The cannabis newspaper since 1985
www.softsecrets.com | Issue 1 - 2021 18+ For adults only. Soft Secrets is published six times a year by Discover Publisher BV Netherlands
THE HOME OF FAMOUS STRAINS
WAPPA - SENSI STAR - L.A. AMNESIA ORIGINAL WHITE WIDOW - NEBULA ACID - ATOMICAL HAZE - PANDORA
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UN removes cannabis from ‘most dangerous’ category Reclassification sees marijuana remaining under international drug control conventions
FEMINIZED CBD & CBG SEEDS
Cannabis is no longer considered a risky narcotic after a UN agency voted to remove it from a category of the world’s most dangerous drugs in december 2020. The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) said in a statement it had voted 27-25, with one abstention, to follow the World Health Organisation’s recommendation to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
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Under the category, which is a subset of Schedule I, cannabis was listed alongside deadly and addictive opioids, including heroin, which already require the highest levels of international control.
The agency voted to leave cannabis and cannabis resin on the list of Schedule I drugs, which also include cocaine, Fentanyl, morphine, Methadone, opium and oxycodone. Although it is no longer classified as risky, the vote does not clear UN member nations to legalise marijuana under the international drug control system. More than 50 countries have adopted medicinal cannabis programmes and many have decriminalised the possession of marijuana. Canada, Uruguay and 15 US states have legalised the substance for recreational use, with Mexico and Luxembourg close to becoming the next countries to follow suit. The CND noted the prominent role cannabidiol (CBD) has in a number of wellness therapies over the past few years and the billion-dollar industry that it sparked. CBD is a nonintoxicating compound that is not subject to international controls. Some countries clarified their stances
after the vote, with Ecuador supporting all recommendations by the World Health Organisation and urging the implementation of a regulatory framework for cannabis production, sale and use. The US voted to remove cannabis from Schedule IV but to retain it in Schedule I, saying it is “consistent with the science demonstrating that while a safe and effective cannabis-derived therapeutic has been developed, cannabis itself continues to pose significant risks to public health” and recommended continued control of the substance. Chile and Japan voted against the reclassification. Chile argued that “there is a direct relationship between the use of cannabis and increased chances of suffering from depression, cognitive deficit, anxiety, psychotic symptoms, among others”. Japan argued that recreational use of marijuana “might give rise to negative health and social impacts, especially among youth”. Source: independent.co.uk
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3 Page
8
Liberty Haze
Feeling free and soaring high
Page
10
Growing in a Greenhouse
with Jorge Cervantes
Page
15
Growing mother plants
with Mr. Jose
Page
22
NeW!
Ask Stoney
Meringue Dutch Passion www.dutch-passion.com
Page
30
Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version A walk in the tropics with Sweet Seeds
5
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Out now: Stoney Tark’s Top Tips on Growing Cannabis Perhaps the most anticipated book to be written about all things Cannabis, from Soft Secrets' very own head writer Stoney Tark! This self-help book is 186 pages covering 18 chapters, over 140 what-to-avoid tips, and 40 troubleshooting questions and answers. Intended for beginner growers and those who have previous experience, as it was written to carefully highlight all the mistakes Stoney had made over the years. The intention to save you time, money, space and most importantly from learning the hard way! The style of the book is written in a very easy to digest form with Stoney’s personal touch of experience and creative writing. Covering everything you would need to know from setting up your grow room, silencing your garden, choosing the best horticultural grow light, deciding the right cultivar for you, plant count and pot size, training your Cannabis plants, temperature and humidity, the vegetative stage, the flowering period, harvesting and drying your Cannabis plants, growing Cannabis with organics, growing Cannabis with hydroponics, flushing your plants, growing Cannabis outdoors, breeding Cannabis plants at home, making hash with your leftover trim, taking clones and mother plants and water usage. Every chapter is broken down into each 10 individual parts with an explanation and recommended tip (180 top tips) concluded with a short list of what to avoid pointers. There is also a 20-page section named Ask Stoney that is dedicated to troubleshooting and diagnosing problems that have been sent to Stoney directly, and decided to add them as another way to relate to the beginner grower’s mindset and concerns. Anyone who reads this book will instantly become a better grower and save years of mistakes and developing bad habits! “Stoney Tark is Soft Secrets’ main writer for growing articles. As the top dog among fellow growers, Stoney is not just good with plants, but with his pen too. He reaches a public of millions with his insightful and very helpful articles in the magazine for growers, made by growers. His top tips have become legendary and his interviews are read by many. If you’re serious about growing your own crop, this book is a must-read!” Cliff Cremer - International chief-editor Soft Secrets magazine Stoney Tark’s Top Tips on Growing Cannabis is available at
Amazon.co.uk
6
R.I.P.
