Hyena's Never-Ending Adventures In Growing

[Hyena Merica]

Hope everyone had a great Sunday!

This morning I popped into the secret potcave and this is what I saw...

It's so thick in here I wouldn't be surprised if Bigfoot jumped out.

The girls are all now frantically blooming, white splashes of floral goodness bursting from every node and cranny.

I don't invest as emotionally as I once did in my grows, so I no longer have that countdown mentality that's almost like Christmas coming when you were little. Remember counting the days? Well, I still do it for Christmas but I don't do that with a grow anymore for the most part. I know about when things should happen and I also know everything will happen if we just let it. So the big bloom burst everywhere always takes me a bit by surprise, not that it is happening but that the three week flower changeover is already past. Boom! Don't fixate on that pot and it will boil!

A down look shows the canopy density and it's the best I have ever done. I stated early in this grow that I would probably give them an extra couple weeks in full veg to scrog aggressively and thoroughly, and I think I have packed every available inch and then some of my grow area. Now it is rising almost an inch a day and it's scary to think how much bud this is going to yield. No predictions here but I will say three pounds dry top-shelf buddage from a 35-square-foot grow would represent the limit of theoretical possibility even to Einstein. Vouldn't it? Vee shall see!

The canopy slopes gently upward from front to back, mainly because I can no longer reach the back portion to clip or supercrop. At this point there is no way of telling which plants are which other than I know about where the different ones are but can't tell at all where most begin and end. It's such a wonderful problem to have!

I topped off the reservoir which is 45 gallons and drops at least 5 gallons or more each day. My humidity stays at between 30 and 40 almost always so that means those suckers can really drink. Hard to believe but it's true that almost all the nutrients that I have added over the last 3 months are still in there, and still available to the plants. It is such a mistake to keep adding nutes at the recommended ratios every time you refill a 50% depleted reservoir because 90% of the chem is still in the solution.

These are plants achieving 100% because everything they need is in the ideal zone. The main reason they are so vigorous is I have not gradually OVERfed them (out of love and with the best intentions of course) and though it may be counterintuitive, as I have said repeatedly LESS is more. Underfeed and watch them go. Because you really aren't underfeeding, you are just not overfeeding. Makes perfect sense to me but I'm very high.

Professor again, sorry. Have a great week and keepem green.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

Today we had a visit with the girls and they are getting pretty!

You can see the flowers busting loose! It's really exciting to see.

Getting some nice frostiness already! Wow!

All those rounds of defoliation gave the inside of the canopy a head start

Some big girls back in the back. There's no reaching them at this point so we will just see how big and sassy they get!

With this grow burning through over 5 gallons a day the humidity is higher, but that will stabilize when the stretch ends and the flowering is in full swing.

I keep a second reservoir in there to let the tap water de-chlorinate for a day or two. Then at this point it is good for 2-3 top-offs max.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is everything I use. No fish stuff or bat poop or worm barf or bloomin' booster. Nothing the cannabis plant needs is not in this picture, chemically speaking. Watch my results the next 5 weeks before you become defensive, especially if you think food is love and you love your plants WAY too much!

So here's how it looks. Getting frisky.

See you soon. Have a great weekend.

Only a week until the Las Vegas Cannabis Cup! Will I see anyone there?

Peace, Hyena

 

[Verbal Kint]

You used thE phrase "big and easy" on your post. I think your thread should be called "the big easy". A trip to Mardi Gras should be on the menu this year!

Having said that...as an organic grower that respects your grow, I don't think you should be taking the piss out of people who grow in bat guano etc.

I respect your beautiful garden as the chemical grower you are but there are some of us who value organic and you need to respect that!

 

[Hyena Merica]

You used thE phrase "big and easy" on your post. I think your thread should be called "the big easy". A trip to Mardi Gras should be on the menu this year!

Having said that...as an organic grower that respects your grow, I don't think you should be taking the piss out of people who grow in bat guano etc.

I respect your beautiful garden as the chemical grower you are but there are some of us who value organic and you need to respect that!

You make so GREAT points brother. I totally agree! And I mean no disrespect to soil of course. Mother Earth!

