DrCannaCanadian: MarsHydro & Seedsman, Soil & Coco, 2020

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 23, 2020

Dagobah Frost Forest
Update

Vegetation - Day 12

Hey 420!

Based on what I am seeing, the two Seedsman Peyote WiFis are going to be killer plants! I transplanted them both today into their final homes - 5 gallon coco fabric pots. Since they are strong, I only expect them to take two days to recover!

When I transplanted them, I took care to make sure the LST I applied is straightening their stems.

Why? Because cannabis plants grow best with straight thick stems!

Here's a few shots of their primary stems - anchored and straight:

Dagobah Frost Forest - Princess Leia

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 12. Basic LST keeping the stem straight and growth nodes...

Dagobah Frost Forest - Obi-Wan Kenobi

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 12. Basic LST keeping the stem straight and growth nodes...

Also, when they were transplanted, they both got a full feeding to 10% run-off - which basically sets the coco up for accepting good growth for the roots.

Warning: Never ever plant into coco which has not been properly prepared!

Unlike soil, there is no need to add microlife, because there is nothing for the microlife to chew on - and all the nutes are coming in a ready-to-use state.

The plants in soil do get root mass expanders - because there is food for the critters to chomp on and break down into smaller usable molecules.

At this stage, when the plants are young, I typically just feed them water or foliar them with water - that way I hope to avoid overfertilization and root rot!

I will also start to water the edges of the soil in an attempt to draw the roots out laterally. And in general, we let soil nearly dry out - the plants actually like that, and it triggers the roots to stretch out searching for water.

We want roots to chase water!

Alright, we'll save more theory for another day.

And here they are Jedis and friends growing happily under the power of a Mars Hydro TSL 2000 light:

Dagobah Frost Forest - Group Photo

Group Photo - Veg Day 12

Dagobah Frost Forest - Princess Leia

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 12

Dagobah Frost Forest - Obi-Wan Kenobi

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 12

Dagobah Frost Forest - Emperor Sidius

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 12

Dagobah Frost Forest - Darth Maul

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 12

Dagobah Frost Forest - Rey

Tangie Cookies - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 12

Dagobah Frost Forest - Chewbacca

Tangie Cookies - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 12

Dagobah Frost Forest - Han Solo

Tangie Cookies - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 12

Backlipslide · Jan 24, 2020

MrSauga said:
Nice journal DrC!

Do you happen to know sql2kguy by chance?

I was wondering the same thing. They both have similar journals lol. His was guardians of galaxy though

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 24, 2020

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

We had a great time walking today!

And just after we step out the door I am thinking about how I love the Mrs's arts and crafts! This is a good memory already!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 24, 2020
barrie's hello winter 2020 drcannacanadian

I love how the Mrs does arts and crafts!

A quick drive and we get the best picture yet! A dad and his two sons laughing and sledding with a Tim Hortons coffee! No hill too small! This the DreamCatcher we got from the olympics. The pieces are welded on and don't fall off - anymore

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 24, 2020
barrie's hello winter 2020 drcannacanadian

The best picture yet! A dad and his two sons laughing and sledding with a Tim Hortons coffee...

Looking East down Kempenfelt Bay. I like that we have lookouts you can walk out on and just be at peace!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

Looking East down Kempenfelt Bay. I like that we have lookouts you can walk out on and just be...

This is where the locals anchor up - another great marina! If you walk down by the trees, you can go out on another lookout.

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 24, 2020
barrie's hello winter 2020 drcannacanadian

This is where the locals anchor up - another great marina! If you walk down by the trees, you...

The Mrs all bundled up doing her workout. The Waterfront Fitness Circuit was a great idea!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 24, 2020
barrie's hello winter 2020 drcannacanadian

The Mrs all bundled up doing her workout. The Waterfront Fitness Circuit was a great idea!

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 24, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

Cannabis Hermaphroditism: What Is It, And How Can You Deal With It?

Do you think you might have a “hermie” threatening to ruin your entire harvest? If so, you’ll need to act fast. In this article, we’ll teach you everything crucial about hermaphroditism in cannabis plants, including how to spot it, deal with it, and prevent it in the future.

WHAT IS HERMAPHRODITISM?

Cannabis is a dioecious plant species. Unlike other flowering plants, it produces distinct males and females. However, cannabis can also be hermaphroditic, producing a single plant with both male and female sexual organs.

WHAT CAUSES HERMAPHRODITISM?

There are a number of different causes of hermaphroditism in cannabis plants. These include:

• Genetics

Sometimes, cannabis plants can inherit hermaphroditic genes. This can occur naturally or as a result of breeding, the stress of which can introduce hermaphroditism into a strain.

• Seed manipulation

The poor handling and manipulation of seeds can also increase the chances of a plant being hermaphroditic. This can include feminization, an unnatural process used by seedbanks and breeders to guarantee a high percentage of female plants in their seeds. Done correctly, feminization will only produce female plants. Done poorly, some hermaphrodites can occur.

• Stress

Plants naturally seek out environmental conditions that allow them to grow healthy and strong. When those conditions aren’t met, they suffer from stress. For cannabis, this stress can push a plant to become hermaphroditic.

HERMAPHRODITISM AS A SURVIVAL INSTINCT

In order to better understand hermaphroditism in cannabis plants, it’s important to realise that, in some cases, hermaphroditism is a survival mechanism.

The whole production of sinsemilla cannabis is very unnatural. It takes female cannabis plants and forces them to go unfertilised for extremely unnatural amounts of time. This is essentially what forces the plant to rev up its production of THC and terpenes, giving us the extremely potent and aromatic buds we seek.

And that’s not to mention the many training techniques that cannabis growers use to manipulate their plants, pushing them to produce bigger yields. Even breeders use unnatural techniques (such as inbreeding) to produce their seeds and create strains that are extra potent, high-yielding, and homozygous.

Now, is this good or bad? Well, that’s an interesting topic that unfortunately lies far outside the scope of this article. For the purpose of this read, it’s simply important that you realise that cannabis cultivation isn’t exactly “natural”, and that this can influence why some plants turn out hermaphroditic.

WHAT KIND OF STRESS CAN CAUSE CANNABIS PLANTS TO BECOME HERMAPHRODITIC?

There are many ways to stress cannabis plants. These include:

• Temperature and humidity

Cannabis plants naturally like temperatures of around 20–30°C and relative humidity of 40–70%. If the temperature or humidity of your grow room is too far out of these ranges, this can be enough to turn your plants into hermaphrodites.

• Lighting

As you probably know, lighting is super important for cannabis plants. If your plants are too close to their light source, or your lighting schedules are all over the place, this can also stress your plants. Light leakage during dark periods is also a big stressor and should be addressed immediately.

• Nutrients

Cannabis plants need the right nutrients to produce great bud. Over/underfeeding can stress your plants, affecting their ability to develop properly and potentially increasing the risk of becoming hermaphroditic.

• pH

Using a growing medium that is too acidic or alkaline is another big stressor for cannabis.

• Poor growing medium

Your growing medium houses your plants' roots, helping them absorb nutrients and water. A poor growing medium can cause root problems, which, you guessed it, causes stress for your plants.

• Poor training techniques

Training techniques like fimming, topping, LST, super cropping, and countless others work by stressing cannabis plants in a good way, encouraging them to take up more nutrients, or grow in a specific way that can help improve yield. When done incorrectly, however, these techniques can affect a plant negatively.

• Long flowering times

Sometimes, female plants that have gone long stretches of time without pollination can start to produce pollen in an effort to self-fertilise.

Remember, plants need a specific set of conditions met in order to grow and develop properly, and cannabis is no different. When we grow weed, especially indoors, we’re responsible for meeting these conditions. We also walk a fine line of pushing our plants and manipulating them in ways that benefit us in terms of higher yields, more potent and flavourful bud, and more.

Getting this wrong can result in stress for our plants, which in turn may push them to become hermaphroditic, especially if the plant we’re growing already has a genetic disposition to hermaphroditism.

HOW TO SPOT A “HERMIE”

A hermaphrodite cannabis plant can destroy an entire harvest of cannabis buds by releasing pollen into your grow room and fertilising your females. When this happens, females will focus their energy on producing seeds rather than big, resinous buds.

Hence, it goes without saying that you need to catch any hermaphrodite plants as quickly as possible. Some plants will show signs of hermaphroditism early on when they just start producing flowers. You’ll see these plants developing both male and female flower structures. These can form on different branches or on the same branch, and some hermaphrodites even develop both structures at the same bud site. These are called “true hermaphrodites”.

Alternatively, some plants may become hermaphroditic toward the end of their bloom cycle. This can be the result of a plant trying to make one last attempt at pollinating itself before dying. Thus, while many growers tend to become a lot more hands-off during the bloom cycle, it's important to regularly check on your plants and keep an eye out for hermaphroditic flowers during this final stage of life.

