The Laws of Organic Cannabis - Page 2 - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

subcool · #21 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:40 PM

Lets discuss a few ways to construct a indoor grow room. According to your local laws, each state has a different limit of plants that can be grown in a space. I find it best to always have less plants budding than allowed so we will be learning to keep our plants in the vegetive state longer than normal all the while training and shaping the plants for maximum production indoors. In my youth we would run as many as 40 plants under 1000 watts in a 6x6 area. Now we design bud rooms to run between 4-6 plants in the same area with the same wattage lights. The yield is very similar and the main difference is the amount of time the plant is grown under an 18/6 lighting schedule. The plants are topped and shaped to form a wide bush that will finish with multi-headed and at a height of around 5-6 feet. Think of each area covered by a 1000 watt light as a 6x6x6 Cube that you are going to fill with Cannabis. By using 3 separate areas designated as Cloning area, Vegetive area, and Budding area, you can continually harvest medicine every 60 days.

We are going to use some firm measurements in this teaching example but almost any configuration will work that allows the three areas to be constructed. Every light/bulb has a foot print. This means the area that can properly be covered for maximum production.
They are as follows
1000 Watt Hoods…………6x6
600 Watt Hoods………….5x5
400 Watt Hoods………….4x4
250 Watt Hoods………….3x3

The design we will be teaching is a 12x6 Budding room with 2000 Watts of HPS lighting. The vegetive area is 6x6 with 1000 Watts of MH lighting, and a starting area 4x4. I also use a small shelf with fluorescents for cloning.

I am a huge fan of specialized grow bulbs and have had great results with both Agrosun and Hortilux brands. I use vented hoods as heat is your #1 enemy indoors it will zap your bulb life, and bring on a myriad of other problems, like bugs, stress, and additional watering and crappy cannabis.
Much has changed in the field of lighting and you must be careful not to place these super efficient grow bulbs to close to the canopy. Light intensity can cause fox tailing or dreading of the buds and hot spots in the center of the canopy. Keep your high tech hoods and bulbs located at 16-18” above the canopy. Some plants actually perform better and yield more with this height. Sativa strains are very susceptible to this fox tailing trait and the vented hoods allow a grower to keep his hoods very close. This is a wrong application!

I like to use small chain and S hooks mounted to a 2x4 beam I install.
This allows you to secure the small beam to the crossing studs above and hang the lights evenly on the center of the room and not where the studs happen to fall.
Once our hoods are in place its time to mount the fan and hangers for the main trunk lines that bring air into the room and exhaust it into the filter above.

subcool · #22 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:43 PM

How do larger yields and bigger buds with only the cost of some string and some of your time sound? Would you like to fill the same amount of stash jars using less plants, taking less clones, then lets explore the science of Plant canopy management
It is amazing what can be accomplished using plant bondage (LST) and canopy management. This can be very useful in medical gardens where the number of plants is limited but everyone can benefit using this technique by achieving larger yield per plant. I get amazing results with much larger plants using simple topping and spreading the plant open and using string or floral wire to tie her down. This method can help in many areas.
First we want to top our plants very early and close to the soil so they have multiple heads and there left in the vegetive phase for long enough to form a large bush with a height of about 24-36”. Once the plants leave the vegetive area and enter the flowering room tie them down so that there over all height is much shorter and the plants are wider. This allows your lights to be a bit lower maximizing lumen efficiency. With taller grows some time the lights can be so high that the over all lumens reaching the shorter of the plants have diminished so much that those plants end up with poor yields. This method also allows you to fill a rather large area with far less plants and it requires fewer plants to be cloned.
The second thing this training of the plant allows is more light to the second level buds or lower shelf as I like to call it. Before we employed this method or tops were huge but the lowers were airy and mainly fluff. This trick assures large buds even at the lower levels.
Last and most importantly it increases yields per plant, when the number of plants are limited that’s extremely important. Many state medical programs have strict plant limits. So with larger topped plants tied up to maximize yields and manage the canopy height we get a good 4 ounces per plant minimum and on some strain we get 5 and 6 ounces per plant. That’s enough to last and make enough cookies for our patients and other friends who have cards.
With my set up I run three grow rooms one for the vegetive phase ( Metal Halide) and one for budding phase ( High Pressure Sodium) and a third mid stage room( High Pressure Sodium). I grow the plants in my own mix of concentrated super soil containing worm castings, bat guano, bone meal, Epson salts, lime, and other organic ingredients including endo/ecto mycorrihizae, which I find extremely beneficial to young plants. I start rooted seedlings and rooted clones in straight high quality potting soil so the super soil concentrate doesn’t burn the fragile babies. The clones are started into rapid rooters and then they are transplanted into 1 gallon pots, and when there firmly established I top the meristem ( Main Stem) nice and low so that the plant develops a nice short bush shape with 3 to 4 growing heads, as long as I leave to sets of fan leaves the plant always recovers well and gets a great start.

