Heavy metals in Organics

xBOBxSAGETx · Mar 15, 2019

Hey guys, there seems to be no discussion about this but I’ve just been educating myself in Organics in general. Residual heavy metals seem to be a common thread in Organics. Rock dusts being the heaviest hitter amongst organic fertilizers. Has anyone tested their flowers for heavy metals and is this simply fear mongering? Or is this truly a concern? As with everything surrounding cannabis the research in limited but Organics in fruits and vegetables the info is out there. I’ve read that roly-polys reduce heavy metals. Any thoughts/opinions? I am a novice grower and not biased towards organic or synthetic growing. What I can get behind with Organics is having things correct at the source (soil) and not having to supplement with bottled nutrients to feed my plant. Other than that I’m not into the “organic” lifestyle with my day to day life.

Im planning on doing some experiments with lab tests. I just want to know what you guys think before hand!

MJPassion · Mar 15, 2019

Being that cannabis is used, the world over, for phytoremediation of contaminated grounds (Cherynoble for instance); you should be concerned with heavy metals in your medium/plants. I doubt anybody is testing for them though.

xBOBxSAGETx · Mar 15, 2019

MJPassion said:
Being that cannabis is used, the world over, for phytoremediation of contaminated grounds (Cherynoble for instance); you should be concerned with heavy metals in your medium/plants. I doubt anybody is testing for them though.

There is testing available for heavy metals in plant material.

russian420 · Mar 15, 2019

if you want alot heavy metals.
Grow UNorganic.

Keep use those chemical nutes and you will have that

Organic grow is pure nature
SORRY

AgentPothead · Mar 15, 2019

xBOBxSAGETx said:
There is testing available for heavy metals in plant material.

Yes those tests exist, I think he meant nobody is spending their money to test that, which is weird with so many people growing in soil, myself included. Umass just seems to have the soil tests if I'm reading this right, plus as a federally accredited university I don't think they would want to be testing marijuana anyway. The 3 testing labs in Mass all seem to offer flower tests, but they seem expensive if I'm submitting a sample for each plant. Is there an easy way to home test for heavy metals in plants? And I mean if you get your soil tested before growing in it, that's a good general area of what to expect I'd imagine.

MJPassion · Mar 15, 2019

xBOBxSAGETx said:
There is testing available for heavy metals in plant material.

Yep.

I'm pretty sure I could send a soil sample out to nearly any of the various soil testing labs for such or I could take a soil/tissue sample to the county Ag office. I'm pretty sure that there are a couple fertilizer companies that do this type of testing as well.

GOT_BUD? · Mar 15, 2019

My plants love heavy metal.

And gangster rap.

I'll see myself out now.

Microbeman · Mar 15, 2019

All reputable soil makers-distributors will test for heavy metals. Any lab testing legal cannabis for the industry will also be doing so.
I tested all my soil and amendments that were not already tested. A good test (even for soil) costs around $200+.

dank.frank · Mar 15, 2019

In all reality, cannabis will and does pull heavy metals and even radioactive materials from the soil quite readily.

In terms of organic soil though, you go back to the cations and anions and what charges are present in the soil. If you have excessive free +/- charged particles for things to form bonds with, those bonds will be formed, and that includes heavy metals.

The trick is to make sure you have adequate iron, manganese, boron, and other essential micro elements. If these are present in the soil system in the right proportions, then the cation exchange sites are filled with these micro-nutrients instead of the heavy metals you're worried about.

dank.Frank

Lost in a SOG · Mar 15, 2019

Yeah and it an availability thing at different pHs as well.. for example at v.low acidity aluminium becomes super available..

With lots of humates any particularly agressively charged chemistry will remain locked up in them..

Toxicity in other growing methods is FAR FAR more likely so long as you use a sensible organic soil recipe.. with bottled nutes you're forcing them to eat what you want which can be much more toxic than preparing a microbe rich soil and letting the plant and the microbes figure it all out..