I have a long and experienced background in soil growing so I totally get what you're saying. I have said many times I think a person's first 5-10 grows should be in soil because it's hard to screw it up.

But then I finally tried hydro. And I found, to me, there is no comparison.

I have found that hydro is:

-Significantly more controllable
-Easier to make adjustments to
-Requires far less work and time to maintain
-Goes many days without any contact
-Costs less long-term
-Is easier to reboot for the next grow
-Is far easier to keep pest-free
and
-Produces significantly more per square meter.

I am simply encouraging the evolution that I have experienced.

I don't chat that much in here, I see myself mostly as someone with a lot of experience growing cannabis who is here to encourage and help others, especially those who are newer to growing and/or want to get better.

Hydro is a natural evolution if you want to make it easier and more productive. Of course you have to have the space to do it and the time to learn about it and set it up, but my operation is a total hidden secret, even my wife has no idea, and I was able to do it so I think pretty much anyone can.

But you are so right, it's not a contest. One isn't necessarily better. Do whatever is best for you.

However, I was very surprised how relatively easy it was to learn, and how much easier and more enjoyable it has made growing our favorite herb. So I advocate for it.

Thanks for weighing in bro. Good points. To all my brothers and sisters who are playing in the dirt, I salute you (and your dirty knees).

Peace, Hyena

 

[Verbal Kint]

Thank you for your reply brother...much appreciated.

Your bullet points are all true in my experience but with organic growers who grow in supersoil or with organic nutes I don't actually think they are looking for what you describe.

Take an example of organic food at the supermarket...where I live in the world it usually costs about 25% to 75 % more depending on the item, than hydroponically produced goods. But the customer is paying for naturally produced goods..and those that feel strongly about it will pay for it. I'm not using it as a comparison for synthetic weed vs organic weed as the normal toker won't pay extra or organic so but I'm just making the point that people feel strongly about it.

In my experience organic growers don't grow for yield, they are growing for taste and quality and generally much smaller ops than yours. They are growing for themselves and maybe a few close friends. I'm one of those people who can have a puff of hydro and then puff of organic a and I can immediately tell the difference.

I'm not growing at the moment but when I was I could leave my plants for up to 3 days at a time which isn't bad. I know with your set up you could leave it much longer.

I would definitely say if you are producing to sell on then hydro is the way to go but if just for ones self and or a few close buddies its gotta be organic all the way. In my experience there is no comparison for taste and quality. This is an old argument and I guess one that certainly won be settled here! Lol

I will say a lot of the knowledge I've gained from hydro or coco growers I've put to good use in organic cultivation which is why I look at your beautiful grow.

Peace out brother and keep on keepin on. Respect.

 

[Hyena Merica]

Thank you for your reply brother...much appreciated.

Your bullet points are all true in my experience but with organic growers who grow in supersoil or with organic nutes I don't actually think they are looking for what you describe.

Take an example of organic food at the supermarket...where I live in the world it usually costs about 25% to 75 % more depending on the item, than hydroponically produced goods. But the customer is paying for naturally produced goods..and those that feel strongly about it will pay for it. I'm not using it as a comparison for synthetic weed vs organic weed as the normal toker won't pay extra or organic so but I'm just making the point that people feel strongly about it.

In my experience organic growers don't grow for yield, they are growing for taste and quality and generally much smaller ops than yours. They are growing for themselves and maybe a few close friends. I'm one of those people who can have a puff of hydro and then puff of organic a and I can immediately tell the difference.

I'm not growing at the moment but when I was I could leave my plants for up to 3 days at a time which isn't bad. I know with your set up you could leave it much longer.

I would definitely say if you are producing to sell on then hydro is the way to go but if just for ones self and or a few close buddies its gotta be organic all the way. In my experience there is no comparison for taste and quality. This is an old argument and I guess one that certainly won be settled here! Lol

I will say a lot of the knowledge I've gained from hydro or coco growers I've put to good use in organic cultivation which is why I look at your beautiful grow.

Peace out brother and keep on keepin on. Respect.

Good points. Lots of ways to have fun with Lady Cannibe.