Tie your mother down!

Using a small drill I make 4 holes directly beside each main branch. I use floral wire now and secure the branch about halfway up and then gently pull that branch down opening and exposing the center of the plant allowing more light to penetrate the canopy. As we have discussed this also makes the plant shorter and this can allow more veg time and a larger base stem all things that can increase your yields. Don’t be so quick to bud your plants a few extra days can make a huge difference in how long your medicine holds out. Super Cropping is the next technique I want to cover here. In laymen’s terms super cropping is bending or pinching the stem causing slight damage, the plant repairs this damage making a stronger stem that for some reason creates much larger buds. Some people completely break there stems and then repair them using bandages or splits, we don’t need no stinking bandages! Try treating a room of plants and not a garden, get in touch with each strain or hybrid you grow determining how much it will stretch and if it does best topped or like a rare few better untopped. Try some of these techniques on your plants and I know you will be amazed at the outcome.

Mr.Moonbiscuit · #23 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:46 AM

subcool i must say, this is a very good thread, while it may seem old hat to experienced growers, new growers who want to be green will most definately find this invaluable.

subcool · #24 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:30 PM

This is a technique that took me forever to understand and even longer to apply properly with positive results. I figured it out by mistake to a large degree and also by watching MzJill. The easiest way I can explain this is if a plant is injured slightly it will repair itself and in doing so create a stronger branch. This stronger branch will produce a larger bud. The application of this is a bit more difficult but I will attempt to explain it because its very important with indoor gardens. It can produce a stronger plant with a more rigid frame. This method is also known as LST or Low Stress Training but its just a fancy acronym and we will stick to the old school reference if that ok. The key is to bend of flex the stem so that you damage the inner core of the plant without completely breaking the stalk itself. The good news is if you do simply support the stem near the break by positioning a bamboo stick or even a split made from a stem and a few wire ties. It will grow back in days and form a knot and from that point on the stem will be larger. I was first taught to grab the plant down low at a branch and twist till I heard a small pop. You don’t even hear it so much as feel it but there is only one point on the plant this will happen and it became easier to me just to smash the plant slightly using two fingers. Don’t squeeze to hard and only slightly bruise the stem for best results. It it flops over support it with a stick or make a split with tape or wire ties.

Using this method a plant that usually grows just a few shoots directly upwards can be shaped into a large bush. I have seen small plants have as many as 30 growing tips from one container and one single plant that was trained really well.
Cabinet growers are especially good at this technique and its not some new method. I apply the same methods to my tomato plants outdoors and we have so many that we have to donate them to the local food bank. Even fruit tree growers prune and train to increase there production of fruit and what is a Bud but the fruit of the Cannabis Tree. The other important aspect about this technique is the fact that I believe older clones produce better medicine. A plant that is grown into a large bush with multiple growing stalks and a huge root system seem to produce a bud with more character and always-large flowers. I have seen people turn cannabis plants into bonsai plants so it is absolutely trainable for your needs. Pinch it squeeze it or damage it slightly but some torture can be a very good thing!

subcool · #25 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:33 PM

Now that we have some of the basics covered its time to look at some advanced methods

I manage 3 part rooms to maximize yields. Being a 100% medical garden we have a lot of small yielding phenotypes so instead of worrying about a plant like Tiny Bomb giving me 40 grams finished medicine I just make sure I am turning her around every 50 days. This method is not for the lazy grower and requires a good deal of manual labor as well.
I accomplish this 50 day turn around by lots of labor and a working knowledge of my strains. I know that Tiny Bomb and SpaceJill will be done about 50 days and I can harvest them and make some room for others to spread out. Jillybean comes down a few days later and then soon to follow is Apollo-13. That leaves JTR and JC to finish and I usually completely swap all the plants at this time. Once my veg room plants are the right height to be flowered I flip the timer and start budding them early. Males and any plants that have lagged behind are left under the 400 MH to mature a bit longer. You can see the plants in veg have already started stretching a bit. Once main harvest is completed and I have removed all the plants from the main 2K room and re affix the floor tarp with staples and sweep up well. I replace the pest strips and vacuum out the A/C filter. If they need it I remove hood lens and clean away bugs and clean with Windex. A dirty glass can really kill your lumens. Vacuum the floor remove all those pesky dead yellow leaves ( Damn Soil Growers) and the rooms are ready to load. I like to place tall plants like JC in the rear and then the A-13’s. The rear lamp is a 1K HPS sunmaster deluxe. I position each plant so that each growing head fits into the slot provided by the other. In about 7 days I will go tie all the stretching plants down. By employing this method and the tree areas I can pull down 6 almost 7 crops per year so if there a bit smaller the extra 2 crops make up for it. Say a small crop is 40 ounces 2 extra crops is 80 and that’s a lot of Butter and Bubble. When you are a caregiver, extra medicine just means better butter.
I am glad our law understands people have needs and the limits here are manageable. You will have to learn your local laws and apply them to these methods.
We took cuts last week from these very same plants the day they went 12/12. We have 2 cuttings of each and our cloning temps are constant and we really loose any cuts and were deff not going to loose both. Many growers are shocked when I mentioned this method but we have back up cuts in the refrigerator and with other card holders.
This will not work for someone who is not hands on. This wont work if you’re lazy, you have to be on top of this during the transition and make sure the budding plants don’t get light pollution. Its also hard to stay on a watering schedule so you must again know your gear.