By Rich Hamilton
RIP BLACK THE RIPPER Black the Ripper was one of the UK's most pivotal and influential artists to emerge from the hip-hop underground in recent years. The North London artist was also a high profile campaigner for legalising cannabis here in the UK. Although this talented and outspoken advocate was taken far too soon, his legacy lives on in the music and businesses he created. Dean West AKA “Black the Ripper” was a rapper, cannabis activist and an entrepreneur hailing from Edmonton, London. One of the earliest artists to emerge on the Grime scene he gained early recognition for his mixtapes Afro Samurai (2006) and Summer Madness (2007) and was one of the earliest artists to star on UK urban music channel SBTV.
ing such big names in the industry as Chip, Ghetts, Lowkey, Wiley, Frisco and DotRotten amongst many others, building up a massively influential back catalogue of music in the process. Using music to express his love of cannabis and raise awareness of the battle for legality in the UK was a popular theme for West. His eighth mixtape released in 2014 was entitled "Married to Marijuana" comprising of 13 tracks expressing his love for smoking weed and a "weed remix' of "Uber everywhere"
style brand that gained popularity and notoriety quickly thanks to Wests activism stunts, which soon went viral. National recognition was achieved in November 2016 when West filmed a music video on the London Eye at 4.20 pm where he was filmed openly smoking cannabis in public. The aim being to push for UK legalisation. West repeated similar stunts in his local Asda
tured in a Vice documentary "How Weed laws are failing the UK" in 2016. Full of potential and with a long career still ahead of him it was a huge shock when on 4th April 2020 it was reported that Dean West "Black The Ripper" had died suddenly whilst on Holiday in Montserrat. A later autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a heart attack. West was only 32 at the time. Tributes from the UK hip hop and grime scene and the broader spectrum of UK music poured in from long time fans and collaborators including Lethal Bizzle, Krept, Skepta, Nadia Rose and Ambush. Several tracks were released in honour of West; with the artist Chip releasing "0420" featuring a sample of Black The Rippers single "Missing you. The track was released on 20/04/20, a nod to the cannabis culture of which West was so deeply a part of. This legacy continues to pave the way for others to follow in his footsteps both musically, and in trying to push for real change in UK cannabis legislation. Black the Rippers' music lives on to inspire and influence others, as does his activism. Dank Of England also continues to grow and evolve, as the biggest and most successful pro-cannabis lifestyle brand in the UK. The success story just keeps on growing, with the exciting news that the first “Dank Of England Cannabis Social Club” will be opening in Barcelona this year! With plans afoot for a 2nd venue in Amsterdam!
West went on to release multiple mixtape series’ over his career including 2 volumes of the “DOE OR DIE” series with Ironbarz, a 3rd volume of which is due for release through Dank Of England Records soon. West also released his own original material, working alongside and inspir-
called "Light up everywhere" in 2016. As well as voicing his views on cannabis and its laws through music, West also channelled his energies and activism through enterprise, when in 2015 alongside co-founder "Screechtree" he founded "Dank Of England" (DOE). Dank is a record company and cannabis life-
store and on an Easy Jet flight, for which he received a lifetime ban. No surprise that with his musical background and the infamy gained from his pro-cannabis activism, DOE was a massive hit with one newspaper referring to it as "the most pro-cannabis and British a company can get". West was also fea-
Now solely in the hands of Screechtree, Blacks’ name and legacy is and always will be remembered through the DOE movement and the ethos he helped to build will continue to be pushed to a whole new high. RIP Dean West-Black The Ripper.
Advanced Hydroponics of Holland since 1993
Come grow with us
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8
Barney’s Farm strain story Text & Fotos: Green Born Identity – G.B.I.
Liberty Haze
Feeling free and soaring high: A mental rocket launch “I’m already calling myself a fan of this strain! It has proven to be very stable up to now – the two plants are still looking pretty uniform and both blooming like hell after four weeks, with a multitude of burgeoning blossoms having bursted open now and released countless white pistils to form most promising young buds. Also, an early dense coating of tiny resin drops is shimmering on the young calyxes and sugar leaves, they’re are pretty sticky already!”
