2018 04 UK by SoftSecrets

THE CANNABIS NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985

FREE Issue 4 - 2018

AMSTERDAM

Interview with Ed Rosenthal The Guru of Ganja

16 New! European Plant of the Year!

20 American Genetics

18+ For adults only. Soft Secrets is published six times a year by Discover Publisher BV Netherlands

RRY SENSI-STAR DELAHAZE PANDORA BELLADONNA WAPPA ALL

Canada becomes second nation in the world to legalize marijuana Recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in Canada after the Senate passed a "historic" bill last June with a vote of 52-29. Canada is only the second country in the world -and the first G7 nation -- to implement legislation to permit a nationwide marijuana market. In the neighboring US, nine states and the District of Columbia now allow for recreational marijuana use, and 30 allow for medical use.

Remo Chemo

The government is expected to choose a date in early or mid September. On Twitter, Trudeau praised the bill and focused on Canada's youth.

will help protect our youth from the risks of cannabis while keeping profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime."

"It's been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that. Our plan to legalize & regulate marijuana just passed the Senate," he tweeted.

What's legal and what's not

Bill C-45, otherwise known as the Cannabis Act, stems from a campaign pledge of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep marijuana away from underage users and reduce related crime. The act to legalize the recreational use of weed was first introduced on April 13, 2017, and was later passed at the House of Commons in November. The Senate passage of the bill was the final hurdle in the process. Uruguay was the first country to legalize marijuana's production, sale and consumption in December 2013. Although the Canadian government had initially stated its intent to implement by July 2018, provinces and territories, who will be responsible for drafting their own rules for marijuana sales, have advised that they would need eight to 12 weeks after the Senate approval to transition to the new framework.

The justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, also applauded the vote. "This is an historic milestone for progressive policy in Canada," she tweeted. "This legislation

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Once the bill is formally approved, adults will be able to carry and share up to 30 grams of legal marijuana in public. They also will be allowed to cultivate up to four plants in their households and prepare products such as edibles for personal use. However, stringent rules will still govern the purchase and use of marijuana. Consumers are expected to purchase marijuana from retailers regulated by provinces, territories or -- when neither of those options are available -- federally licensed producers. Marijuana will also not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco. The Canadian government has also implemented changes to their impaired driving laws, to address repercussions for driving under the influence of cannabis. The bill set a floor on the minimum age of the consumer at 18 years, and makes the production, distribution, or sale of cannabis products an offense for minors. While provinces can increase the minimum age, the intent is to continue to discourage Canadian youth from pot use, by establishing many of the same restrictions that exist for cigarettes and other tobacco products. C-45 is also expected to spark a billion-dollar industry, given total spending on marijuana could surge as high as 58%, especially as users are expected to be willing to pay a premium for legal access to the drug. In the United States, BDS Analytics estimated that the pot industry took in nearly $9 billion in sales in 2017. The revenue from the sales is equivalent to the entire snack bar industry. As a result, the attempts to legalize cannibas for recreational use have caused Canadian marijuana companies like Canopy Growth Corp., Aphria Inc., and Aurora Cannabis Inc. to become the center of investor frenzy. As provinces decide local rules of implementation, marijuana availability will vary across the country. In Alberta, recreational weed will be widely available at more than 200 private retailers across the province. On the opposite end of the spectrum, marijuana availability will only be provided in 40 state-run shops in Ontario. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it will be available in Loblaws grocery stores. Source: CNN.com

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3 EDITORIAL

The bare minimum

Suddenly, almost out of the blue, we have this most curious situation here in the UK, whereby the same “expert panel” who - only a couple of weeks ago - were absolutely adamant that cannabis has no medical value, appears to have had some sort of collective epiphany, and are now of the opinion that, actually, cannabis does indeed have some medical and therapeutic value after all. It should be noted, however, that this sudden and quite remarkable volte face does not apply to the use of the actual plant (“raw” cannabis), and most certainly should not be regarded as a green light for a dope “free for all”. This does rather beg the question of where the government get their experts from, as it does strike us that any experts who take a firm and unbending stance one day and then does a more or less complete U-turn a few days later are experts of very questionable value. This absurd heel dragging on the part of successive governments and their committees of yes men (and women) is nothing new, and has been going on for many years now. Since around 2010 (about the same time that we started to see the results of proper scientific research regarding the effectiveness of cannabis on a range of conditions) the “expert panel” has undergone numerous changes of personnel as the more pragmatic or conscientious members found the inflexibility and intransigence of the Home Office around the issue made their positions untenable. Basically, we are inching towards this where we should actually be running towards it with our arms wide open. And it’s all because the government resolutely refuse to admit that they are wrong and to give people what they actually want (and in many cases, need). We take the view that most cannabis use is medical use, insofar as most people use it to relax, unwind and as a facilitator for social interaction (with or without alcohol); however, this is completely at odds with the view of the “experts” at the Home Office. The government are clearly going to take a “from our cold, dead hand” approach to the whole matter. Ultimately, they will have to give this one up, but until that day comes, they will allow their pals in the pharmaceutical industry to essentially extort money from our buckling Health Service. What we are witnessing is the bare minimum being done, and even this is only happening after the government being publicly shamed into it. And it really looks as if even more barriers are being put in the way of families who need cannabis medicine (including an 11 page application form and a fee of over £3,000 to be paid to The Home Office for a license to possess controlled drugs, which anything containing over 0.2% THC is classed as). Basically, “Yes you can have the medicine, but only if you pay up and meet the strict criteria, and we may well keep changing these”. Once upon a time, keeping cannabis illegal allowed the powers that be to harass, marginalise and discriminate against various minority and “deviant” groups. Now though, it appear to be illegal because there’s (big and legitimate) money in it for them. That said, the government are making sure that there is still scope for the continued persecution of "non-medical" users, as this quote from our Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies makes quite clear: “This evidence review...does not address recreational use of these products... The evidence that cannabis and some of its derivatives can be addictive and harmful has been known for some time and is not disputed by recent science, so I believe the reasons it is a controlled drug in the UK stand.”

CA L IFORNI A N GOL D Paradise Seeds

The war is still far from over. Resources: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cannabis-basedmedicines-expert-review-panel/cannabis-and-cannabis-based-medicinalproducts#expert-panel https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cannabis-scheduling-reviewpart-1 Dr John Dee

READERS@SOFTSECRETS.NL

Attention Readers! Fancy a FREE packet of FEMINISED seeds from SWEET SEEDS? Then send us a picture of your grow room or best cannabis plant, including a visible copy of Soft Secrets, and we’ll send you 3 seeds. Should your photo happen to feature your beautiful wife or girlfriend wearing a sexy microbikini or super hot lingerie, you will receive 6 seeds. Photo of the Month will even receive 9 prime quality feminised seeds. With compliments of Soft Secrets and SWEET SEEDS!

E-mail your entries to readers@softsecrets.nl. NOTE: All entries are handled with the utmost discretion. We don’t publish out of focus pics, and we don’t like photos of plants in veg stage. It’s fat buds & sweet babes we want to see!

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INTERVIEW

ED ROSENTHAL The Book Harvest And Top Tips

During his trip to Amsterdam, Soft Secrets sat down with the chief himself, Ed Rosenthal to ask about his latest book Harvest, as well as what top tips he has for our readers. By Stoney Tark SSUK: Hi Ed, You have a new book out Harvest, congratulations. Can you explain how this book came about?

Then I developed new techniques for some aspects of the harvest through curing. I demystified some of it; this was all by research, I found the

It will save them time, labour, money, and disappointment in their crops. That is how it will do it. Where can our readers find a copy of Harvest? It is available in the United States, Amazon and it can be bought as an E-book. Hopefully, it will be out soon in German. Then it will become available in Europe in German. What are your tips for when using organics? Don’t bite off more than you can chew. I am not saying you should

Ed Rosenthal

My book The Marijuana Grower’s Handbook is rather complete, and it does cover harvesting. I felt there was so much more information that could be covered in it, that would help people to produce a better crop,

claims that some manufacturers had wasn’t true, and some claims were. It is thorough testing of new techniques of manicuring, so I think I did perhaps six months of research first, then 53 weeks to write the book.

DON’T BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW, IN THE SENSE THAT IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO PRODUCE A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, QUALITY, HARVEST THAN IT IS TO PRODUCE A LOT OF FLUNK WEED weather they were using it for flowers or for concentrates. I felt this information should be preserved to decided to write a book about it. What amount of research went into creating the book? I had already done a lot of research in harvesting, also doing other works and watching harvests. Also by reading, both about harvesting of marijuana and other crops. I did a series of experiments, many of which are outlined and discussed in the book.

In your book you explain some tools that can be used. Can you tell more? The tools are specifically made for manicuring cannabis for instance. There are a lot of commercial tools that we have tested. We discuss the different tools, and then the other thing is, I have developed new techniques for harvesting, and all of that is outlined in the book. How will the book Harvest benefit growers?

Harvest, Ed Rosenthal’s newest book

not dream, or am I suggesting that the person or organisation that is growing should not expand their grow. What I am talking about is don’t bite off more than you can chew, in the sense that it is more important to produce a highly successful, quality, harvest than it is to produce a lot of flunk weed. You are more likely to get a great harvest if you stay within the limits of your ability and resources. That may be based on capital or your labour. What are your top tips for insects and pests? It depends on whether you are

9 indoors or outdoors. Usually you rarely have to take care of the plants in terms of insects or pests outdoors, however, sometimes aphids, mites or other insects can get the better of the plants. For instance, if a moth or a butterfly, especially a butterfly lays its eggs on the plant or a cabbage moth, then you are likely to have a lot of caterpillars. The first thing to do with caterpillars is literally shaking them off the plant, on to a piece of paper or card. Then

count, you can grow plants very close together, so they virtually do not need a veg stage. Perhaps a week or so from a clone, or a month from seed germination, and then have them grow very closely together. For instance 36 plants per metre, so they are so close together that as soon as the canopy is covered with greenery, so looking down you would only see very little of the undercover. Then you want to put them into flowering, and that is a

IF YOU ARE NOT DEALING WITH A PLANT COUNT, YOU CAN GROW PLANTS VERY CLOSE TOGETHER, SO THEY VIRTUALLY DO NOT NEED A VEG STAGE the second thing is there are a lot of biologicals that can be used, to get rid of the insects. Pests are more likely to occur indoors, so the best way to deal with them is by not letting them in. If you should see any infection, then it is very important to take care of it extremely quickly. More often than not it is better to remove the infected plant or clean out the infected section, then to take preventative matters around that section. Some of the things that you can do are to use a bacterial spray, which is a spray that has bacteria

much faster way to do veg, than spending a lot of time growing one big plant and then flowering it. By growing a lot of plants, each plant only needs to grow for a little bit and for the most part, avoid vegging. What are your top tips for the flowering stage? The main thing about flowering, is that you want to keep the room relatively dry. That helps to prevent mould; also I would not put much of a temperature difference between the light and dark periods. Perhaps a difference of 3-4 degrees

BY NOT USING CO2, YOU ARE NOT GETTING THE FULL POTENTIAL FROM THE ELECTRICITY that goes after the pest. You can also use a totally organic pesticide. Some areas of the United States and in some parts of Canada, you cannot spray the plants at all. Really the best solution is to prevent the insects from getting in.

Celsius lower. That will prevent a lot of disease, powdery mildew, and brown mould by keeping the humidity low.

What are your top tips for the vegging stage?