subcool · #26 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:36 PM

I have been fine tuning this 3 room system for almost 7 years straight with one change and that’s the addition of the 400 for males instead of just some flos.
Clones and seedlings grow under a 18/6 light cycle until I can see roots in the lower drain holes. They then get transplanted again into large 7 gallon lowboy pots, using my super soil in bottom 2/3 of pot and straight premium potting soil in the top 1/3 and placed back in 18/6 under the same 1000 watt MH. Once the plants have been in veg for almost 60 days almost everything is finishing up in the bud room and harvest is approaching. One everything is trimmed up and the old pots moved out and the soil recycled it’s time to clean everything well, washing the floor and tarps with bleach and making sure everything is mold free. At this time I clean off the glass in the vented hoods with glass cleaner. A clean room is the sign of a good grower! The plants are now placed in main bud room that measures 10x5 with 2- 1000 Watt HPS Hortilux bulbs.
This is the time when we clean up our plants removing any smaller shoots that are shaded still so that this energy that would have gone to produce fluff and added time to trimming can instead go to the upper buds that are actually in the light. This also allows more air to circulate under the canopy so that O2 doesn’t stratify. This in it self will increase the yields and make your trimming a bit easier. I am not sure everyone will get this analogy but the plant looking up should kinds look like broccoli with everything up top.
Night temps run around 72 the A/C is set just to dehumidify mainly. Do not let humidity rise above 50% for long. It cooler climates this can invite mildew and mold. BTW I remove and wash my window unit well inside with disinfectant and anti microbal wash to prevent mold slime a grow room A/C gets way funky.
It may take some time before you perfect this method and you will make mistakes but each time you do you will learn from it! Day 45 here and as the bud room swells to completion over the next 15 days it’s time to take clones from the plants that are still vegging. The plants in veg have been under 18/6 since this same task was done on the last crop basically for the entire 45 days.
If you follow my 3 area set up you know that by some manual labor and lots of close attention I am able to load a crop every 50 days. It is going to be real hard this time as I have some monster plants that finish late that are not going to fit into the shorter veg room so I will have to work it out.
The Bud room is completely packed with wall to wall towering colas in the rear and shorter sticky bushes in the front.
Time to take clones! Even though I don’t keep mother plants I make sure we take clones while plants are super healthy and in full vegetive state this is very important. If you take cutting from sick or un healthy plants they can be damaged and never grow like the original plant.This is also a the time to clean up the canopy and perform your bondage. Trim off sucker shoots and make sure everything is right for entering the flowering phase.
To recap
Day 45 veg room is healthy and the plants 24-30” tall with numerous growing shoots. IT is time for your tallest varieties to be budded, this is done my manual caring the plants into a dark area when 12 hours of light has passed. The shorter finishing are given at least another week of 18/6 and some varieties like Purple Urkle can be left in 18/6 for three to four months before they are large enough to place into flower and get decent yields.
I will start harvesting Saturday taking Tiny Bomb first. Just a bit longer and day 56 chop Space Queen, this will allow me to spread out the monsters you see in the back to finish and have less shading and crowding.
What’s cool is this is when some varieties really pack on the weight and hopefully so will the other late finishing varieties in your garden. This extra weak can mean a huge difference in many plants.

Quality is what counts to me.
In 35 years of growing I have done ebb and flo, NFT, DWC, aero misters and many other contraptions. My organic soil produces the best buds I have ever smoked!
If your plants bud for 10-14 days before even entering the bud room then there ready to finish 2 weeks faster its all in the text
I am just a workaholic and this works for me if I didn't have my garden i'd loose my mind.

subcool · #27 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:38 PM

Over 30 years of growing Cannabis I have noticed a few patterns emerging
I have noticed that plants like this that are literally done growing at harvest always taste better but more importantly are simply more dank! Healthy plants at the end are easier to trim and deff beefy but why is it a plant such as this that almost looks dead has such perfect reefer on it?
I saw a thread online the other day titled Hydro VS Organics. I did not replay as this argument is as old as Methuselah. We could debate this for eons It pretty obvious that the water boys out yield the mud boggers in the world but my days of Grams per watt are long gone. I run the same strains over and over and my goal each run is to make slight changes in my soil make up to determine when fading starts. To soon and the plant is green at finish and lacks flavor although I notice yields are better. To little and the fade starts so early that all the leaves fall off and yields suffer. The perfect blend will allow fading early in week 6-7 and continue to week 8 and beyond.