Peace, Hyena

 

[GrizzWald]

Woke up this morning to a black and blue hyena, standing on my porch holding a phone case. Quick bloody thing.. I'm going to splash some water on her in a couple of weeks

 

[Hyena Merica]

Woke up this morning to a black and blue hyena, standing on my porch holding a phone case. Quick bloody thing.. I'm going to splash some water on her in a couple of weeks

CRIKEY!!

Better be careful mate. Their mamas were surprisingly friendly and would sort of sneak up on you, then wham! Hope the kids are as frisky! Excited to see.

That's cool news.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

Happy Sunday!

Tomorrow my little babies will turn 13 weeks old. They have come a long way since first splashing into a tiny cup of water. Let's take a gander...

As you can see, the stretch keeps stretching. My main lights are now as high as they can go so from here on we supercrop but only if absolutely needed. I love big fat vertical colas for their majestic presence in the garden but I think turning the upper 1/3 of a branch sideways late in the game actually results in more beef. All those developing nugs turn skyward and each becomes the same as a primary cola, since they are all now the highest point on the plant, receiving increased support and priority from the mysterious spirit who distributes the life forces of the plant. That one move at the right time actually does re-prioritize and therefore stimulate extra growth along the whole branch. So why don't I do it everywhere? Well, it just looks like shit and the other negative is flipping a major branch to horizontal blocks a good bit of light to the middle of the canopy with a corresponding decrease in yield down there. So, having done it several times in one area and left them fully vertical in others then appraised the net results I'm convinced it's a net neutral really. That's why this time I instead employed a very aggressive defoliation of upper-canopy fan leaves for the last four weeks, exposing the middle of the canopy to a lot more light which has resulted in improved mid-canopy initial flowering. Maybe that is the true path to maximum buddage. So far I like what I'm seeing in the middle.

Getting some frostation across the nation.

.

These extra-tall models in the rear are scaring me a little. In a month those are going to be two-foot colas. Holy crap!

This is going to be some sticky business soon!

Temps perfect. PH a perfect 5.8 and everything nominal as NASA would say. Houston, we have no problem.

See you on the moon.

Peace, Hyena

 

[mouser]

Happy Sunday!

Tomorrow my little babies will turn 13 weeks old. They have come a long way since first splashing into a tiny cup of water. Let's take a gander...

As you can see, the stretch keeps stretching. My main lights are now as high as they can go so from here on we supercrop but only if absolutely needed. I love big fat vertical colas for their majestic presence in the garden but I think turning the upper 1/3 of a branch sideways late in the game actually results in more beef. All those developing nugs turn skyward and each becomes the same as a primary cola, since they are all now the highest point on the plant, receiving increased support and priority from the mysterious spirit who distributes the life forces of the plant. That one move at the right time actually does re-prioritize and therefore stimulate extra growth along the whole branch. So why don't I do it everywhere? Well, it just looks like shit and the other negative is flipping a major branch to horizontal blocks a good bit of light to the middle of the canopy with a corresponding decrease in yield down there. So, having done it several times in one area and left them fully vertical in others then appraised the net results I'm convinced it's a net neutral really. That's why this time I instead employed a very aggressive defoliation of upper-canopy fan leaves for the last four weeks, exposing the middle of the canopy to a lot more light which has resulted in improved mid-canopy initial flowering. Maybe that is the true path to maximum buddage. So far I like what I'm seeing in the middle.

Getting some frostation across the nation.

These extra-tall models in the rear are scaring me a little. In a month those are going to be two-foot colas. Holy crap!


This is going to be some sticky business soon!



Temps perfect. PH a perfect 5.8 and everything nominal as NASA would say. Houston, we have no problem.

See you on the moon.

Peace, Hyena

Dayum they are looking good!!

 

[425jesse]

Re: Project 23 - Hydroponic Homemade Hybrids - Amnesia Haze x Blue Dream Plus Widow x

CHAPTER 10
THE END IS HERE

When we last saw our hero, he was seemingly about to chop down this pristine forest of fat buds...but no! In reality, he wanted them to fatten up/flush for a few more days. Got to be sure, you know!

