Growing autoflowers without nutrients: all you need to know

Cannabis in the wilderness has all its needs met by mother nature. It draws the sun, water, and minerals from the natural environment and thrives without added fertilizers. Following that logic, growing autoflowers without nutrients should be possible and prolific.

While autos need less food than photos, they still require some. No cannabis plant can go without minerals, no matter how fast-growing. Does that mean no-nutrient growing can’t be done?

It’s not the easiest to pull off, but some know-how makes it doable.

Join us to learn about fertilizer-free autoflower cultivation. We discuss non-photos’ needs for minerals and ways to grow potent seeds into sticky buds without extra nutrients.

Super Silver Haze x Lemon Skunk x Ruderalis

Lemon Haze Auto

A small but powerful plant whose crop will meet your expectations at the time of year you need it, thanks to its great development indoors with a good photoperiod. You’ll be conquered by the flavour of lemon and spices and a refreshing and revitalising effect when you get your hands on this sativa-dominant marijuana seed.

Why Grow Without Nutes?

Growers enjoy pushing boundaries of what plants can handle, finding ways to minimize the input while maximizing yields. Some even tried cultivating with only water, air, and light, omitting nutrients from the mix.

How far can this go?

The plant can’t survive without nutrients, so don’t stick it in your backyard and call it a day. It’ll likely perish before flowering.

When we say “no nutrients,” we usually mean planting seeds in fortified soil and leaving the plants alone. The approach also entails skipping all artificial extras and relying only on what nature can provide.

The just-add-water style eliminates the need to study charts, move between veg and bloom solutions, and worry about a nutrient burn. Fertilizers can also be expensive. So, it may sound enticing to eliminate them from the equation.

Will this work, or are you trading plant health and harvest heft for convenience?

Right off the bat, know that you can grow autos without additional nutrients. It may negatively affect your yields, though.

The trouble is that most artificial and store-bought mixes take the guesswork out of cultivation. You’ll need to make intelligent decisions to make the all-natural setup equally effective.

Before going into the details, let’s see what autos are and what makes them different.

Do Autos Need Nutrients?

Autoflowering weed contains ruderalis genetics that let it grow, flower, and ripen regardless of the amount of light. The plants remain compact and finish their life cycle within three months. As a result, they require less food than their long-growing photoperiod counterparts.

Despite their different life cycle, autos have the same biochemical processes and nutrient requirements as their standard cousins. So, the basic cultivation principles are the same.

When the seeds germinate, their internal structure contains all minerals a baby plant needs to succeed. After transplanting seedlings, you start them on a small dose of nitrogen-rich fertilizer. The emphasis here is on small, as the vegging stage will only last 4–6 weeks.

You blend veg and bloom nutrients for a week when the pre-flowers start forming, transitioning fully to a flower-time fertilizer afterward. You feed till 10 days before the harvest, when you flush to ensure a clean bud flavor.

This approach results in potent, sticky buds with a full flavor. Can you achieve the same effect without adding fertilizer? Usually not.

Out of the 12 or so weeks of autos’ lives, they don’t need nutrients during the first two or three (seedling phase) and final two (flushing). Since they only need food for two or so months, they face fewer consequences of deficiencies.

Super Silver Haze x Lemon Skunk x Ruderalis

Lemon Haze Auto

A small but powerful plant whose crop will meet your expectations at the time of year you need it, thanks to its great development indoors with a good photoperiod. You’ll be conquered by the flavour of lemon and spices and a refreshing and revitalising effect when you get your hands on this sativa-dominant marijuana seed.

Growing Without Nutes: What Can Happen?

A plant can grow without added fertilizer, but that has downsides. Their yields aren’t as large and sticky as those at-home growers get from controlled cultivation.

As we domesticated cannabis, we developed ways to increase its output in ways that don’t exist in the wilderness. When you remove that artificially optimized source of plant food, the following may happen:

• Stunted growth: Autos have a short vegging period and rely on minerals to develop side branches and foliage. Without them, you’re left with small, weak-limbed plants.
• Lower yields: Crop size directly corresponds to harvest size. Small plants have sparse flower sites and can carry fewer buds, diminishing the final output.
• Diminished bag appeal: Balanced fertilizers contain minerals that encourage blooming bud fattening. Without them, the weed is dry and lacks flavor and aroma.