I have a theory you can laugh at. Its called infinite dankage, lets just say a plant has a determined amount of what we call dank. I don’t think I need to define this. It seems to me that a faded plant will produce less total mass there fore creating more dank per gram on the plant? Does this make any since. Have you ever grew w plant that was just sickly as hell all yellow and **** but have the bud from this plant taste better than normal? I am curious if others experience this.
If you haven’t guessed by now this is the Mother ship Apollo taken at 60 days the far end of her harvest window. This entire plant is head stash so I decided to make it as good as I know how.
I am smoking some scissor hash from trimming these upper nugs this am and I can tell you its as extreme as you’d want. The first small hunk took my breath and pumped out 3 huge hits of almost perfume tasting hash. It’s a bit like smoking channel #5 but there is also a fruity essence as well. A-13 make phenomenal Bubble is all I can say. It cannot be compared to anything I have ever smoked. As good as Vortex is, I prefer the bud smoke more than the mother, Momma still is the tops as far as resin is concerned it has a flavor and consistency like no other. Its shards up on scissors like clay or plumbers putty and has a deep red color.

Her downside is trimming. Imagine trimming this girl. I spend a good 4 hours on just the upper portion last night. The buds are covered in swirling curled sticky leaves that take loads of concentration and small scissors to clean up. I focus hard to remove all the sugar leaf as my main goal here is Bubble! I have noticed that actual sugar leaf makes the best hash. When I use pure bud I never get the same yields as with trim leaf. I think it’s almost a waste. So my buds get cleaned well to make more A-Bubble.

subcool · #28 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:40 PM

I want to caution everyone again if you use Super Soil as directed don’t feed your damn plants!! I can’t be more clear and even though I knew this I ignored my own advise (I do this a lot) and last crop was one of the worst ever as far as yield, amazingly Jill and I were just commenting that burning the plants with to much nutrients seemed to make everything finish faster? Lets hope there is not a lot of experience on this theory.
Over feeding is very common for a few reasons. People want to rush there plants and nutrient companies offer so many products and make such outrageous claims that people are easily swayed into trying every product on the market and over doing it.
I believe less is more and its better to under feed a strain and make small changes the next round. Knee jerk reactions and poorly planned feeding schedules can really affect your end product. When growing in soil changes do not happen rapidly so when you do decide for sure you have deficiencies allow some time for your corrections to take place.
I have seen people feed a plant that’s lacking and continue to do so each watering until they are now over feeding the plant by the time the plant has absorbed the first application.
In Smaller pots with larger plants it may be necessary to feed with Cal-Mag and possibly some Organic Bloom fertilizer around day 30-45 but I prefer to use top dressing as spelled out in that chapter.
If a certain strain shows early signs of nutrient deficiency then I will adjust the amount of Super Soil concentrate to take this added need into account. For example Space Queen always faded rapidly when using ½ concentrate and ½ potting soil but when we upped the amount of concentrate to ¾ the problem went away and yields went up.
In these pictures I have some plants started in roots soil as seedlings and I make the mistake of watering a few of the plants with water I used a few nights earlier to feed some plants a light bloom mix along with Sucanat sugar and Sweatleaf a sugar and citric acid product that I believe really enhances the taste of cannabis flowers. Even though the mix was mainly just sugars there was enough Pure Blend Bloom in the water to burn the young plants and give us a good idea of what not to do with young plants.

Notice the healthy plant that wasn’t watered with the solution but only clean pure water. Plants use small amounts of nutrients at first and almost any good soil especially one designed for growing cannabis will not need any of the many nutrients people use for seedlings.

This plant was prefect till I poured from the wrong jug!

Now lets look at a plant that has been fed only water

If you haven’t heard of Sucanat It stands for Sugar Cane Natural. It's sugar in its most natural form - pure cane juice with only the water removed. This process preserves all the vitamin-filled molasses.
The way it works is it gives carbohydrates to the plant. These carbohydrates would normally be made during photosynthesize, so it reduces the work load on the plant and all the extra carbohydrates can be used to build bud, and you also get the added benefit of the enhanced flavor of the weed. I am also convinced in increases resin production.
This works my taking advantage of the Krebs cycle.
The Krebs cycle is named, after the discoverer, German biochemist, Hans Adolph Krebs.