Cannabis actually isnt that much more an agressive accumulator than most other plants if you look at the dry weight values in studies but we dont inhale broccoli or carrots and the lungs are a pretty poor elimination pathway..

Sweetdog760 · Mar 15, 2019

Kelps known to bind with heavy metals making less available ( or something along those lines). There's plenty of research showing its effects on heavy metals, radioactivity, etc...

KIS · Mar 16, 2019

Because of the level of nutrients we put in our soil mixes (similar to anyone making "super soils") we were technically required to register as a fertilizer which made us subject to heavy metal testing, which is published as public record in each state we are registered. Now not all soil makers have gone this route. If a product is registered as a fertilizer though it will have been required to submit heavy metal testing to make sure it meets the standards set by the state. Hope that's helpful. You could get your own testing done but it's going to run you a couple hundred dollars per test.

Ibechillin · Mar 16, 2019

Microbeman · Mar 16, 2019

Ibechillin. This would not include those growing naturally and there is not a synthetic phosphorus fertilizer around which does not contain polonium 210.....well I think there is one which is super expensive.
Just because some fertilizer is called organic does not make it so in my book.

I'm not defending the post you quoted by any stretch.

Ibechillin · Mar 16, 2019

thailer · Mar 16, 2019

i would be more worried about your water source containing heavy metals. i was having problems for years with cloning basically getting zero strikes. i had tropical fish and they kept dying. i thought i was doing a poor job. i got a water test of our well water using the cold tap so the hot water heater didn't interfere with the results. it showed rates higher that EPA suggestions of copper and aluminum as well as nutrients I'm assuming is from septics in our area as well as 17 ppm of silica. So i got artesian well water for the clones and am now getting 100% strikes. I use RO water now for the plants in soil. All the plants are looking better also. my guess is that if you had metals effecting your plants, you'd know because there would be symptoms.

Ibechillin · Mar 16, 2019

Funny your in Washington too thailer, lots of well water (and massivley varying quality). My main grow spot over the years ran 400ppm well water through recirculating hydroponics/rockwool and the plants absolutely loved it haha best results ive ever had.

thailer · Mar 16, 2019

haha It's the Water. :smoke:

yeah, i'm not too far from you too. our area has high basalt so the water has high levels of silica naturally and is quite soft. i only have 100 ppm total with 10 ppm carbonates. the artesian well is soft also but has more carbonates to buffer so it takes a LOT more acid to lower than my water just a few miles away.

Ibechillin · Mar 16, 2019

If you know where Clover Creek is at in Spanaway I lived right on it thats where the 400ppm was at. Im not sure exactly whats in the ground mineral wise in the area and I never had the water tested, never even checked or adjusted the ph one time in over a year lol it just worked. It was awhile later that I got an RO system and blue lab ph/ppm meter that i learned.

Lost in a SOG · Mar 16, 2019

Ibechillin said:
Am I the only one who finds it hilarious when "organic" people say synthetic nutrients are dirty when those same people typically add sea based and rock based inputs full of heavy metals (and minute amounts of radiation) into their soil and plants?

I cant imagine a cleaner product than one grown in a sealed environment with tested clean synthetic nutrients tbh (and tissue testing), hell add in silicon, aminos, humic/fulvic acid, vitamins B1 and B2, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and some beneficial bacterias/fungi its damn near the same (to me at least).

Ha just "some" beneficial bacteria?.. thats where organic wins.. my soil is super alive.

You can add all that stuff and tell yourself that plant is absorbing it etc but you dont know..

Even my worst soil mixes when i was learning organics did not go that badly compared to several times using a different bottled nute and getting horrible tasting weird plants..

The trillions of extra microbes in an organic mix is where it wins out because they mediate and mitigate any toxic excesses..

Plus plants have grown with this level of mutualistic relationship in soil since day 1 and not in soiless mixes being drip fed nutrients decided by its master..

When you go organic you'll understand when you see plants happier and healthier than anything you have seen.. you cant force greatness..

Only imo but i did use bottled nutes for 15 years before going organic 5 ago and i do wish id gone organic 20 years ago now.

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