Plants that turn hermaphrodite late in the bloom phase usually develop what some growers call “bananas”. This is the male stamen (exactly like those you’d find inside a male pollen sac), which has protruded through the female flower and can release pollen at any moment. Technically speaking, these are mixed-sex buds, rather than true hermaphroditic plants.

HOW TO DEAL WITH HERMAPHRODITE CANNABIS PLANTS

True hermaphrodites, like male plants, need to be culled early to avoid having them pollinate your other females. Plants with mixed-sex buds, on the other hand, can be harvested.

If one of your plants has produced “bananas” toward the end of its bloom phase, you may want to consider harvesting the plant and keeping its buds, which should still be seedless. Depending on how far along your plant was, they may still produce a perfectly fine smoke.

HOW TO PREVENT HERMAPHRODITE CANNABIS IN THE FUTURE?

Unfortunately, there’s no telling whether a plant has hermaphroditic genes. The only thing you can do to prevent hermaphroditism is this: give your plants the best possible growing conditions and avoid stressing them at all costs. If you use training techniques (both low and high stress), make sure you know what you’re doing.

Finally, always make sure you buy your seeds from a reputable cannabis seedbank whose breeders do their best to minimise hermaphroditism when breeding new strains.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 24, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

Cannabis Plants: Male, Female and Hermaphrodite

Determining the gender of your cannabis plants is the first step to a successful grow. Female plants are the only ones that produce bud cannabis. While it is fairly easy to spot the gender difference, cannabis does come with a curveball. Plants can also be hermaphrodites. And female plants can switch to this state during growing stress.

Cannabis plants are not gender neutral. There are female plants, from which the actual bud flower comes. Male plants produce the pollen. However, the cannabis plant is a bit odd in this respect. Female plants can turn hermaphrodite in certain circumstances - meaning they are both male and female. This happens in a situation where the plant is highly stressed, and fears for its ongoing survival. It becomes both genders as a last resort to self-pollinate and continue to spread seeds.

CANNABIS IS FROM BOTH MARS AND VENUS

Regular cannabis seeds are usually about 50% male and 50% female. The female plants produce bud cannabis. Male plants produce seed pods. They can also produce tiny amounts of THC via trichomes on the leaves. However, if you are not growing your cannabis as a science experiment don’t mess with male plants. It is a waste of time.

Obviously, particularly to the non-expert, all seeds look alike. That is why it is so important when growing cannabis, to buy seeds from a dealer or seed bank. While the plant is in the early stages of growing, it is also impossible to determine gender.

There is only one more problem. Cannabis plants can be both male and female in the right circumstances.

CANNABIS AND THE SEXES

Cannabis is actually much like other plants - with most having this ability. In essence, female plants have the ability to develop male characteristics. This usually occurs thanks to environmental stress. Plants will develop male characteristics at a certain point in the grow cycle in an effort to ensure seeds are produced before the stressor can kill the plant.

Such stress includes changes to hours of darkness during flowering, dramatic changes in temperature, drought and physical damage.

There are other environmental factors which can stress a plant into a sex conversion. This includes as a reaction to insects or disease. It can also occur with the use or overuse of certain kinds of pesticides and fungicides.

However, this tendency is also considered to be a sign of inferior plants. A good mother plant will not show signs of hermaphroditism even when subjected to this kind of stress. All cannabis can turn, but high-quality genetics will resist the urge the most.

As in the human world, hermaphrodite plants are considered a bit strange. In the cannabis one, they are dreaded. Breeders suggest removing such plants from a grow. The reason? They could create accidental pollination of the buds. If a pollen sac from one of these plants is allowed to come in contact with the buds of other plants, those buds will stop developing. They will instead, produce more flowers and seeds.

WHEN DO CANNABIS PLANTS SHOW GENDER?

The first sign of gender appears at the V shape on the plant where stalk meets stem. The plant will develop little green shoots or pre-flowers here. The plant may show pre-flowers when in the vegetative or growing stage. This is also more the case when the plant is a clone.

However, there are other ways to find out if any of your plants are hermaphrodites. The first is to check the kind of flowers they produce. The second comes at the end of the growing process. However, it is important to check before you grow the next time. If you find seeds in your harvested bud and you know you have no males, you have a hermaphrodite plant.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

The first answer is an established breeder. The best way to start with an all-female crop is to buy the feminized seeds from an established source.

However, since this is a problem that will not disappear during the growing process, here are some guidelines for checking your grow.

Female plants take a bit longer than males to show signs of gender after flowering. The plants begin to develop a few wispy white hairs where the buds will soon grow. These flowers begin to form between the stalk and stem. Female pistils are always white (never green).

Male plants literally have grape-sized “balls” of pollen. The balls will show up about a week or two after the plant has entered the flowering stage. They also produce a growth that is a distinct yellow colour and look a bit like bananas.

If the male is allowed to continue growing, the pollen sacs will burst open. The pollen they spill can contaminate your other plants.

Hermaphrodite plants have both male and female flowers. That is also why it is so important to remove them.

ISN’T THIS LIKE ROCKET SCIENCE?

While it sounds complicated, it really isn’t. Growers who start with the right seeds and maintain a healthy grow environment do not have many problems. For this reason, however, it is important to watch your cannabis plants.

It is fairly easy to spot the difference in buds as the plants mature. That is also why it is generally a good idea to grow more than one plant – even the first time. Observation, practice and patience are the keys to a good and healthy grow. Feminized seeds produce femal plants 99% of time, and should one turn hemaphrodite, simply take care to remove it.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 24, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

What Is Light Deprivation And How Does It Affect Cannabis?

Light deprivation is a valuable technique for growers looking to speed up the flowering process, or those living in wet, colder climates. Find out the pros and cons of "light dep," and see how to use it to achieve two or more harvests per season!

The light deprivation or “light dep” technique allows you to control the hours of light your outdoor cannabis plants receive. When you trick your plants into thinking that the shorter light periods of autumn are beginning, they will speed up the flowering process. The benefit of this is that you can make your plants flower at will. This will allow you to achieve two or more outdoor harvests per season! When your plants are budding in summer as opposed to fall, this can have even more advantages. Let’s take a closer look at light deprivation for cannabis and how to make use of it for a better harvest.

WHEN CAN I USE LIGHT DEPRIVATION?

For most European growers, plants receive on average 12.5 hours of light in September. In the winter months, however, the days will be quite short with plants only getting about 7-9 hours of light. Most of the time, outdoor marijuana crops will finish their flowering in October with some strains waiting all the way until November.

The cool temperatures and rainy weather throughout most of northern Europe in late fall means a significant risk for bud rot. With the light deprivation technique, you can force your plants to bud as early as July. The intense sunlight and higher temperatures of the summer can improve the quality of your bud, minimising the risk for mould and rot. From July on, when the natural sunlight hours start decreasing, you won’t need to keep using the light dep technique as your plants will have already moved into flowering.

WHAT IS A GOOD TIME FOR FLOWERING BEFORE THE WEATHER GETS BAD?

Some growers prefer to use light deprivation on their plants at the beginning of July. If you ensure that your plants get only 12 hours of sunlight, they will begin flowering. After three weeks with your light deprived plants in flower, you won’t need to cover them any longer since the days will be sufficiently short. Pretty much any strain grown this way should be ready for harvest long before the weather gets too ugly!

LIGHT DEP TECHNIQUE: HOW TO COVER YOUR PLANTS?

How to cover your plants will depend first and foremost on how many you have. But regardless of whether you only have a couple outdoor ladies, or want to cover-up an entire greenhouse, what’s important is that your cover is 100% light-proof. Using any material that allows light to filter through, or leaving any gaps in coverage could prevent your plants from flowering or lead to hermies.

The easiest way to make a cover for your plants is with a thick, light-proof plastic cover or some kind of tarp. You should be able to find suitable materials at any well-sorted grow store. With the help of some clothespins, you can easily make light-proof bags that will fit over your plants and their containers.

Black plastic bins of a suitable size can also be used for the light deprivation technique as long as they are fully light-proof.

Alternatively, instead of covering up your plants, you can also move them to a dark room for the purpose of light deprivation. This may work well for a small number of plants grown in pots, but may become a big chore in the event of many plants. Furthermore, the requirement of moving your plants in and out on a daily basis may end up taking more effort than it’s worth.

PLAN YOUR LIGHT DEP PROJECT WELL

In theory, covering your plants isn’t rocket science. However, there are some things to consider before you start out with your light deprivation grow project.

First, know that cannabis is very sensitive to light in the dark/night cycle during the flowering phase. Your precious ladies really want to be left alone, undisturbed, and in complete darkness during these hours. Sometimes, even slight disturbances from accidental light exposure can make them grow poorly, leading to all sorts of problems.

Covering your plants under some type of container or light-proof tarp with the sun hitting can increase temperatures and create a higher risk of moisture buildup inside. So keep an eye on these things as well. If you can, move your covered plants to a shady area out of direct sun.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE SIZE OF YOUR PLANTS

Your plants may be small right now, but they likely won’t stay that way. Many strains, sativas in particular, can stretch considerably when they flower and may reach gigantic proportions. It is relatively easy to underestimate the final size of some strains. Take this into account when coming up with an effective way to cover your plants. If you make or purchase covers that are too small, you run the risk of the technique failing.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO COVER YOUR PLANTS?

