Cornell Hemp Webinar Feb. 22: Indoor Cultivation and Nutrient Management with Nirit Bernstein

Cornell Hemp Webinar: Indoor Cultivation and Nutrient Management
Nirit Bernstein, Senior Research Scientist, Head of the Cannabis Physiology & Agronomy Lab Volcani Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Israel February 22, 2023 | 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. (EST)

Prof. Nirit Bernstein is a senior research scientist, Head of the Cannabis Physiology and Agronomy Lab, at Volcani Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Israel. Her research projects focus
on cannabis physiology and the development of cultivation techniques for medical cannabis. She has a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from the University of California, Davis USA, and a B.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Nirit is an associate editor of the ‘Journal of Cannabis research’, a member of editorial boards of 8 international scientific journals, and she published more than 120 peer-reviewed academic publications, invited reviews, and book chapters. She is a lecturer of two graduate-level academic courses on “Medical Cannabis”.

Prof. Bernstein specializes in regulation of plant-derived pharmaceuticals in medicinal plants by manipulation of environmental and agronomic treatments; optimization of agrotechniques for environmentally stressed plants; mineral nutrition of plants, and plant stress physiology.

We have recently demonstrated high sensitivity of the secondary metabolite profile in cannabis to mineral nutrition. Therefore, knowledge on the cannabis plant response to fertigation schemes is essential for the optimization of cultivation for production of high quality yield, as well as for development of plant products containing specific desirable phytochemical profiles. In the talk, I will discuss our recent results concerning the potential of macronutrients to regulate plant development and the profile of active secondary metabolites in ‘drug-type’ medical cannabis. In pot experiments under controlled conditions we demonstrated induction of changes to the cannabinoid and terpene profiles in cannabis by N, P, K, NH4/NO3 ratio, Mg and Ca nutrition. For the primary macronutrients, N, P and K, required supply for optimal yield quantity differs from nutritional conditions needed for optimizing yield chemical quality, and cannabinoid and terpenoid production is highest under restricted supply. For Mg, the response differs, and limited supply restricts the production of cannabinoids. Rate of uptake of individual macronutrients changes between the vegetative and the reproductive developmental stages, and along the reproductive phase.

Register for the webinar series

Registering once signs you up for the entire series.

Those who register will receive the Zoom link prior to each webinar.

Hemp Webinar Series Schedule

Mar. 8 – Outdoor Cultivation and Nutrient Management: Heather Darby
Mar. 22 – Pests: Kadie Britt
April 5 – Diseases: Chris Smart
April 19 – Harvest: Steven Philpott Jr.
May 3 – Processing/Extraction/Testing: Jamila La Malfa-Donaldson

The webinars will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern via Zoom.

If you miss one of our sessions or want to watch a session again, you can find recordings on our 2023 Cornell Hemp Webinar YouTube playlist.

Author: cdc25

Craig Cramer is a communications specialist, in the School of Integrative Plant Science, College of Agricultur and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.