Today is the 20-week mark! Everything is finally ready. I have been taking small bud samples to test the lettuce and at this point the smoke is absolutely perfect. Delicious, smooth without even curing, the aroma and flavor are fruity and sweet, the buzz strong. Four hits get me toasted like, well, a piece of toast. That's how high I am, words literally fail me and I just got distracted for ten minutes looking at my own fingernail. I'll be back.

Okay, it's the next day and the crop must come down NOW. I got greedy and may have waited too long to have the time to finish that process. I literally have only five days to completely harvest my crop, and reset the entire grow, including transplanting all the next girls into the main grow room. This time, the chop is going to be a crazy process as opposed to just doing it in a systematic fashion, because my own wife still doesn't know I have a grow laboratory or even that I'm secretly a mad scientist. Since it's the week before Christmas she is home all week and I have to sneak 30 minutes here and there like a ninja, and reappear as if nothing had happened. This is very hard to manage, my wife isn't stupid and she knows the smell of fresh cannabis, we have a running joke about there must have been a skunk in here, etc. But she has zero clue that I grow, or that it is literally growing right over her head. The tension as I begin to harvest is high. Good thing I am, too.

This stuff is REALLY tasty!!

The way I get away with this is I count on her being gone for long periods so I can go up there. So now that she's home all week, PLUS we are going on a week-long vacation starting on Christmas day, I may be screwed. I am a very confident person with nerves of steel, but there is a real possibility that I might not have adequate opportunity to complete my harvest, let alone transplant the next girls from the nursery. There are twelve plants in the nursery and they are huge and must come out now or be lost.

How everybody looks. It's absolutely time!

Kids in the nursery are ready to bust out!

I get up at 4 am. I hate going up there to the grow lab when she (and my teenage daughter) are home. If she just opens that kitchen door to the garage she will see a 20-foot ladder three feet in front of her face leading straight up to my being completely busted. Like a giraffe drinking at a water hole, I am defenseless. So I sit down and begin chopping, almost frantically, trying to work fast but with purpose. I am driven by the need for speed and my manicuring snips fly across the colas, one by one. I am SO pleased by the size and especially the density of the buds. When a branch is really heavy you know what you have and I have achieved great compaction in the main and secondary colas.

Thick bud development in my setup is possible within about a 30-inch vertical zone since I only have a 600w and a 400w main lights. Below that you get popcorn but even all those little nuglets are rich and drippy. The overall frostiness of the crop is fantastic. Wearing latex gloves is essential and I am keeping my hand that handles the buds wet which is actually cutting down considerably on the finger hash. Branch after tasty branch comes down. I work for about two hours and put a dent in the job but it will probably take six or seven to harvest and trim everything. I stay until I can't stand it but I must be down, de-scented, and back in my pajamas before she gets up. I literally just make it in time. She appears in the kitchen to find me sipping a cup of coffee and surfing the net. As she saunters over and gives me a morning hug, and remarks, "You're sweating honey." Am I ever...it feels so crazy knowing that only 10 minutes before, I was a sweaty mess up in the attic, frantically chopping huge branches of marijuana. This is so fucking cool. I feel like a secret agent.

Over the next three days I am able to sneak up and do a little more here and a little more there, gradually making first a dent then a real impact. Some of the buds are fabulous. Some real monsters, considering the limitations of my grow lab. I never try to exactly predict how much I will get in terms of total weight, since so many variables exist in cannabis growing and really in growing any living thing. In the end, all I want is to feel reasonably certain that I got all I could out of the space I have. After all is said and done that's about 2 pounds.


A nasty process

My guess as I stack and hang the branches is that we will be close, and even if it's less, the quality of most of this harvest more than exceeds my best expectations. These buds are sticky and there's plenty. Especially cool since we are growing new hybrids and who knew what would happen? Very pleased am I as I trim and hang the final branch. There's a nice big drying area chock full...hard to tell from this picture but this goes back three feet. Success.

Now the absolute worst part of growing, besides getting busted of course, is here: the changeover. It's especially daunting since it's usually about six grueling hours of sweat-drenched labor to recondition the grow buckets and the hydroponic system and also transplant the new plants in, and it's messy and physically taxing. This time I have to do it in dribs and drabs because my family is home and I'm not sure I will have the opportunity. I start formulating plan B, which is to either let the new plants grow for another week-plus in the nursery which would completely blow up my grow schedule for half a year, or just shut down the grow rooms and let the dozen beautiful new plants I have in there simply perish.