It doesn’t matter whether you put a cover on your plants in the morning or the evening. But you need to be consistent and do this at the same time everyday so that your plants don’t get more than 12 hours of light. Once you start, you can’t change your schedule around during the light deprivation grow phase. Think about what works best for you; whether you want to do this in the morning or the evening.

Lastly, before you start with your “cover up activities,” you might want to consider whether moving your plants around or having a “bag” on them will raise suspicions with less-than-trustworthy neighbours. It can be a good idea to do your gardening duties at a time when it’s less likely to draw someone’s unwanted attention.

WINDOWSILL GROWING INDOORS CAN BE IDEAL FOR LIGHT DEP

Some growers don’t use a dedicated tent or a grow room, they simply grow marijuana on a windowsill. This can work fairly well assuming that the plants get plenty of sunlight through the window.

Such a windowsill can be an excellent way to implement the light deprivation technique because all you require are light depriving blinds or curtains. After your plants receive the necessary light exposure for that day, you can simply close the curtains or shut the blinds. No moving of your precious plants required and no covering of your plants! Some who grow this way on a sunny windowsill say that they get excellent results from it.

AUTOMATING YOUR LIGHT DEP GROW

No question, the requirement for consistency when you cover and uncover your plants on a daily basis can make such a project quite tedious. You will, after all, need to do this everyday for several weeks. And as if this isn’t already challenging enough, the plants unfortunately won’t handle mistakes or forgetfulness too well either. Expert growers who use light dep to maximise their harvests will normally automate the process.

The windowsill technique is a great example where you could automate things easily. For this, you only need a timer and an electric curtain rail. Simply set the timer, and all the light dep work will be taken care of for you!

USE LIGHT DEPRIVATION FOR TWO HARVESTS PER SEASON

Growers normally make use of light deprivation when they want to max out their harvests. The technique can help facilitate two, and in some cases, three harvests per outdoor season. A popular method is to grow a group of plants the “normal” way, and cultivate a separate group using light dep. The light deprived crops can then be harvested as early as August while the other plants will be ready in fall.

Know that cannabis light deprivation may not work equally for everyone. The best way to go about it depends on various factors, including your local climate and your plant’s environment. This is why some experimentation with light dep can be worthwhile. In time, you will find a way to achieve optimal results from this technique.

WHAT ABOUT AUTOFLOWERING STRAINS AND LIGHT DEPRIVATION?

Autoflowering cannabis strains have the advantage that they do not rely on the natural daylight cycles for their flowering period. Most autos will do fine with 13-18 hours of sunlight, with some growers even using a 24 hour light schedule. Since autos won’t respond to changes in light hours, using any light dep technique for these strains wouldn’t make much sense. However, growing autoflowering strains, in particular “super autos” that grow larger and produce bigger yields, can be a good alternative if you want to grow outdoors, but don’t want to rely on natural daylight hours.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 25, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

Use Schwazzing To Expose Your Buds To More Light

Schwazzing is a term used to describe an intense form of defoliation. The process involves removing many fan leaves from a plant, allowing much more light to pass through to bud sites.

If somebody told you to chop off the vast majority, or all, of your cannabis plant’s leaves in order to massively enhance yield, would you listen to them? Or would you merely disregard the claim as the suggestions of a mad man?

LESS LEAVES, GREAT YIELD

Well, the person in question might actually have a valid point. Something about severing off the fan leaves of your indoor crop during the flowering phase seems to rapidly ramp up the size and vigour of cannabis buds. Defoliation is the term usually assigned to the practice of clipping off a few leaves, but a new term has been developed for fully stripping a plant of its leaves, named “schwazzing”.

The term schwazzing was born out of a book named Three a Light, penned by author Joshua Haupt. The very concept of the book is the application of various growing methods in order to produce a mammoth 3 pounds (~1.4kg) of weed under a single grow light. Schwazzing is a training method featured within the book that's said to help growers achieve such barbaric yields.

Haupt compares schwazzing as kind of like going to the gym. In the gym, a muscle is beaten up and exposed to stress. Muscle fibres are torn and damaged, only to grow back stronger during the anabolic phase.

Weed plants respond in a similar way after such tough love. However, Haupt makes a point that after the gym, muscles will only respond well when fed adequately. This metaphor translates into the notion that plants must be given appropriate nutrients after the removal of their prized and precious leaves.

In the absence of pretty much all of its leaves, it may be the case that all of the plant’s energy, now spare, is distributed to the buds instead. This may explain the explosive growth of the buds when plants are subject to such methods.

WHEN TO SCHWAZZ

Schwazzing typically takes place twice within the grow cycle of a crop. The first bout occurs just before the flowering phase is initiated. The grower will remove the vast majority of fan leaves from plants, leaving them looking almost bare.

Although this might appear shocking and damaging, it is said to pay off further down the line. The photoperiod should then be changed to a 12 hours on, 12 hours off cycle in order to induce the flowering phase of the grow cycle.

The removal of such large amounts of leaves will expose bud sites to light that previously would have been obstructed by the canopy.

SCHWAZZ NUMBER 2

Schwazzing then takes place for a second time 20 days after the initiation of bloom, roughly ⅓ of the way through the flowering phase. During this time, new fan leaves will have grown back, and in doing so, will have started to once again form an obstructive canopy, preventing large amounts of light from directly stimulating the buds.

Many buds will be starting to form at this point, so it is a good time to start to trim away those fan leaves and expose the flowers to some strong light. After this point in the grow cycle, plants won’t be making many more leaves at all, so it’s important not to completely strip plants bare. Instead, let some leaves remain in order to fulfill their biological purpose, focussing mainly on removing large fan leaves that block a lot of light.

Preston9mm · Jan 25, 2020

Should have named this journal "The Weed Encyclopedia" lol
:high-five:

I try to keep up over here... If I get behind, it takes a hot ass minute to catch up.

Definitely looking like a Journal of the Month in the making...
:welldone:

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 25, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

Splitting Stems: Should You Take A Knife To Your Cannabis Plant?

Taking a knife to your cannabis plants a few days before harvest seems pretty counterintuitive. However, many growers say stem splitting can produce bigger yields and more trichomes for tastier, more potent bud. Read on to learn more.

THE THEORY BEHIND STEM SPLITTING

Most grow techniques that involve stress work on the same principles; stressing a cannabis plant encourages it to take up more nutrients, which in turn results in more vegetative growth and heavier harvests.

The theory behind stem splitting is no different. However, it’s a lot more controversial than other high-stress techniques such as topping, fimming, or super cropping. After all, taking a knife to the stems of your flowering cannabis plants is pretty hardcore.

Nonetheless, many growers suggest stem splitting can produce bigger, denser buds and a higher concentration of trichomes. Trichomes actually serve to protect the cannabis plant against pests, environmental factors, and disease. Growers believe that the stress induced by splitting your plants at the end of their flowering cycle pushes them to produce more trichomes just in time for harvest.

HOW TO SPLIT THE STEMS OF YOUR CANNABIS PLANT

To split the stems of your cannabis plant, you’ll need:

A clean, sharp knife (a Stanley blade works great)
Measuring tape
Rope or tape to mark the cut you’ll be making along the stem
A pencil, chopstick, or skewer to separate the stem after it’s been split

1. First, start by measuring the part of your plant’s stem that you’ll be splitting. You’ll want to make a cut of around 10–20cm right beneath the lowest branches of your plant. Use some tape or rope to mark out both the top and bottom of the cut.

2. Next, take your knife and cut through the stem, starting at the highest part of the cut. Be sure to make a clean cut right through the centre of the stem.

3. Use your knife to cut down to the lower mark you made earlier. Make sure your cut is as straight as possible. Once you reach the bottom of your cut, keep the knife stuck in the stem and use a pencil/chopstick/skewer to pry open the cut, then pull out your knife.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME FOR STEM SPLITTING?

There are many different theories on the best time to put scalpel to stem, but most growers suggest doing so in the last week of flowering. While some growers recommend splitting in the last 3 days before harvest, we recommend slightly earlier (7–10 days before harvest).

WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF STEM SPLITTING?

Splitting is a really aggressive high-stress technique, and we only recommend it to experienced growers. Also, we do not recommend stem splitting on autoflowering strains, as it can be far too intense for them.

DOES STEM SPLITTING REALLY WORK?

There’s a solid body of skilled growers who say that stem splitting can produce great results. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of qualitative data to prove that. However, stem splitting is believed to originate from Holland, where it has been used by expert Dutch growers since the 1970s.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 25, 2020

Preston9mm said:
Should have named this journal "The Weed Encyclopedia" lol

I try to keep up over here... If I get behind, it takes a hot ass minute to catch up.

