By Max Sargent Reviewed by: Gonzalo Díaz-Cacho

The key to growing high-quality cannabis outdoors is healthy soil. Soil is the medium from which plants extract their nutrients, enabling them to grow, survive, and thrive. However, the soil doesn’t hold an infinite amount of nutrients. Over time, as more plants are grown within the same spot, nutrients are depleted from the soil.

Composting is an excellent way to put nutrients back into the soil[1] . Not only does composting save you money when it comes to buying fertilisers, but it also comes with the satisfaction of knowing exactly what went into it. Composting at home is not an expensive act. High-quality compost can be made up of food scraps, kitchen waste, and gardening byproducts such as trimmings, weeds, and woodchips.

Compost

WHY YOU SHOULD COMPOST

Composting is a cheap and effective means of keeping your cannabis garden in tip-top shape. The soil isn’t merely a bed of nutrients, it’s an entire living ecosystem that serves as a habitat for many different lifeforms. Beneficial microorganisms live within the soil that work with cannabis in order to protect it and help it grow.

Predatory nematodes[2] can work to defend plant roots against parasitic nematodes[3], whereas mycorrhiza form a symbiotic relationship with plant roots, helping them break down organic matter into digestible nutrients. Microorganisms in the soil can make the difference between good cannabis and amazing cannabis. The key to their presence is rich, healthy soil, which can be created by applying compost!

Compost serves as a natural slow-release fertiliser, which doesn’t run the risk of burning plants like chemical fertilisers do. The presence of compost in soil also helps to improve its texture and boost air circulation. Ultimately, compost introduces large quantities of nutrients into the soil that increase plant size and yield.

HOW TO START COMPOSTING AT HOME

Building a compost bin is the first port of call when starting to compost at home. These can either be purchased or easily built out of scrap materials such as non-treated wood pallets. Bins with lids that retain moisture will help the compost to break down faster.

Place your bin within an area of the garden that receives nearly uninterrupted shade. This will provide the microorganisms that break down the compost with the optimal working conditions. Situate your bin on top of a natural surface like grass or soil, if possible, to allow for adequate drainage and microorganism access.

Introducing a second bin or bucket into your kitchen is also a great idea. Food scraps can be put directly into it, and it can be emptied into the outdoor bin when full. All kinds of food scraps and kitchen waste can be placed into this bucket, from egg shells and vegetables to tea bags and bread crusts.

How to Make Compost

STRIVE FOR THE CORRECT BALANCE

It’s important to try and balance out the type of material that you place into your compost bin. This will ensure that the bacteria and microorganisms that break down the compost have an optimal environment to function in.

There are two main categories of material that make up compost[4]. The first category is known as green material, which can include grass clippings, green leaves, and fruits and vegetables. The second category is known as brown material, which can be made up of woodchips, dead leaves, paper, cardboard, and straw.

MAINTAINING YOUR COMPOST HEAP

Compost heaps don’t require too much work; for the most part, they can be left to the will of the microorganisms. However, turning the heap from time to time does help to speed up the process.

Use a pitchfork to turn your compost every few weeks. This helps to aerate the matter, which is required for the materials to decompose.

Your compost will be ready to use after a period of between 6 months and 2 years[5]. Although this is indeed a long time, your cannabis crop will thank you for the dedication. They will certainly return the favor in the form of large yields and potent flowers.

3 Bin Composting System

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Compost can sometimes turn slimy and emit an unpleasant smell[6]. This is a symptom of not enough air and too much water present. Shelter your heap from rain and be sure to regularly turn it.

The opposite of this state can also be a problem. When the heap becomes too dry, little decomposition is occurring. If this happens, add more green material to the mix.

USING WORMS IN COMPOSTING

Worms are employed by some gardeners to convert mainly kitchen waste into potent compost and liquid fertiliser. These scraps are added into a worm bin, a bin consisting of two compartments. The upper compartment is where the worms work to compost organic material, and the lower compartment serves to collect the refined compost. Worm compost is not a replacement of conventional compost, but rather serves to further boost the nutritional value of your compost.

pH value and moisture levels need to be monitored closely when composting with worms. 

Worm Casting Organic Decomposition


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COMPOST TEA

Compost tea[7] is an easy and effective way to apply compost nutrients to your cannabis plants. Compost tea can be used as a foliar spray, which helps plants to fight diseases. It can also be applied directly to the soil itself.

The following compost tea recipe was created by soil biologist Dr. Elaine Ingham of Soil Foodweb Inc. To start the process, aerate 95 litres of water to remove the chlorine content. Then, proceed to add 2 teaspoons of humic acid solution, which can be extracted from your own supply of compost.

Mix 2 tablespoons of humic acid into 2 cups of water, then add into the tea. Mix ½ cup of kelp with 5 cups of water, then add this mixture to the tea. Next, obtain 2kg of high-quality compost and add it to the mix. This compost will provide the tea with beneficial microorganisms, such as nematodes and fungi.

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: