The Powerful Impact Enzymes Have on Cannabis Plant Growth

Growing cannabis to produce high-yielding flavorful buds is more than just plopping a seed in some dirt and watching it grow. There are many elements a marijuana grower must incorporate into creating the exquisite flower. Environmental controls, nutrient formulations, and plant growth blueprints define the parameters for success.

However, without knowledge of how a cannabis plant grows, it is difficult to achieve a bountiful harvest. To better understand how to care for the plant, one must first learn how it grows. An important factor in successful marijuana growing is knowing what lies beneath the soil and how it directly affects the plant’s growth above ground.

There is a sophisticated, complex system working under the soil that controls much of a cannabis plant’s growth above. Microbial life buzzing through a plant’s rhizosphere relay directives to enhance plant development. Cellular plant tissue growth, energy conversion and distribution, in addition to water flow and nutrient uptake, are energetic forces controlling plant growth.

While there are many aspects to learn about underground activity, today’s article focuses on how enzyme synthesis powerfully impacts cannabis plant growth success.

What are Enzymes?

Underneath a cannabis plant, buried in the soil, lies a busy, intricate order in microbial life. This hub of activity, located within the rhizosphere, coordinates plant growth. While microbes do much of the work, they rely on enzymes to help process molecular bonding.

Enzymes are powerhouses that break down large molecules into smaller, more absorbable bonds, readily available for plant uptake. They are specialized proteins made of complex chains of amino acids, performing as a supercharged catalyst for biosynthesis. Enzymes intensify the probability of a biochemical reaction by lowering the energy necessary to accomplish the task.

Furthermore, different types of enzymes perform unique assignments necessary for a marijuana plant’s optimal growth. For example, Phosphatase is an enzyme that converts large bonded phosphorus into a soluble form that allows the element to enter plant cell walls. Sucrose synthase is a powerful enzyme in sugar metabolism converting sucrose into glucose through photosynthesis that feeds the hungry microorganisms.

There are thousands of microscopic enzymes working together synergistically with the ecosystem beneath the soil of a cannabis plant. Bonding with biomass rich in organic material is an open door for enzyme activity. Creating an optimal environment for these transformers to work their magic results in a vibrant, explosive performance throughout the lifecycle of a marijuana plant.

How do Enzymes Help a Cannabis Plant Reach Maximum Potential?

Enzymes are game-changers in the underground world of a marijuana plant. Working in unison with a substrate, their job as a protein is to provide an ideal atmosphere for molecules to enter their active site. Once inside, enzymes create a synergistic environment for molecules to break, rebuild, and move on. Enzymes provide a ‘lock and key’ or an ‘induced fit’ principle for molecular activity, increasing chemical reaction rates without compromising their abilities.

Enzymes break down larger molecules into smaller ones that are more easily transferable. For instance, large nutrient particles within a substrate are broken down into readily available components that are easier for the plant to uptake. As an example, Urease, another enzyme family member, works hard to ensure nitrogen is ready for uptake to the marijuana plant in the most natural form.

Additionally, microorganisms signal enzymes to synthesize phenolic secondary metabolites to help a cannabis plant fight off intrusions from pathogens. Without enzymatic interference, overzealous phenolic metabolites inhibit seedling germination during propagation.

There are many factors during cannabis plant development that sway microbial activity to stimulate enzyme activity. During vegetative growth, the marijuana plant is dependent upon nitrogen to grow leaves and branches. Nitrate reductase gets to work redesigning nitrogen molecules to the point where plant tissue readily accepts it.

As the marijuana plant transitions into different nutrient additives going into the flowering phase, enzymes naturally readjust their duties to meet the plant’s needs. Enzymes pumping soluble phosphorus, potassium, and abundant sugars into flower development increases cannabinoid-rich bud formation resulting in higher yields.

Enzymes Create a Balanced Atmosphere for Cannabis Plants to Thrive

Another job of these unique 3-D shaped structures keeps the root system free from decaying, dead mass. Enzymes digest and re-materialize excessive organic material hanging out in the rhizosphere. Clearing a root zone of old-growth allows oxygen to flow and roots to expand prolifically. A healthy root system enhances cannabis plant growth, ultimately delivering a bountiful harvest.

Enzymes also work to create a synergistic environment by supporting a marijuana plant’s defense system. Warrior enzymes, called protease, first attack a preying pathogen by tearing down the host’s physical structure. Once the barrier breaks, protease enzymes invade and overcome the enemy. They then set about restoring order helping stressed plant cells recover quickly.

Suffice to say, enzyme activity is abundant in the root ball of a cannabis plant. Creating an optimal environment for these tiny workhorses to thrive promotes healthy growth throughout the marijuana plant’s life cycle. Soils high in organic material offer the best opportunity for microbial and enzymatic activity, paving the way to an abundant crop.

Factors that Affect Enzyme Rate of Reaction Activity in a Cannabis Plant

Maintaining Optimal pH Levels for Enzyme Reactions

Monitoring pH is probably one of the most important aspects of growing a healthy, vibrant cannabis plant. From inputs to outflows, soil, and water sources, pH readings need to be in the range most advantageous for marijuana plant growth.

Individual enzymes each have their unique optimal pH for catalytic reaction activity dependent on their assigned duties. The sweet spot for some enzymes can be highly acidic; other reactions occur in elevated alkaline situations.

Obviously, there is a broad pH range for prime enzyme action as they all have unique contributions to the bustling underground society. However, looking at different pH values for optimal nutrient uptake, it’s easy to see how a marijuana plant’s growth requirements influence enzymatic activity.

Temperature Makes or Breaks Enzymatic Activity

Science has proven temperature is directly proportional to enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Low temperatures slow enzyme reactions way down. As temperature increases, though, the rate of molecular restructuring becomes a flurry of activity.

Extreme high temps, on the other hand, change the shape of an enzyme’s active site. Excessive heat reduces the enzyme’s ability to bind with a substrate when its inviting entry into the active site becomes unfavourable. The enzyme is said to become ‘denatured’ when it can no longer function properly. Maintaining ideal temperatures for high enzyme activity boosts the overall growth of cannabis plants, resulting in higher yields.

Promoting Enzymatic Reactions in Cannabis Cultivation

As you can see, there is an abundance of underground microbial activity engineered to bring out optimal performance from a cannabis strain. While you can plop a seed in the dirt and watch it grow, providing an organic-rich environment for energized enzymatic activation lays out the red carpet for maximizing the potential of a marijuana plant.