Use it from germination until the plants have finished flowering. The thing is if you don't use it and grow indoors, then you are wasting

If you are not dealing with a plant

What are your top tips on using Carbon Dioxide?

electricity. Carbon Dioxide is much cheaper to bring into a grow space than electricity is. By not using Co2, you are not getting the full potential from the electricity. Co2 is a major factor, bringing the ppm to 1200-1300 in an indoor area and outdoors it can also be used. What are your top tips for better understanding terpenes? There are several ways that aging affects terpenes. One way is that the terpenes actually evolve, or change with age. Terpenes may affect each other in one way or another so that as they age, they will either combine or have an association with one another. The third way is the terpenes evaporate and when they do, terpenes that were always there that you did not detect become more obvious. An example that is similar to terpenes is chlorophyll. Leaves are green because of chlorophyll, but in the fall leaves change colour to different reds, oranges, and yellows. Those pigments were always in the leaves but were hidden by the green, so once the green chlorophyll was gone, those pigments become apparent. The same thing happens with terpenes. What are your top tips for harvesting and curing? Do not cure in jars. If you really want to know how to do it easily, cheaply, less effort and labour, while having a better time doing it, then get a copy of Harvest. Thank you Ed for taking the time to enlighten the Soft Secrets readers. Good luck with your future plans and we hope to catch up again, in the near future! Harvest and other books from Ed Rosenthal are available through Amazon and other online stores.

Ed’s Marijuana Growers Handbook is already a classic

GROWERS QUIZ

7) The Sea Of Green (SOG) methods refers to 14) What should the temperature and what? humidity of the cloning room be? A. Using a screen to grow the shoots up and through B. Using only seaweed as a nutrient C. Placing as many plants as possible together in one space D. It is when you place pots wide apart and grow big plants

1) Which of these light cycles best represents the vegging stage? A. B. C. D.

12 hours light and 12 hours dark 18 hour lights and 6 hours dark 10 hours light and 6 hours dark 24 hours of light

8) Which of these light cycles represents the flowering stage? A. B. C. D.

12 hours light and 12 hours dark 10 hours light and 14 hours dark 20 hours light and 4 hours dark 14 hours light and 12 hours dark

A. B. C. D.

Skunk Kush Haze Ruderalis

3) The name of the white hairs on cannabis flowers are? A. B. C. D.

Trichomes Resin Pistils Caylx

4) Which of these hydro systems uses the most nutrients? A. B. C. D.

Dripper systems Ebb and flow NFT systems Deep Water Culture

5) When is the best time to take clones from a plant? A. B. C. D.

Mid way through flowering As soon as the first side branches grow Once you harvest and then put under 18/6 During veg when there are plenty of shoots

6) Which of these is not a real strain? A. B. C. D.

KC33 AK47 C99 G18

24 degrees celsius and 30% humidity 30 degrees and 100% humidity 24 degrees and 70 humidity 30 degrees and 0% humidity

15) Which of these represents fimming? A. When all of the lowest branches are removed B. When the new shoot is removed but some growth remains C. When a branch is snapped and left to grow back strong D. Never heard of fimming...what is that?

16) Some species of beneficial bacteria are able to do what with Nitrogen? 9) Beneficial bacteria need to be fed what?

2) Which of these strains is the same as Critical

A. B. C. D.

Carbon based foods like humates They feed of the oxygen in air so do not need food Chemical based feeds They have a strict water based diet

A. Remove Nitrogen from the air and convert into food for the roots B. Keep it away from the plant as Nitrogen is no good C. Turn it into acid and secrete the soils D. Nitrogen kills beneficial bacteria

10) Moby Dick from Dinafem is a cross of what?

17) Which of these NPK best represents the flowering stage?

A. B. C. D.

Blueberry x Haze O.G Kush x Amnesia White Widow x Haze Hash Plant x Haze

A. B. C. D.

0-0-8 0-8-7 4-0-7 2-8-7

11) Which NPK would best suit the early stages of the growing phase?

18) Which of these is a strain from Paradise Seeds?

A. B. C. D.

4-5-0 0-5-4 5-0-0 4-5-4

12) When growing with a dripper system, which of these is best? A. B. C. D.

100% perlite 100% coco 50% coco 50% perlite 25% coco 75% perlite

Lemon Skunk Wappa Grandaddy Purps Casey Jones

19) Super cropping is the technique which does what? A. Adding growth hormones and turning it mutant B. A well performed sea of green that has a large yield C. Snapping a stem and allowing to repair stronger D. Never heard of super cropping

13) What Dutch Passion strain won the High Life Cup 2017 as overall winner?

20) If a leaf has yellow and brown spots, this is a deficiency of?

A. B. C. D.

Blueberry Shaman Passion #1 Master Kush

Nitrogen Calcium and magnesium Silica Potassium

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OG KUSH The North American Superstar

An Indica-dominant strain that stands out for its overwhelming potency and a strong, refreshing taste. This mythical Californian strain has now turned out to be one of the most famous of its country and is little by little winning the favours of worldwide gourmets. TricomaTeam (tricomateam@gmail.com) There are a couple of theories around the real meaning of OG. According to one theory, it is the acronym of “Original Gangsta”, which is used for a person who has climbed high on the ladder of the cannabis scene. Another version, instead, suggests it is short for “Ocean Grown” (a strain grown alongside the ocean). This latter theory is apparently the most widely accepted in the cannabis community. There is no doubt, however, that it is the bestselling plant in California, the most sought-after seed on the US market, and is little by little becoming the favourite choice of all cannabis growers around the globe. Dinafem Seeds now offers his own OG Kush version obtained by crossing a ChemDog with a hybrid of a Thai Lemon and a Pakistani Kush so as to generate an offspring with an Indica-Sativa proportion of 75% to 25%. Plants are easy to grow, reach a medium size and flower rapidly. Their shape is shrubby, with a high number of branches requiring the use of a training system. This strain is ideally grown indoors under powerful lamps and ripens after only 55 days. If grown in the open air, it can be harvested in early October,

Trichomes at first glance

although a temperate or Mediterranean climate is required in this case. Production is plentiful. Despite their small size, buds are full of trichomes, dense and heavy, which ultimately results in yields that can even exceed 500 g/m2 indoors and one kg per plant outdoors. Their incredibly high potency and rich complex taste have classed these plants among the queens of the cannabis scene. With THC concentrations rising up to 24%, since the early puffs of smoke, the effect is strong on both the mind and body. An initial, relatively short, state of euphoria fades quickly into a deep feeling of cheerfulness and relaxation. The plant’s amazing taste lingers on the palate matched by a sweet and very complex aroma, with a special citric and fuel aftertaste, in which notes of pine and spices can also be perceived.

GERMINATION AND GROWTH

We put 10 seeds of OG Kush between wet cloths and all of them germinated in less than 48 hours. We then planted them in pots of less than one litre, with a light substrate, where they remained for about 10 days. Later, we transplanted them to 18 litre pots with a nutrient-rich substrate.

This variety grows tall rapidly, with a rich production of side branches. A training system is needed since the early stages of growth. At the beginning of the growth cycle, we added a root booster to irrigation water combined with a specific fertiliser.

We cannot say these plants stand out for their growth potential. Their branches are not robust and foliage is not buoyant. In short, they do not seem to grow vigorously and are rather weak and long. However, at the end of the growth cycle, the result will be superior. In little more than one month, we moved them to the flowering room and exposed them to a photo period of 12 hours of light and 12 of darkness under 600W lamps. In the end, we were able to collect a large quantity of cuttings, which we identified in order to select a mother.

FLOWERING

A few days after changing the photo period, we saw OG Kush exhibiting a last growth spurt, to the extent that we had to tie additional branches to training rods. We noticed that inter-knot distance was not long, which normally prevents the development of large flowers, despite the substantial quantity of shoots all along its extensive branches. Buds are oval and quite small, but abundant and dense. They tend to be covered by a white and sticky layer of resin. The penetrating smell released by the plants will force growers to use anti-odour filters since the beginning of flowering.

Central buds

For the fruiting phase, we used a specific fertiliser and a stimulator combined with Bactobloom in the early watering cycles. Two weeks before harvest, we washed roots accurately and, at around week eight, buds were as hard as stone and trichomes had reached their optimal level of growth – which we checked through a microscope.

HARVEST AND TASTING

Harvest is relatively rapid with uncountable buds and reduced foliage. In most specimens, buds look like small round marbles covered with resin. The high concentration of trichomes was more than appreciable. Yield is by no means inferior to that of other plants for the high number of buds growing on each specimen and their astonishing density in spite of their small size. Each snip of the scissors released an overwhelming fragrance that spread all over the room. After drying the plants for little more than two weeks, we could not resist the temptation to try out the specimens we had grown. All had a very homogeneous, strong and fresh taste. Their aroma was quite intense and rewarding and filled us at each puff. The effect was equally very potent, cheerful, relaxing and caused some sleepiness. Indeed, it is ideal to alleviate stress, anxiety, migraine and pain and wet appetite. Unquestionably, quality has raised to a higher level with this strain and she deserves the fame she has won.

OPINION

Extreme Conﬂicts of Interest: A “Raw” Deal A lot has happened here in the UK over the last month or so. Here’s a brief recap for those of you who don’t know what’s been going on. A 12 year old boy called Billy Caldwell has a particularly severe type of epilepsy, but this can be beneficially treated with full spectrum cannabis oil. Because full spectrum oil isn’t legally available in the UK due to its higher THC content, his mother took him to Canada (where it is legal) and acquired some more. However, when they came back to the UK, the medicine was confiscated at the airport on the order of the Home Office. Naturally (and quite rightly) there was a big public outcry about this, forcing the Home Office to do some quick backpedalling and damage limitation by magnanimously giving permission for Billy to continue to receive his medicine, but with a lot of silly rules attached and no small number of hoops to jump through (including an 11 page application form).

High h Times Cannabis Ca Cup Amsterdam 2006 (Bio Category)

What this amounts to is that our Home Secretary can pretend that he knows what he’s doing and simultaneously make himself look good by dispensing largesse to unfortunate children struggling with particularly aggressive forms of epilepsy in the form of pharmaceutical cannabis preparations. So yes, following a pretty big public outcry, these kids can have licenses for prescriptions for cannabis oil (some of it apparently full spectrum oil), but no, there won’t be any of this “growing it yourself” nonsense. It should, of course, be noted, that all of this is going on while the Misuse of Drugs Act still states that cannabis has no medicinal value (although at the time of writing, this looked set to be modified). However, it would be unfair of me not to mention that how this is worded by the various cabinet ministers has changed slightly to “raw cannabis” has no medicinal value. A small word, “raw”, and yet the implications of it are enormous; cannabis that’s “raw”, which is to say stuff one might grow at home, is still very much verboten. On the other hand, cannabis that’s “refined” is okay. The refined cannabis preparations will come from GW Pharmaceuticals. And here’s the rub. The already much overstretched NHS (via the UK tax payers) will now have to pay silly money to GW Pharmaceuticals for medicinal cannabis preparations. As reported in these pages recently, the Under Secretary of State at The Home Office is one Victoria Atkins, whose husband, one Paul Kenward is licensed by The Home Office (where his wife works) to grow cannabis to supply to GW. A cosy little arrangement, isn’t it? It gets better. The Prime Minister, Theresa May’s husband is a top dog with an outfit called Capital Group, and they are really chummy with GW Pharma, to the extent of owning a 14% stake in the company.

PARADISE-SEEDS.COM

There is no little amount of hubris and hypocrisy involved in all of this. That and blatant self-interest bordering on the corrupt. While I’m sure it’s all quite legal (in an “exploiting loopholes” kind of way), that doesn’t make it right, or moral.

OPIUM ®

Even as I write this column, it may already be “old news”, as events are unfolding fairly rapidly and a number of professional colleagues and acquaintances seem guardedly optimistic that we may be seeing the final days of cannabis prohibition unfolding before our eyes.

As you would expect with our Queen, we invested much time and energy into her preparation. By the time she stepped into the limelight she had been bred over several generations, using the genetics of original classic lines; and she didn’t disappoint when she arrived. A High Times Cannabis Cup prize winner, Opium was an instant hit with the growing community.

This seems to be overly optimistic. For myself, what I see are increasingly ridiculous and desperate efforts of a government who refuse to admit that they're wrong, with a concomitant bleeding of the NHS for as much as they and their cronies can manage in the time left to them before (hopefully) the whole issue of the illegality of a plant comes down around their ears. I know I say it a lot, but really, watch this space.