Liberty, freedom – in the western world at least, we’re living in a time full of personal liberties: freedom of opinion and speech, of political, occupational and partner choice, of movement and travel (provided that there’s no virus pandemic going on…), and as for private consumption, free unlimited choice of goods worldwide available via the internet. On the one hand. On the other, there’s a lot in this world that is unfree or the freedom of which is heavily endangered: societies that are (as much as possible) free of racism, right-wing extremism, populism as well as autocratic and anti-democratic ambitions by their state leaders.
Granite-like solid tops with a sugary look and sweet lemony scent Flower formation continued to prosper as impressively as The Doc had expected. After timely 62 days of blooming and a strong height gain eventually leaving them at 95 and 110 cm, the two plants were fully ripe. That red/purple colour potential had manifested itself only on the stalks and leaf undersurfaces, but nevertheless made for quite a flashy presentation. Endowed with an enormously high calyx-to-leaf ratio, the buds had become fat, juicy and dense, with a granite-like solidness. The large-sized head buds were prominently protruding from the centre, with a circular plateau of very stately side tops below, marking the lower half of the plants. All of the buds were with richly covered in crystalline trichomes, it looked as if someone had generously dredged them with fine sugar grains. Said an enthusing Dockie, “this gorgeous appearance is gloriously complemented by a scent that is very lemony, indeed, and given its sugary look, it is only fitting that it’s glazed with a big scoop of sweetness. In the background, a pinch of musky spiciness adds subtle complexity to the mix.”
Not your usual Haze: A herbal homage to liberty Against this background, right now a lot of thoughts are crossing one’s mind in view of a strain called “Liberty Haze”, both positive and, unfortunately, dismal ones. But the latter shall be optimistically blown away at the latest when inhaling the smoke or vapour of Liberty Haze as this euphoriant Barney’s Farm variety is a herbal homage to liberty – hope is green, freedom is green! Genetically, this strain is not your usual Haze, with a pedigree at its core that is completely different from the schoolbook of strains: Liberty Haze is a 60% sativa dominant amalgamation of G13 and ChemDawg 91, two legends in the word of cannabis strains. Plants are growing medium tall (indoors generally not more than well a metre) and with about 8-9 weeks fairly fast flowering. Barney’s rates its high indoor yields at up to 600g/m2. Given a finishing date of between week 1 and 2 of October under natural light, Liberty Haze is advertised as a very suitable outdoor plant, too. Its elongated densely packed buds gain a lot of weight and often pronounce their attractive red to purple colour potential. With up to 25% THC under its belt, Liberty Haze falls into the category of aboveaverage, highly potent varieties. And of course much as it’s rich in THC, its tingly invigorating effect is intense and long lasting, bringing an initial surge of euphoria. The plant’s intriguing aroma is centred around a fresh lemon flavour. Smell-wise, earthy musky and skunky notes are mixed in, the taste has piney and herbal aspects brought into play then.
A formidable dry harvest and olfactory sophistication
Powerful vegetative growth and much budding vigour in the early stage of flowering The Doc, an ardent afficionado of classic cannabis genetics, didn’t have to think twice about testing Liberty Haze and set out to pop two feminised seeds. Just as all the Barney’s farm beans he had previ-
ously tested, they germinated perfectly well and brought forth two healthy fast growing seedlings. They were repotted into 11 litre containers after 14 veg days. One week later, The Doc reported, “So far it’s a beautiful, vigorously growing strain with well-built lateral branches. Now that I’ve put them into flower, they’ve arrived at heights of 34 and 39 cm.” 28 days into flowering, he continued,
Weighing the dried yield revealed that with a combined 195 grams, Liberty Haze had only narrowly scraped past the 100g per plant mark – “a formidable achievement, either way”, said The Doc, laudingly. “And the look of the dried flowers undoubtfully falls into the “picture book” category, these true showpieces I’d unhesitatingly enter into any contest.” That sweetish lemon scent now aired a bit of earthiness and brought a tinge of black pepper to the Doc’s nose – some serious olfactory sophistication!
