Predicting reproductive-phase nutrient replenishment in Cannabis sativa L. via a transpiration-driven mass-balance framework
- 1Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University
Abstract
Fixed nutrient recipes often overlook developmental shifts in uptake and the coupling between transpiration and ion delivery. We tested a transpiration-driven mass-balance framework to predict nutrient replenishment during the reproductive phase in two cultivars of Cannabis sativa L. (CJ2, First Light). Plants received a solution prepared from a constant recipe; water use was tracked gravimetrically, leachate was periodically sampled, and organs were harvested for ICP–OES/flow injection analysis and biomass composite partitioning. Water-use efficiency (WUE) peaked at 4.5 g L ⁻¹ in CJ2 and 3.4 g L ⁻¹ in First Light, while solution drawdown of N, P, and K declined from early to late flowering. Leachate chemistry resolved cultivar- and stage-dependent transitions between net nutrient removal (net removal) from solution and net accumulation above input. In First Light, N shifted from 130 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +109 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment and K from 192 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +195 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment; in CJ2, N ranged from 90 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +101 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment and K from 102 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +195 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment. Phosphorus differences were smaller (First Light: 58 to 13 mg L ⁻¹ ; CJ2: 42 mg L ⁻¹ removal to +2 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment). Mg net removal was greater in First Light than CJ2 (37 vs. 16 mg L ⁻¹ ). Significant cultivar main effects were detected for P, K, Ca, and Fe (p ≤ 0.05), whereas significant date x cultivar interactions were detected for Mg and Mn (p ≤ 0.05). Across the four harvest intervals retained for mass-balance comparison, biomass-weighted predictors frequently produced the lowest absolute percent deviation (APD), although performance was element- and cultivar-dependent. Single-organ tissue element concentrations misrepresented whole-plant replenishment estimates: leaf Ca and Mg increased while leaf N declined, flowers and roots accumulated P, and stems and roots diverged in K. Predicted input concentrations derived from organ biomass-weighted tissue elemental content improved the alignment between replenishment estimates and measured net solution removal. Biomass-weighted means excluding floral tissue predicted most element replenishment amounts well and performed most consistently in CJ2, whereas biomass-weighted means including all organs more frequently minimized APD in First Light, with absolute percent deviations<10–13%. Collectively, these results indicate that reproductive-phase nutrition in Cannabis sativa L. is well represented by a flux-based mass-balance replenishment framework informed by organ biomass-weighted nutrient composition.
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BibTeX
@article{powell2026predicting,
title = {{Predicting reproductive-phase nutrient replenishment in Cannabis sativa L. via a transpiration-driven mass-balance framework}},
author = {Kit Powell and William L. Bauerle},
journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpls.2026.1955837},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1955837/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Predicting reproductive-phase nutrient replenishment in Cannabis sativa L. via a transpiration-driven mass-balance framework
AU - Kit Powell
AU - William L. Bauerle
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Frontiers in Plant Science
DO - 10.3389/fpls.2026.1955837
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1955837/full
AB - Fixed nutrient recipes often overlook developmental shifts in uptake and the coupling between transpiration and ion delivery. We tested a transpiration-driven mass-balance framework to predict nutrient replenishment during the reproductive phase in two cultivars of Cannabis sativa L. (CJ2, First Light). Plants received a solution prepared from a constant recipe; water use was tracked gravimetrically, leachate was periodically sampled, and organs were harvested for ICP–OES/flow injection analysis and biomass composite partitioning. Water-use efficiency (WUE) peaked at 4.5 g L ⁻¹ in CJ2 and 3.4 g L ⁻¹ in First Light, while solution drawdown of N, P, and K declined from early to late flowering. Leachate chemistry resolved cultivar- and stage-dependent transitions between net nutrient removal (net removal) from solution and net accumulation above input. In First Light, N shifted from 130 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +109 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment and K from 192 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +195 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment; in CJ2, N ranged from 90 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +101 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment and K from 102 mg L ⁻¹ net removal to +195 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment. Phosphorus differences were smaller (First Light: 58 to 13 mg L ⁻¹ ; CJ2: 42 mg L ⁻¹ removal to +2 mg L ⁻¹ enrichment). Mg net removal was greater in First Light than CJ2 (37 vs. 16 mg L ⁻¹ ). Significant cultivar main effects were detected for P, K, Ca, and Fe (p ≤ 0.05), whereas significant date x cultivar interactions were detected for Mg and Mn (p ≤ 0.05). Across the four harvest intervals retained for mass-balance comparison, biomass-weighted predictors frequently produced the lowest absolute percent deviation (APD), although performance was element- and cultivar-dependent. Single-organ tissue element concentrations misrepresented whole-plant replenishment estimates: leaf Ca and Mg increased while leaf N declined, flowers and roots accumulated P, and stems and roots diverged in K. Predicted input concentrations derived from organ biomass-weighted tissue elemental content improved the alignment between replenishment estimates and measured net solution removal. Biomass-weighted means excluding floral tissue predicted most element replenishment amounts well and performed most consistently in CJ2, whereas biomass-weighted means including all organs more frequently minimized APD in First Light, with absolute percent deviations<10–13%. Collectively, these results indicate that reproductive-phase nutrition in Cannabis sativa L. is well represented by a flux-based mass-balance replenishment framework informed by organ biomass-weighted nutrient composition.
SN - 1664-462X
ER -