Within the Krebs cycle, energy in the form of ATP is usually derived from the breakdown of glucose. Since glucose can pass through cell membranes, it transports energy from one part of the plant to another. Hence the Sugars and carbohydrates we add at day 30 and day 45. I use 1 cup of Sucanat and ½ Cup Sweatleaf by Advanced Nutrients.

Most people that try this swear by it and it becomes part of there normal routine and day 30 and day 45.

subcool · #29 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:42 PM

Everyone still with me??

kareem ahvunyun · #30 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subcool

Everyone still with me??

in between weedin and barkdust.

4evergreen · #31 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 03:07 PM

Hi Subcool my friend, I got a question. Your thread mostly do teach very important things but appropiate for soil, can you share some tips with us, the hydro people???
Peace

subcool · #32 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 03:23 PM

I cannot :(

I played with Hydro early on but I never mastered it organically.
I think Hydro is the fastest way to produce cannabis but I have been impressed my only a few water growers in my life.
I know the best results these days seem to be with Coco but its to much science for me.

Sorry

Sub

4evergreen · #33 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 03:32 PM

Not a problem, I am still learning from you, there are things that you are teaching us all that are as good for soil as for hydro. I am taking notes of those tips
Peace and thanks for sharing with us your great knowledge!

subcool · #34 (**permalink**) 07-02-2009, 11:42 AM

So you have worked hard for 8 weeks! You have invested money into equipment and possibly genetics; you have invested time and dedication to get to this point. How can you tell when it’s time to harvest your gooey girls? Well ‘fire one up’ and let’s take a look at the best way to be sure you’re harvesting at peak potency, or at least you will better understand what happens in the final weeks, so you can harvest for the specific type of high you prefer.
The harvest window is one aspect of the craft which unfortunately, gets over looked or the grower simply doesn’t have the patience to wait-out the last few days, to insure max THC content. Some strains are better harvested before their peak THC production and some are better harvested after their peak THC production. This is what Robert Clark wrote in his book “Marijuana Botany” about trichomes and what they tell us; “The elevated resin heads appear clear, since fresh resin is still being secreted, often being produced in the cellular head of the trichome. At this time THC acid production is at a peak and CBD acid levels remain stable as the molecules are rapidly converted to THC acids, THC acid synthesis has not been active long enough for a high level of CBN acid to build up from the degradation of THC acid by light and heat. Terpene production is also nearing a peak and the floral clusters are beautifully aromatic. Many cultivators prefer to pick some of their strains during this stage in order to produce marijuana with a clear, cerebral, psychoactive effect It is believed that, in peak floral clusters, the low levels of CBD and CBN allow the high level of THC to act without their sedative effects.”
What the hell does this mean?
When growing Indica hybrids, unless you want to end up on the couch, it’s best to harvest when the trichome heads are fully formed but before they start to cloud over and turn amber. According to the maturation time of the specific strain this could take as little as five days or as long as two weeks. If you allow an Indica to go too long you can dramatically affect the taste and high. Fortunately going too long is not a real problem for most people. I like to study close-up photos taken with a high resolution digital camera; however an inexpensive hand-held microscope works wonders. It almost looks like you are in an alien world when looking at resinated buds using fifty-times-power.
With the Sativa dominant hybrids you want to make sure that all the trichome heads are fully formed and also about thirty percent amber. Letting a plant mature beyond this will risk flavor as well as, the finished smoke may be harsh with very little “high”. There are exceptions as I mentioned; Haze has three different harvest windows all being very late into flower. It is every grower’s job to learn what he or his patients prefer in the terms of “High”.
We have not yet addressed yields because if you are at the third stage of floral maturity with fully form trichomes, then we will have to assume most strains have packed on all their final weight. Even then, there are variables but we can use the guide-lines spelled out below to help gauge the best harvest window for your plants based on the trichomes.

Fully formed but still clear will provide a cleaner ‘up’ high with less sedative effect; this is the best window for heavy Indicas.
Fully formed and turning slightly cloudy or milky; this is probably the best time to pick most hybrids available today.
Fully formed completely cloudy or milky with at least thirty percent of the heads turning amber; this is usually best window for the late maturing Sativa’s such as Haze. This is also a good window when using the plant primarily for Hash production.

