By Luke Sumpter Reviewed by: Silvia Maroto


There’s more than one way to feed a cannabis plant. Synthetic nutrients provide an instant solution to nutritional deficiencies, however, they don’t do much for the health of the soil[1]. In contrast, organic nutrients provide the complete package, feeding plants and the soil in kind. Top dressing is a technique that involves applying organic nutrients to the surface of the soil. Many cultivators have improved the health of their crops using this simple yet effective method.

Importance Of The Rhizosphere

Pioneering steps in the field of soil science have greatly enhanced our understanding of what is going on beneath the surface. We now know that the root zone (or rhizosphere) is a microcosm of life[2]. It’s home to beneficial bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and protozoa. These microorganisms make up what soil scientist Dr Elaine Ingham calls the “soil food web”[3]. They play fundamental roles in the health of soil and the plants that grow in it, from breaking down organic matter to deterring pests.

Researchers have compared the rhizosphere with a thriving alien landscape, with a single cubic centimetre of soil containing as much biodiversity as a hectare of above-ground forest.

Unfortunately, modern agricultural practices neglect this delicate system of life[4]. Synthetic fertilisers and tilling are two culprits that have battered and bruised the soil, leading to erosion and the removal of the vital critters mentioned above. Regenerative agriculture is a holistic method of growing plants that tends to the soil food web. Simple feeding techniques—such as top dressing—restore soil health and produce superior quality cannabis plants.

This article will explain what top dressing is, why it’s beneficial, and how to apply it in your garden.

Importance Of The Rhizosphere

Top Dressing Will Bring New Life To Your Soil

Top dressing[5] is an ultra-easy way to add sustenance to the soil. It involves spreading a layer of compost or other amendments on the surface of beds or containers. Throughout the growing season, microbes will break down this matter and release a steady and constant flow of nutrients into the soil. By doing this, you’re essentially feeding the soil, which then feeds your plants.

Top dressing is a regenerative alternative to synthetic nutrients and tilling. Conventional growing involves pouring nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus into the soil. This addition is shortly followed by tilling—the act of distributing the soil using a plough or rototiller. Although this method aerates the soil and makes it easier for seedlings to gain a foothold, it decimates the soil food web.

Tilling lays waste to microbial life, shreds beneficial fungal networks, and releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. As a regenerative no-till technique, top dressing achieves the opposite. It allows gardeners to build their soil over the seasons and foster strong microbial communities. Synthetic nutrients will slowly deplete your soil of life, whereas top dressing will result in long-term sustenance. Healthy soil gives rise to more robust plants, larger yields, and higher-quality flowers.

Applying synthetic fertilisers without considering the soil food web is akin to feeding ourselves without considering our own microbiome—a vital element of human health.

In the words of Dr Ingham: “Put your workforce back into place. They don’t need holidays. Just make sure they’re in your soil and feed them. Our job is to make sure there is a diversity of microorganisms, so plants can choose which organisms they need”.

When To Top Dress Your Soil

Growers need to top dress their soil in early spring, before the start of the growing season, because it takes the microbes a while to break down organic matter and release nutrients. By top dressing early, your soil will be swimming in nutrients as your plants enter the vegetative phase.

If you’re working with a simple soil, you’ll need to redress it several times throughout the season. Top dress your beds and containers every three weeks to keep your microbes and plants fed. If you’re working with a complex and healthy soil, you’ll only need to redress it at the start of the flowering phase.

Although top dressing can provide a full spectrum of nutrients, it’s still possible for deficiencies to occur. Because organic matter takes some time to break down, you’ll need to use a fast-acting technique to address them. Compost tea is a speedy and natural way to remedy any apparent deficiencies[6].

The Best Amendments For Top Dressing

Growers can choose from a plethora of amendments to top dress their soil. Although these options seem different on the surface, there’s a common thread between them—they’re loaded with nutrients! Let’s take a look at the best options.

  • Compost

Composting is a cheap and easy way to make a nutrient-rich amendment at home[7]. Making compost is easy; all you need is a compost bin and some kitchen and garden waste. Try to maintain a 3:1 ratio of brown:green material. Brown material is high in carbon and includes dead leaves, sawdust, and straw. Green material is nitrogen-rich and encompasses fruit, vegetables, and fresh plant waste.

Once it’s ready, your compost[8] will have a dark brown appearance and be soft to the touch. This material is full of organic matter and nutrients that’ll feed your plants and microbes.