The characteristics we channeled into Opium have created a strain with stand out qualities. The plant grows strong, with a thick stem and bushy side branches. This gives it the tools to produce BIG and heavy buds that are trichome rich. 50% / 50%

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Bittersweet

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110 cm 450 g/m2

200 cm 1000 g/plant

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00 CHEESE You will love it as mice love cheese

This outstanding medium-sized hybrid has it all, a large quantity of superior quality buds, relatively simple to grow (both indoors and outdoors), an amazing long-lasting effect and a distinctively strong cheese smell. TricomaTeam (tricomateam@gmail.com) Cheese strains originate from a Skunk selection made in the UK in the 1990s. Among these was one with a distinctive cheese smell. Currently, most seed banks have their own version of this smelly plant. 00 Seeds now offers its 00 Cheese in the form of feminised seeds.

inflorescences with a conspicuous, huge and resinous central bud. THC is around 16-18% and produces an extended relaxing effect causing slight drowsiness. This strain stands out for its strong and penetrating cheese smell, which is why it is so famous on the cannabis scene.

This genetics produces extremely vigorous plants growing in height and, more importantly, breadth, with firm and large-sized branches. Specimens are highly yielding and full of large and dense buds distributed on the full length of their strong branches. They are also mould and disease resistant and can be perfectly grown under lamps as well as outdoors. This version taxes a few extra days to ripen, compared to other Cheese versions available on the market, but this additional time results in a rich flower quantity and huge harvests. Indoors plants reach one metre in height, with yields in excess of 400 g./m2 after around 60/70 days. Outdoors plants are cut in mid-October and, if kept in good conditions, they can rise up to three metres and please us, in late summer, with quantities above 500 g. per plant.

GERMINATION

The large quantity of shoots produced will develop into outstanding

Central bud

In early autumn, we germinated around 10 seeds of 00 Cheese between wet cloths in a dark room, at a temperature of little more than 20ºC and, in less than 48 hours, all had sprouted without exception. The next step was planting them into pots of little less than one litre placed directly under lamps. Cotyledons quickly surfaced from the substrate – under the heat released by 600 W sodium lamps placed at an initial distance of around one metre to avoid burning seedlings. In the following days, this distance was reduced to nearly 50 cm.

GROWING PERIOD

Growth was astonishing. All specimens had grown stout and strong. At day 10, we transplanted the seedlings to larger pots with a capacity of seven and eleven litres respectively for their final growth. This special genetics produces a large quantity of long and thick side branches full of uncountable healthy and resilient

shoots that will soon develop into enormous inflorescences. During the first two weeks, we irrigated plants with a root booster and gradually added small doses of a nitrogen-rich fertiliser to ensure a successful growth. At around week four after germination, we changed the photoperiod and nutrients and moved them – together with other strains - to a flowering room. As we put our nose close to leaves, we could already perceive the typical strong cheese smell of this strain.

FRUITING PERIOD

At the start of this period, the latest shoots developed and plants stopped growing after a few days. All measured around one metre in height and were thick enough, with very long side branches. For almost all watering cycles, we added moderate fertiliser doses to irrigation water together with a specific bio-stimulator for this phase. Cheese plants need considerable fertiliser quantities and absorb large amounts of water. That is why we recommend growers to check that the substrate does not dry out. The smell released in our test was more and more intense and we realised that the use of good fil-

Lateral bud

ters and ozonisers was essential. After a few weeks, buds had grown long, dense and hairy, with plenty of brown and sticky pistils. The use of a training system is essential to bear the weight of flowers. At the end of flowering, their aspect was sublime.

HARVEST

We harvested plants at around week nine of flowering. The quantity and quality of our harvest were excellent, with huge, firm buds covered with a shiny resin layer sticking to anything touching it. Each snip of the scissors released that strong smell everyone of us likes all around. Trimming was very rapid given the poor quantity of leaves produced on this mainly indica strain.

EFFECT AND TASTE

Tasting was marvellous. As we took a single bud from a pot, we could perceive that intense smell and we ended up being totally attracted to it. As we ground buds, the smell became overwhelming. But the quintessence of sensations came when we inhaled the first puff. This herb produces a dense smoke filling you with pleasure each time you smoke it. Its effect is quite strong, long-lasting, relaxing and cheerful making it ideal for tasting with your friends at the end of the day.

YOUR PASSION OUR PASSION DUTCH PASSION www.dutch-passion.com

PLANT OF THE YEAR

SOFT SECRETS’

PLANT OF THE YEAR 2018 Soft Secrets this year has started a new annual competition. With the help of you, our readers, and the very best of Soft Secrets’ international writers we will pick the best genetics as offered to us by our advertisers. There are six categories to compete in for the companies, they are as follows:

got a fair view of the results!

AND THE WINNERS ARE... INDICA: Serious Kush from Serious Seeds

Indica Sativa Hybrids Autoflowers CBD strains New strains For the last few months visitors to our website www.softsecrets.com have voted for their own favourite strain within these categories. To add an extra heavy score we asked our best grower writers to pick their favourite strains too. Combined, we

Robert B. from Soft Secrets Germany: “I always loved the White Russian from this company. A very nice and powerful plant. I like the grow patterns and flowering time of the Serious Kush. The plant is sturdy and strong so it can carry heavy yields. “ Cliff Cremer, editor-in-chief Soft Secrets: “This unique Dutch

SE RIOUS K USH

company has crossed one of their legends, the White Russian, with an OG Kush. The result is a nice tasting Kush that yields like a heavy Afghan/Skunk-variety. “

per plant if the summer allows. For more northern countries the auto version Moby Dick Auto XXL is a perfect substitute. A true classic in it’s own right.”

SATIVA: Moby Dick from Dinafem

HYBRIDS: Sticky Monkey GG#4 from Seedstockers.com

Stoney Tark, Soft Secrets UK: “A really great example of hybrid vigour. Massive yields and if you can grow her outdoors in the Mediterranean, she is an excellent choice. Clear and creative high makes her a great choice!” Cliff Cremer: “This White Widow and Haze cross is one of my all-time favourite strains for a Mediterranean outdoor grow. This hulk of a plant can easily become 3 meters tall and it gives you 1 kilo

Botanicaunderground, Soft Secrets Italia: “Sticky Monkey GG#4 is a plant that produce a lot of resin, up to 30%, sticky like a glue, suitable for lover of extractions.” Stoney Tark: “A sativa dominant plant that grows in a short time and is seriously potent. The smell is pungent and fuel which has a similar dank taste. Very famous in America and Europe now.”

MOBY DICK

AUTOFLOWERS: Auto Kritical Red from Mr. Hide Seeds Robert B.: “This plant is good for indoor and for outdoor. A very robust plant that thrives at the edge

CBD VARIETIES SOLODIOL AUTO from Elite Seeds Cliff Cremer: “CBD varieties in auto form are the way to go. Patients can turn out yields in rapid succession. This sativa-dominant ruderalis cross has a 1:26 THC/CBD ratio which is simply great! Medical users will not get stoned at all.”

NEW STRAINS: Royal Gorilla from Royal Queen Seeds Robert B.: “This is a true heavyweight even if it’s not a big yielder. The 28% THC will make up for that.”

of some field or garden.” Cliff Cremer: “A heavy hitting big yielder for an auto. The red hairs makes it stand out, you can convice your wife to grow this beauty in your garden.”

Cliff Cremer: “The advance of American genetics on the European market can be seen clearly here. The Gorilla Glue#4 (GG#4) is already a legend, so it’s not surprising European seed companies are stocking up on GG genetics. This heavy THC-laden Indica is a feast to grow and a feast to smoke!“ Next year you can also vote! Check our website regulary! www.softsecrets.com

ST ICK Y MONK E Y GG# 4

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BACKGROUND

AMERICAN GENETICS A new bread of cannabis

There are well over 700 known strains of cannabis, and amongst those, there are some very popular strains that you have no doubt heard of. Blue Dream, GSC (Girl Scout Cookie), Sour Diesel, OG Kush and Northern Lights. However with the tide of change upon us where we are starting to see the relaxing of laws as well as full blown decriminalisation creeping in around the world, things are changing and choice is growing. By Rich Hamilton We are at the beginning of a revolutionary period where we are seeing that there is a greater interest and demand for new, stronger, tastier, more tailored weed. Breeders are creating hybrids from Sativa and Indica, combining terpene and THC content to engineer the market so that there is a strain that meets everybody's needs regardless of whether those needs are recreational or medicinal! The days where you didn't even question what you

and the hybrids that could be created are keeping people watching for what comes next. Nowhere is a better example of this cannabis entrepreneurial spirit than the USA and most notably in California which has already legalised recreational marijuana and has more than its fair share of Dispensaries. Weed has never been more popular and the US breeders are making the most of it by taking breeding to artisan levels, where weed

A legend is born. The famous strain Gorilla Girl from Sweet Seeds is a cross between American strains Gorilla Glue and Girl Scout Cookies. Photo by Sweet Seeds

Hulkberry from Royal Queen Seeds is a typical American strain, with Strawberry Diesel and OG Kush lineage. Photo by Royal Queen Seeds

were smoking and were happy just to get any weed are in the past. The legalisation and the boom in the potential cannabis market is ensuring that new products are constantly coming to market that have been streamlined and can be identified and recommended in dispensaries almost as if you were selecting what wine to enjoy with your dinner. The interest into the possibilities that weed has

comes vacuum packed and labelled telling you what strain it is, where it was grown and the exact THC content (average UK THC level is 15%, and the US strains can be up to 70%) The US breeders are experts who love what they are doing and are basing everything on science and complex biological genetics. They have made such impressive steps forward in the field that their

newly created strains are some of the most sought after in the world. Weed may still be illegal here in the UK, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying the best strains that are on offer. It is possible to get your hands on these super-strains direct, but when some hybrid creations are changing hands for up to £700+ an ounce it might be a better option to go to a seed bank, as many are now selling a selection of "American genetics" seeds, allowing you the chance to grow and sample some of these new players on the scene. With this in mind I thought I would have a look in more detail at a few of these superstrains that we are starting to see emerge as new favourites here in the UK. One things for sure, with the choice we have these days the best weed in the UK is stronger and more complex than ever and nothing like the stuff you probably smoked down the park with your mates as a teenager! A hybrid at 55% indica/45% Sativa, Gelato is one of California's new favourite strains and its popularity has spread here to the UK and once you try it it is easy to see why! Gelato was created by well known breeders, Cookie Farm Genetics, the guys behind the now infamous strain "Girl Scout Cookies". Gelato is a cross between their most popular creation, "Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies" and "Sunset Sherbet". Called

Gelato as it is indeed a real treat, this strain has some of the most potent flavour and aroma around, giving you blueberry and orange fruity-ness alongside a super sweet sherbet. This strain is one for the connoisseur as it can back itself up on every level. It looks as good as it tastes and smells with large buds, dark green nugs, plenty of purple and an over all coating of crystals. Most importantly Gelato is known for its power punch effects with a high percentage of THC which at the very minimum comes in at 20%. Gelato is great for those suffering from muscle spasms, chronic pain, inflammation, chronic fatigue, headaches and migraines as it will leave you feeling calm and relaxed, alleviating any anxiety so that you can enjoy a feeling of peace as the uplifting, energy focusing head high slowly reveals itself, followed shortly by a gradually building body buzz. Get your dosage right and Gelato is the perfect mix to keep you focused on day to day tasks and also to keep you mellow and chilled at night. No surprise when looking at the name.. Skittles/ Zkittlez or Zkittles as you may see it, actually smells and taste like you are eating Skittles!, it is bursting with fruitiness. Created by California based "Dying Breed Seeds" it is an Indica dominant hybrid born