Two days pass without a single opportunity to go up there. Only two more days until Christmas and we have to be packed and ready to leave at 6 am on Christmas day. With the frantic activity of that season in full play, along with a stack of obligations including having to host all our family members for a lavish dinner on Christmas eve, I am basically resigning myself to pull the plug on the whole deal instead of having them try to complete flowering in an under-four-foot-high nursery chamber. Sadness.

Then my Christmas miracle comes down the chimney! On Christmas eve, my wife (usually the most prepared person in the world for holidays) remembered a few undone things and suddenly announced she would be gone for about three hours. As her car pulled out of the garage, my ass moved so fast you would have thought it was on fire, and I frantically tackled the massive chore of trying to save the next grow. Everything depended on somehow doing something that I've never done in less than six or seven hours in about two. To make the stakes even higher, my daughter was still home, in her room on her phone. I felt certain this would be the time she would want to have some meaningful and undismissable interaction and I would be screwed, or worse yet, climb the ladder and see my entire secret. Crikey. So as you can imagine my ass was tight. I attacked like the Indians hit Custer.

First, I have to empty each Dutch bucket and cut up the remaining stem base and fifteen-pound root ball, a surprisingly difficult thing to do and it's truly messy. Then clean out the bucket, line with a 5-gallon paint strainer, pour in some Hydroton for the bottom six inches, then wet it down and add a couple scoops of perlite.

Halfway done

The new girls gradually leaving their nest

en I have to somehow separate a plant from its sisters in the nursery bubbler without destroying the roughly two feet of roots, all tangled together with every other plant's roots, and this usually takes me awhile which I don't have this time so I just do my best, feeling like a surgeon operating in the dark with a kitchen knife. Then I set the new plant in and carefully fill with grow medium (perlite with just a little vermiculite mixed in) until the new girl is in there perfectly. Remount the bucket to the plumbing, and wet in the new girl thoroughly. One down, eight to go. Plus I actually have 12 girls and only 9 buckets so I have to double plant the middle three buckets and that's even more complicated. I will never finish this in time.


Yet somehow I did! In a frantic blur that I barely remember, I was able to get everybody transplanted and the reservoir filled, adjust the chemistry, and water everybody in.

Everybody in their new home!!

I reset the lights all back to 24 hours on, cleaned the entire room, and bagged up all the heavy, smelly debris of the now-history Project 23. No stoned person has ever moved that fast for two solid hours in all of history. At last, trembling and feeling like I might get sick, I descended the ladder unmolested. I was literally in the shower less than 10 minutes later when my wife came home. All my future grows I will forever owe to that fortunate and somewhat miraculous bit of timing. Yes, I am a ninja.


Twelve hours later, very early on Christmas morning and right before I packed my sleepy family into the van and took off for our vacation, I took a quick peek. The new grow looks beautiful! The already surprisingly mature girls are in their new home and despite the somewhat rough handling during root separation, no signs of any negative reaction in any of them. Cannabis you are so resilient...I love you. Everything back on autopilot and now for a well-earned week of snowmobiling, drinking, and ingesting Cannabis in every possible form. I confidently sealed the secret door and started the van. It was two hours into the drive when my wife woke up and asked me why I was so happy. I just smiled and told her because I love her and it's Christmas. Merry Christmas! The ninja must keep his secret.

So today it is the day after Christmas and I am sitting in northern Michigan in our delightful winter cabin, just about to fire up the snowmobiles and put a few hundred miles on. I'm so happy I could die. But I don't plan to. We will be back by New Year's Day when I will next check on my new babies. Life, and death, in a continuous cycle without a plan, just the endless continuation of the wondrous process. In microcosm we are the Gods who give and take life, in the wondrous world of our grow rooms. And the world turns, and time goes on, and all things in the universe are as they should be. Nirvana. It's ultimately a state of mind.