9
The smoke test: Liberty Haze initiates a mental rocket launch When he test-smoked the buds for the first time, with about 0.75 grams and a bit of tobacco wrapped into an elegant spliff, Liberty Haze just as described ignited a kick-start effect, after two hits, a burst of prickling sativa energy washed over The Doc and gave him an euphoric lift, “one, two, three, whee! This effect knew only one direction: steeply upwards! My neck was the launching base and my head the rocket, and it took off with a big bang, emitting a huge column of smoke – through my mouth! I couldn’t sit still a second longer and driven by a strong zest for action started to finally fold a big pile of washed clothes and put it into the wardrobe. And this even with a cheerful whistle on my lips, that sort of actually most disliked housework suddenly was fun all the way! After that I spontaneously decided to type a long-postponed important private email and had a great writing flow in doing so, with ease I breezed through some difficult wordings that normally keep me busy for longer. Some more
Cultivation data: tokes off that Liberty Haze spliff made sure this buoyant zing didn’t abate, and so I continued to finish other undone housework off. After about an hour I eventually got tired of that though and began to unwind, also because that freshness kick had melted down and given way to a clear-headed calmness, so I lay down on the couch and put my feet up, with a cozy indica trail to follow which went along with a feeling of deep satisfaction with all the things previously accomplished.” Also, Liberty Haze turned out to be as much tasty as it was pleasantly potent, with a sourly lemon zest refreshing The Doc’s taste buds, an initial sweetness pampering his palate and a prolonged earthy piney aftertaste lingering in his mouth. “Another champion strain from Barney’s Farm that impressively delivered across the board”, The Doc summed up his experience. “And a strain that, for a change, isn’t based on so-called trend genetics but legendary old-school building blocks – which is something I’m always happily up for”, the grow veteran said with a smile. www.barneysfarm.com
Genetics
Liberty Haze (G13 x ChemDawg 91)
Vegetative stage
three weeks (after germination)
Flowering stage
62 days / 60-65 days in general
Medium
Plagron Grow Mix soil, 11 litre pots
pH
6.2-6.6
EC
1.2–1.8 mS
Light
up to 8 x SANlight Q6W = 1720 watts
Temperature
19-28°C
Air humidity
40-60%
Watering
by hand
Fertilisation
Organic Bloom Liquid from Green Buzz Liquids
Additives/stimulants
Living Organics, More Roots, Humin Säure Plus, Big Fruits, Fast Buds and Clean Fruits from Green Buzz Liquids
Tools
Plagron Grow Mix soil, 11 litre pots
Height
95 + 110 cm
Yield
together, 195 g
10
Grow with Jorge Cervantes By Jorge Cervantes – jorge@marijuanagrowing.com
Growing in a Greenhouse Greenhouses can be just as much or more work as an indoor garden. Start with a small greenhouse and learn the ins and outs of growing in your climate. Greenhouses tend to warm up quickly when the heat of the sun hits them and cool rapidly when the sun goes down. Keeping the temperature from fluctuating too much can be difficult. It takes understanding experience and a little luck to master temperature management. Greenhouses must have: • full sun to partial midday shade • proper air circulation and ventilation • good humidity and pest control • water-resistant electrical outlets • a hose bib to provide water • insulated water lines to avoid freezing if necessary • t ables benches and places to hang plants (if they are not on the floor) • a dry place to store fertilizers potting soil and tools
Siting the Greenhouse
Greenhouses extend growing seasons protecting cannabis and cultivators from harsh weather.
Introduction
build and overbuy – too much and too expensive construction materials, poor planning, purchase stuff to fix problems after the fact, expensive controllers, fancy lights, be cooler than your buddy because you have something they do not. take your emotions out of equation. Neighbors can also hate it. Check before starting.
Growing medicinal and recreational cannabis in greenhouses is efficient and less taxing on the environment and pocketbook than gardening indoors under lights. Unheated greenhouses protect plants from the elements and extend the growing season several months; add heat and you can grow year-around in most climates. Soil warms early in raised beds and in containerized plants. Greenhouses can also be equipped with lights to extend vegetative growth or augment natural sunlight. “Light Dep” greenhouses can be blacked out to induce flowering with a 12/12 day/ night schedule during the summer. Light deprivation greenhouses are so popular in Northern California that Garberville celebrates the “Golden Tarp Awards” every year profiling the best Light Dep flowers. I have seen many inexperienced growers invest too much money on their greenhouse for things they did not need or use. In every instance, the growers did not have a clear written plan and were motivated by emotion rather than good sense.