21 out of the meshing together of two fruity classics, the Indica heavy "Grape Ape" and the Sativa packed "Grapefruit". Winner of Best Indica 2015 at the coveted High Times Cannabis Cup its reputation has indeed exceeded it and we are now seeing it take the UK scene by storm. Its aroma just like Skittles the candy, is sweet yet sour, with a very pleasant fruity taste, making for an easy to inhale smoke. The THC content is generally between 15%-23%. The flowers can be all different shades of green and purple sitting amongst bright flecks of orange pistils. The trimmed buds are totally Indica, with a dense, tightly packed appearance and smaller leaves. You won't be disappointed if you like it sticky as this stuff is super sticky thanks to it being covered in a mist of cloudy white trichomes that help with its psychoactive abilities. The Skittles head buzz sets in quickly and subtly and can be quite trippy, it can induce visual and aural distortions and a feeling of time slowing down. It focuses your energy onto certain thoughts and so can be very productive in helping you to get stuff done! This won't last too long though before the chill vibe kicks in and you just want to relax, making it a perfect early evening choice. For medicinal use it is helpful for an array of conditions including attention deficit disorder due to its mentally focusing abilities. It also eases symptoms of stress and anxiety and physically it can assist with chronic pain. Skittles is known for increasing appetite too and so can help people who are not eating much due to chemotherapy for example. Glueberry OG is born out of a combination of 3 well known popular hybrid strains, 2 of them being great examples potent American genetics themselves, namely "Gorilla Glue" and "OG Kush". By using some of today’s most-supreme USA and Asian genetics mixed into one spectacular strain you get the perfect smoke for those who love complex and multi-layered flavours. Crossing the GG and the OG with Dutch passion's "Blueberry" with its fruity berry flavour and euphoric effects means that the final product does not disappoint, producing a hybrid that is roughly 50/50 Sativa/Indica. Glueberry OG has a very complex taste, It's fruity, it's sweet, it's sour, it gives the most unique, eclectic flavour along with some dank notes which sit in perfect harmony with the fruity Blueberry, delivering a very powerful hit and a truly awesome yet balanced high. In appearance it is pretty impressive also, it has some great bud to leaf ratio and can show some vibrant purple hues. The buds are dense,compact, resin heavy and super sticky with some serious crystal-coated

status for sporting one of the highest THC contents around, anything between 18%_28%. It's impressive parentage boasts "Sour Diesel", "SourDubb", "Chem's Sister" and "Chocolate Diesel". Amazingly this juggernaut was created by happy accident when the breeder accidentally pollinated one of his plants with a hermaphrodite and in frustration threw all the seeds away. A friend of his kept hold of some of them however and germinated them some time later.... and from this a legend was born!! Named for its stickiness, its ability to glue you to the sofa with its powerful hit and the phenotype number (4) which came out top from the samples of the accidental breeding, GG #4 is stocked in pretty much every dispensary in the US and is a multiple award winner to, winning at the Cannabis cup in Michigan and Los Angeles as well as the High Times Jamaican World Cup.

Another American legend, OG Kush stands for Ocean Grown Kush, which refers to it’s birthplace Los Angeles, near the Pacific Ocean. Photo by Dinafem.

frosty bling. The Smoke is extremely smooth with a THC content of around 15-20% and its a creeper, giving you a sativa head buzz first with a very relaxing hit to the body to follow, not one to smoke if you have things to do, keep it for chill time. It Seems to have no limit either so the more you smoke the higher you go, so go easy! Medicinally Glueberry OG is good for all but the most severe physical pain and stress related conditions and it also has the added bonus that following the pain relief and mood lift, you will feel a gentle sense of relaxation coming through that will leave you feeling revitalised rather than in a haze. For those who prefer a more Sativa dominant strain (roughly 90% Sativa to 10% Indica) then, Stardawg is the one for you! Originally developed in the Bay Area of California Stardawg is proving to be another up and coming UK favourite. The crossbred mongrel son of"Chemdawg 4" and "Tres Dawg" this little beauty takes its name from both its Sativa dominant parents and from the star like formation of trichomes that are a prominent featureTHC levels in Stardawg are high, averaging between 16 and 22 percent. Aroma wise it is quite unique, a musky, earthy pine and diesel type scent. It really is an acquired smell and whilst Cannabis enthusiasts will appreciate the strong unusual aroma it may be off putting for the more inexperienced smoker, try to not let this deter you however, as the squeeze is definitely worth the juice with this one! Stardawg buds typically have small

to medium dense popcorn shaped nugs that are a vivid menthol green with olive green and rich Amber accents. You will also notice a flurry of sparky orange hairs and a fine dense garnish of white crystals, sometimes the frosting may be so widespread that the green and orange colours will prove hard to see! With this one the indica effects take a secondary role to the cerebral effects on the brain, with a high that is mentally uplifting and stimulating. Consumed in lower dosages you should be able to carry on with your day to day tasks/work pretty much as normal and so Stardawg is a great choice for daytime indulgence, especially a "wake and bake" as additionally it has the added benefit of long lasting effects of 2-3 hours, more than many other strains can manage. The smoke is a thick one with a slightly lemony pine on the exhale. The uplifting Sativa head buzz builds behind the eyes and in the neck, giving you a pleasant energised sociable vibe which will then be followed by a more mellowing Indica state throughout the body.For medicinal users it offers soft pulses of pain relief and an increase in appetite. As its more of a mind buzz it is perfect for treating stress, depression, panic, anxiety or fatigue . It is also useful for insomnia and symptoms of more serious conditions like Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease. GG#4 or Gorilla Glue 4, a Sativa dominant hybrid (70% Sativa-30% Indica) has achieved God like

The aroma is dominantly diesel with an earthy, chocolatey, stale coffee tone with flavour as pungent to match but being a touch sweeter and piney than the odour would have you believe. Looking at it there is an abundance of trichomes and it is very resinous and sticky. The buds are very green, densely packed and spongy. No surprise, the high is quite heavy, going straight to your head and making your body melt 'gluing' you to the sofa but at the same time making you feel relaxed, mentally uplifted and stimulated. It is a pure Indica in the body, but in the head it's all Sativa. It's literally the best of both worlds! Due to its couch-locking properties however it is recommended as a strain to enjoy when you are chilling rather than when you have stuff to do, you have been warned! Medicinally this strain is a good choice for both physical and mental health conditions up to a moderate level, this is because it has a low CBD content and so would not be suitable for serious illnesses such as Cancer. It is very effective however at treating symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, OCD, migraines, insomnia, arthritis and back pain. There are many more hybrid strains being developed and coming out of the States all the time as the legal Cannabis 'boom' continues to gather pace. This can only be a positive thing for the Cannabis connoisseur, as research and development goes deeper, fine tuning those genetics to create new hybrid super heroes tailored to meet the ever growing demands and needs of both recreational and medicinal users. It's exciting to think where things are going to be in 5 or 10 years time. Who knows, by then maybe the UK will have followed suit and will have its own legal cannabis industry and we will be able to take full advantage of all the wonderful strains yet to be created!

SA N F E RN A N DO L E M ON K USH ® (SWS62) Sweet Seeds

C Gorilla Glue x GS

Gorilla Girl

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Indoor Blooming: 9 weeks

Outdoor Harvest: late september

THE ONLY ORIGINAL AND GUARANTEED SEEDS FROM SWEET SEEDS® ARE THOSE SOLD IN THEIR ORIGINAL PACKAGING. Sale forbidden to people under 18 years old. Seeds for collection purposes exclusively. It is illegal to make them germinate. They are not for agriculture purposes. Consult laws about cannabis applied in your place of residence. Sweet Seeds® will not be accountable for illegal use of these seeds done by third parties.

C/ Dr. Nicasio Benlloch nº36-38 · 46015 · Valencia · Spain · +34 963 890 403 / +34 628 593 887 WHOLESALERS: +34 963 473 730 / +34 963 404 289 · info@sweetseeds.es

SWS74

Indica: 40% / Sativa: 60%

www.sweetseeds.com

Want to enjoy buds like this? Strain: White Satin by Mandala Seeds

Big Book of Buds Greatest Hits Brand New Book by Ed Rosenthal Ed Rosenthal is the most high-profile advocate for marijuana rights during the last 40 years.

The Big Book of Buds series has been the connoisT sseur’s reference guide to the best marijuana strains ffrom r the world’s greatest breeders.

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SHOP REVIEW

Hunter’s Grand Cafe is the ﬁrst Smoker Friendly Sports Bar that stimulates doping Amsterdam is famous for Ajax, the Olympic stadium and of course Johan Cruyff. You can find the biggest, but also the best Smoker Friendly Sports Bar -Hunter’s Grand Café- here for good reason. The question remains: how do you become the best in the world? S T I MULA A N TSS If you want to become the very best in sports, you use anything that can make you better. So if you want to become the very best Smoker Friendly Sports Bar in the world, you need more than good food and drink. No one ever became a champion by just eating cheese sandwiches. This is why Hunter’s Grand Cafe uses what champions use and this is the world’s first Smoker Friendly Sports Bar where you can use legal stimulants. This not only makes Hunter’s the biggest but also the best Smoker Friendly Sports Bar in the world. Or as we put it: 275m² beer drinking, SS watching, pool playing, smoker friendly fun.

I A R M STT RO O NG Doping alone is of course not enough to become the best. After all, Armstrong was already one of the world’s best cyclists; he became even better through the use of stimulants. And this is also how things are with Hunter’s Grand Cafe. Here you can find the biggest Smoker Friendly Sports Bar in Amsterdam with a surface area of 275m². It’s filled with TVs, so you don’t have to miss a single game. During the competitions you can enjoy anything that can influence your performance and the atmosphere.

S ILL EN N T S P OR R TSS What’s also unique at Hunter’s is the fact that you can follow the sports with headphones in your own language. You can hire a headphone that is connected to the TV where you can listen to the competition’s commentary in your own language.

S T I MULA AT ING F UN Apart from watching sports, you can also play sports yourself at Hunter’s Grand Cafe. There is plenty to choose from, such as two pool tables and several amusement arcades. And what’s so great is that if you win in pool, or you beat your friends on the arcade, you don’t have to give a urine sample. There is no doping control here. Plus, it’s not

the sports achievements that are influenced here, but the atmosphere, which is a lot more relaxed than during any sports competition.

S M ELL L O F SU U CCC ESS S Sport has its own smell, so does Hunter’s Grand Cafe. Those who have played football know the smell of the changing room. Or the smell of the grass when you get onto the field. It’s this stimulating green smell of grass that makes Hunter’s so special. There’s not a Smoker Friendly Sports Bar in the world that has this smell. So if you’re in Amsterdam, you should definitely come and get a whiff of the sporty, stimulating atmosphere at Hunter’s Grand Cafe.

H U NTT ER R’ S IS NO O T FO O R PU U SSS IES The Hunter’s story began in 1985 in the well-known Warmoestraat. Not with roses, but with a dog. Here, on this famous spot near the Amsterdam Wallen, in the midst of all pussycats, a dog named Hunter’s marked his territory with a well-aimed pee against the façade. The dog’s owner decided that this was a good place and the first Hunter’s Coffeeshop was born. In the meantime, Hunter’s territory has expanded and you can find the famous logo with the dog all over Amsterdam.

H U NTT TH HEM ALL Hunter’s Grand Cafe is 275m² beer drinking, sports watching, pool playing, smoker friendly fun. Each Hunter’s has its own atmosphere and speciality. You can find no less than eight branches in and around Amsterdam. From the famous Warmoestraat in the centre to an easily accessible one on the motorway of Amsterdam Noord. There’s even a Hunter’s Coffeeshop in Haarlem, so you can visit Hunter’s on the way to the beach. You can now also find a Hunter’s Coffeeshop at Amsterdam Beach. So make your visit to Amsterdam complete and visit all Hunter’s, or as they put it: Hunt them all.

WO U L D YO U L I K E M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T H U N T E R’S? V I S I T WWW.H U N T E R S - CO F F E E S H O P.CO M O R F O L LOW H U N T E R’S O N F AC E B O O K.

SHOP REVIEW / AGENDA

AMSTERDAM SEED CENTER, AMSTERDAM Like every spring it’s an exciting time for hobby growers from all over Europe, and a busy time at the store just off Amsterdam’s Dam Square. Amsterdam Seed Center has been a well-known and popular cannabis store cannabis since 2011! Which makes sense, as the store gives customers thorough and independent advice and has a massive range! This way you’re sure to leave with the right seeds, whether for medical use, or purely for the HIGH. The scent of two cannabis plants in the corner of the shop is occasionally masked by the smell of fresh coffee, which can be enjoyed in the lounge area of the store, while you choose the perfect seed for you. If you don’t have time to get to the centre of Amsterdam, you can also simply shop from your sofa and order online at www. amsterdamseedcenter.com, obviously not only during spring!

