In this update of Me, Beam & TLC ...
- I make a TLC mistake ... there's a weird twist.
- I test "CBD Therapy" for the first time... i got a ~1:1 pheno.
- I test "Dinamed CBD" again (a sativa-dom pheno this time)... and it's not good news.
- I test to see how early in the veg and flowering periods we can see the cannabinoid profile... never been done before, but it's very good news.
- I do Beam's Test alongside TLC for comparison ... never been done before.
- I still lament that more people aren't doing TLC ... i'm just talking to myself here!
Well, finally I've harvested and tested my latest grow ... this is my first grow and harvest from under [
quantum boards], and I couldn't be happier! The efficiency and energy/money savings, the spectrum, the depth penetration, the passive-cooling, the dimmability ... loving it
For this grow I grew a "CBD Therapy" by CBD Crew, and a "Dinamed CBD" by Dinafem. I can only grow 2 plants at a time. I was growing them for a family member with terminal cancer, but sadly they lost their battle over a month ago. There's naturally been a "what's the point" combined with an "i failed" kinda feel to the rest of this grow. However, before they passed away they were really enjoying a Dinamed CBD (which turned out 1:1) from the previous harvest, so I take some solace in that.
Dinamed CBD by Dinafem ...
Although Dinamed is advertised as 20:1, the first one I grew turned out to be a 1:1 CBD-to-THC. Also, the one I grew was indica-dominant but it's supposed to be sativa-dominant, so I figured "I didn't get the main sativa pheno but I still got a nice 1:1, so if I grow again and get a sativa pheno it should be even better". That's why I grew a second Dinamed CBD for this latest harvest, and was happy to get a very-sativa-dom pheno.
Unfortunately and frustratingly, to my surprise this sativa-dom pheno has NO CBD. Now, I know and agree that 2 plants is not a good representation of a strain, but I've had both indica-dom and sativa-dom phenos now, one was 1:1 and the other was zero CBD ... not the 20:1 they claim, nor the stability they claim, and to have one completely CBD-free was especially disappointing, particularly given the timing re our desperate medical situation/race vs cancer against time.
I doubt I will ever grow my remaining Dinamed CBD seeds, especially as there are still a few other CBD strains i'm still yet to try, and although I've never grown any other seeds by Dinafem before it does leave a sour feeling about them, especially as they responded to my email a few months ago about the 1:1 TLC result basically calling me a liar, even though I clarified that a cancer patient had good success with it. They are also conspicuously absent of any test results, whereas if you're proud of your CBD strain surely you'd want to make such data easily available, to encourage buyers. Maybe they just didn't like me testing their strain.
CBD Therapy by CBD Crew ...
CBD Crew, to their credit,
have been open about the stability of their CBD Therapy offering. Also to their credit they do publish TEST RESULTS. CBD Therapy is their main attempt at "high CBD, low/no THC", whereas most of their other CBD strains are mor
I bought my CBD Therapy seeds about a year ago, and it was clear at the time that they haven't mastered stability yet -- but at least they're open and honest about that. Theirs
does however seem stable enough to
always produce CBD. I wish them success with further stabilisation.
From
https://cbdcrew.org/varieties/cbd-therapy/ ...
TLC indeed shows that mine is approximately 1:1 but slightly more THC ... probably something like 8% CBD 11% THC. It started out looking very very indica with very fat leaves early on, but ended up looking only slightly indica-dom, and looked a bit unconventional/mongrel.
It also has very healthy levels of CBG and CBC, I would anticipate it will be a very good medicinal smoke -- it's a sexier-looking spectrum than the boring-looking spectrums produced by hemp-based strains (CBD Therapy is not hemp-based). It didn't yield much though, and was more a bit more sensitive to nutes than the Dinamed growing alongside it in identical conditions.
Solving a weird problem...
With my last TLC a few months ago i posted that one of my plates came up with a perplexing problem I still have no understanding about ...
The eluent did rise all the way to the top, yet failed to move the sample spots up the plate. I've never seen this before.
But now in my latest TLC I had a seemingly related problem, but with a different outcome...
I had a problem with this plate during the mobile phase - the eluent had stopped rising, it had already taken about 70 minutes (it normally takes ~20-40), and it seemed it was almost out of eluent, so I reluctantly took the lid off and poured a little more chloroform in. Chloroform evaporates quickly so maybe the lid wasn't on tight enough. Anyway that extra chloroform was enough to finish the plate, but you can see how bad the result was.
I'm not sure if it was just the duration (~80 mins) of the mobile phase, or the addition of more eluent that is the cause.
Anyway I started over with another plate, and
I raised my eluent level from 10 mL to 13 mL, that solved that problem.
Q. How early can TLC detect the cannabinoid profile?
A. VEG-****ING-EARLY!
During this grow I took small samples from both Dinamed CBD and CBD Therapy, including during veg phase, simply because I was curious to see what if anything would they show in a TLC.
I was stunned when I saw the result. Even in veg phase they produce a strong resemblance to their final spectrum.
First let me define the sample lanes ...
A = CBD Therapy - Veg phase, 40 days from seed
B = Dinamed - Veg phase, 24 days from seed
C = Dinamed - 2wks into flower phase
D = Dinamed - 4.5wks into flower phase
E = CBD Therapy - harvested 55 days into flower
F = Dinamed - harvested 61 days into flower
All are in hexane, and all were decarb'd @ 125C for 30 mins.
Notice how small and weak the A sample is, yet the TLC still gave a good result.
Here is Sample A (CBD Therapy @ 40 days from seed during veg phase), and Sample E (harvested) ...
.... WHOA! The little seedling was only 40 days old from seed but already her CBD and THC profile seemed relatively established and easily detectable. (see also rows B & F - the same held true with a 24-day old)
Another way of looking at it: Breeders don't need to wait until flowering or harvest to check for CBD levels, they can check seedlings in early veg phase.
Q. If CBD is detectable by TLC so early, can Beam's Test also detect it that early?
A. I don't know! But I would guess Yes!
Anyway here are all 6 runs ...
Again, A & B are during veg, C & D are during flower, and E & F are at harvest.
A & E are CBD Therapy, the rest are Dinamed CBD ... which as it turned out has no CBD in this pheno.
I've finished all the Beam's Tests also and will post them later today or tomorrow