Growing Cannabis with Fish Emulsion
When your plants are in the vegetative stage, you need to give them a fertilizer high in nitrogen. There are a ton of options available on the market. One option I like is fish emulsion. I have been growing cannabis with fish emulsion for years. When at the store, I am sure you have probably seen Alaskan Fish Emulsion 5-1-1. Fish emulsion is sold at almost all major retailers. This includes Walmart, Home Depot, Dixieline, and Lowes. You can also purchase it online as well.
Fish Emulsion is one of my favorites because it is organic, cheap, easy to find and works great in my cannabis garden. Fish Emulsion is a all natural formula that provides a rich source of organic matter that breaks down and releases nutrients into the soil. This enhances the strength and vigor of your plants. I only use fish emulsion when my plants are in the vegetative state. If your plants are turning yellow, fish emulsion is a great fertilizer to green up your garden. It works fast too and won’t burn your plants. Follow the directions when applying. Since I feed regularly, I only use 1 TBSP per gallon and it works great!
- OMRI listed
- Easy to use, just mix with water
- 5-1-1 fertilizer is an excellent source of organic plant nutrients
- Ideal for use with indoor and outdoor plants
- Deodorized with Natural Wintergreen so it won’t stink up your yard
- Wont burn your cannabis plants
Cannabis Fish Emulsion Foliar Spray
Fish emulsion also can be used as a foliar spray when your plants need nutrients fast. In my opinion, foliar sprays should only be applied when your plants roots can not intake the necessary nutrients. Foliar sprays are great at correcting nutrient deficiencies because they provide a rapid boost to your marijuana plants. A fish emulsion based foliar spray will mostly help plants that need nitrogen. Don’t use foliar sprays during flower.
24 Comments on “Growing Cannabis with Fish Emulsion”
Do you use this daily during the vegetative state?
Definitely not daily. I think the instructions say to use once every couple weeks.
What if your growing airoponics or hydroponics with no soil…
I’m new to growing. Do you use anything else for your cannabis or is Fish emulsion enough? What do you use on the flowering stage?
Thanks!
Syn,
Fish Emulsion is a great source of nitrogen and works great for vegging your plants. When you plants start flowering, you will need to switch to a bloom fertilizer. Tiger bloom is a great liquid bloom fertilizer. Dr Earth also has a great bloom fertilizer.
Oh thanks for answering. So in veg stage is fish emulsion all you use or do you supplement with anything else?
Thanks again Patrick!
Syn
Syn,
Fish emulsion is definitely a staple in my garden. However, I also enjoying trying new fertilizers to see how they work. Here is fertilizer guide I wrote… and here is another one. Hope it helps!
Do you use it once a day then water your plants with just water later on that day?
Hi Miguel,
Make sure that you mix your fish emulsion with water before applying. If you pour the concentrate directly on your plant, it will most likely burn your plant/stunt it/or possibly kill it.
I definitely don’t use it daily. It is more of a weekly thing for me. Check the directions on your bottle and see what the suggested use is. The fish emulsion I use has a npk ratio of 5-1-1. It is a great nitrogen based fertilizer that keeps your garden GREEN! Fish emulsion is great for vegging your plants. Larger plants generally require more fertilizer than smaller plants so start your girls slow and work up. I stop using it as soon as flowering begins.
What concentration and volume do you use when your plants are just starting the vegetative stage?
Also, how often do you recommend checking pH and nutrient levels?
Hi Daniel,
It really depends on a few factors: size of the plants, type of plant (seed vs clone), type of soil and how old the soil is.
Sounds like your plants are small and you used seeds, but I am only assuming. If your plants are really small, you can use 1/2 dosage or less and move up from there. Then again, if you are using some fresh potting soil that has a lot of nutrients in it like Fox Farms Ocean Forest, you might not need to feed them for a month or more until those nutrients are consumed. Luckily, 5-1-1 fish emulsion is somewhat tough to over apply. Im not saying it’s impossible to over apply, but you really have to apply a lot to burn them. But, if you notice your plants leaves turning yellow bump up the dosage.