The next and final chapter will be the final weight and smoke report, as we ease out of Project 23 and into Project 24. I may just make this a continuing journal if enough people are interested. I have no real sense for how many people even read what I write here, but if you enjoy what you have read and want me to continue, drop me just a line and let me know you are out there. My goal has not been notoriety, but rather to provide some techniques, observations, and especially encouragement that will help others to experience the joy I have found in learning to grow cannabis to a point of reasonable proficiency. To all who already share this journey I salute you. To all who are inspired by the efforts of myself and others to try to do this too, I say go for it! You only live once and time is a thief. Believe in yourself and be willing to learn from others and you can do it. Set a goal and begin your own journey. You can do it, my friend.

"Man is a goal-seeking animal. Life only has meaning if he is reaching and striving for his goals."
-Aristotle

Strive for your goals. Until next time,


Peace, Hyena

Dude, I literally can't stop reading, it's like an awesome book about my favorite subject. Please don't stop writing! Actually got nervous for you, and relieved, and excited! Keep it up, I'll be subbed for sure.....


425Jesse - Grow 2 - A Journey With Super Silver Haze From Seed In Soil

Jolly Rancher Sativa - A Rookie Adventure Indoors

 

[Hyena Merica]

Happy Monday!

Today we popped in and here's the look.

All is well. And what a smell!

Getting nice frost

Holy smokes it's gonna be kwaazy soon!

You can COUNT on me creating ten new creamy centerfolds for the monthly photography contest and they will be strong! If not in March, count on it for April!

Peace, Hyena

 

[GrizzWald]

That looks mad mate. Nice trichs, frosty girls already..

 

[Hyena Merica]

Hellooooooo...Thursday!

Let's peek, shall we? Unlock the secret door, squeeze inside...

Things are jumping! Everybody is fighting it out for every scrap of light like an all-girl cage match!

I have never achieved this density. The periodic, reasonable defoliation has opened up more light to the middle, and the extra couple weeks of veg while we scrogged, scrogged, scrogged...well worth it. This is going to be a very dense harvest.

Always nice to see the sugar coming in.

Going away for 5 days to the Las Vegas Cannabis Cup, if they have it! :icon_roll

I hear the Nevada AG has put the squeeze on the Indian reservation and tribe who are hosting the Cup. Threatening to intervene, saying that the Tribal Council has misinterpreted the exception to Federal law they are relying on to have open use and telling them there can be no open cannabis use at the festival.

Ignoring the fact that this is a little like inviting 10,000 fat people to a doughnut convention and then telling them they can't eat...

Isn't this reminiscent of the many other Indian treaties and agreements that the White Eyes have gone back on? Poor Indians...they just can't win.

History always repeats. History always repeats.

See?

Peace, Hyena

 

[Blighty Buds]

''this is a little like inviting 10,000 fat people to a doughnut convention and then telling them they can't eat''

 

[Hyena Merica]

Here's the "Great Cannabis Cup" smoke report, so to speak.

It was, in a word, lame.

Picture being in Las Vegas, glittery and opulent, and you decide to bring your big international weed convention to town. Where do you choose to put it?

40 miles away on a flat, isolated, dirty, windswept piece of desert in the middle of fricking NOWHERE.

You put up some tents, drag in some vendors, then you throw in all the trimmings, like:

-Hitting your guests with a $40 cash fee for parking on dirt almost a half mile from the entrance...welcome, friend!
-Not one but TWO long lines to wait through, first one for a wristband then another separate one for entry. Good thing I prepaid for my ticket or I would have experienced line number three.
-Once inside, a venue entirely constructed on bare dirt and gravel. Except for one softball-field-sized grassy area in the center in front of the stage, there was nothing green at the cannabis fest. Irony.
-There were food vendors but nothing better than carnival fare plus who wants to sit and eat in a dust storm? No actual bar. What??
-Other than some couches in a few vendor tents not much indoor shelter where one could even sit down for a few minutes.
-The vendors were a ragtag assortment of players in the various disciplines of the cannabis "industry", but not a lot of the biggest ones frankly. I went there as a wannabe seed breeder and had a good list of names I hoped to meet but they were very light on substance in the overall vendor landscape. I guess I just expected more.
-Mostly people selling concentrate-oriented stuff like hash presses and dab rigs, seems like the main focus in the weed world has shifted to those things. Sadly.
-No daytime entertainment. There was a couple hip hop guys going later on, but nothing even started until about 4:00 and somehow I expect a lot of music and buzz at an internationally renowned festival. This felt more like a weed flea market...without weed.

