Before the ritual grind begins and another harvest is at hand, this grow, Iām going to harvest using science and not what Iāve used forever, simply because itās what everyone else did. Case in point: we donāt have much definitive science in an area we all have our deep rooted personal opinions on, and thatās the end of harvest protocols.
For well over 40 years now, Iāve been a firm believer in a good flush. Why? Well because of popular opinion I guess and with hydro, I can do a really, really good job, and, well, letās face it, old wives tales passed down from generation to generation. Tales weāve all heard that people swear to, even ourselves. The list goes on and on and on.
I know. It hurts to hear, but I assure you, Iām surrounded with young minds that tend to keep me young, at least in the thinking department. Iāve also followed several guys much smarter than me that have recently been afforded the financing and licensing to perform studies I could only dream of.
Well, two such studies have been conducted, and the results seem to be a no-brainer, both in the science aspect and even taking in to account the human element, a panel of testers, which both prove conclusive. So much so, itās time for me to prove it to myself, because if this proves conclusive to me, itās whatās been burning in the back of my head for decades. Time to put it to rest, results be damned!
With personal results under my belt from the exact strain harvested right before this one, itās basically a repeat, with the exception I did add Terpinator at around week 4 on this crop. Because of the results of these two independent studies with financing way beyond my means, Iām changing several things around before the upcoming harvest in just a few days.
Here is my theory. First off, Iāve been battling proving hydroponics can not only produce as well as organics, but clock the same if not better numbers than organic growers, both in THC content as well as terpene production. Iāve already proven with verifiable results I can grow faster than organics, and I have now proven with 3 consecutive strains, repeatable I might add, I can exceed total THC content on EXACT strains grown organically, by someone who KNOWS how to grow organically. The results speak for themselves In that department. Yea. They werenāt happy either. However, even though we banged damn near 10% more THC than organically grown using the same strain, we fell short .43 on our terpene ratio comparison. Mind you it wasnāt the same laboratory that did the testing, but still. Time to improve those terpene ratios, hydroponically!
Then I began to question a few local laboratories that do testing, and apparently from what I gather, the higher the THC content, the lower the terpene ratio no matter how it was grown, across the board. Period. Those boys see far more results than I do, so no arguments here.
So I began to dig in. Things like secondary metabolites we seldom hear about tend to be brought up when growing organically, and what I learned was was the big argue point between organic and say salt based methods are these secondaries, but what I didnāt know was as soon as organics broke those secondary metabolites down, they resulted in the same core components of salt based formulas. Wow.
Itās this area that has me captivated, and I aim to find the solution.
1. Iāve already proven targeted stress works, ESPECIALLY in the last 2 to 3 weeks of flower. It simply works, increases terpenes, and the 10 degree reduction in evening room temps and reduction of lumens over the canopy does indeed bring out the colors, and may play a role in terpene production as well, so it stays in the game plan.
Removing nitrogen at this stage is also beneficial for those curious. Stress increases terpenes, if timed right, and I have the proof on that. What has changed this go round and something that I really need to know, and thatās this time, no flushing. I mean none.
Nada. Zilch. I know. It sounds harsh and goes against everything weāve come come to accept, however the science says otherwise. I intend to prove it myself.
Stay tuned!