Take for instance the Jacks Cleaner harvested at fifty-six days; all trichomes are still visibly clear with very few turning cloudy. At this point it has a very ‘up’ high and an ‘in-the-head’ buzz. I get some good visuals and the lemon flavor is sour and a tad tart. The same plant, left just one more week at sixty-three days flower; the trichomes have turned milky white and a good portion, about thirty to fifty percent, are deep amber almost the color of cola. Taken at this time the smoke is heavy and thick, the lemon zing has been replaced with a musty sweet lemon smell that reminds me of ‘Lemon Heads’ candy. The high is now all body high and very much a sedative. We would smoke this only as our night time medication. It is almost an example of a plant taken too late, however we do this because of the medicinal properties she takes-on at this late stage.
Another example is Killer Queen. At forty-nine days flower, she has a candy-like smell and taste with that same ‘up’ high. If you were to harvest her at sixty days flower, she becomes ‘Super’ Killer Queen, with a more skunk-like smell and a thicker trance-like high.
The mistake to try and avoid is harvesting before the trichomes are fully formed, so as mentioned in the guideline; most growers whom use this method, harvest at the point in which the majority of the heads are cloudy. Harvesting before this window will produce bud that is less potent, containing less essential oils and trepans, causing your finished stash to take on a grassy or green taste, even if it is dried and cured correctly.
Another good method would be harvesting some of the more mature buds, usually being the upper or main colas. This will allow more light to shine down on the lower portion of the plant, not only will the buds mature further but they will also pack on some extra size.
If you have a nice digital camera with a macro feature, try taking some close-up photos and use a photo editing program such as Adobe. This will allow you to zoom in close so you can see what the necked eye cannot see. If this is not an option, Radio Shack sells battery-powered hand-held microscopes for about fifteen dollars.
Take advantage of this information, it will help maximize the results of your favorite strain, or help you determine the harvest window of something new.

4evergreen · #35 (**permalink**) 07-03-2009, 05:28 AM

Excellent info! Thanks
Peace

subcool · #36 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 11:40 AM

Properly processing the cannabis at harvest is a craft that must be mastered in order to enhance and preserve the psychoactive properties, the taste and the appearance of the finished product. Many talented growers fail to implement some of the following techniques and the result is not up to maximum potential. Inadequate or poor handling after harvest is the biggest cause of, less than top quality cannabis. This problem is compounded by the fact that most growers feel his or her pot is better than everyone else’s. Try to tell a grower whom is your friend that he or she could do a better job on trimming and curing; this will usually result in the end of a friendship. A good trim and cure can make the difference between green tasting, hard to burn nugs and pleasurable, smooth, clean burning dank nugs.
There are two basic methods used by growers, when harvesting their cannabis. Some growers prefer to cut the buds from the branches individually, while others growers may prefer to harvest the entire plant, by cutting it off at the main stalk near the bottom.
Many for a few reasons, prefer individual cola harvesting. With some cannabis plants the buds will finish at different times. For example; the top colas may be already ripe and can be removed to allow the lower branches to be exposed to light, therefore allowing the lower buds to further ripen giving a larger yield.
Individual harvesting and drying is faster than drying a whole harvested cannabis plant. When a cannabis plant is harvested the stomata on the surface of the leaves and calyxes will start closing off, allowing only a small amount of water vapors to escape through the stomata. Thus forcing the excess moisture stored within the stems/stalks to exit through the cuts you have made on the stalks/stems when harvesting. The less cuts for the water vapors to exit through, the longer the drying time will be.
For the best end results we have found that upon harvest, it is best to trim all foliage from the colas/buds while the foliage is still rigid and fully hydrated. It is very important to remove as many leaves protruding from the bud, as possible. These leaves still contain chlorophyll, which will adversely affect the taste of your finished product. Some growers prefer to leave these leaves to curl around the bud for finished appearance. We feel that it will definitely take away from the taste and smoothness of the finished product.
Trimming is a tedious job that requires a lot of patience, self-discipline, and the proper supplies. It is important to have a good pair of scissors for trimming. A good ten-dollar pair of hair cutting shears will do the job very well. It is nice to have a bowl for the shade leaves and a bowl for the sugar leaves. We like to separate the shade leaves from the sugar leaves, as we utilize the sugar leaves for hash and butter making. A table, along with a comfortable chair, and good lighting are also musts for trimming. Try to sit up straight and keep your back straight, set goals and take breaks; trimming a full crop can mean several days worth of work, even for the experienced trimmer.

Drying your buds is simply a process that precedes the end curing process, drying is merely an act of removing the excess water from the cannabis. We like to leave the buds on the stems and hang on a string or hanger of some sort. It is best to dry the buds in a place that allows for indirect lighting and also adequate air circulation. A fan is good to have in the room, but not to be directly pointed at the hanging buds. Allow the buds to dry until they are crisp on the outside and the stems will still be pliable, since the stems contain so much residual moisture it is best at this time to remove the buds from the stems and place in a large bowl, on a screen or a tray. In our climate the hanging time is about five days, but the drying time will vary due to humidity. We like the buds to dry slowly as this makes for a smoother cure, rather than drying the buds too quickly. When buds are allowed to dry slowly the humidity is closer to that of the inside of the stomata. If cannabis is dried to rapidly, the ‘green’ taste will remain present in the finished product. According to the time of year, the temperature and the type of heat in your home humidity, airflow, and the density of your buds; drying time can vary from five days to ten days.

