So, today was one of those days where everything goes really well in a surprising way. In the grow room, not much is happening. Everyone got a monsoon like flush and foliar feed today. Temp's about 77, rh up to 80 at one point.
I watered in some amendment and some epsom salts. The amendment is very high in calcium and needs just a bit of Mg to keep the ratio's in spec.
Things are getting frosty, buds are swelling. Ho hum.
----------------------------------------------------------------
So, I thought I'd talk a little bit about growing philosophy. Think of this as a long bullshit post....or maybe not. Depending on how this goes, this might be the last time I ever try this!
I submit that weed, wine, tobacco and other "vice" crops that only have value because they make people happy; I say that people who are attracted to growing these crops tend to be artistic, entrepreneurial and slightly anti-social.....in a good sort of way.
I'm going to create a subgroup of growers and stereotype them as "artistic" growers. They are intuitive, are drawn to canopies, pretty plants, good smells, pretty buds, etc. The best of the artisans are growing the top shelf stuff at the local.
Now, I'm going to create a second subgroup of growers and call them "commercial" growers. These are the guys who have 30 or more lights or large outdoor grows in Norcal....often times both. These guys think in terms of pounds, not ounces. They want methods that are adapted for mass production and consistent quality, along with a heavy yield. A well run hydroponics operation fits the bill here. These growers are dependent on science....even if they don't understand it on a scientific level....in that they must follow a feeding schedule at first and then fine tune it to their strains.
Commercial growers during the modern era of prohibition are going to advance in their growing skills by changing nutrient brands and hopefully getting a new and better program as they become available.
On the other hand, the artisans are willing to try soil recipes and all sorts of interesting things. They focus more on tradition and anecdote.....not the hard science of hydroponics....and every now and then they get it right. A guy the next town over comes across a perfect soil mix for a certain strain and knocks it out of the park. But no one else can quite duplicate it.....
So, we have a problem When prohibition ends, today's commercial growers are going to get squashed by agribusiness. Metric ton will be a term you might hear, and perhaps "bale."
The artisans will still be doing their gardens and tinkering. Some will do it extremely well, others will have some fluffy homegrown.....but their growing lives won't be effected like the commercial grower.
High Brix, in my opinion, fits into the post-prohibition equation in a very sensible and potentially important way: It brings extremely high quality product into the realm of commercial agriculture. If I can produce the same same per acre as RJ Reynold, but have double the brix, better flavor, cleaner, stronger effect......I have an advantage!
Remember, these products have no value apart from making people happy. Higher quality=value.
So I envision a loose-knit "school" of growers looking at things this way, practicing our chops before it changes. Sort of like the beat poets did.....except with growing and quality assessment taking the place of crazy people ranting poetry and banging on drums. Or something like that.
Sort of like a fraternity without the vomit and STD's.
I hereby submit my Application for Admission to the "School of Hard Nugs".
Good read brother!