Amsterdam Seed Center Gravenstraat 12, 1012 NM Amsterdam Tel.: 0031-(0)20-7370060 (10.00 – 6.00 pm). www.amsterdamseedcenter.com info@amsterdamseedcenter.com

Opening hours: Sunday to Wednesday: 10.00 - 7.00 pm. Thursday to Saturday: 10.00 - 8.00 pm.

WE ARE MARY JANE: WOMEN OF CANNABIS 8 June to 23 September 2018

This summer, Amsterdam’s Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum presents We are Mary Jane: Women of Cannabis - an exhibition which explores the role of women in the world of cannabis. Last June, Dutch parlementarian Vera Bergkamp (D66) opened the exhibition. Bergkamp was the driving force behind the new Dutch ‘Weedlaw’, a groundbreaking initiative to fully legalize the cannabis production, sale and consumption. From prehistoric times to the present day, the Museum pays tribute to the often overlooked female contribution in the history of the world’s most versatile plant. In recent years, the legal cannabis industry in the USA has become a multibillion dollar venture. Estimates are that marijuana sales will rise to tens of billions in 2021. Today, women hold a greater share of executive positions in the cannabis industry than in all other U.S. industries combined. This will increase as the industry grows and develops, which raises the question: at the dawn of cannabis legalization in different parts of the world, will women lead the cannabis industry into a new era? For a long time, the cannabis business has been male-dominated and its products primarily aimed at a male audience. Now, women from diverse backgrounds are closing the gender gap and shaping this relatively new field. The business is gaining a brand-new image. Cannabis

offers a wide variety of fields to explore: from recreation to medicine, from ecological sustainability to human health and wellbeing, from legal and financial to marketing.

A tribute to female pioneers This exhibition features medical marihuana products for women from Whoopi and Maya, a company co-founded by Whoopi Goldberg, artfully designed pipes from Stonedware and durable hemp clothing by Dutch fashion label Studio Jux. In the past, a huge part of the cultivation and processing of hemp crops was performed by large numbers of women, as depicted in a watercolour by famous artist Piet Mondriaan. The ancient Chinese venerated a hemp Goddess by the name of Ma Gu (hemp maiden).

In modern times, Mila Jansen established a precursor of the coffeeshops in Amsterdam, while in the US Mary Rathbun, AKA “Brownie Mary”, pioneered medicinal cannabis by providing HIV patients with her magical brownies. In cooperation with photographer Maria Cavali the museum

presents “1042 – We Are Mary Jane”: a series of photos of female cannabis consumers as an ode to the diversity of the Amsterdam cannabis culture. “We are Mary Jane” highlights the extraordinary women who have shaped the modern cannabis world, and shows how women are advancing the industry today. Visiting address: Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 130, 1012 DV, Amsterdam.

GROW WITH JORGE CERVANTES

MAKING SEEDS AT HOME PART TWO

STEP FOUR: STORE POLLEN.

Store small amounts of pollen in aluminum foil, enclosed with silicon to absorb excess moisture so that it does not destroy the pollen. Pollen has a short shelf life in nature. High temperatures and moisture destroy it. Pollen can be stored in the freezer for several months. Store pollen in an airtight container along with silicon pellets to absorb any moisture in the container. Periodically remove silicon to dry and then be returned to the container. Make sure to let container sit at room temperature for several hours to avoid moisture condensation from temperature change. Carefully remove pollen from the collection bag and pass it through a screen to remove flower remnants. Remember, dead flowers and foliage attract moisture and will contaminate and spoil pollen. Place wax paper under the screen to catch pollen. Pour pollen into a sterile test tube or small container from a craft store. Scrape remaining pollen into tube or container with a sterile instrument.

Seal test container. Put test tube in a larger airtight container with several packets of silicon to absorb moisture. Seal pollen with silica gel and leave at room temperature so the silica draws moisture from pollen before putting it in the freezer. At pollination time, pull pollen out of freezer and let it warm up to room temperature. Do not open the container when cold or water will condense inside and kill the pollen. Keep refrigerator at low humidity. Thawing and refreezing pollen will diminish its viability.

STEP FIVE: POLLINATE FEMALE.

Flowering females grow many ready, receptive stigmas until pollination occurs. Best pollination takes place about 3 to 5 weeks after females show their first flowers. At this point the majority of receptive stigmas are ready for pollination. This is when a few of the stigmas start to curl and slightly discolor, signifying the onset of senescence. Receptive stigmas are turgid and most often are white or off-white in color. Senescing and dying stigmas

Male flowers can be stored for a few days in a glass of water, but they have a tendency to open prematurely.

that are brownish are not viable. Not all pollinations are successful. If in doubt, you may want to pollinate 2 or 3 times to ensure your success. Once pollinated, the majority of the female’s energy is directed toward seed production, and bud formation stops. Pollinate well-formed buds packed with well-formed stigmas to produce the maximum number of viable seeds. Home breeders need to pollinate a flower bud full of stigmas or a single branch full of buds to make more seeds than they need. Humboldtlocal calls pollinating one branch “planned parenthood.” The unpollinated branches are sinsemilla. The sinsemilla tops are harvested when ripe. Seeded branches continue to mature for another week or two until ripe.

Grains of male pollen such as the one in the photo (magnified 4,000 times) stick to the stigma, develop a tube through the style, and release 2 gametes—1 to fertilize the ovule and 1 to fertilize the endosperm.

A little bit of pollen on your thumb or finger is the best way to pollinate specific sets of stigmas in a flower bud. Human skin is oily and it holds pollen well without altering it. Brush pollen-laden thumb or finger lightly to disseminate countless grains of pollen to fertilize females. Be very careful with remaining pollen on finger. Rinse fingers in water to

remove pollen, or quickly lick pollen with your tongue. Label everything. It is easy to lose track of names. Cross-reference notes or codes on plants with copious notes in a notebook. Color-code pollinated females with small pieces of yarn for easy identification. Some breeders use barcodes to track plants. The barcode is fixed onto the plant tag and attached to the plant. Put a little pollen into a plastic bag. Carefully cover a single female branch packed with receptive ripe stigmas with the bag. Tie the end of the bag around the stem of the branch to ensure that no pollen escapes. Shake the branch lightly for complete dispersal of pollen to all stigmas. Leave the bag for 2 days and nights to ensure thorough pollination. Move the target plants to a “safe” area to avoid accidental pollination of other plants. Be careful not to scatter pollen when removing the bag. Some commercial breeders and seed makers place multiple males or clones of the same male in the seed production garden room with their breeding females. Males release pollen in the well-vented room, allowing complete pollination of the crop.

Cannabis is very promiscuous! Michæl demonstrates a special bag with a window to prevent pollination. Paper bags are good indoors and in greenhouses; waterproof plastic may be necessary outdoors.

Wash clothes and shower afterward to avoid transporting pollen to nearby plants away from the breeding zone. Spray pollinated females with water a couple of times before returning them to the normal “sinsemilla” grow-room population. Clean seed room thoroughly after each seed crop to avoid accidental pollination of future crops.

STEP SIX: HARVEST SEEDS.

Seeds are ripe when they are mostly dark brown or gray. Many seeds are spotted and mottled; some are even tiger-striped. Green, yellow, or white seeds are almost always immature and not viable. Seeds that are lighter in color or float in water after 24 hours are slow to germinate and often unviable.

A little dab of pollen is all that is necessary to selectively pollinate a few stigmas.

A single lower branch of this big female is fertilized with male pollen. The seeds are left to mature for about 2 weeks after flower buds have been harvested.

When a few seeded buds are mature, remove seeds from the bracts by picking seeds out by hand. This can be done with green buds or dry seeded flower buds. Once dry, rub seeded buds between your fingers and hands over a screen or tray. A little bit of light friction will not damage seeds. However, they are susceptible to heat, cold, and moisture. Avoid all three

when harvesting and handling seeds. Once pollinated, female plants produce seeds that become ripe in 6 to 8 weeks. (Occasionally they mature later.) As seeds mature they become darker. Eventually the containing seed bract starts to senesce and dry out around the edges to expose the maturing seed within.

Set a group of females in an enclosed area. Set a single male plant a few feet from an oscillating circulation fan. Turn on the fan to help disperse pollen in the room to pollinate all the females.

This is the second part of an excerpt from chapter 25, “Breeding” from the Cannabis Encyclopedia (596 pages, 2,000+ color images, large A4 format) by Jorge Cervantes, available on amazon. For more information please see Jorge´s website, www.marijuanagrowing.com.

PUZZLE PAGE

TWEAKING BUD POTENCY USING LIGHT People used to think that plants were vegetables; that they have no way of reacting quickly to their

environment, and were more like couch potatoes with very slow reactions. There were always

signs in clear sight that this isn’t necessarily so. Sunflowers track so they always face the sun. The

Venus fly trap closes on its victims the second it’s touched. A fraction of a second after lights

This room is illuminated using tanning lamps. Usually they are used 5 hours a day in conjunction with HPS lamps. In this photo the HPS lamps have been turned off for illustrative purposes.

A view of the room showing the 6 foot tanning lamps.

On card: Reptile lights can be used to supply UV light.

A tanning lamp with reflector

are turned on, plants start photosynthesizing. Mimosa pudica, the sensitive plant, collapses its leaves on touch. However, when it is touched repeatedly by the same stimulus, it becomes habituated, and stops reacting. After not stimulating the plant for weeks, it still “remembered” the stimulus and didn’t react. It had ”learned”. Rhodopsin is a pigment that is very sensitive to light. A version is found in bacteria and it is used in our sophisticated sight system. It’s also found in plants and helps cannabis to regulate its flowering by distinguishing light from dark periods. Plants also share stress responses with animals regarding UV light. Dark skins have high melanin content to protect against UV light. Light skinned people develop more intense stress reactions and respond to the light by producing melanin, causing tanning, or more severely, sunburn, which actually results in destruction of layers of skin and other destructive reactions. Plants growing under natural sunlight develop resistance to these harmful UV rays in several ways. They grow longer protective cells (palisade cells) to disperse the light to minimize its intensity and they produce higher levels of pigments, flavonoids and terpenes as sun shields. In various experiments and anecdotal reports THC production increased by 10%. Terpene levels also increase significantly. There are positive effects in other plants, too. For instance, tomatoes grow thicker skins and contain more flavonoids. When plants grown indoors are placed outdoors in late spring or summer they sometimes get sunburned. Their leaves droop or dry out and they suffer tissue damage. Whether or not they survive and thrive, they are set back. For this reason pants should be gently, gradually introduced to direct sun, perhaps first placed in the shade or by using shade cloth to protect against the sun’s intensity. You might think that plants in greenhouses are getting full sun. However, most plastics and glass are opaque to UV light. One exception is acrylic sheet, often known by its brand name, “Plexiglas”. Indoors, fluorescents and HPS

Garden of the month – Garden of the Month® Coral Cove Greenhouse, Jamaica

lamps produce no UV light. Metal halide lamps often produce small but significant amounts of UV, but the plate glass required for safely enclosing the lamp in the reflector is opaque to it. Some LED manufacturers include the spectrum in their mixes, but emitters in these spectrums are still costly.

What’s a person to do?