The Best Amendments For Top Dressing
  • Blood And Bone Meal

Blood and bone meal are organic fertilisers[9] obtained from cattle. It might seem gruesome, but this is one of many ways nature keeps the soil thriving[10]. Blood and bone meal are rich in the essential minerals phosphorus and nitrogen. The amendment could also be effective at repelling mammals such as deer and squirrels.

The Best Amendments For Top Dressing
  • Kelp Meal

Kelp meal[11] is an amendment made from a nutrient-rich seaweed. The species contains a massive spectrum of minerals, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, manganese, and zinc. Kelp also contains beneficial hormones and promotes the growth of soil microorganisms.

The Best Amendments For Top Dressing
  • Worm Castings

Worms are great allies of gardens. They convert kitchen and garden waste into nutrient-dense droppings. Gardeners can raise worms in a “worm bin” for a limitless supply of their excrement. Worm castings are a valuable amendment that contains potassium, nitrogen, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus.

The Best Amendments For Top Dressing
  • Mycorrhizal Fungi

Mycorrhizal fungi [13] form a synergistic relationship with plants. They attach themselves to the roots and become an extension of the root system. These life forms are expert decomposers and excrete enzymes to break down organic matter. Plants fuel this process by feeding them sugars, and receive nutrients in return. Some species of mycorrhizal fungi may already exist in the soil. However, growers can inoculate their soil using Easy Roots Mycorrhiza Mix to make sure they’re present.

The Best Amendments For Top Dressing

  • Bat Guano

Bat guano [14] , otherwise known as bat manure, serves as an excellent top dressing for cannabis. This nutrient-rich excrement contains vital macronutrients that plants need to develop luscious fan leaves and resinous flowers. Outdoors, simply apply 500g of guano to every 2–5m². If you’re cultivating indoors, top-dress a thin layer of guano onto each of your containers and water it in.

Bat guano varies in macronutrient content depending on the source. Samples higher in nitrogen[15] are ideal for the vegetative phase, where the element works to fuel leafy growth, build proteins, and regulate nutrient uptake. Cannabis plants develop a different appetite during bloom. Switch to a high-phosphorus bat guano, such as RQS guano, to enhance flower development during this time.

The Best Amendments For Top Dressing

How To Top Dress Your Cannabis Plants

Now that you have an idea of which amendments you can use to top dress your cannabis plants, you can finally get to the action! Here's how to top dress your weed.

Step 1: Choose An Amendment

As you’re about to discover, top dressing plants is incredibly easy. First thing’s first, you’ll need to decide which amendments to use. Compost is the cheapest option, but prepared products are most accessible to some growers. For this example, we’ll use kelp meal.

Step 2: Apply The Amendment

Apply a thick layer of kelp meal across the surface of your containers or beds. Follow the product instructions to avoid overfeeding your plants. The recommended application is along the lines of 0.5kg per 9m².

Step 3: Water In The Amendment

Next, water down your top-dressed soil with a hose. This will flush nutrients down into the root zone. Every time you water your plants, the roots will absorb a lot of minerals from the top dressing.

Step 4: Apply A Layer Of Mulch

Apply a layer of mulch over the top dressing. Straw and wood chips work well. This will help to retain moisture, improve soil texture, and prevent unwanted weeds from growing.

External Resources:
  1. Influence of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides on soil health and soil microbiology https://www.sciencedirect.com
  2. Rhizosphere soil properties and banana Fusarium wilt suppression https://www.sciencedirect.com
  3. What is the Soil Food Web? https://www.soilfoodweb.com
  4. Effects of Seed-Applied Biofertilizers on Rhizosphere Biodiversity and Growth of Common Wheat https://www.frontiersin.org
  5. Effect of Inorganic N Top Dressing and Trichoderma harzianum Seed-Inoculation on Crop Yield and the Shaping of Root Microbial Communities of Wheat https://www.frontiersin.org
  6. Compost Tea. Promises & Practicalities. http://www.dovebugs.co.uk
  7. How to make and use compost https://agriprofocus.com
  8. Compost production and use in horticulture https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au
  9. Use and understanding of organic amendments in Australian agriculture https://www.publish.csiro.au
  10. https://www.sciencedirect.com
  11. Agricultural uses of seaweed https://www.sciencedirect.com
  12. Chemical composition and enzymic activity of some worm casts https://link.springer.com
  13. Mycorrhizal interactions in the rhizosphere https://link.springer.com
  14. Role Of Bat Guano In The Development of Agricultural Ecoland- Ecosystem https://ijrbat.in
  15. Variation in Bat Guano Bacterial Community Composition With Depth https://www.frontiersin.org
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: