal. Mag. and Sul. "should be about 1/4 to 1/8 the amount of N-P-K".
Trace Elements - "should be about 1% to 1/4% the amount of N-P-K".
"Something like this!", easy enough to understand yet informative enough to be usefull. That's part of what I'm looking for! Do these "Rule of thumb" ratios exsist antwhere? Or am I just being a "pain in the ass"?

Click to expand...

No, it's actually a really good question. However it is a question I can't answer for you.

But if your looking to find the different natural sources for trace minerals that I can help you find. And you can experiment with different ratios to find what works for you.

Alot of growers like and use kelp as an overall plant stimulator and trace minerals.

You can look through this on Page 2 it lists the trace mineral products that are available.
Azomite, Glacial rock dust, Jersey Greensand.

http://concentratesnw.com/products/Retail master.pdf

You can do individual internet searches to find more information about each to see which one suits you.