Definitely looking like a Journal of the Month in the making...

Lol - "The Weed Encyclopedia" - I like that!

Pop in whenever you can find the time - I'd love to have some Texas mojo kicking around here!

BTW, awesome job on your journal - your photos are really great - there's a reason why you've got so many readers - keep up the great work!

PS - I hope you're feeling better.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 25, 2020

Dagobah Frost Forest
Review

Vegetation - Day 14

Hey 420!

I just want to do a quick review of where we are, and how we got here:

00) Our goal is to fill up the tent with wide and tall plants. Unfortunately, in my last two grows, I was not using the full height and width of my grow space. Maximum harvest is great!

01) We prep our soil with microlife because in soil, the beneficial bacteria and fungi actually have something to munch on. Living soil is good and healthy!

02) We prep our coco with a "full feed to run-off" of 50% strength nutrient solution. Always prep your coco!

03) If we add perlite to coco or soil, it is rinsed first to remove the fine perlite dust. If we don't remove the dust, it will settle down to the bottom of our fabric pots and prevent good aeration. Roots need oxygen!

04) We up-pot because it helps the roots get established evenly across the width and depth of the final pot. This gives us better nutrient uptake and plant support. We want a large and evenly distributed root system!

05) We choose plastic pots to up-pot in because it is easier for us to slide the medium out of the container without the medium breaking up in our hands. We want quick and easy transplants to minimize transplant shock on the plant!

06) We like fabric pots for final pots. I prefer 10 gallon pots of soil and 5 gallon pots of coco.
Larger pots -> larger roots -> larger stems -> larger branches -> larger colas -> larger harvest!

07) With seedlings, we want them to drive that tap root down to the bottom of the solo cup, and stretch their cotyledons upward towards the light. To help drive the tap root down, we drip water down the stem. To help them stretch we give them between 5k and 7k LUX of light. The Seedlings stage is extremely important!

08) Seedlings like their environment to be moderately warm and humid. We like to keep things around 20-25°C (68-77°F) and 60%-70% RH. Dialing-in VPD is critical!

09) We do not use humidity domes and baby our seedlings, because we want the weak seedlings to die off early. We choose to only grow the strongest phenotypes. Survival of the fittest is good!

10) We spray and mist seedlings because their root system is still underdeveloped. Our seedlings in soil only get water. Our seedlings in coco get very light nute solutions. Doing so, will help us to avoid over-fertilization and root rot!

11) We use fans to create good air flow around the tent - and it makes a seedling's stem strong. Seedlings love to swing!

12) We water in a method that will grow roots laterally. We let the soil and coco nearly dry out and try to establish a wet/dry cycle. We want roots to chase water!

13) We want our veg plants to have a straight thick stalk because this is efficient in nature. Good support for colas!

14) We use LST to expose light and air to growth nodes. Growth nodes give rise to new branches. This is critical!

15) We want our veg plants to have at least eight nodes before we begin HST - eg topping & fimming. Doing HST on a healthy plant with established side branches helps increase recovery time from the shock. Since the plant has enough of an underbrush, the redistribution of hormones and auxins actually have something to "go-to-work" on. HST at eight!

16) When we use wire to LST, we check the connections every day because the plant is always growing. Get used to daily maintenance!

17) Clean tools! Clean hands! Clean floor! Clean grow space! We like clean!

18) We hate mould! We hate fungus! We hate pests! We like clean!

19) Pets who nibble on our plants need a timeout! Bad kitty!

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 25, 2020

Dagobah Frost Forest
Update

Vegetation - Day 14

Hello 420!

I do this instinctively now, but I want to be sure I point it out because it so important and so easily overlooked! Before handling my very expensive plants, I sanitize my hands, my instruments and my working environment.

Nothing sucks more than getting to late flower with a prize nug and getting hit by fungus, mould or pests which could have been easily avoided.

We like clean!

Clean tools! Clean hands! Clean floor! Clean grow space!

Princess Leia had a bit more LST today, so I used this as an opportunity to show how important it is to expose growth nodes to light and air. We accomplish this by gently pulling back fan leaves using a coated wire.

Notice how we are keeping the primary stem straight. This leads to higher efficiency when the plant is transporting nutrients.

Basic LST

We gently pull back the fan leaves using a coated wire. Notice how we are keeping the primary...

As the plant grows, we need to check the wire-to-plant connections daily. We want to avoid pinching a branch or allowing a branch to point down. Either mistake will result in slower growth of that branch.

IMG_20200125_135520.png

As the plant grows, we need to check the wire-to-plant connections daily.

Actually, here's another great example of LST:

Obi-Wan Kenobi is really giving me grief. Somehow the stem got bent and it is a pain trying to get it straight again. So today, I had to undo all the LST from yesterday and start from scratch! If I can't get the stem straight by tomorrow, then I'll grab a stalk of bamboo and stake it.

Sometimes, we just have to start over!

Not all LST is simple.

Sometimes we need to start over.

Rey's stem was getting too long, so I transplanted her and buried her stem a bit.

Quick fact: If you bury a node on a stem, it should grow roots! We use this to our advantage when cloning!

I was curious about using a weight scale to tell when to water seedlings in solo cups, so I took some measurements today. I've always done it by feel though. Should be interesting!

Dry Chewbacca: 190.3g
Wet Chewbacca: 313.4g

Dry Han Solo: 200.6 g
Wet Han Solo: 358.3g

And here's the gang, living it up at the hotel california with some funky Mars Hydro mojo:

Dagobah Frost Forest - Group Photo

Group Photo - Veg Day 14

Dagobah Frost Forest - Princess Leia

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 25, 2020
mars hydro peyote wifi royal queen seeds seedsman

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 14

Dagobah Frost Forest - Obi-Wan Kenobi

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 25, 2020
mars hydro peyote wifi royal queen seeds seedsman

Peyote WiFi - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 14

Dagobah Frost Forest - Emperor Sidius

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 25, 2020
mars hydro royal queen seeds seedsman tangie cookies

Tangie Cookies - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 14

Dagobah Frost Forest - Darth Maul

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 25, 2020
mars hydro royal queen seeds seedsman tangie cookies

Tangie Cookies - Coco/Perlite - Veg Day 14

Dagobah Frost Forest - Rey

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 25, 2020
mars hydro royal queen seeds seedsman tangie cookies

Tangie Cookies - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 14

Dagobah Frost Forest - Chewbacca

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 25, 2020
chemdawg mars hydro royal queen seeds seedsman

Chemdawg - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 14

Dagobah Frost Forest - Han Solo

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 25, 2020
chemdawg mars hydro royal queen seeds seedsman

Chemdawg - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 14

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 26, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

Cannabis Cultivation Tips: How To Set Up Indoor Grow Lights

Excess light can damage your cannabis plants as much as too little light. Learn all you need to know about light as it relates to cannabis, and how to properly set up your grow lights for massive indoor harvests.

Learn to assess and position your cannabis grow lights for maximum effectiveness.

THE 3 MOST COMMON TYPES OF MODERN GROW LIGHTS

Contemporary indoor cannabis cultivation usually involves at least one of three artificial light sources: HID, CFL, and LED. Frequently, growers use a combination of grow lamps. Of course, there are other, more antiquated lighting technologies, but they are all pretty much “Betamax” lamps. This blog will focus on the most common lighting used by the 21st-century cannabis cultivator. We are going heavy on the practical grow room advice without relying on the pseudo-scientific stats.

HID or high-intensity discharge lamps have been the grow lights of choice for every kind of indoor grower from beginners to pro cultivators since the early 1990’s at least. Over the years, lamps have become more efficient, ballasts have gone digital, and reflectors have gotten bigger and better. Growers that favour HID are big believers that lumens are the only output statistic that matters when it comes to lights.

Sure, CMH or ceramic metal-halide has come on the scene and the 315W CMH bulb is impressive, but a rather expensive upgrade for a standard MH or metal-halide lamp. Moreover, 315W CMH is not quite as high performance as a high-end dual spectrum/agro 600W HPS or high pressure sodium lamp. Similarly, CFL shows some promise, but always runs a distant second to the tried and trusted HID.

LED or light-emitting diode is the up-and-coming breakaway technology that looks to end the reign of HID for cannabis cultivation. The latest generation of LED systems are now capable of producing comparable, and in some cases, superior quality marijuana than the average HID set-up. PAR or photosynthetically active radiation is the metric that LED zealots consider most important.

It’s best not to get too obsessed about the various new measures of light and modified light spectrums. Keep it simple. Think of light in terms of watts and electricity bills. Next is the question, “How much power consumption?” Followed by, “How much heat will the lamp produce and how much light will it emit?

OLD SCHOOL HID

In ordinary decent stoner terms, HID has gotten some new bells and whistles, but the core principles of cultivating cannabis with this kind of artificial light remain the same. MH for vegetative growth and HPS for flowering. Although, the dual spectrum HPS lamps are a popular alternative and probably even better for autoflowering strains.

