Cannabis and nitrogen – When cannabis plants have yellow leaves

Cannabis and nitrogen

Why is nitrogen so important for cannabis plants

Nitrogen has been described as ‘the most important nutrient that plants get from the soil‘ and is one of the most important, if not the most important plant nutrient that your cannabis plants need. Why is nitrogen so important for growing cannabis?

Nitrogen is essential for keeping marihuana leaves green. Nitrogen is an essential element of chlorophyll, the pigment found in plants that is responsible for the different shades of green in leaves. This is why nitrogen deficiency in cannabis can be easily recognised by the fact that cannabis leaves turn yellow.

Nitrogen also plays a huge role in photosynthesis, as chlorophyll is an essential part of this integral process in which plants use sunlight to create the energy they need to survive.

Cannabis plants also need nitrogen, as it is a huge part of the amino acids found in plants. All plants make proteins from the amino acids found in nitrogen, and these proteins are essential for healthy growth and development.

Nitrogen is also important for cannabis plants because it is an essential component of the nucleic acids that marihuana plants need to grow and reproduce. Nucleic acids can be considered as the genetic material of plant cells because they contain DNA and different types of RNA.

How to detect nitrogen deficiency in marihuana

Knowing how important nitrogen is for the health of your plants, it is easy to understand how a deficiency of nitrogen can seriously harm and negatively affect your harvest.

What exactly are the symptoms of nitrogen deficiency in cannabis plants? What should you look for to determine if you might have a nitrogen deficiency in your cannabis?

Let’s take a look at this.

The biggest sign of nitrogen deficiency is yellowing cannabis leaves. In the early stages of nitrogen deficiency, weeds will develop yellow leaf tips, which will soon transfer to the entire leaf. Sometimes, however, yellow leaves are simply part of the plant’s life cycle. It is important to be able to distinguish between what is normal and when you actually have a problem.

Did you know that it is typical for the older leaves at the bottom of the marihuana plant to turn yellow and fall off as the plant begins to mature? This is because the younger leaves at the top of the plant are ‘stealing’ nitrogen from the older, lower leaves. You’ll also notice that cannabis leaves turn yellow and fall off towards the end of the plant’s growth cycle, as nitrogen is redirected to the flowers so they can flower beautifully.

When do you know you have a nitrogen deficiency problem? One of the biggest signs of a nitrogen deficiency is when the leaves on the cannabis plant begin to yellow and start to fall off at the vegetative stage. If you notice the yellowing starting to climb and work its way up the plant, you most likely have a nitrogen deficiency in your cannabis.

Remember, when you see yellowing leaves during flowering, this is usually perfectly normal. flowers need nitrogen too! However, when they yellow during the growing season and fall off the plant quickly, you definitely have a problem. If this happens, knowing everything you can about correcting nitrogen deficiency is crucial.

How to eliminate nitrogen deficiency in cannabis

Nitrogen in the soil comes in three common forms: organic nitrogen compounds, nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4).

If you have a nitrogen deficiency problem in your marihuana, you’ll want to correct it as soon as possible. The good news is that it’s as simple as feeding the plants balanced nutrients. Almost all pre-mixed plant nutrients contain nitrogen because it is so important to the overall health of the plant.

On plant fertiliser packages, nitrogen will be the first number listed in a set of three numbers found on all pre-mixed nutrients. These numbers indicate the N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) content of the fertiliser. If you want to fix a nitrogen deficiency in your cannabis plants, look for a water-soluble fertiliser where the ‘N’ number is much higher than P or K. This will usually solve any nitrogen deficiency problems quickly.

Water-soluble plant nutrients will feed nitrogen straight to the plant roots, where they need it most. Once fertilised, the plants will begin to absorb nitrogen as quickly as it is available to them, with yellow cannabis leaves slowly turning green as a result.

If you notice the signs of nitrogen deficiency in your marihuana and address the problem immediately, the plants should return to their natural healthy, bright green colour within a week or so. Keep in mind, however, that yellow marihuana leaves that have been severely affected by nitrogen deficiency will not recover and should be removed from the plant.