A small greenhouse is easy to make and set up. Greenhouses can be temporary or permanent. Permanent structures are more expensive to construct and may require a building permit. Temporary greenhouses can be removed when the weather permits and replaced if necessary. Be realistic. Is the purpose of greenhouse a hobby or business? Will you actually use greenhouse in a few years to grow plants or will it turn into a storage building? It is easy to over-
The type of structure you select depends on the size and location of your growing area your budget and how much time you can dedicate to your garden. Small movable “popup” greenhouses are convenient and practical. Simple cold frames and greenhouses can be assembled from common materials such as old, framed windows and 5 × 10 cm timbers. Small heated-and-cooled greenhouses are a little more complex. Hoop houses are inexpensive practical and easy to install. Large commercial greenhouses are best purchased from and installed by professionals. A good, specialized greenhouse can be used year-round in most climates. However heating and cooling costs vary in relation to climate and seasonal weather changes. When deciding on a garden structure first take a look at your budget in terms of both money and time.
Choosing the perfect location to site your greenhouse will lower costs and avoid many potential problems. When sited in the ideal location heating and cooling costs will be minimal and you can use the surrounding geography to keep air flowing around and inside the structure. Orienting the greenhouse in the proper direction will take advantage of the natural arc of the sun so that all plants receive the maximum amount of direct sunlight. If your growing climate is beyond breezy, protecting the structure from wind saves construction costs and stress. The ability to drive a vehicle and roll a wagon and wheelbarrow on flat land to the garden makes unloading supplies easier. A level location also saves excavating soil and rocks before construction starts. An accessible water source for irrigation is essential. Electrical service to operate fans, lights and power tools may be necessary too. Best to plan ahead and make sure you have everything sorted before lifting a shovel. Southern exposure is ideal and guarantees that more sun will shine on your beautiful, enclosed garden. It is all about the path of the sun through the heavens. After south, the next best placement in relation to sunshine is southeast, followed by southwest and northern placement is dead last. Orient the greenhouse east to west so that the sun passes from one end to
11 the other rather than from side to side. Shadows are reduced to a minimum when the greenhouse is oriented parallel to the arc of the sun. Orienting the greenhouse so that the ends are facing north to south ensures more plants will be shaded, not good. Heat generated from sunshine
Windy weather is a major concern. The cost of building a wind-tolerant greenhouse increases as air speed climbs. Sheltering the greenhouse from heavy wind saves heating and cooling expenses. Buildings, trees and high foliage around the greenhouse lower wind velocity. Constructing a permeable shade cloth wind barrier
ground main water line to the greenhouse and set the hose bib inside the greenhouse. It will also ensure adequate water pressure. Installing the hose bib near the main door inside the wall is least expensive and easiest to access. Water is available inside and outside the structure. Make sure the main
rated for underground use. Shifts in the ground and moisture can stop your electrical service. Adequate cable thickness is also required. Electrical voltage drops as electricity moves away from the source. Install a breaker box with breaker switches in the greenhouse to interrupt electricity if an overload or short circuit occurs.
The ends of this greenhouse are oriented north to south s that plants receive the maximum of light.
collects inside greenhouses. Ideally you can site the structure under the shade of a deciduous tree so that the greenhouse receives shade during the hottest part of summer days. In the winter when the sun is lower
is one relatively inexpensive option to reduce wind speed. A greenhouse with many open cracks and holes lets in wind. This wind sucks the life from plants, causing them to dry out quickly, which increases watering maintenance. It slows growth too. Good soil drainage is essential when growing in containers and especially if growing in the soil floor of the greenhouse. A lot of water will be absorbed by the earthen floor. If drainage is poor the water builds up below creating more problems. Natural drainage if free. Building a drainage system is expensive and time consuming.
This sturdy greenhouse is covered with rigid plastic that protect plants from high winds. in the sky, deciduous trees lose their leaves and allow light to pass directly to the greenhouse. I love the way Mother Nature makes our lives so easy!
