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JORGE'S RX
All You Need to Grow
by
Jorge Cervantes
Thu, Feb 15, 2007 2:22 pm
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Answers & photos by Jorge Cervantes
Slap Plants Around
Your great book says that slapping my plants around will make them more resinous. Does this mean the better the fight, the higher the buds get you?
Ralph
Via Internet
Dear Ralph,
Slapping plants around may make a demented grower feel superior, smart and dominant, but it's detrimental to plant development and overall resin production. The book says: "Stress can cause plants to produce more resin, but it simultaneously causes odd and/or reduced growth."
For many years, growers claimed that mutilating plants, withholding water, erratic photoperiod regimens, etc., made them produce more and more potent resin. They also claimed that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light increases resin production. My favorite myth is that driving a spike through the base of the main stem makes plants produce more resin. All of these claims are untrue! The secret to making plants produce the most resin is to grow strong, healthy plants, not to mutilate them.
Early Flowering
I'm growing six indoor clones with a good setup (proper lights, ventilation, fans and soil), but I mistakenly grew them on a 12/12 light pattern from the start. Now the plants are very short with few leaves but are starting to show flowers and white pistils. Can I put my clones through 24 hours of light so they can go back to the vegetative stage to grow bigger, then switch back to 12/12 to get good-sized buds, like I should've done from the start?
PS: It has been two months.
Rabid Child
Via Internet
Dear Rabid,
Sorry to inform you that you made a major fuck-up. The good news is, you should have a few buds to smoke. Sure, you can change the light back to 24 hours on and zero hours off, but it'll take a month or longer for plants to resume 'normal' vegetative growth. One thing I don't understand is why you've just figured out that your plants are flowering if they've been under the 12/12 day/night photoperiod for two months. They should've shown outward signs of flowering (such as white, fuzzy pistils appearing) within two weeks, and they should be finished flowering by now. Maybe the buds are so small that you didn't believe they were flowering.
At this point, you're better off starting with new clones or even seeds. It'll take about the same time for flowered plants to revert to vegetative growth, and these plants could easily have insect and disease problems since they've been in the ground so long. If you can buy or find new clones, use them. If you must grow new clones, do it. They'll be rooted and ready in two weeks. Female clones should be induced to flower when they're about 12 to 18 inches tall.
Sativa-dominant strains should be flowered when plants are smaller, and indica-dominant strains can be bigger when flowering is induced. If you must plant seeds, do it today. Seeds will grow about two months before you'll be able to distinguish sex and induce flowering.
Molasses and Kool-Aid
Last year's August issue had a question about improving taste with Kool-Aid and molasses sugar. Could I get some advice about how much of the Kool-Aid packet and how much molasses I should add to a gallon of water?
AKrider
Via Internet
Dear AKrider,
Sugar is one of the main 'secret' ingredients in many fertilizers. I have a lot of experience with molasses, fructose and refined and raw sugar, but little experience with Kool-Aid. I've seen Kool-Aid used and haven't been impressed with the results. Plants will suck up all the sugar they can when it's applied to the soil at irrigation time.
We did an experiment about 10 years ago and found that buds swell about 20% when sugar is added to irrigation water during the last four weeks of flowering. The sugar could also be enhanced with other flavors, but the flavors don't always come through as a notable taste when the weed is smoked.
Determining the dose of sugar is very easy: Add enough to a container of room-temperature water so that the solution is saturated. This will be about one tablespoon per quart of water. Remember, roots can only absorb so much sugar. Over-applying sugar won't make buds swell any more, and it'll also attract ants and other curious critters. This is why some growers apply only one tablespoon per gallon of water. If plants take a lot of water because they're in a windy location outdoors, cut the dosage by as much as 90%. As you can see, you'll need to play with the dosage a little, depending upon the growing situation of each plant.