I would recommend checking your nutrient levels and PH regularly, it can’t hurt. Checking your PH and nutrients levels is so easy, so why not double check to be safe? The goal is to keep a vigorous growth rate, so you definitely want to avoid a situation where there isn’t enough nutrients to sustain that type of growth. Hope that helps a little!
So if im using Fox Farm ocean forest and my plants are about 7 inches tall should i start putting fish emulsion in? Mine were clones and i put them in the ground when they were small. its been a month and 2 weeks and there not growing tall why is that if you can answer please and thank you
Selena, it seems like your plants are growing very slowly although clones need a little time to build up roots. Are they inside or outside? The more light they get the faster they will grow (both hours and intensity). I have plants from seeds 4 weeks old that are already 6 inches tall and growing close to an inch a day.
Are your leaves a nice green color with no discoloration around the edges? That’s a great clue about the health of the plant. There are a lot of factors but I would be starting with a weak fish emulsion by now.
Been growing in ground in some of the richest black growing soil in the world for 30 years. Switched to 6 gallon buckets this year and feel like a complete rookie noob. 3 plants 2.5 to 3 ft. And bushy. Just realized my wife’s fish emulsion is only 2-1-0! Bought some Alaska 5-1-1. If I mix one tbsp. per gallon will that be sufficient to use every one to two weeks? Should I use 1 gal. Per plant or 1 gal. divided between the 3? I’m using Pro mix bx with compost and coco mixed in. Also, is the 2-1-0 emulsion ok to use on my autos that are in full bud and about 6-7 weeks away from harvest?
Dave,
Thanks for the questions! For 5-1-1, one tbsp per gallon should be sufficient every one to two weeks during veg. I recommend judging each plant individually and feeding based off that. Different strains have different needs so each one is going to need a varied amount of nutrients.
Also, at full bud and only 6-7 weeks from harvest, your autos require a proper bloom fertilizer. You could probably feed them a little 2-1-0 emulsion as a supplement. The 2-1-0 wouldn’t hurt, but overall your plants focus needs to be on producing big buds, not vegging. Hope that helps a little! Lmk if you have any other questions.
I’m. Using a 3-3-0.3 Harris 3tbs spoons per gallon every 7days and there doing amazing I still have at least a month before I flush
Hello,
I recently fertilized my plants with Fish Emulsion. Unfortunately I misread the directions and they were nutrient burnt. Some leaves browned at the tips, and died. Now some of the plants are almost entirely a lighter yellow/green, with some of the leaves (at the top on the plant particularly) curling upwards.
I have been flushing them, but it looks like now they are deficient in something (nitrogen?) Should I reapply a smaller amount of the fish fertilizer?
Thanks for your help!
Sorry to hear that! Based off the info you provided, I would not give them anymore fertilizer atm. Sounds your plants are stressed. I would keep flushing with water. FYI, sometimes it can take a couple months for plants to recover and begin normal vegetative growth again. Hope this helps a little.
I found exactly the information I was looking for. I in advertently double the amount of fish fertilizer I added to the water and repeatedly Applied it by not reading the directions correctly. Two of them are really short and bushy and they just don’t look good. Will they recover? If so do you have any idea how long it will take? Thanks for your time and attention.
Linda,
They may or may not recover; it just depends. I made a similar mistake several years back and both my plants ended up dying despite my best efforts to save them. I would recommend flushing with water. Good luck!
I’ve always given my plants GROW in the beginning and BLOOM the last 6 or 8 weeks. My roommate keeps using fish emulsion from day one. It’s making me crazy. They have been in bloom for 7-10 days ow and he is still using fish emulsion. Usually I see crystals forming on the leaf and bud by now. Is the fish emulsion taking away from the budding?!
Is it good for your plants if you use calmag along with the fish fertilizer?
My autos are in green house 1 month old they love this stuff cant get enough I foiler spray with it daily but also spay just water once day in living soil Dr, Earth tom veg herb with emultion compost teas havnt seen no sighn of stress its just booming lol
I like to use the pickle jars and I add 1 cap sometimes a little more depending on the size of my plant And fill to the top of the pickle jar.it is that easy. And I add this once a week some times I’ll skip a week but that’s it.