Flat land rules! In the old days before legalization, we were forced to locate greenhouses on hillsides or in low areas under trees, not today! You will need to haul a lot of supplies into the greenhouse and harvested material out. Driving a vehicle on flat land that stays dry all year around makes your life easier. Avoid setting up a greenhouse in low spots with a high water table, on flood plains and hillsides. All of these locations make more work and cost more to maintain. A good source of clean water is essential. If possible, run an under-
Install adequate electrical service to operate lights, pumps and motors. Make sure it is grounded to prevent electrical shocks. line to the greenhouse supplies more water than you will need so that you can expand square meters later. Bury the line deep enough so that vehicle traffic and freezing ground does not disrupt the supply. If burying the main line is not possible, make sure that it can be drained when freezing weather sets in. Electrical service may be necessary to operate electrical fans, pumps, lights and power tools. A dedicated electrical line buried in conduit or strung high enough overhead so that machinery can pass below will be necessary. Use only grounded electrical cable and conduit
Fans, pumps power tools and lights can draw a lot of electricity. Their electrical consumption is rated in amperes and listed on the appliance. Add up the total of all the appliances to learn the total amperes. The electrical supply will need to be at least 20 percent more than the total amperes used when everything is turned on. I suggest the electrical supply should be more than you plan to use so that you can expand. I always consult a qualified electrician for such projects, please do the same. See “About Electricity” in chapter 21, Lights and Electricity for more information.
This is an excerpt from the new, unpublished 7th Edition of Marijuana Horticulture (AKA the Bible) by Jorge Cervantes. The 7th Edition of Marijuana Horticulture will be available fall 2021. Find all of Jorge´s books at all amazon retailers worldwide.
12
Breeders Quiz
7. What does STS do?
14. What is a Regular seed?
A. Changes a plant's sex. B. Make’s regular seeds. C. Make’s stronger seeds. D. Changes a plant's uptake.
A. A male seed. B. A female seed. C. An auto seed. D. A naturally bred seed.
8. What is a hybrid?
1. What does the term F1 stand for? A. First plants to germinate. B. First generation hybrid. C. First bred plant. D. First genotype seed.
2. What is Backcrossing? A. Breeding back to the original parent. B. Breeding with a different plant. C. Breeding with the same plant. D. Breeding a sativa.
A. Cannabis Ruderalis plant. B. Unknown strain of plant. C. Plant grown from cross pollinated seed. D. Hermaphrodite plant.
A. A pink coloured seed. B. Seed that germinates quicker. C. Seed that only grow female plants. D. Seed with 75% chance of producing females.
9. What is a phenotype?
16. What tell, tell sign of a male cannabis plant?
A. Physical expression. B. A smelly type. C. Phenomenal type. D. First bred plant.
A. Balls. B. White hairs. C. Yellow leaves. D. Thin leaves.
10. What colour is a cannabis’s Anther?
3. What is “Selfing”? A. A plant pollinating others. B. A plant that doesn’t pollinate. C. A plant flowering. D. A plant pollinating itself.
A. Pink. B. Red. C. Green. D. Yellow.
11. What family of plants does Cannabis fall in? 4.What is a landrace cannabis plant? A. A natural wild cannabis plant. B. A farmed cannabis plant C. A Hybrid cannabis plant. D. A Mother plant.
A. Bryophytes. B. Pteridophytes. C. Gymnosperms. D. Angiosperms.
A. Couch lock. B. Sleepy feeling. C. Heavy body high. D. Euphoric head high.
A. Silver Turning Solution. B. Silver Thiosulfate Solution. C. Silver The Stems. D. Solution Tower Salt.
A. The parents of a breeding program. B. The First offspring. C. The Sativa dominant. D. The Indica dominant.
A. The roots. B. Leaf tips. C. The flowers D. The Internodes.
18. What does it mean when a plant “Hermies”? A. When a plant produces seeds. B. When a plant goes into flower. C. When a plant changes sex. D. When a plant breeds.
A. All Sativa dominant strains. B. All Indica dominant strains. C. The genetic makeup of a strain. D. A strain with unknown genetic parentage.