ȏ $ KDQG\ IULHQG GHFLGHG WR XVH tanning lamps that advertised deep bronzing. All the parts were available but he had to construct the holders and wire the ballasts to the lamp holders. He used the equivalent of one tube for each 1000 watt HPS. ȏ ) OXRUHVFHQW UHSWLOH ODPSV UDWHG 10X emit UV light they require. They can be used on a one to one basis. ȏ 8 9 ODPSV JHDUHG VSHFLILFDOO\ IRU horticulture are available on line. The lamps need only be used during the last 10-15 days of flowering, for 6 hours a day. For instance, plants growing outdoors receive the highest amount of UV light in the summer when they are in the vegetative stage. I haven’t seen the results of any experimentation on this. This is an area where there is a lot of room for experimentation

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BEST INDICA OF 2018! SE RIOUS K USH Serious Seeds

CANNABIS CUP 2018

BEING A JUDGE IN THE

HIGH LIFE CUP 2018! THE ONLY REAL CANNABIS CUP IN THE WORLD The High Life Cup was founded in 1994 by Dutch growers magazine Highlife in Holland and it is the largest cannabis cup in the world. It awards the best flowers, hash, and extracts from Dutch coffeeshops, headshops and seed banks and the judging is an 8-week process which kicks off in april. Below is better explained what it takes to be a judge and how it works behind the scenes. By Stoney Tark Living The High Life

As a participant judge for the 2018 High Life Cup, each person receives

four subcategories. These are appearance, odour, flavour, and effect and the final score is based on a 10 or less

system. Easier said than done and when you are part of who decides who has the best flowers in Holland for that year, it is vital that every flower is treated with the same open-minded view and equal testing. The final score is based on a 50 point score system. Most importantly judges have 8 to 10 WEEKS to test all samples, and they can do the sampling completely on their own accord in their own surroundings. What a difference with all these other cups where ‘judges’ must smoke up to 80 samples in 1 DAY! Also the 15 man jury for the Highlife Cup is handpicked each year by Cliff Cremer, the editor of Soft Secrets, and contains only people who are proven growers and smokers with many years of cannabis experience under their belts.

The results sheet

Jury members living the High Life for 2 months discreetly received this bag full of goodness.

More than 135 samples had to be tested in a 9-week period. Most jurors sample 2 to 3 samples per day, so as to not cloud the brain for the points for effect.

Appearance. This is the first thing that the entry is based on. If it is a flower, hash or extraction, then how much bag appeal it has, the quality of the trim job, the flower size, density, shape, and colour are all taken into consideration. As you can imagine at this level, the entries are almost identical regarding supreme quality looks wise. Paying close attention to the trichome production, calyx development and stick to bud ratio.

a smellproof bag which contains all of the 135 entries, of all of the categories. Each sample is labeled with a sticker which contains only a code in letters and numbers, so it is a blind test. As a jury member you only know to which category the sample belongs, nothing else. At no point do the judges learn which entry came from who, which is what makes this cup extremely fair and is known as the real cannabis cup. Each sample bag contains 2 gram of flower and the categories for this year's cup are as follows: Hydro Weed (grown on hydro systems), Bio Weed (organically grown weed on soil), Autoflowers, Haze on Hydro, Haze on soil, Kush varieties, Skunk varieties, Sativa (genetically >70% Sativa), Indica (genetically >70% indica), Medical varieties (with high CBD and low THC levels), Hash (traditional hash) and Hash Extractions.

How To Judge Correctly

On the day the judge’s kit is given out by the highly secretive organisation, a score sheet is also administered which divides the scoring system into

Soft Secrets editor Cliff Cremer (l.) with Guru of Ganja Ed Rosenthal

Odour. The second thing that we look for is the odour that the flower is producing. The flower may have the ability to stink a bag out, and when a bud is broken, total terpene heaven is upon you. Other flowers may not smell as appealing as they initially looked, while others may be more subtle which can be down to the genetic, grower and many other variables that must be taken into consideration. Here is where many of the entries will begin to score higher and start to separate themselves in terms of quality quickly. Flavour. For me, this is what the difference maker can be between a high score and a low score. It can be misleading to assume all of the biggest buds have the best flavour, while some of the smaller sized nugs taste less appealing. When judging for flavour, we will score on a number of things, which are the taste of the joint before lighting, the first taste when lighting, the taste it leaves on the palate and how it tastes on the exhale and the coating of the lips. How well the flower has been grown and how smooth the smoke is, the colour of the ash and the overall experience is how we decide.

37 Effect. This is the part where most people can laugh off the hard work that is put in as a judge. There is a way to test each flower and give a valid assessment of the effects, without each flower becoming merged into one continuous high.

with 150 guests to see who is the winner of the High Life Cup 2018. This year the award show was held at a secret location near Eindhoven, and was held together with Soft Secrets’ European Plant Of The Year Award. The Cups were handed

The Soft Secrets’Best Indica of 2018 went to Royal Queen Seeds with their strain Royal Cookies

You will base the effect on the cerebral or physical experience. As each category can cover indica and sativa cannabis, hash and extracts, having

out to the happy winners by none other than Soft Secrets’ own Ed Rosenthal, the guru of ganja, who flew in from the States just for this

Dutch Passion was over the moon with their second overall cup in a row. Their Lemon Zkittle was crowned champion of champions this year

a broad experience as a cannabis smoker pays well. As a judge, you will base the effect on all of the above so the appearance, smell, and flavour can all play into the final score. Once we have spent half a day judging each sample, then we can add a score out of 10 (1 is absolutely worthless, 10 is the best weed you ever smoked in your life).

occasion. It highlighted again the serious nature of the one and only real cannabis cup in the world, the Dutch High Life Cup!

Hydro weed

1) 2) 3)

Critical Dyna Purple - Dizzy Duck (The Hague) Armageddon Hydro - High Society (Leiden) NY Purple Diesel - Mary Jane (Maastricht)

Bio weed (organic)

1) 2) 3)

Strawberry Diesel - Missouri (Maastricht) Gorilla Glue - Kosbor (Maastricht) King Kong - Cremers (The Hague)

Autoﬂowers

1) 2) 3)

Sticky Beast Auto - Zamnesia Auto Blackberry Kush - Dutch Passion Amnesia Auto - Magic (The Hague)

Haze hydro

1) 2) 3)

Amnesia Haze - ’t Bunkertje (Apeldoorn) Neville’s Haze - Kosbor (Maastricht) Silver Haze - Zero Zero (Arnhem)

Haze bio

1) 2) 3)

Amnesia Haze - Club Media (Amsterdam) AMG - Kera Seeds Neville’s Haze - Kosbor (Maastricht)

Kush

1) 2) 3)

Rollex OG Kush - Bagheera (Amsterdam) Kosher Kush - Dizzy Duck (The Hague) Dutch Kush - Paradise Seeds

Skunk

1) 2) 3)

Gelato #41 - Growers Choice Chocolop Skunkberry - Dizzy Duck (The Hague) Shoreline - Greenplace (Amsterdam)

Sativa’s

1) 2) 3)

Lemon Zkittle - Dutch Passion El Diablo - Easy Going (Maastricht) Jack Herer - de Boerenjongens West (Amsterdam)

Indica’s

1) 2) 3)

Royal Cookies - Royal Queen seeds Rollex OG - Greenplace (Amsterdam) Sketch - Boerenjongens Centrum (Amsterdam)

Medicinal CBD

1) 2) 3)

Charlotte’s Angel - Dutch Passion CBD Dutch Dream - Freedom Supreme Genetics OG Kush CBD - de Boerenjongens West (Amsterdam)

Hasj traditional

1) 2) 3)

Kandy Kush Hasj - Club Media (Amsterdam) Rif - Zero Zero (Arnhem) Strawberry Banana - Bagheera (Amsterdam)

Hasj extractions

1) 2) 3)

Moonrocks – Greenplace (Amsterdam) Nougat – Magic (The Hague) Old Skool Haze Pol - Dizzy Duck (The Hague)

Overall winner, champion of champions:

And The Winner Is…

Once we all submitted our scores and have spent 8 weeks thoroughly testing the best of the best, it is time to clear the cobwebs away and look forward to the award ceremony. A special invitation-only event

Results Highlife Cup 2018

With less than 2% THC and more than 21% CBD Charlotte’s Angel from Dutch Passion came out as the best CBD strain in the competition.

LEMON ZKITLLE from DUTCH PASSION!

BACKGROUND

THE PROBLEM WITH SEEDS IN THE USA A colleague of mine recently asked me why there are very few seed retailers in the USA? Which is a very interesting topic because at first thought you would expect that there would be plenty of seed distributors and that business would be booming considering the ongoing legalisation that is seeping in throughout the country. So why isn't it? Well, when I looked into it, it became apparent that it is quite a complicated state of affairs. So sit down, grab a coffee and try and get your head around this. By Rich Hamilton / Photo courtesy of Dinafem Cannabis is now legal either medicinally, recreationally, or both in many states with more sure to follow suit in the foreseeable future. However at a federal level cannabis it is still illegal under the "Controlled substance act" which absurdly see's Cannabis sitting alongside the likes of Heroin and ecstasy as a "schedule 1 classification" drug. Individual US states have been able to legalise cannabis within their own parameters as they are not obliged to enforce federal laws. The flip-side of this however is that the state cannot stop federal law enforcement from imposing federal laws should they wish to as over all, federal law trumps (excuse the pun) state law. It must be said however that so far federal law enforcers have recently pretty much left cannabis users within legal states alone. The threat is always there though and is a contributing factor as to why there are very few US seed banks, as in theory federal agents could raid them, seize all their stock, close the business down and prosecute the owners at any given time.

illegal in the eyes of federal law and so both sellers and buyers face risk of prosecution if the package is intercepted, as many and unsurprisingly people just do not want to take the risk. "Stealth packaging" is commonly used when seeds are sent via mail order in an attempt to evade seizure but obviously this comes at extra cost and still offers no guarantee that your seeds will make it through to you. Some big International seed companies are willing to ship to the USA using stealth packaging also and are popular as they

package has been seized as it does not comply with the regulations regarding the importation of seeds and nuts. You will also be without seeds and possibly without rights to a refund or replacement depending on the importing companies policies.

So that in a nutshell is an overview surrounding the great US cannabis seed debacle! What a pickle! That's the legal bit over. So what do US legal growers do? Where can they buy seeds? Or do they use cuttings? Are there other more practical reasons why seeds may not be popular? Let's have a look. In legal states licensed retailers, collectives and dispensaries can sell seeds and cuttings in a face to face retail environment (in store) in line with their states guidelines i.e enough seeds to grow 6 plant's at any one time. Whilst this does offer a seemingly obvious solution to the problem of sourcing your seeds,it is not without its limits. The dispensaries are still subject to all the same rules and regulations surrounding the movement and buying of seeds and so they will only really sell a limited selection of

The matter only becomes even more complex when you look at each legal state's regulations on the buying of seeds and the growing of cannabis plants which all vary slightly. Throw into this the federal laws, customs regulations and mailing restrictions and it seems obvious why companies are keen to steer clear of this logistical nightmare. With me so far? Cool. Let's go further down the rabbit hole and have a closer look.. In the States of Alaska and Colorado it is legal for an individual to buy enough seeds to personally grow up to 6 cannabis plants. However in Pennsylvania and Michigan for example people cannot legally purchase any seeds, as only medical Cannabis has been legalised where recreational use and cultivation has not . The problem therefore is that companies would be breaking state laws if they were to sell and post seeds to a customer in a state where cultivation and/or recreational cannabis is still illegal and let's face it, the US is a huge market and so unless you can sell your product nationwide it's not really going to be worth starting up. Furthermore, federal law states that the selling or buying of cannabis seeds is illegal full stop, as is the mailing of them and so even if a company is mailing seeds from one legal state to another this is still

generally offer a better selection of seeds than are available in the USA. Some of these seed companies are based here in the UK which is kind of crazy when you think that cannabis is totally illegal here, yet it is legal to sell cannabis seeds (for souvenir purposes only of course!) Some companies will not ship to the US at all however as if seeds are seized by customs at the border then it is at the importers expense. Getting seeds shipped internationally just adds to the minefield of potential hurdles that you face. Due to federal prohibition any agricultural product such as seeds or plants is prohibited from crossing the US border. If as a buyer, your seeds are seized at the border you probably will not face any prosecution but you will receive a letter stating that your

strains and may not have what you want.Generally clones are a more popular option than seeds in the US market, partly for the legal reasons already covered but also for the following practical reasons. Seeds require a bit more skill, time and equipment to grow from scratch. They are more unpredictable and may not even germinate at all. So for the sake of 4-6 plants, many people would rather avoid the fuss, expense and knowledge required to germinate and grow from seed and just buy 4 cuttings that will be ready to go within a few weeks. Cloned plants will flower faster than those grown from seed also, which not only saves you time but means that you could manage to squeeze in additional harvests throughout a 12 month period. Clones retail for