400W and 600W bulbs are the most suitable for indoor cannabis cultivation. Lights need to be hung level. The optimal light height or OLH is between 30-50cm above the plant canopy. This means carefully fastening the reflector to the ceiling or roof of the grow tent with either easy roll hangers or rope ratchets.

It’s best to use fixtures that can be easily adjusted and repositioned as the plants mature and grow taller. However, seedlings and cuttings may find a 600W MH too intense and a 60cm+ distance overhead might be more appropriate.

Don’t mess with light rails unless you’ve got the engineering credentials. Stationary lights that don’t wobble with a level, horizontal bulb housed in a clean, open reflector is professional, standard cultivation. Ideally, use a large reflector, or as big as will squeeze into the grow space, with a wide spread to utilise the entire area.

Glass filters, light, and air-cooling lamps are expensive. Therefore, cool tubes are really only suitable for closet grows as they have some of the worst reflective properties of any reflector on the market. Adding more lights and more fans means higher power bills.

LIGHTING AND GROW SPACE

Generally, 400-600W per m² is plenty of light for a home grow show. Commercial growers may push this to 1000W+ for maximum yield. Packing as many lamps as possible into the grow-op is not a fast track to a heavy harvest. More HID lamps means more light, but also a lot more heat. These babies run hot. 250W lamps are for micro-growers only.

The only advantage the 250W lamp offers is that plant tops can get as close as 20cm to the bulb. Heat output is far less than a 600W, but light will not penetrate as far. Limited light will reach the lower branches of taller plants.

The addition of just one extra 600W HPS can massively increase grow-op temps. It’s often a less costly and more effective solution to invest in upgrading the grow room instead. Maybe cover the walls in Mylar or upgrade from a magnetic ballast to a dimmable, digital ballast, or go all the way to LED.

HOW MANY PLANTS?

The answer is as many or as few as the grower prefers. You can pack 16 cannabis plants in 11l square containers into a 1m² grow space in a SOG. Alternatively, a grower can fill the same space with one large plant using the ScrOG method. Either way, the yield will be comparable. Again, it's all about how you make use of the light and the grow area.

SUPPLEMENTING WITH CFL

CFL or compact fluorescent light is really effective in the cool white spectrum as an alternative to an MH bulb. A 250W CFL can deliver comparable results to a 400W MH lamp. This is achieved by hanging the CFL as close as 10cm above the plant canopy. CFL runs cool and can get really close to plants without burning foliage. Plus, CFL lights will only marginally increase grow-op temps. This makes CFL perfect for seedlings, cuttings, and for use during vegetative growth. CFL lights are sometimes the only option for micro-growers.

Unfortunately, CFL boasts neither impressive lumen nor PAR output figures. Worse, CFL lights are not very effective for flowering marijuana. Cannabis plants need far more intense illumination during bloom than CFL can supply. Expect lightweight yields and loose buds from CFL lights in the flowering phase.

NEXT-GEN LED

The latest LED systems have finally achieved parity with traditional HID lighting systems. At present, the situation is similar to when flat screen televisions first became available at the turn of the century. The benefits and advantages were plain for all to see. However, the limiting factor was prohibitively high prices by the leading manufacturers.

High-performance LED kits that draw 350-400W and can outperform a 600W MH and HPS configuration with a full spectrum array don’t come cheap. There are some models that really can do it all. The very best systems can run cool and are incredibly economic in the long-term. Hanging distances vary widely, so buyer beware and make sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions.

Below, we dig into the science behind light output so you can assess the ideal wattage and placement of your cannabis grow lights. We'll cover terms like photons, lumens, and PAR, as well as the main types of grow lights and how they differ.

LIGHT SPECTRUM, PAR, AND LUMENS

Light is made of photons, which are tiny particles that inevitably travel at the speed of light. Photons in light beams vibrate with different frequencies and wavelengths. Humans can see photonic radiations within wavelengths from 380–680nm, while plants’ sensitivity to light ranges from 200–800nm. Not all wavelengths within this spectrum produce the same effects on photosynthesis; those that most activate biochemical processes in plants are called PAR (photosynthetically active radiation), which has a spectral range of 400–700nm.

Light can be measured in photometric quantities derived from the human eye’s sensitivity to colour, or else with radiometric quantities related to the energy transported by light beams. Lumens and lux are commonly used photometric units that refer to light perceived by the human eye.

However, photometric measurements do not indicate how much light energy a lamp sends to a plant for photosynthesis because they don’t include the PAR variables. Despite that, lumens and lux can provide an initial indication on a specific bulb’s output, and we can compare different products by measuring their photometric efficiency with the lumen:watt ratio, regardless of the eventual differences in light spectrum output at different wavelengths.

Lux and lumens work well in measuring MH, HPS, CFL and T5 lights, but they won’t accurately measure the efficiency of an LED light when growing cannabis.

PAR AND PPFD IN WATT COMPUTATION

Broadly speaking, the minimum amount of wide-spectrum light needed by a cannabis plant is around 9,000lm per square metre, while the optimal is over 20,000lm/m². However, a vigorous indoor plant’s growth and flowering depends on the light thresholds reached at specific wavelengths that trigger photosynthesis. That’s why LED grow lights use radiometric systems in order to measure the quantity of photons irradiated in the PAR colour frequencies we mentioned before.

The most widely used radiometric measurement in horticulture is the PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density), which measures the flow of PAR photonic micromoles per second in a square metre (μmol/m²/s). Assuming the PPFD of a grow light is provided, we can calculate its radiometric efficiency and compare different lighting systems using the PPFD:watt ratio.

SUN, BULBS, AND PROPER PHOTONIC PRESSURE

Midsummer midday sun reaches the Earth at latitudes of around 45° with a photosynthetic power of 1,200–2,000 PPFD. Yet, cannabis seedlings, clones, and mother plants are happy with a PPFD of just 200–400μmol/m²/s. Cannabis plants in their vegetative phase will need 400–600μmol/m²/s, and flowering plants normally require 600–1500μmol/m²/s PPFD with atmospheric levels of CO₂. A study found that the most productive PPFD for cannabis is 1500–2000μmol/m²/s at a temperature of 25–30°C with natural CO₂ increased to 750ppm.

Even if cannabis is a demanding plant, irradiation above the limit threshold for each variety, stage of life, or environmental conditions doesn’t necessarily increase yield. Conversely, an excess of photonic pressure can cause damage to leaves and flowers. In other words, flower production increases when the cannabis plant receives 20–30 moles of PAR light per day, then levels out between 30–40 moles, and reduces at over 40 moles.

HOW MUCH LIGHT DOES YOUR GROW ROOM NEED?

To establish the correct amount of light for your crop, you need to multiply your grow room length by its width to obtain the growing surface, then multiply the obtained figure with your desired PPFD level.

If your grow box is 250cm long and 80cm wide, your grow space will be 2.50m × 0.80m = 2m². If you aim for a flowering plant canopy of around 2 square metres and you want to experiment with a PPFD level of 500μmol, you simply need 1,000μmol/m²/s. This result should then be divided by the PPFD per watt of light to ascertain the wattage needed.

THE WATTS PER SQUARE METRE RULE: HOW MANY PLANTS CAN YOU GROW?

LED systems produce higher PAR than MH, HPS, and other kinds of lamps. Despite that, your plants will need about the same amount of watts per square metre to achieve a harvest similar to that of traditional HID bulbs. Also consider that LED light systems are often advertised as being more powerful than their actual electrical power draw, but this doesn’t mean that a 400W LED can cover the same square footage as a 1,000W HPS bulb. Here are some general charts of the power needed to grow vigorous cannabis plants using different lighting systems. During the early vegetative stage, they will need around half the power.

As a reference, HPS lights can approximately cover the following canopy areas:

250W ≈ 0.5–1m² ≈ 2 plants
400W ≈ 1–1.5m² ≈ 4 plants
600W ≈ 1.3–2m² ≈ 8 plants
1000W ≈ 1.8–3m² ≈ 10 plants

LED lights can approximately cover the following canopy areas:

120W ≈ 0.5m² ≈ 1 plant
200W ≈ 0.8m² ≈ 2 plants
280W ≈ 1m² ≈ 4 plants
350W ≈ 1.5m² ≈ 6–8 plants

To get an idea of how much light intensity you are providing to your plants, you can buy a lux meter and measure the light intensity over different points of the canopy. Alternatively, you can do a theoretical calculation that considers the lumens emitted by the lamp in relation to the grow surface. In order to calculate the lux pressure on the canopy, just divide the lumens of your lamp by the square metres of the illuminated surface. If you position a lamp that produces 100,000lm at a distance of 1m from the plant’s top, it will illuminate an area of 1m² with an intensity of 100,000lx (100,000lm ÷ 1m = 100,000lx). If the lamp is only 0.5m away, it will receive 100,000lm ÷ 0.5m = 200,000lx.