Cannabis will continue to cure after it is harvested, while it is drying and even after it is placed into a jar. Just like a fine wine or a gourmet coffee bean, marijuana needs to be cured to achieve the rich, robust, smooth taste that lingers on your palette and in your brain. During the curing period the cannabinoid acids go through the process of decarboxylation into the psychoactive cannabinoids and the terpenes will isomerize to create new polyterpenes. Just as with any other fruit, when cannabis is harvested, the fruit or bud is not dead, it continues to metabolize. If you pick a tomato from your garden and it is still partially green, you would set it in the windowsill to further ripen or metabolize. Another example is a fresh banana, it may still show green on the peel and the fruit inside is hard and the taste is milder, as the banana ages the peel will turn darker yellow and the fruit inside will become softer and have a more rich flavor. The more robust flavors and tantalizing fragrances begin to appear as the chlorophyll and other pigments begin to break down.

When the small stems, which remain under the buds, are completely dry enough to snap and the buds are dry enough to smoke, it is time to start the end curing process. We use glass-canning jars, such as Mason, Ball or Kerr, to cure and store our finished product. Freezer bags can also be used for storage of cannabis. Do not store your cannabis in sandwich bags or anything made of a similar plastic, because the cannabis will become to dry and it will lose potency. It is important to open the jars to allow in oxygen that is needed for the curing process, and to allow gases built up from the curing process to escape. During the first three days we open the jars once a day. After the first three days, for two weeks open your jars twice a week, then one time after the first month; at which time the cure will be complete. Make sure your cannabis is completely dry before leaving it in sealed jars or containers. Leaving wet cannabis in any sealed jar or container will result in mold, and it will become unsafe to smoke.

Store your jarred, cured cannabis in a cool dark place, to help slow the break down of the cannabinoids. Although cannabis needs oxygen through the metabolizing/curing stage, oxygen plays an adverse roll on already cured cannabis causing the breakdown of THC into CBN. We store our marijuana in canning jars with lids on tight, inside of a cool dark closet.

Implementation of the simple steps listed above will make your dank a legend amongst your friends.

Glossary

Calyxes… The sepals of a flower considered as a group.
Cannabinoid… Any of various organic substances, such as THC, found in cannabis.
Canna-Butter… Butter reprocessed with cannabinoids.
CBN…(Cannabinol)Occurs during the breakdown of THC in the curing process.
Chlorophyll… Any of a group of green pigments that are found in the chloroplasts of plants.
Curing… To prepare, preserve, or finish (a substance) by a chemical or physical process.
Decarboxylation… Removal of a carboxyl group from a chemical compound, usually with hydrogen replacing it.
Harvest… The process of gathering a crop at the end of its season.
Hash… Purified resinous extract of the hemp plant; used as a hallucinogen. Bubble Hash
Humidity… Wetness in the atmosphere.
Isomeric… Any of two or more substances that are composed of the same elements in the same proportions but differ in properties because of differences in the arrangement of atoms.

Isomerize… To cause to change into an isomeric form.
Metabolism… The chemical processes occurring within a living cell or organism that are necessary for the maintenance of life. In metabolism some substances are broken down to yield energy for vital processes while other substances, necessary for life, are synthesized.
Metabolize… To subject (a substance) to metabolism.
Mold… (Fungi) A superficial often, woolly growth produced especially on damp or decaying organic matter or on living organisms.
Oxygen… A nonmetallic element constituting 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume that occurs as a diatomic gas, O2, and in many compounds such as water and iron ore. It combines with most elements, is essential for plant and animal respiration, and is required for nearly all combustion.
Poly… More than one; many; much
Psychoactive… Affecting the mind, mood, or other mental processes. THC is the principal psychoactive ingredient in marijuana
Stomata… One of the minute pores in the epidermis of a leaf or stem through which gases and water vapor pass.
Terpenes… Any of various unsaturated hydrocarbons, C10H16, found in essential oils and oleoresins of plants and used in organic syntheses.
THC… (tetrahydrocannabinol) A compound, C21H30O2, obtained from cannabis or made synthetically, that is the primary intoxicant in marijuana and hashish.

**Written and Photographed by: MzJill of Subcool Seeds/TGA

subcool · #37 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 11:46 AM

Most growers never have the opportunity to learn the male of the species in detail and I thought it would be fun to discuss what I look for when choosing a male, how we go about collecting pollen and how we breed a full sized plant.

Before we talk about collecting pollen lets talk about staggering. This is a trick I learned by trial and error that allows us to get the maximum number of seeds per plant. This doesn’t apply to those just working with a branch or two we will discuss this also.