Because that's the thing these organizers were up against...at the eleventh hour the Nevada AG stuck his nose in there and the High Times people all caved in my view and put out a barrage of panicky warnings that essentially NO CANNABIS IS ALLOWED AT THE CANNABIS FESTIVAL. I am fair, so I don't hold the High Times folks responsible for that and that really did kill the whole thing, most folks expected open use and lots of free samples and other than a lot of free dabs being given out here and there everything had an undercover feel and let me just say, it sure wasn't Amsterdam, baby.

Another problem they apparently didn't foresee is the wind was blowing, not a hurricane but decent desert wind like you EXPECT in the middle of the open desert. The effect was to create a continuous cloud of gritty dust that hit everyone pretty much at all times. When everyone just walking kicks up massive clouds, it's up your nose, in your mouth, it's nasty and people were choking and gagging all day everywhere you went. The poor vendors got blown around badly too, their stuff went everywhere. This should NEVER have been on bare dirt and in my opinion they should have found a decent, grassy venue or never had it.

But in my opinion the whole thing simply wasn't a Cannabis Cup. No cannabis competition with strain winners in nine categories. No huge bud and strain displays with lots of free tokes and delicious, nutritious samples of every kind. No piles of freebie medibles. No highly-touted "live grow room". (Maybe it was there but I never found it). No cannabis rock and roll bands. You would think they could do a little better than a semi-retired 90's rapper when 95% of the crowd was looking for some rock and some weed-centric entertainment and nothing like that was there, any ambient music was being played by vendors. We saw everything twice in about 3 hours then realized we would have to sit outdoors in a dust storm for six more hours until Ludacris (the irony is staggering) played. No way.

So, here I sit in my hotel room in LV and if it sounds too bitchy I really don't mean to be in any way unfair. The intrusion of the FEDS at the last minute crushed this thing like an egg and I don't know how High Times saves that deal much more than they did. But my feeling is the whole thing was forced to begin with. It's still too political to be a real festival in the US, outside of the full legal states. Nevada has "approved" fully recreational cannabis and the word is they will start selling it in July at dispensaries. But it ain't there yet and you could really feel it everywhere. If they had waited until next year for this it would have surely been at a better venue and had more acceptance.

But Las Vegas is always a blast, and other than feeling like a rube tourist falling for a three-card monte trick when we attended the Festival of Dust, we are having a lot of High Times.

I hope my little green kids are alright back in the secret lab. I am definitely alright here in Vegas.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Mars Hydro]

Hi Hyena Merica,i got your message,thanks for your coming.Hope we can meet next time,it will be great to meet you

Here's the "Great Cannabis Cup" smoke report, so to speak.

It was, in a word, lame.

Picture being in Las Vegas, glittery and opulent, and you decide to bring your big international weed convention to town. Where do you choose to put it?

40 miles away on a flat, isolated, dirty, windswept piece of desert in the middle of fricking NOWHERE.

You put up some tents, drag in some vendors, then you throw in all the trimmings, like:

-Hitting your guests with a $40 cash fee for parking on dirt almost a half mile from the entrance...welcome, friend!
-Not one but TWO long lines to wait through, first one for a wristband then another separate one for entry. Good thing I prepaid for my ticket or I would have experienced line number three.
-Once inside, a venue entirely constructed on bare dirt and gravel. Except for one softball-field-sized grassy area in the center in front of the stage, there was nothing green at the cannabis fest. Irony.
-There were food vendors but nothing better than carnival fare plus who wants to sit and eat in a dust storm? No actual bar. What??
-Other than some couches in a few vendor tents not much indoor shelter where one could even sit down for a few minutes.
-The vendors were a ragtag assortment of players in the various disciplines of the cannabis "industry", but not a lot of the biggest ones frankly. I went there as a wannabe seed breeder and had a good list of names I hoped to meet but they were very light on substance in the overall vendor landscape. I guess I just expected more.
-Mostly people selling concentrate-oriented stuff like hash presses and dab rigs, seems like the main focus in the weed world has shifted to those things. Sadly.
-No daytime entertainment. There was a couple hip hop guys going later on, but nothing even started until about 4:00 and somehow I expect a lot of music and buzz at an internationally renowned festival. This felt more like a weed flea market...without weed.