Unfortunately, the luminous intensity decreases by a factor equal to the square of the source distance from the illuminated object, therefore your same lamp placed at two metres will increase its beam width, covering 4m², but with only 25,000lx. Consequently, you would need four lamps to reach your hypothetical 100,000lx target on your whole grow area.

HID (MH, HPS): RULES FOR THE RIGHT DISTANCE

HID bulbs come in a metal halide (MH) version with cold light suitable for the vegetative phase, and a high-pressure sodium (HPS) version with a much wider spectrum for the flowering stage. These lamps run hot and require a proper cooling and exhaust system. They also emit less light over time, thus new bulbs should be kept further away than older bulbs, and after a couple of years, you should consider replacing them.

The proper distance for both MH and HPS bulbs depends mainly on wattage. Always begin with the light at the upper end of the range and gradually lower it. Assuming the ventilation in your grow room is properly set, with a smaller 250W bulb you can start at a distance of 35cm, progressively descending toward the canopy until you reach 25cm from the buds at the end of the flowering stage. With a 600W bulb, you might start at 50cm, descending down to 30cm; if you picked a 1000W lamp, you better allow at least 80cm of distance.

Common practice has you hold the back of your hand facing the light just above the top of your plants; if it feels comfortable, so will your plants. But don’t trust general rules too much. Always check your plants for any signs of overheating or excessive photonic pressure.

LED: RULES FOR THE RIGHT DISTANCE

LED systems run cooler than HID bulbs, but they still need some cooling to prevent accidental burning of your plants. LED lights give off a great amount of light pressure, even at relatively low temperatures. This amount of light itself, not the heat, can cause light burn and leaf bleaching.

Different models of LED grow lights have different optimal distances from plants, and manufacturers usually include recommendations alongside their products. Just start at a medium distance within the recommended range and observe your plants over the coming days. Back the lights off if you notice any leaves turning pale or with burned tips. If your plants are happy, move the LED panel closer, but never to the point where the upper leaves start bleaching, yellowing, or turning brown.

High-wattage LED panels with more than 300W should be kept at least 70cm away from the canopy, then eventually moved closer during the flowering stage. As a general reference, 200–400W LED lights should be positioned 30–70cm away from plants, while 450–600W lights require a distance of 50–80cm. Higher wattage systems must be located even further away. Remember to keep a close watch over your plants whenever you start using a new light.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 26, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

The Different Types of Lights for Cannabis: Pros and Cons

The variety of grow lights available today can be confusing, especially for those new to cannabis cultivation. We look at the different types of lighting along with their pros and cons.

Cannabis cultivators know how important light is when it comes to growing successfully. A sufficient amount of the right type of light is one of the most crucial factors for healthy growth and yields of potent buds.

Although natural sunlight would be optimal for cannabis growing, many cultivators prefer to grow indoors, for various reasons. Firstly, not everyone lives in a climate where outdoor growing is feasible. Secondly, indoor growing with artificial lighting on a timer allows the grower control over the vegetative and flowering phases of their cannabis.

You can find various types of grow lights for indoor cultivation today. However, not all types of grow lighting are equal. There can be big differences when it comes to their effectiveness and costs. Let’s look at the available grow lighting types together with their pros and cons.

FLUORESCENT (CFL) GROW LIGHTS

CFL stands for “Compact Fluorescent Lights”. You can get these lights at many places, including home improvement stores and even most grocery stores. They are especially suited to small grows and make affordable starter lights.

Pros:
Their availability and low cost are among the advantages of CFL grow lights. These bulbs have standard sockets so you can use them with any standard light fixture. Commonly used CFLs for growing cannabis range from 40W and upwards. They are available in various colour temperatures such as “daylight” at 6500K or “warm white” with a more reddish light spectrum at 2700K. Bulbs with a “daylight” spectrum are more suitable for the vegetative growth phase while “warmer” CFLs with their more reddish light are better for the flowering of your plants.

Cons:
The light output of CFL bulbs is low compared to other types of grow lighting. You will have to put the CFL bulbs very close to your plants if you want to provide them sufficient light. Unless you are willing to use a number of CFL bulbs, CFLs are normally better suited for smaller grows, say if you only grow one or two plants. On the other hand, “day light” CFL grow lights can be the ideal grow lights for clones and seedlings.

CFLs are not very efficient or powerful compared to other lighting options, but for who are only just dipping their toe into the water of cannabis cultivation, they are a great starting point.

HID GROW LIGHTS (MH & HPS)

HID (High-intensity Discharge) grow lights are somewhat of a golden standard in the cannabis growing industry. Many growers swear by HID lighting and believe that they give the best and biggest yields.

There are two main types of HID lights, MH (Metal Halide) lights and HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lights. The difference between the two is that MH lights give a “cooler”, blueish light whereas HPS lights sit at the red end of the spectrum. This makes MH lights better suitable for the vegetative phase of your plants and HPS better for flowering.

Most advanced growers, therefore, use a combination of MH/HPS bulbs for the duration of their grow. If for some reason you need to choose one type of HID for the entire grow you should get an HPS light.

600W HPS lights are the most popular form of HID lights because they provide a good balance between how much light they produce and how much electricity they use.

Growers that want to grow using HID lighting can usually get complete sets that include the bulbs, ballast and a reflector.

Pros:
HID lights will initially cost a lot less when compared to some other types of grow lights. They are easy to set up and to operate, and they are proven a proven standardised solution able to get excellent results.

Cons:
Powerful HID lights in the 600W range or more can produce big amounts of heat. This means you will need adequate exhausts and vents in your grow room. Also, because HID bulbs degrade over time, their life span is somewhat limited. You will have to replace your bulbs periodically. Some growers get new bulbs every year while others grow with them a little longer.

HID lights cannot just plugged-in to a regular light socket because they need a special hood and ballast. As such, they are extremely power hungry, and can significantly increase electricity bills.

LED GROW LIGHTS

Just a few years ago, LEDs were not suitable for any “serious” grows aside for providing light for seedlings or clones. However, LED technology has come a long way in recent years.

Modern LED grow lights with more lumens per watt and modern COBs (“Chips on Board”) technology can now provide adequate light intensity and penetration for even the most demanding grows. Today, LEDs can rival or even surpass other types of grow lighting including HID lights - though you need to get the right ones.

Pros:
LEDs are the most energy-efficient type of grow light. This means they can provide the most light compared to their running costs. Another advantage of LED lights is that they run much cooler compared to HID lighting - barely producing any heat at all. This, in turn, means there is less risk of “burning” your plants from too much heat plus it helps to keep temperatures in your grow room down. LEDs also don’t need a ballast to work like HIDs do, you can simply plug them into a standard outlet.

Cons:
When compared to other types of lighting, the initial costs for LED grow lights can be steep. High-end grow LED fixtures with modern LED modules can easily set you back thousands of Euros. On the other hand, if you plan to grow a lot, the lower running costs of LEDs, and lower temperatures can make good for your initial investment over time.

It is also worth noting that unlike HID and CFL lights, there is no industry standardisation. As such, the current LED grow light market is flooded with retailers that try to sell poorly designed LED lights by often making outrageous and false claims. You get what you pay for when it comes to LEDs, and it always worth doing your research and paying extra for a reputable brand.

So, what type of grow lighting is best? This is a decision that will depend on various factors, including the size of your growing area, the light’s running costs over time and last but not least how much you can or are willing to spend.

If you have very high light requirements, such as if you want to max out your yields during flowering you will not get around needing a powerful light such as a 600W or better HID light or LED equivalent. On the other hand, if you only want to grow one or two small plants, or are looking after clones and seedlings, a less powerful light will do.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 26, 2020

Daily Tips & Tricks

By Royal Queen Seeds

Make the Most of Your LEDs: 5 Tips for Cannabis LED Growing

The growing prominence of LED grow lights in the cannabis community is undeniable. So we have put together a few tips for anyone wanting to give them a go.

With LED technology rapidly advancing in recent years, more cannabis growers are now switching to LED for their indoor operations. Merely a novelty just a few years back, LED grow lights are now performing as well, if not better, than HID lamps, and have also become more affordable. Due to the many advantages of LEDs, from consuming less energy to being more robust and having a longer life span, they are now a great choice for indoor cultivators of different skill levels. If you grow cannabis with LEDs or plan to make the switch, here are some tips for you.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING AN LED GROW LIGHT

Before you go buying an LED grow light, it helps to know what’s available. Currently, there are three main types of LEDs that you can use to grow cannabis, each of which has its pros and cons. The type of LED light you should choose will depend on what exactly you’re looking for, and how much money you’re willing to spend.

3 MAIN TYPES OF LED GROW LIGHTS

STANDARD (“PURPLE”) LED

These standard LED light fixtures were the first type available for growing, and today, they’re still widely available. These lights contain a lot, sometimes hundreds, of small to medium wattage LEDs (3–5 watts per single LED) in a compact fixture. Cannabis growers sometimes refer to these as “purple” lights, as they often comprise a mix of red and blue LEDs that combine to emit a purple hue.

