SpeesCees
Well-Known Member
We are stil ahead! At least, that's what I assume considering all the signals we are receiving at No Mercy. When taking into account the numerous letters, mail questions, our forum, and the phone calls, I'm justified to conclude Dutch indoor gardening knowledge is still far ahead of the rest. Even if some countries are developing at a fast rate and we can feel them breathing down our necks.
Good, adequate information is hard to find, even in the Netherlands. Often you read opposing opinions, so you'll find contradictory information in cannabis magazines. Not to mention books on cannabis. Especially how-to-grow books sometimes are squarely opposed to one another. Fact is, a lot of Dutch growers have passed the stage of gathering information and use a system they may be willing to fine-tune, but not change.
I think that means you're heading in the right direction.
Flushing Well
Juicy detail of my present life is there is much of my stuff getting copied, especially products. As a matter of fact it's quite flattering, because in a twisted way it means recognition. Our nutrition and growing medium Hydrodensa are hard to copy, to do that would involve a lot of tricky technical stuff. A growing number of people are very happy with that nutrition and Hydrodensa. Once you have flushed Hydrodensa thouroughly (3-4 times) and kept balancing the pH based on your reservoir, the fun will start. Just to make sure I repeat one more time: when the drain of your reservoir measures pH 7.0, you give pH 5.0. Once you arrive at that point you have a super medium that is stable and remains stable... you only have to buy it once and you can quit dragging bags of potting soil for ever. I guarantee you at least 1000 grow cycles.
12/12 System
The 12/12 system I've been preaching about for years now, is getting more and more followers. So many, that some folks claim they have figured out the 12/12 system. Usually those people feel the need to add some personal touch to the concept, some details of their own, which can be very confusing. It's a fact you can only apply the 12/12 system when you have the necessary space available. Fortunately in most cases that space is already available so the system can be introduced easily. Don't forget you only need a small space to germinate your seeds three weeks before harvesting, using 12 hours of light. Done with harvesting? Okay, the next generation of femeales are up and ready to go, and only need 7 weeks of flowering before they can be harvested. I'm talking about plants here that normally require 10 weeks of 12 hours of light. The beauty is there is plenty of space in your square meter growing room to add enough fluorescent lights to illuminate your seedlings. Because that's the clue: you can hang fluorescent lights somewhere in your flowering room, the HPS lights are on/off 12 hours anyway... so set your timer for the fluorescents on the same schedule – and both lights turn on and off at the same time.
Rockwool Cubes
Sow your seeds at least 3 weeks before you harvest to be sure you picked out all males. Personally I have picked them all out on day 18 or 19. When germinating on rockwool cubes (those you can use on any medium) I don't worry because as they will keep on developing until day 25. Make sure you have an acceptable medium below your rockwool cubes to make sure the roots won't get into trouble. A sheet of sturdy pond plastic topped with a layer of 2-3 cm of Hydrodensa is the most satisfying solution as far as I'm concerned. Perlite may be used as well, but it makes you lose control of water management a lot easier. To ensure your seedlings will do well it's best to use Philips Cool White (not De LUX version) because this fluorescent has been proved to work well. Lower them real close to your seedlings, and you will later be rewarded by thicker stems and short internodes. And short internodes create a lot of new leaf growth. And a lot of leaf means of course: a lot of photosynthesis. It's those kinds of plants (having pen roots instead of emergency roots) that will reward you with record yields.
Remember, you only need some small corner to germinate seeds, three weeks before harvesting, at 12 hours of light. Done harvesting? Okay, your next generation of ladies is ready to go... and now only require 7 weeks to mature.
Flowering Hormones
You can put a lot of seedlings underneath one light. Up to 36 below a 600 watt and an Adjust-a-Wing reflector hood. When a seedling was germinated from the start at 12 hours of light, it will determine its gender almost immediately and is trigered to start flowering. They hardly have time to produce lateral growth. The commands the plants received as a result of these circumstances made them decide to start producing flowering hormones. Which they do immediately. As a result you will get plants that grow straight up without producing lateral branching, but do produce one big bud from top to bottom. And: without lateral branches more huge buds, which represent 80-85 percent of the weight.
Males
For those amongst you who like to dig deep. The impulses a plant receives – temperature, humidity, air, but most of all number of light hours - are converted bij a substance called Gibberalic Acid into commands that affect the plants' hormones. When germinated at 12 hours of light this process starts very quickly. Take into account males will be the first to show their sex because they want to be around when it comes to pollinating. By doing this you are ready in no time and hardly have any manicuring to do. After all, in the end there is just one large cola with just some fan leaves and a few tiny grow tips. You can believe me when I tell you a cutting machine isn't needed anymore. Pull off the fan leaves and pluck some tiny leaflets left and right, and you may rest your Cees!
Winter Tips
When your garden soil is clay, I seriously advise you to rake up the garden or work it with a cultivator. Sandy soils are better off being raked up in spring.
Clay easily gets blocked. When you raked frost will cause the clay to more or less expand, making it more open and airy.
Big Plants
Another one to keep in mind. Take into account that roots of outdoor plants expand much further horizontally than vertically. In other words, if you want big fat plants, allow for some space. I've done some digging in Nepal and found out (extremely hard soil by the way) that roots didn't get much deeper than 80 cm, but sideways reached at least 150 cm, creating a perimeter of 3 meters.
Transplant at the end of June
I would like to point out to you that seedlings that are transplanted outdoors at the end of june are much less likely to develop moulds later on. The explanation: the more woody (and therefore older) a cannabis plant gets, the more vulnerable it is to diseases. The fresher the plant, the more resistant. Probably because the transport logistics are still optimal.