Because that's the thing these organizers were up against...at the eleventh hour the Nevada AG stuck his nose in there and the High Times people all caved in my view and put out a barrage of panicky warnings that essentially NO CANNABIS IS ALLOWED AT THE CANNABIS FESTIVAL. I am fair, so I don't hold the High Times folks responsible for that and that really did kill the whole thing, most folks expected open use and lots of free samples and other than a lot of free dabs being given out here and there everything had an undercover feel and let me just say, it sure wasn't Amsterdam, baby.

Another problem they apparently didn't foresee is the wind was blowing, not a hurricane but decent desert wind like you EXPECT in the middle of the open desert. The effect was to create a continuous cloud of gritty dust that hit everyone pretty much at all times. When everyone just walking kicks up massive clouds, it's up your nose, in your mouth, it's nasty and people were choking and gagging all day everywhere you went. The poor vendors got blown around badly too, their stuff went everywhere. This should NEVER have been on bare dirt and in my opinion they should have found a decent, grassy venue or never had it.

But in my opinion the whole thing simply wasn't a Cannabis Cup. No cannabis competition with strain winners in nine categories. No huge bud and strain displays with lots of free tokes and delicious, nutritious samples of every kind. No piles of freebie medibles. No highly-touted "live grow room". (Maybe it was there but I never found it). No cannabis rock and roll bands. You would think they could do a little better than a semi-retired 90's rapper when 95% of the crowd was looking for some rock and some weed-centric entertainment and nothing like that was there, any ambient music was being played by vendors. We saw everything twice in about 3 hours then realized we would have to sit outdoors in a dust storm for six more hours until Ludacris (the irony is staggering) played. No way.

So, here I sit in my hotel room in LV and if it sounds too bitchy I really don't mean to be in any way unfair. The intrusion of the FEDS at the last minute crushed this thing like an egg and I don't know how High Times saves that deal much more than they did. But my feeling is the whole thing was forced to begin with. It's still too political to be a real festival in the US, outside of the full legal states. Nevada has "approved" fully recreational cannabis and the word is they will start selling it in July at dispensaries. But it ain't there yet and you could really feel it everywhere. If they had waited until next year for this it would have surely been at a better venue and had more acceptance.

But Las Vegas is always a blast, and other than feeling like a rube tourist falling for a three-card monte trick when we attended the Festival of Dust, we are having a lot of High Times.

I hope my little green kids are alright back in the secret lab. I am definitely alright here in Vegas.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

OK, Baaaaack from Vegas and let's put on the show. Main event begins right now!

Had to wait very late to visit the girlz, the day after returning. 6 full days since I have seen them. How it goes.

I wasn't worried.

The changes in a week are striking. Building nice density as flowering "wave" number two gears up. Color good, tips good. Using a steady amount of the res each day but not too much, the temps are great. Nothing to this shit.

But the best thing is...

It's gettin' frosty!

Good nugs forming

Really? Oh man in a month this will be mad. What a cola this next one will be...

Could this be a future nug of the month?

The kids greet the day. The stretch is over.

From here we will put on weight like a fat girl on an ice cream diet.

Couldn't stay long, just long enough to top off the res and smell the flowers. When everything's on track don't stop the train.

With my Las Vegas buzz still lingering, and the sweet fragrance of the grow room air fresh in my nostrils, I lock the door to the heavenly room.

How I wish I could sleep in there.

Peace, Hyena

 

[Jgrowlove]

Unbelievable journal. I learned so much so freaking fast beautiful ladies too!! I gotta step my game up! Keep doing your thing I'm subbed for sure keep spreading the awareness!!

Sent from my HTC Desire 626s using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[GrizzWald]

Damn..