The biggest advantage of these standard LED lights is their price point. Most are manufactured overseas, and you can find them aplenty on eBay and other places online. A disadvantage is that their quality is often lacking; they can be less than reliable, and their light output is often lower than other types of LEDs, leading to lower yields. To remedy this, we’re now seeing standard LEDs begin to include COB LED lights or UV LEDs in addition to the red and blue, which can help with yield and bud quality.

COB LED

COB means “chip on board”. A COB LED is made of many hundreds of tiny LEDs on one single small chip, as opposed to differently coloured LEDs spread over the entire fixture (as is the case above). COBs are among the most efficient LEDs. They produce a very intense white light that is similar to the natural light spectrum of the sun. One advantage of COBs is that they have good penetration into the plant canopy due to their intensity, resulting in a final yield approaching that of quality HID lamps. They also have a light spectrum that is optimal for healthy growth, and are very energy-efficient.

The drawback can be that a quality grow light with COB LEDs is quite expensive compared to cheaper purple lights. Some grow light manufacturers combine several COB LEDs into one fixture, often equipping them with lenses and reflectors. There are also lights available that are comprised of only one single COB. These single-COB fixtures can be a good choice for larger growing spaces, as you can space a number of them evenly for light distribution across the entire area. Most growers use COB LEDs with a light spectrum that works both for vegging and flowering, but you can also find those with a spectrum (“colour temperature”) tuned specifically to vegging or flowering.

SPREAD-STYLE LED

Spread-style LEDs are comprised of a large number of small LEDs that are spread out on a larger panel or board. There are also spider-style LEDs and rack-style LED lights, which are widely used in commercial greenhouses. The spider-style LED lights don’t use flat panels, but spider-like “arms” with LEDs instead.The main advantage of spread-style grow lights is that they are among the most energy-efficient LEDs, which means you can get the most light for the wattage you’re using. A disadvantage is that quality spread-style LEDs, such as the spider-style lights, can be extremely expensive.

THE ADVANTAGES OF GROWING WITH LED LIGHTS

We’ve already mentioned that LED lights have several advantages when compared to other types of grow lights, such as HID. Here is a full rundown of why you may want to choose LEDs for your next growing operation.

1. LED LIGHTS ARE MORE ENERGY-EFFICIENT
Compared to HID lights, LEDs are a lot more energy-efficient. They use less electricity, and will cost much less to operate in the long-run. Although high-end LED lights can sometimes cost a good chunk of money outright, the investment is almost always worth it as your savings over time will make up for the higher initial cost. Likewise, quality LED light fixtures will also have a longer life span compared to HID, the latter of which tends to lose performance over time and needs frequent replacement. A good LED light can last you many years with no maintenance needed.

2. THEY RUN COOL
LEDs produce a lot less heat compared to HID lights, which can be a big advantage as you won’t require extra cooling systems in your grow room or tent to keep temperatures optimal. This is especially advantageous if you grow in summer or happen to live in a warmer climate. The downside to this is that if you live somewhere cold, you may now need to consider a heater in the colder months. But as LEDs save you money over time, this can make up for the potential costs of running a heater.

3. WITH LED, YOU CAN MOVE YOUR PLANTS CLOSER TO THE LIGHT
LEDs produce less heat, which means less stress on your plants—so you can move your lights closer to your plants without any negative effects. Higher light intensity translates to higher yields!

4. LED LIGHTS REDUCE YOUR WATERING SCHEDULE
With less heat produced by lights, the soil in your pots will stay moist for longer, thus reducing the amount of times you need to water. If you’ve just switched from HID to LED and are used to your plants drinking quite a lot, you now need to be careful with your new watering schedule under LED, otherwise you might overwater your ladies.

5. YOU NEED LESS NUTRIENTS
When you water cannabis plants, you’ll normally do so with an infusion of nutrients. In addition to watering less, your plants will also need less nutes than they would before. In addition to some nice savings on nutrients, the less-frequent watering and feeding schedule will also decrease nutrient buildup, so there’s a lower risk of nutrient lockout and plant deficiencies.

GROWING WITH LED: WHAT TO CONSIDER FOR EACH STAGE OF CULTIVATION

As we touched on earlier, many types of LEDs have a fixed light spectrum that works for both the vegetative (growing) and flowering phases of cannabis. This way, you can just use the same light throughout your entire grow from seed until harvest.

Although this is convenient for most, there are those who want to fine-tune their lights for best results and optimal efficiency in each growing phase. For this purpose, some commercial LED lights have a switch to activate a veg light spectrum or a flower light spectrum. Here are some more factors to consider throughout each stage of growth.

A) LED LIGHTS AND SEEDLINGS
As soon as your seeds have sprouted, your soon-to-be cannabis plant will need light to grow. Compared to more mature plants, however, your seedling is much more sensitive to intense light. Because of that, you should be careful when starting out with strong LEDs.

If your LED has a dimming option, turn your light to a lower intensity. If this isn’t an option, consider moving your lights further up, away from the seedling. On the other hand, ensure that you do not move the lights too far up, as this could cause the seedling to grow spindly and lanky.

Likewise, if your LED has a switch to activate either a vegging or flowering spectrum, set it to veg, where the light normally emits a “cooler” blueish light, which is optimal for this stage. Set your timer to 18 hours of light per day, with 6 hours of darkness.

As your seedling grows taller, stronger, and approaches the most robust part of the vegetative growing stage, you can then gradually increase the light intensity.

B) LED LIGHTS DURING VEGETATION

Set your light to 18 hours per day and 6 hours of darkness. Some growers choose to grow with 20–24 hours of light to maximise vegetative growth.

Monitor your plant’s development; if all goes well, it should grow healthy, strong, and bushy. If it grows lanky and spindly instead, this is likely because your plant is not getting enough light. Increase the intensity by lowering the light toward the plant canopy or turning up the intensity using the dimmer if your light has one.

How long you want to veg your plant will normally depend on how much space you have available. You can technically let your plant grow under 18–24 hours of light as long as you want, but there will likely come a time when you want to switch to flowering, as the plant would otherwise simply grow too big. Know that some cannabis strains can stretch considerably (up to 2x or more) during early flowering. Take this into account upon deciding when to initiate the switch to bloom.

C) LED LIGHTS FOR FLOWERING

Photoperiodic cannabis starts to flower in late summer when the daylight hours naturally begin to diminish. Indoors, the grower is responsible for inducing bloom by setting the light schedule to 12 hours of light and 12 hours total darkness. If your LED light has a flowering switch, turn it to flowering mode.

When you flower indoors on a 12-12 schedule, it is important that the 12 hours of darkness are not interrupted. So make sure that your tent or greenhouse doesn’t have any light coming in from outside. This would otherwise revert your flowering plant back to veg or potentially cause other issues such as hermaphroditism.

If your LED has a dimmer, now is the time to turn your light to its maximum intensity, or lower your light to the recommended distance from your plants for the flowering stage. If you are not sure what this distance is, most grow light producers have recommendations available.

Important: if you change anything with your lights, such as when you increase intensity and/or lower their position, make sure to do so gradually over several days, rather than in one go. Too sudden of a change can stress your plants too much.

AUTOFLOWERS AND LED

If you’re growing autoflowers rather than photoperiodic strains, you don’t need to bother with initiating flowering by switching your lights to 12 hours on/off. You can just leave your autoflowers at 18–24 hours of light per day up until harvest. Then again, if your LED light has a flowering switch, you should still use it once your autoflowering cannabis is in bloom. This will help increase yield.

LED COMPARED TO HID GROW LIGHTS

HID lights, such as MH/HPS grow lamps, are still widely used as they are cheaper than good LEDs, yet are still reliable for growing top-quality weed. Furthermore, grow tent kits often include HID lights, so many new growers start out with these, rather than LEDs. If you’re wondering now whether you should switch to LED, here are some more aspects to think about.

WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?

Although you can get LED grow lights “for cheap” nowadays, many of these budget versions from overseas are not worth the money you’d save outright from avoiding high-quality fixtures. If you want quality LEDs, you will normally need to spend some good money to get a light that promises good yields and will last you a long time. So if you’re on a budget and don’t want to, or can’t, spend a lot, it makes sense to continue with HID for the time being, rather than settling for a cheap LED. HID lights will still do a splendid job supporting growth and flowering—in fact, they can still outshine a decent amount of LEDs when it comes to performance.

HEAT PRODUCED BY HID LAMPS CAN BE A PRO OR CON

As already mentioned, HID lamps produce a large amount of heat. So, if heat in your grow room is a concern, you definitely want to look into LEDs. This can save you additional money on exhaust and cooling systems. On the other hand, if you grow in a cold environment, you may just want to stick with your HIDs as they keep the grow room cosy for your plants without needing additional heating.

WHICH LIGHT GROWS BETTER (AND MORE) BUDS?