Stay cool, high and take time to fly !
SpeesCees
Good, adequate information is hard to find, even in the Netherlands. Often you read opposing opinions, so you'll find contradictory information in cannabis magazines. Not to mention books on cannabis. Especially how-to-grow books sometimes are squarely opposed to one another. Fact is, a lot of Dutch growers have passed the stage of gathering information and use a system they may be willing to fine-tune, but not change.
I think that means you're heading in the right direction.
Flushing Well
Juicy detail of my present life is there is much of my stuff getting copied, especially products. As a matter of fact it's quite flattering, because in a twisted way it means recognition. Our nutrition and growing medium Hydrodensa are hard to copy, to do that would involve a lot of tricky technical stuff. A growing number of people are very happy with that nutrition and Hydrodensa. Once you have flushed Hydrodensa thouroughly (3-4 times) and kept balancing the pH based on your reservoir, the fun will start. Just to make sure I repeat one more time: when the drain of your reservoir measures pH 7.0, you give pH 5.0. Once you arrive at that point you have a super medium that is stable and remains stable... you only have to buy it once and you can quit dragging bags of potting soil for ever. I guarantee you at least 1000 grow cycles.
12/12 System
The 12/12 system I've been preaching about for years now, is getting more and more followers. So many, that some folks claim they have figured out the 12/12 system. Usually those people feel the need to add some personal touch to the concept, some details of their own, which can be very confusing. It's a fact you can only apply the 12/12 system when you have the necessary space available. Fortunately in most cases that space is already available so the system can be introduced easily. Don't forget you only need a small space to germinate your seeds three weeks before harvesting, using 12 hours of light. Done with harvesting? Okay, the next generation of femeales are up and ready to go, and only need 7 weeks of flowering before they can be harvested. I'm talking about plants here that normally require 10 weeks of 12 hours of light. The beauty is there is plenty of space in your square meter growing room to add enough fluorescent lights to illuminate your seedlings. Because that's the clue: you can hang fluorescent lights somewhere in your flowering room, the HPS lights are on/off 12 hours anyway... so set your timer for the fluorescents on the same schedule – and both lights turn on and off at the same time.
Rockwool Cubes
Sow your seeds at least 3 weeks before you harvest to be sure you picked out all males. Personally I have picked them all out on day 18 or 19. When germinating on rockwool cubes (those you can use on any medium) I don't worry because as they will keep on developing until day 25. Make sure you have an acceptable medium below your rockwool cubes to make sure the roots won't get into trouble. A sheet of sturdy pond plastic topped with a layer of 2-3 cm of Hydrodensa is the most satisfying solution as far as I'm concerned. Perlite may be used as well, but it makes you lose control of water management a lot easier. To ensure your seedlings will do well it's best to use Philips Cool White (not De LUX version) because this fluorescent has been proved to work well. Lower them real close to your seedlings, and you will later be rewarded by thicker stems and short internodes. And short internodes create a lot of new leaf growth. And a lot of leaf means of course: a lot of photosynthesis. It's those kinds of plants (having pen roots instead of emergency roots) that will reward you with record yields.
Remember, you only need some small corner to germinate seeds, three weeks before harvesting, at 12 hours of light. Done harvesting? Okay, your next generation of ladies is ready to go... and now only require 7 weeks to mature.
Flowering Hormones
You can put a lot of seedlings underneath one light. Up to 36 below a 600 watt and an Adjust-a-Wing reflector hood. When a seedling was germinated from the start at 12 hours of light, it will determine its gender almost immediately and is trigered to start flowering. They hardly have time to produce lateral growth. The commands the plants received as a result of these circumstances made them decide to start producing flowering hormones. Which they do immediately. As a result you will get plants that grow straight up without producing lateral branching, but do produce one big bud from top to bottom. And: without lateral branches more huge buds, which represent 80-85 percent of the weight.
Males
For those amongst you who like to dig deep. The impulses a plant receives – temperature, humidity, air, but most of all number of light hours - are converted bij a substance called Gibberalic Acid into commands that affect the plants' hormones. When germinated at 12 hours of light this process starts very quickly. Take into account males will be the first to show their sex because they want to be around when it comes to pollinating. By doing this you are ready in no time and hardly have any manicuring to do. After all, in the end there is just one large cola with just some fan leaves and a few tiny grow tips. You can believe me when I tell you a cutting machine isn't needed anymore. Pull off the fan leaves and pluck some tiny leaflets left and right, and you may rest your Cees!
Winter Tips
When your garden soil is clay, I seriously advise you to rake up the garden or work it with a cultivator. Sandy soils are better off being raked up in spring.
Clay easily gets blocked. When you raked frost will cause the clay to more or less expand, making it more open and airy.
Big Plants
Another one to keep in mind. Take into account that roots of outdoor plants expand much further horizontally than vertically. In other words, if you want big fat plants, allow for some space. I've done some digging in Nepal and found out (extremely hard soil by the way) that roots didn't get much deeper than 80 cm, but sideways reached at least 150 cm, creating a perimeter of 3 meters.
Transplant at the end of June
I would like to point out to you that seedlings that are transplanted outdoors at the end of june are much less likely to develop moulds later on. The explanation: the more woody (and therefore older) a cannabis plant gets, the more vulnerable it is to diseases. The fresher the plant, the more resistant. Probably because the transport logistics are still optimal.
Stay cool, high and take time to fly !
SpeesCees