between $25-50+ for 'adults' $15-25+ for 'teens' and $10 for "babies". Quality seeds can be expensive and you do not get many for your money, so when you consider that you can clone your clones repeatedly you can see how you would be saving yourself money in the long run. It is thought that it is pretty common for most people to bypass legal distributors altogether and instead purchase their starting materials on the "grey market" so not from legal sellers but from fellow growers who seem to favour selling clones over seeds for as little as $10 a pop. Which offers the buyer better value for money and a better selection of strains and of course there is a monetary benefit for the seller. Everyone's a winner albeit a slightly law breaking winner! Maybe one of the biggest reasons why clones would appear to be favoured over seeds in the USA is because clones are reliable, clones make for more uniform crops, whereas seeds will always show slight variations. What do I mean by this? Well putting my science hat on for a minute, a genotype describes the genetic features of a cannabis plant and whilst all seeds from the parent plant will have the same genes, the way they are expressed - the phenotype- will be different. Just like children from the same parents. You have the same genes (genotype) but maybe have differences in phenotype i.e build, height and hair colour. So cannabis seeds will always grow into slight variations of the same plant and therefore can be randomly stronger, taller, weaker, flower faster, yield less etc. than their brothers and sisters. This unreliability is not ideally what you want as a grower though, what you want is stability and nothing is as stable as a clone. There is a process called "pheno-hunting" which is common with people who sell clones and buy clones. They will hunt for and take cuttings from the best performing plants with the best phenotype as this ensures that you will get the best results every time, as every clone taken from this clone will be a carbon copy of the original. They will grow to the same height, finish flowering at the same time and produce the same level of bud potency. These inevitable results are just something that a seed cannot currently offer and at the end of the day this is what we are in it for, good solid predictable results from the best plants that we can lay our hands on. I think that all the legalities over the sale and movement of seeds in the USA is enough to put many people off buying or indeed selling them commercially. Whilst this state of affairs could change in the near future as legislation continues to be reviewed, I do feel that, the difference in convenience, performance and results that growers het from using clones is probably why they are seen as the way to go for any grower, on any scale of indoor growing within the USA. leaving seeds in the dust by a mile.

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BACKGROUND

TRADEMARKS & CANNABIS IN THE USA

Although cannabis is now legal for recreational or medicinal use in 29 states and the District of Columbia, with recreational use legalised in 8, it still remains illegal under federal law. It is of no surprise therefore that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will not register trademarks for companies who trade in cannabis or any product that contains it. The quandary that these companies find themselves is just one of the many "grey areas" that exists between state and federal cannabis law. By Rich Hamilton Legal squabbles so far have been very few due to the roots of the cannabis industry which has remained loyal and tight knit up to this point, it is still widely frowned upon to trade off someone else's name and/ or copy them. As time moves on however and more money is pumped in to and made out of the cannabis industry it looks increasingly inevitable that things will change. Competition will increase, and so will the capitalist, commercial nature of the industry as millionaire investors throw their hats into the ring. The fact is that the cannabis industry will eventually turn into a commodity market. Like other

brands, they don't second guess anything they are buying, they trust in what they are told, what they stand for and become loyal customers who vote with their feet becoming repeat customers. With trademarking cannabis you’re not so much trying to protecting the plant but more so you are trying to protect the brand. So what are companies within the " legal" cannabis states in the USA doing at the moment to protect their interests now and in the future should the federal stance change? Well, in the eyes of federal law the only way that they can obtain a trademark

COMPETITION WILL INCREASE, AND SO WILL THE CAPITALIST, COMMERCIAL NATURE OF THE INDUSTRY AS MILLIONAIRE INVESTORS THROW THEIR HATS INTO THE RING commodities market the essentials for success are of course, a quality product but also a solid brand identity. It’s about having a name and a logo and a brand identity that people can feel comfortable, familiar and safe with. Brand image sells product, look at Nike, Coca Cola and Apple. People trust these

from the U.S patent and trademark office is to trademark everything except the actual cannabis, this includes any products and services that don’t “touch” the plant, like consultation, information about medicinal benefits, marketing and packaging companies and media companies or items associated

but not openly marketed for use with cannabis such as business names, logos, rolling papers, Clothing, lighters etc. This is a strategy known as "circling the wagons" protecting your main asset or main aim with your subsidiary assets. By trademarking a brand and cannabis associated products companies hope that this will deter any other entrepreneurs from trying to steal and use the same name in association to similar products within the same market (cannabis). It is also hoped that it will put the company at the top of the cannabis trademark waiting list in the hope that one day the federal government will change its stance. and allow cannabis itself or anything containing cannabis to be trademarked and recognised at federal level. At present the closet anyone has got to obtaining a federal trademark for cannabis is for products containing CBD. Much of what cannabis companies are doing presently concerning trademarking is just guesswork at this stage. As until and indeed if, the federal government review how they see cannabis, no-one knows for sure if the "circling the wagons" approach will necessarily work and that their cannabis-related trademarks would be able to pass straight over to actual cannabis products. So far there are no test cases or precedents to fall back on! So where do things stand in regards to state law? As you may or may not know that last year (2017) the first cannabis strain was successfully trademarked in several “legal” states. State trademarks are easier to obtain than federal trademarks, but do not provide the same level of protection as obviously each state trademark protects the product/business in that particular state alone. So you must obtain multiple state

trademarks to protect your business in multiple states. Even at a state level however, This is an important landmark step as when a cannabis strain is branded and is legit, it changes things. You suddenly have quality and you have consistency. Before legalisation there were no standards and things couldn’t be run with all the advantages that legal business has to offer. There was no protection for anyone, the owners, the retailers, the customers. There was no product testing or assurances, there was no advertising or pricing levels. People just shared amongst themselves, exchanged info online and served each other’s needs. Some honestly but some not so much! Popular strains such as Sour Diesel and Bubba Kush have been grown far and wide but the creators are largely unknown and unrewarded. Up to now It has been pretty much unheard of for Breeders and growers to actually get credit and financial return from the strains that they have created, nor have they been able to control who grows it. If it was any other industry these rights would be assumed, registered and exercised without a second thought according to normal business practices. Just as they would be in order to protect your brands integrity and quality from unscrupulous imitators. This is why what the breeders behind the first trademarked cannabis strain GG#4 have done is game changing and is the first rung in the ladder to revolutionising the cannabis industry. GG#4 (the artist formerly known as Gorilla Glue#4) has been somewhat of a superstar strain since its triumphant emergence just 4 years ago, with pretty much everyone claiming to have either smoked, grown or sold it at some point. Accidentally created in 2012 in Las Vegas by , “Joesie Wales” and “Lone Watty,” GG#4 is the happy

41 accident that occurred when the female “Chem Sister” plant hermied over to the Sour Dubb and was then crossed with a Chocolate Diesel. Seeds were produced but not germinated for a year or so and when they were the 4th phenotype was deemed the winner, being noted for not only its super strength but also for its superglue like stickiness and that is how Gorilla Glue#4 got its name and came to be.

cannabis industry could be. Obviously as previously discussed no cannabis product has received a federally recognised trademark as yet and so the system is untested but hopeful. GG strains have big plans in the making and are functioning as a totally legal company with...marketing campaigns, new lines and licensing deals which could easily see them becoming one of the biggest players in the industry before or after any change in federal cannabis legislation.

An award winner at several Cannabis cup awards in 2014, the strain was gifted to private growers and 100 clones were sold at a cannabis cup in order to test out the strain’s stability. The strain was so good it was inevitably "leaked" by one or more of these opportunist growers and it was not long before GG#4 was commonplace in many dispensaries as well as in home grows.

So will trademarking strains on a State level stop distributors from passing off random strains of weed as something more special?? No, probably not completely, is the answer. Just like fake designer watches and handbags etc. You will never stop people from trying to make easy money, and they will always have a market as some consumers are just happy to smoke whatever they are sold at face value. What having a trademark will do though is give assurances and a symbol or sign of authentication to those who are looking for the real thing.

A victim of its own strengths, had GG#4 not been leaked it probably would not have reached the level of infamy that it holds today. This bittersweet situation has been somewhat of a blessing and a curse as the breeders GGStrains have been subject to a legal wrangle surrounding someone else’s trademark. The "Gorilla glue" superglue company, who took issue over the name and how this could impact its own brand in a damaging way. The result of this was that Gorilla Glue #4 became GG#4. It didn’t take long before the creators, GG strain’s LLC saw the potential benefits and decided that they needed their own trademark to protect their popular strain, even if it was only state wide.

GG#4 have set a standard that hopefully the creators behind the next generation of new strains will follow as they strive to throw off the shackles of illegality and bring the cannabis industry out into the business mainstream, where they can be applauded and rewarded for their efforts as well as being able to control brand integrity.

GGStrains has the first known cannabis trademark at State level for the GG#4 strain name and for that specific strain of medical cannabis plant itself in Colorado, Nevada and Washington with others in the pipeline. Of course these trademarks do not stand up on a federal level but it’s a good start and gives hope and some protection to the honest guys in the industry who are in it for the right reasons.

also giving recognition to who created it and where it came from. They even have a company mission statement which is to “ensure all consumers and medical cannabis/marijuana card holders receive the same GG#4 each and every time they go to purchase.”

The guys behind the strain are concerned about authenticity, branding and ownership. GG strains are

This is not a new problem. Dealers have been passing weed off as different strains for years and

THE FACT IS THAT THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY WILL EVENTUALLY TURN INTO A COMMODITY MARKET just 2 old school Growers, they haven’t sent anyone anyone anybody legal letters, threatening them to stop growing GG#4, they are not trying to close anyone’s business or stop anyone from growing this incredible variant. Instead, they are just protecting their creation and making an example of what Gorilla Glue should look like and smoke like, whilst

I’m sure just like me, everyone has had it happen to them at least once. It becomes more of a problem however when it is happening on a commercial level within the dispensaries. Chances are that if you go into any dispensary there will be a “fake” “GSC” “GG#4” “OG Kush” “Sour Diesel” “Zkittles” etc. strain available and if you bought half a dozen of the same

strain from different dispensaries, chances are that they would all smoke differently Like all good companies who pride themselves on the quality of the product, GGStrains want the end user to get the real-deal and not get scammed, as presently without any trademark legislation in place for cannabis this is all too easy to do. Anyone can put any name on any weed, illegally or even in a dispensary, sell it and watch the money pour in off the back of a good strain’s reputation, whilst you are just getting substandard weed. The breeders are without the luxuries that other industry’s enjoy such as quality control, uniform brand image and nationwide legal status, which means that strains become inconsistent and vary from location to location This trademark precedent has set the bar for other growers and GG strains are seen as the breeders to follow and aspire to. They’ve become a real visionary company, showing what the future of the legal

By combining the use where possible of federally recognised trademarking of company names, logos and associated products with the state trademarking of actual plant strains, it places companies in the strongest position possible on the business playing field. There is a lot of money to be made from Cannabis and everyone knows it and some may say that as this movement gathers momentum that the USA government are inevitably going to have to move with it. This will mean that the breeders who already have various trademarks in place for cannabis associated products and/or cannabis containing products at state level should be sitting at the top of the list to receive the green light to keep and expand their existing trademarks. The combination of state and federal trademarking laws can seem confusing, contradicting and limiting at present but the more that businesses take advantage of what is available to them in order to legitimise themselves as much as possible, the more chance there is of success and of the whole industry moving forward for the benefit of everyone from the breeders to the end users, both recreational and medicinal.