When pollinating a mother plant for seed I will start her into 12/12 a full 7 days before I move the male into budding room. Keeping in mind that each strain is going to be a bit different on time frame but this seven day rule has worked very well for us. This allows the female plant to develop enough pistils to produce a high volume of seeds. Once the male is flowering well the females will be entering a window around day 21-24. Most Hybrids I work with are done in less than 9 weeks so pollinating the females at 3 weeks in is good place to start. You can pollinate up to day 30 of budding but you stand a good chance of the seeds never getting mature so I find each strains perfect window. Ealier maturing strains should be pollinated closer to day 21 and longer maturing varieties closer to 30 days.
One thing I must insert and I am not trying to be rude for your younger inspiring breeders out there concentrate on producing the best herb you can and mastering the craft of room set up. Again no offence but you can’t breed properly in a cab I do it in a limited space granted but I have been growing successfully some 32 years and didn’t start breeding till I had around 20 years under my belt. It doesn’t hurt to experiment that is how we learn but I think at least a few years as a grower are in order before anyone attempts breeding even though I lay out every single step. If you think its easy ask any grower how many complete cluster****s he’s grown out from so called “Established Breeders” It takes an eye and that is gained from experience.

Here are some things we look for when selecting a new male. The earliest plants to indicate sex are always tossed out. In nature Cannabis is a hemp dominant species and the drug traits we seek for medication have been bred into the plant over thousands of years my mans intervention. In the wild these hemp dominant males acclimate the variety and the drug traits are dominated by other traits like fiber production and vigor.
Smell plays a huge roll in my selection process and once a male plant is sexually mature at about day 45 I analyze each plant by rubbing each stem and making notes on the ones I like best. This may seem very basic but its been my experience that a skunky sour male will lend this smell trait to a new hybrid. Conversely if the male doesn’t smell incredibly dank the results are less than satisfactory. The final attribute I look for is a new male is resin. The number and frequency of non-glandular trichomes on a young male plant can be a huge indicator as to the quality of the plant. If a plant smells great and is covered in resin at day 45 I will absolutely give him a try with one of our best females. By comparing the sibling crosses to the original P1 female we can determine what characteristics are passed on. There is certainly much more to it but this is a basic guide line of the external characteristics we look for in a male plant.

Ok so now we have our male in full bloom and we have our females in the breeding room. This area should be completely separated from main bud area preferably in another building completely. If the two rooms share a common HVAC duct system you will get pollution into your main area. Pollen is serious stuff and flies everywhere and you cannot see it. It will stick to your clothes, pets, etc. You must change cloths and bath after entering your breeding area.

I prefer to simply allow my males to hang out with my mothers for a few days with a small fan positioned on the male with females in the air stream. As the stamen open the pollen naturally flies into the air providing max coverage. We also like to pluck off ripe pods and gently roll them between our fingers over each cola head. This is how we capture the amazing suspended pollen shots I set as a standard and later Jill perfected.

subcool · #38 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 11:48 AM

One trick that can be used if you don’t want to pollinate an entire room is the pollen trap. This trick takes a good eye for when the male stamens are about to open. If you can figure that out simple take two large Tupperware containers and form a box that will hold a cup with water. Wax paper in bottom and along sides and tops you have cut off the mature male. Place the tops to hang over the wax paper and tape the entire box shut this allows you to have it in a non secure place like a veg room. Warning don’t spill the water it ruins the pollen don’t put more into the glass that you need to I used a heavy bar glass that wouldn’t tip over.

One thing we should cover is male cluster formation. When selecting a male for breeding we run him as a mature full size plant and we want to see even if he has met all our other breeding criteria that he makes big gnarly male clusters this indicates the bud formation he might pass on.
Once the plants are fully pollinated I wash the females off with a spray bottle of water and if its raining I place out doors for a night up high on a barrel where no bugs could possibly get to her. I prefer a gentle long rain to a spray bottle as it removed any access pollen. Once I have redundantly rinsed I place the mothers back into my main bud not in the main air stream of my blowers.

The male Cannabis plant is equally as beautiful to me as a huge cola. He carries half of the genetic code that is responsible for creating the Dank and without him we could not create flavor combinations like Lemon- Berry or Mango Orange. So remember the next time you kill a group of male plants they have there place in the world and are beautiful in the own way!

kareem ahvunyun · #39 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 11:53 AM

while i am not a breeder, i am an organic grower.

i would like to thank subcool and mzjill for helpin to show folks how it is done.

you both truely have the green passion!

pine boy · #40 (**permalink**) 07-04-2009, 12:08 PM

Yeah Kareem,I will second that and add my own thanks.

I have a feeling everyone on this forum will get something from
your writings.Subcool and Mzjill...Thanks guys