If you notice these effects, know that the soil wasn’t rich enough and amend it the next time.

Tips on Cultivating Autos Without Fertilizer

Cannabis can’t flourish in no-nutrient setups, but there are ways to meet its demands that don’t involve artificial fertilizer. Here are five handy tips for growing autoflowers without nutrients.

Pick the Right Setup

Not all cannabis growing setups depend on nutrients to the same extent. Here’s where you may usually sow and how that fits the no-fertilizer method:

• Hydroponics: Plant roots sit in a water-nutrient blend and extend without physical hindrances. This medium won’t fly without fertilizer, as careful feeding is essential to making it work.
• Inert substrates: Rockwool, coco coir, and clay pebbles combine traditional and modern cultivation styles. They offer more structural support than hydroponics but rely heavily on fertilization. So, you can’t grow in these media without liquid additions.
• Soil: This traditional growing medium already contains some essential nutrients for weed. Depending on its concentration, you can get away with supplementing a bit or nothing at all.

So, growers who don’t want to supplement must choose soil. Why not specify even more?

Sow in Rich Soil

To get appetizing buds without fertilizer, you can’t use sterile soils that lack minerals. Go one of these two routes:

• Quality potting soil: Numerous gardening companies now produce pre-mixed media that accommodates all plants’ nutrient needs. As a bonus, they’re ready to use from the bag and offer incredible ease.
• Create a mineral-rich medium: If you don’t mind the extra work, you can create super soil at home and cater to your plants without added fertilizer. Combine a batch of garden soil or coco coir with slow-release compost for the best results.

Watch the pH Levels

Cannabis can only absorb nutrients in a narrow pH range and prefers slightly acidic media (6.2–6.5). Anything outside this range hinders its ability to take up the minerals, causing deficiencies and health issues.

The ideal pH matters whether or not you provide fertilizer, but it doubles in importance when the plants rely solely on what’s in the soil.

Purchase a precise meter, drops, or strip kit and check these two metrics every time you water:

• The water before showering plants: Most tap water is slightly acidic, so it should be suitable. Distilled and reverse osmosis is even better.
• The runoff at the tray: If the value is significantly lower or higher, the acidity or alkalinity of your soil can hinder absorption. You can adjust it by adding organic materials, pH-Up, or pH-Down solutions.

Optimize the Environment

Whether you grow indoors or outdoors, focus on ensuring the ideal cultivation conditions for your weed. They’re extra vulnerable if the minerals are lacking, and suboptimal environments could cause irreversible harm.

Watch the temperature and humidity, prevent pests, and supply enough light to supercharge plant development and bud production.

Consider Full Organics

The final way to avoid supplementation with fertilizer is also the simplest: go organic. Build a strong microbiome foundation in your soil to provide nutrients. Once you do, you can get away with feeding them pure water.

Living soil contains microorganisms that work together to create a healthy environment. Some key players include:

• Bacteria support larger lifeforms like protozoa, which excrete plant food.
• Fungi link up with root systems and boost the nutrient uptake.
• Nematodes turn nutrients into plant-available forms and keep away microscopic predators.
• Earthworms eat away harmful bacteria, deposit vital minerals, and aerate the space around the root zone.

This approach builds a system that cares for plant needs and eliminates the need for external assistance. It’s sustainable, low-maintenance, and great for growing sticky marijuana free of chemical flavors.

Balancing Convenience and Plant Needs

So, can you grow autoflowers without nutrients? In some setups.

As a rule, hydroponic, inert media, and sterile soil growers won’t see great returns from a fertilizer-free technique. Those with pre-made potting mixes and super soil can take this road to avoid nutrient-burning their sensitive autos while getting heaps of buds.

Instead of skipping fertilizer altogether, make it inherent to your soil. Organic growing is very affordable, prevents the hassle of supplementation, and minimizes the occurrence of nutrient troubles. Why risk harvest quantity and quality when you can have the best of both worlds?

You have the knowledge. Now it’s time to buy seeds and get growing.