Are there any differences in bud quality and yield with LEDs compared to MH HID lights? Some growers say that MH lamps give better yields or “prettier buds” compared to LEDs. But there are also those who say that, although HID might give you better yields, LED lights make for a better taste and/or overall better quality of weed. Obviously, what is really “better” is open to interpretation.

For additional information on how LEDs compare to other types of grow lights, you can also read our article on the pros and cons of different types of lights for cannabis.

HOW TO AVOID PROBLEMS WHEN GROWING WITH LED

Modern LED grow lights, for example COB lights, can emit light that is as intense as that from HID. If your plants are too close to your LEDs, this can lead to “light burn”, with discoloured or bleached leaves, nutrient deficiencies, and all sorts of growing troubles. Because of this, it is important to keep your LEDs the proper distance away from your cannabis plants.

There is no “one size fits all” recommendation for the right distance for all types of LEDs, since this varies greatly by type. It depends on the amount of light your LED is emitting, whether your lamp also uses lenses or reflectors, and so on. The manufacturer of your lights should clue you in to the recommended lamp distance from the canopy, either on the instructions that come with your lights or on their website. As a general rule, however, most LEDs should be about 30–45cm away from the tops of your plants to support healthy and vigorous growth.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 26, 2020

DrCC's Favorite Canna Recipies

By CannaBasics

How To Make Cannabis Coconut Oil (Decarboxylated Canna-Oil)

Activated cannabis coconut oil is one of the healthiest and most effective ways of consuming cannabis.

This method uses both coconut oil and heat to infuse and to decarboxylate the THC to produce very potent psychedelic effects.

Note: We need to give ourselves some time away from distractions, because we will need to monitor the coconut oil as it cooks.

What We Need

Cannabis Grinder
Small Cooking Pot
Plastic Spatula
Cooking Thermometer
Small Mixing Bowl
Fine Mesh Strainer
Cheese Cloth
Small Glass Jar

250 ml (1 cup) Coconut Oil
10 g (0.35 oz) Dried Cannabis Flowers

Step 1:

Measure out 250 ml (1 cup) Coconut Oil and place into a Small Cooking Pot on the stove. You can melt the Coconut Oil first if you want to.

Step 2:

Bring the Coconut Oil up to temperature.

Note: It is very important to use a cooking thermometer.

We are looking to slowly heat the Coconut Oil up to 104°C (220°F).

Note: Monitor and stabilize the temperature of the the Coconut Oil at 104°C (220°F) before adding the Dried Cannabis Flower.

Step 3:

Manicure the Dried Cannabis Flower by removing any stems or seeds.

Then grind the Dried Cannabis Flower into a fine powder. This will allow the Dried Cannabis Flower to infuse faster and more effectively into the Coconut Oil.

Step 4:

Add the finely ground Dried Cannabis Flower into the Coconut Oil stabilized at 104°C (220°F).

Note: The oil will begin to turn dark green - this is a natural process.

Step 5:

Monitor the Coconut Oil closely for an hour while the Dried Cannabis Flower decarboxylates and the THC infuses into the Coconut Oil.

Stir the Coconut Oil often and ensure the temperature stays as close to 104°C (220°F) as possible.

During the hour, we will notice the color of the Coconut Oil change from a greenish color to a darker brownish color. This is a natural part of the decarboxylation process.

Note: The small bubbles will begin to disappear as the decarboxylation process completes.

Step 6:

After an hour, filter out the plant material using a Fine Mesh Strainer. Gently press the plant material to remove as much oil as possible.

Then put the filtered oil back on the stove to finish cooking.

We know it's done decarboxylating when the bubbles stop forming.

Step 7:

When the bubbles stop, we re-strain the Coconut Oil again using two layers of Cheese Cloth and the Fine Mesh Strainer.

Step 8:

At this point, the Canna Coconut Oil is ready to use.

We can now store the Canna Coconut Oil in the fridge in any container we choose.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 26, 2020

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

We wound up at Centennial Park - the main park in Barrie where we have our largest summer festivals like Kempenfest. And I must say, over the past few years, Barrie has really beautified the lakeshore!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

We wound up at Centennial Park - the main park in Barrie where we have our largest summer...

Today was such a dog day! It was cold, wet and yet, lots of people were out walking their dogs. This is Muffin - he is a blind rescue we just met today.

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

Today was such a dog day! It was cold, wet and yet, lots of people were out walking their dogs...

Centennial Park is located on the Western most part of Kempenfelt Bay, and the sunrises and sunsets here are simply spectacular!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

Centennial Park is located on the Western most part of Kempenfelt Bay, and the sunrises and...

One of the best new features Barrie added is the boardwalk! On the left we see another nice lookout, and on the right we see a really fun playground donated by the Optimist Club Of Barrie. Thanks guys!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

One of the best new features Barrie added is the boardwalk! On the left we see another nice...

Imagine in the summer, the beach and the playground full of kids having fun - Barrie is a lot about family!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

Imagine in the summer, the beach and the playground full of kids having fun - Barrie is a lot...

If you have an ice hut - come on up and try your luck! You could always use an old grow tent if it's not too windy!

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

If you have an ice hut - come on up and try your luck! You could always use an old grow tent if...

And of course we have pavillions where you can have a BBQ and enjoy a great picnic with family and friends. It's on the left with the white roof.

Barrie's Hello Winter 2020

And of course we have pavillions where you can have a BBQ and enjoy a great picnic.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 26, 2020

Dagobah Frost Forest
Update

Vegetation - Day 15

Hello 420!

Good news! All the plants are happy, healthy and growing very well!

I took a quick look at all the LST wire-to-plant connections and they all seem fine. We'll know by tomorrow if Obi-Wan Kenobi needs to be staked or not.

All the seedlings continue to get spritzed with water every few hours.

As for our coco plants, we fed 2 litres (2 quarts) of 50% nutes to the 5 gallon (20 litre) pots, and 0.5 litres (0.5 quarts) of 50% nutes to the 1.5 gallon (6 litre) pots.

Just a quick update on the weight of the solo cups of soil we watered yesterday. Basically, I wanted to see how fast they dry out - which is how we establish our wet/dry cycle so we know when to water soil. Normally we do this by feel, but hey measuring works too if you have carpal tunnel or loss of sensation right?

Dry Chewbacca Day 0: 190.3g
Wet Chewbacca Day 0: 313.4g
Wet Chewbacca Day 1: 229.7g

Dagobah Frost Forest - Chewbacca

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 26, 2020
chemdawg mars hydro royal queen seeds seedsman

Chemdawg - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 15

Dry Han Solo Day 0: 200.6 g
Wet Han Solo Day 0: 358.3g
Wet Han Solo Day 1: 252.8g

Dagobah Frost Forest - Han Solo

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 26, 2020
chemdawg mars hydro royal queen seeds seedsman

Chemdawg - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil - Veg Day 15

That's quite a bit of water loss for a plastic cup! I was not expecting that!

But hey, those roots are chasing water!

Alright, let's see how they are tomorrow. I bet they'll need water! :cool:

The Force is still strong in the Dagobah Frost Forest - hopefully the Dark Side won't strike:

Dagobah Frost Forest - Group Photo

Veg Day 15

The Force is still strong in the Dagobah Frost Forest - hopefully the Dark Side...

GardeningGnome · Jan 28, 2020

New member to the forum, latecomer to this particular grow, yes yes... I know!

Such an informative grow journal, with all the added FAQs, "tips and tricks" and other snippets of information!!!

Really interesting reading, never tried a megacrop myself but I do use coco. Will make sure to follow this journal and all the added goodies of knowledge you sprinkle in @DrCannaCanadian

Anyone reading this, feel free to drop by my introduction to the community, it is a quite intimate tale.... A bit nervous regarding the response, but I'm hoping for a warm welcome by the 420fam.

DrCannaCanadian · Jan 28, 2020

Cannabis 911

Unhealthy Over-Watered Seedlings

Hey 420,

The Dark Side has attacked our two HSO Chemdawg seedlings!

Symptoms

Yesterday, I found the two Chemdawgs presenting with:

Dark Cotlyledons
Dark New Growth
Very Purple Main Stem

Very Unhealthy Seedlings

DrCannaCanadian
Jan 28, 2020
2
chemdawg

Yesterday, I found the two Chemdawgs presenting with the following symptoms:

Dark Cotlyedons...

Diagnosis

Unfortunately, I have over-watered our two seedlings in soil by doing a full water, and then continuing to spritz them with water too often.

The symptoms presented in about 12 hours, which is why we check our plants often!

Treatment

Upon realizing my mistake, I immediately took the following therapeutic actions:

Stopped spritzing the seedlings with water
Raised the light to the top of the tent
Covered the seedlings with a humidity dome

These steps should provide the seedlings with the correct light intensity, temperature and humidity to recover.

Prognosis

I am hoping with a little extra TLC, they will make a full recovery.

I'm just glad the fan leaves were not affected, or they would have certainly perished!

DrCannaCanadian: MarsHydro & Seedsman, Soil & Coco, 2020

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