HOMEGROW INFO

COMBATING NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES Not every nutrient solution on the market today will be able to cover every base when it comes to nutrient completeness. Try to find a nutrient formula that has as wide a range of essential nutrients as possible. It is recommended that you purchase a nutrient formula for the rooting/cloning stage, the green foliage growth stage and the budding stage. By Thomas Valentine While this might sound like overkill, in fact it is not. Going as far as purchasing a good hormone supplement for each growing stage is a good idea. This is highly recommended when sprouting from seeds or rooting a newly cut clone. Hormone supplements can speed up root growth, ensuring a large and well taken care of plant that will have a high yield when harvesting time comes around. Every seed that takes root has enough trace elements in it to last until middle age. After that, trace elements must be introduced to the nutrient solution to keep the plant healthy. If the plant is starting from a clone, it is advised that trace elements be introduced in this early stage when roots are forming and trace elements are essential to future healthy growth. The most common deficiency is Nitrogen. This is because a fast growing plant such as marijuana needs tons of nitrogen to ensure full growth. Nitrogen is the only truly essential element to ensure healthy and prolific green mass growth. Know a Nitrogen deficiency by having the stems grow an unhealthy red and the leaves growing yellow. Adding Nitrogen will cure this malady in a day or two after upping the Nitrogen content to a higher level. The affected parts of the plant, however, are damaged permanently. If a leaf is pure yellow, the best thing to do is simply cut off the affected leaves. This is so the plant doesn’t expend energy trying to repair the damaged leaf. If there is only one or two fingers of the leaf that are yellow, cut those yellow leaves off and leave the fingers that are still green. Phosphorous is another essential element that has to have an eye kept on it. It is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies that will plague your green. At first the plant will present with red stems and deformed leaves. Oddly enough,

some leaves will actually appear too green. Compare an older growth leaf with a newly grown leaf to spot this deficiency. If any leaves are yellow, prune them off. Another issue that might be run into is a Potassium deficiency. A deficiency of this sort might be mistaken as a phosphorous deficiency. Know the difference between the two when the leaves start to turn under themselves. The edges and point of the whole leaf will turn under. After increasing the Potassium, it may be beneficial to prune the yellow leaves. You’ll notice a reduction in the yellowing of the leaves a day or two after introducing more Potassium. Noticing round yellow spots on the leaves is a common way to spot a calcium deficiency. For this common malady, foliar feed one teaspoon of dolomitic lime per liter of water. Marijuana always likes a good misting, but this time it’s for a pointed reason. If this malady is identified quickly, you won’t have to trim the lower leaves. If it hasn’t been identified until holes have developed in the leaves, you’ll have to trim the leaves. Use a paper hole punch to remove the yellow areas. This is because the yellowish areas may rot, stunting the growth of the plant and may also add a moldy odour to the buds later on. One of the hardest maladies to spot is a Sulphur deficiency. It presents as an oddly yellowed leaf. It looks as though it is transparent, but with the yellow part being within a semitransparent green layer. Foliar feeding with 2% Epsom salts in a liter of water will combat this issue. Sulphur deficiencies, if caught early, won’t affect the plant all that much. If left too long, though, the leaf will die. If the leaves are whitening and the veins within the leaf are dark, you need to increase the amount of magnesium in the nutrient solution. This common affliction is one that occurs within the green growth stage and is

easily cured with a simple increase in magnesium in your nutrient solution. If there is too much magnesium in the nutrient solution, the top leaves will grow yellow and die. To combat this, lower the magnesium in the nutrient solution and add manganese. Also foliar feed with a pH balanced solution containing manganese. Iron is considered a trace chemical, but when the plant runs out of iron, the leaves will whiten and the veins will grow dark. To combat this, add a good trace element solution to your nutrient. Iron is famous for combining chemically with the other constituent parts of your nutrient solution, but is still an essential element that must be present in the nutrient solution. If new growth is appearing burnt or is a slimy looking brown, there is a boron deficiency in the nutrient solution. Boron is a trace element, so add just a little bit to your nutrient solution. The most common source of boron is boric acid, so make sure the nutrient solution is pH balanced before it is fed it to the plants. No single nutrient solution is perfect. There will always be holes in the nutrient’s makeup and as such an eye has to be kept on your green. The elements, their identification and their remedies as they are stated here will help ensure a good crop no matter if it’s 3 or 30 plants being grown. Combating nutrient deficiencies is an easy affair if an eye is kept on the crop.

A POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY MIGHT BE MISTAKEN AS A PHOSPHOROUS DEFICIENCY

IF THE LEAVES ARE WHITENING AND THE VEINS WITHIN THE LEAF ARE DARK, YOU NEED TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF MAGNESIUM I N THE NUTRIENT SOLUTION

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GROW WITH STONEY TARK

TOP TIPS ON CHOOSING A GROW LIGHT Replicating the great outdoors, indoors is just the flick of a switch away. Deciding which grow light is best suited for your project can be down to your growing experience, skill level, and financial commitment. Below are my top tips on what to consider, when investing in a grow light. By Stoney Tark Growing Space

lighting is considered old and out of date. As the market focuses on LED and other HPS, the use of metal halides is not seen as practical. Many growers choose to use halide during the vegging stage, then to switch to a HPS for flower. As far as the spectrum is concerned, halides will offer the adequate amount of blue lighting the plants need. My top tip here is to use metal halides for the vegging stage, keeping mothers alive, or rooting a large number of clones.

So a grow space that is 2 metres tall, should allow for 1 metre for the other equipment, by the time the plants have matured. My top tip here is to draw out on a pad, the actual layout from a 2D perspective, outlining how much space each piece of equipment will require.

High Pressure Sodium

How Much Power?

My top tip here is using 400w high pressure sodium, will produce small, tight buds, that will not last a grower as long as they would have anticipated. Adding 200w more is a serious difference maker.

The first thing any person should do before investing in a grow light, reflector, carbon filter, pots or hydro system is work out the actual growing space they have. Once you have calculated that a grow space is for example 1 metre x 1 metre x 2 metres high, you will need to subtract then the area that will be required to hang the carbon filter, reflector, placed oscillating fans inside and then add your pots or hydro system.

Deciding on how much power you need, will dictate the number of lumens, the conversion rate of PAR, the integrity of the lighting spectrum, and the gram to watt ratio that is possible. However, many variables will dictate the overall outcome of a grow. This is not just down the amount of power, yet genetics, skill level, organic or hydro, veg times, seed or clone, as well as the quality of grow light and the spectrum.

This is the most common grow light and sometimes the most practical. High-pressure sodium lights (HPS) are available as 250w, 400w and 1000w. To grow plants that have biomass and a good weight, 600W and above should only be considered.

LED

There has been a shift in the lighting industry, thanks to the breakthrough of LED. With many companies getting away from the cheap Chinese imports and investing in products made in their own countries, the

WHEN IT COMES TO FLOWERING PLANTS, AN HPS SHOULD BE USED, WITH AT LEAST 600W OF POWER. If you are growing with a CFL, then these are better suited for vegging, mothers and rooting clones. My top tip here is to consider that when it comes to flowering plants, a HPS should be used, with at least 600w of power.

Metal Halide

Used for the growing stages, MH

quality and pricing of LED lights have soared over the last few years. During my time using LED, the way these lights are getting better and becoming more practical is only setting a president for the future, conscious green grower. My top tip here is never invest in the Chinese imports, and even though the initial

This grower will use a HPS for flowering these plants

investment is a heavy one, in the long run, you may be happy to be ballast-free, with the electric bills calming down also.

Electric Output

As a new grower, or someone who is ambitious enough to take on a sizeable indoor project, knowing your limits as far as power consumption, plays a big part in what lights, carbon filters, fans and systems you can have. Many inexperienced growers can trip their power without even realising, which only results in a timer not kicking in and the whole room remaining in darkness. My top tip here is to get an experienced electrician involved, if you are not sure, or to have a backup generator in place, just in case. Avoid causing power cuts espe-

cially in residential areas as this will only be a reason for a knock on the door.

Excess Heat

Once your grow space is entirely equipt, you are now ready to do a temperature test. You will want to aim at a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius, with ventilation and fans blowing. If you leave the grow light on, then after 30 minutes, discover the amount of excess heat the bulb and ballast are giving off. This is technically wasted energy, and if not controlled adequately, it can lead to high temperatures above 24 degrees Celsius, which can then change the amount of humidity that is present in the air. My top tip here is to run your grow lights, carbon filter, and fans before

Calculate your grow space lighting area before planting, to avoid a garden like this.

Here is a very large plant, which has the space to grow huge.

putting any plants inside, for an hour. This will give you a fair reading of if your ventilation is up to scratch. If the temperature and humidity are not in accordance with the growing stage, then try to amend with a higher output of ventilated air or cooling tubes if needed.

Cost Of The Bills

It is easy to say that you would love to run 6 x 1000w lights in a room with 40 plants underneath. The truth is for many bedroom

growers, and home growers are that paying the electric bills is part and parcel of having them grow in the first place. My top tip here is to work out what your budget is for electric bills. If you know you can cover £120 or €150 per month, then you can work out how much can be used towards lights and the rest on carbon filters and fans. Stealing electric is a bad idea and will only lead to being persecuted by the electric company itself.

Intense lighting is the best way to add size to your flowers.

BOOKS

MILA HOW I BECAME THE HASH QUEEN

How I Became the Hash Queen is an exciting personal account from one of the cannabis industry's rare female icons, a life story unlike any other that takes us from 1960s Amsterdam to the Himalayas, and to the burgeoning legal weed scene in the U.S.

Mila takes us with her to the first parties on the beach in Goa, India, and into the heart of the sixties revolution in fashion and music in Amsterdam. Through it all, she faces the challenge of being a single mother, even as she becomes a pioneer in a traditionally male industry with her game-changing inventions, which have shaped the future of hash-making. This book offers an inside view into a wide variety of alternative worlds and experiences, in the company of a fascinating woman.

THE AUTHOR Mila, also known as “The Hash Queen,” was recently honored with being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world of cannabis—and her fame continues to expand.

Index of ads Name

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Kannabia Seeds

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Colofon Soft Secrets is published by Discover Publisher BV P.O.Box 362, 5460 AJ, Veghel, Netherlands Telephone: +31-(0)73-5498112 E-mail: info@softsecrets.nl Web: www.softsecrets.com

Mila's autobiography is intriguing and inspiring on many levels. As a mother, inventor, traveler, lover, and spiritual practitioner, she has taken incredible risks and embarked on unimaginable adventures. Reinventing herself and creating businesses over and over, Mila supported her children and was a rebel at the same time. Her story is, by turns, a riveting travel-log of trekking through uncharted passes and to secret monasteries, and part ultra-personal account of love stories and heartbreaks.

Editor: Cliff Cremer Contributors: Ed Rosenthal, Jorge Cervantes, Dr. John Dee, Stoney Tark, Rich Hamilton, Mr. Jose, Robert B., cccp and others. Mila in Manali, India, 1968

Comics: Jim Stewart Editorial adress: readers@softsecrets.nl

ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ AT PAGE 10 : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

B A C D D D C A A C

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

D C D C A B D B C B

Advertisements: E-mail: info@softsecrets.nl A word from the publisher: Soft Secrets is published in: The Netherlands (Highlife), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Poland, Czech Republic, Chile and Argentina. The UK government has embarked on a process of relative liberalisation towards the use of cannabis, and cannabis activists are engaged in broadening this engagement. Several local councils and police chiefs now actively support a Dutch-style coffeeshop system as a way of separating soft and hard drugs, as it has proven to do in Holland. Whether they are finding their way to new coffeeshops or growing for their personal supply, cannabis users are a menace to no one, and are causing no discernable social problem.

Some politicians and commentators are calling for the outright legalisation of marihuana. Let’s wait and see how the debate develops during a period of relative peace between all sides of the argument. In the meantime, the publisher hopes Soft Secrets will show the public a positive side to the normalisation of cannabis use, and is anxious to offer a forum to both pro- and anti-legalisation advocates. This assumes that the publisher does not necessarily agree with everything that appears in articles and advertisements. The publisher therefore distances himself explicitly from published statements or images that might give the impression that an endorsement is being made for the use or production of cannabis. Nothing from this publication may be copied or reproduced in any format without prior permission from the publisher and other copyright holders. The publisher is not responsible for the content and/or point of view of advertisements. The editors take no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. The publisher has endeavored to reach all copyright holders of photos and/or images. Those who still believe they are entitled to these rights may contact the publisher.

Next issue out: October 5, 2018

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Silicon improves strength of the outer layer of the leafs and stem, enhancing the plant’s resistance to diseases and stress.