20. What does S1 mean?
13. What is the Achene? 6.What does the term F0 stand for?
17. Where do you spray STS?
19. What is a genotype?
12. What does STS stand for? 5. What effects do Sativa heavy plants have.
15. What is a Feminized seed?
A. Type of Seed. B. Type of pollen. C. Type of plant. D. Type of flower.
A. Frist selfed generation. B. Second selfed generation. C. Third selfed generation. D. Fourth selfed generation.
That's it! For answers see page 38
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Jorge Cervantes, is proud to announce the €40,000 ‘‘Photo Cup’’ With two great ways to win, take your best shot at over €40,000 in cash and prizes! “Judges Cup” winners will be selected by a panel of experts led by world renowned cannabis expert Jorge Cervantes. “People’s Cup” winners will be determined by the most votes from
maquetación Jorge Cervantes green ENGLISH.indd 1
fellow growers and enthusiasts, family and friends! Share the Competition with all of your friends and family - get them to vote - and you too could be one of Photo Cup’s big winners! Go to www.marijuanagrowing. com/photocup and enter your best pics to win!
1/5/19 11:46
15
Grow with Mr. Jose Mr. José / info@mrjose.eu
Growing mother plants Working with quality genetics is an essential factor when producing any type of plants. This is double true when growing cannabis for flower production. Without a highquality gene pool, the visual and quantitative value of the crop is lower and thus the cultivation is not as effective. One of the proven roads to stable quality and efficiency leads through growing clones cut by growers from mother plants. In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about growing mother plants. Let’s dive into the subject.
Advantages of mother plants Mother plants can be a great source of clones. Clones or cuttings are seedlings with a completely identical genetic information. Thanks to this, you can be sure that all plants in your fields, greenhouse or indoor growing room have completely identical predispositions for their height, ripening time, flower and resin production, and, last but not least, terpene and cannabinoid profiles. Different chemotypes and phenotypes never occur when growing clones from one mother plant. This allows you to plan not only the growing process according to your wishes, but also the overall operation of the grow-op, including the prediction of weight and the quality of harvest. When growing from seed, various phenotypes occur relatively often, predominantly in less stabilized strains. And there are many not-so-stable ones on the market due to the massive increase of new varieties in recent years.
First mother plant The journey to a quality mother plant is long and winding. Basically, there are three starting points. The first is to obtain a clone from some other mother plant that has already been tested and you know that it carries high-quality genes. This road is obviously the simplest and fastest. But you need to know someone who can provide you with such genetics. The second road to take is to grow the mother plant from clones bought in a regular shop. The downside is that you cannot be sure if this mother plant could actually become the ideal foundation stone of your long-term and effective production. Companies that are growing and selling clones try to offer as many strains as possible, but often do not have the capacity to perform reliable and long-term tests on all of them. The third road takes you to your own selection or self-selection – you have to start growing plants from seeds and test their clones gradually in order to be able to choose the
most suitable mother for your needs. The disadvantage of this method is that it takes painstakingly long. In case you do not have large growing space and your selections consists of a small number of plants, you may even find yourself in a situation when, even after several months of growing and testing, you still have not found a convenient plant suitable for the production of clones. You cannot compromise here and pick some ordinary mother with average yield and appearance. You want to use the best genetics possible. Nonetheless, self-selection is the most reliable way to eliminate useless individuals and obtain the genetics you have been looking for.
Selection Selection is the process of choosing one mother plant from larger group of plants of a given strain. Make sure to select just one mother plant from each strain you want to start cloning. You can grow as many mother plants from its clones as you need for your production. When all the plants of each strain you grow carry the same genetic information, it is always easier to know what is waiting for you during growing and what results can be expected. The selection can be done with a larger number of clones you obtained from other growers or bought in a store. Seeds can be your starting material, too. When growing from seeds, I recommend using regular (non-feminized) seeds, but it is true nowadays that you can also get quality mothers from feminized seeds. In addition, it is often practically impossible to get hold of regular seeds of many varieties today, so the only way with some strains is to start the selection process with feminised seeds. Throughout the selection, monitor and record all important events. Make sure to properly mark each mother plant involved in the selection process with a unique code and evaluate it regularly. Before you commence, make sure you know exactly what parameters your new mother should have. Sort the parameters by
Proper selection leads to gain perfect genetics.
priority. Are you looking for a strain suitable for a multi-floor vertical system? Then the height of your plants will be a top priority for you. Do you contemplate growing plants in the open field and plant them further apart? Then you are looking for plants that grow quickly and have more lateral branches able to fill as much space as possible. When growing outdoors, the plant's suitability for your climatic conditions, resistance to various diseases as well as more tolerance to nutrient deficiencies are the important factors and features, which need to be considered. I recommend using a simple point system and evaluate your plants accordingly. For example, you can evaluate the monitored parameters on the scale from one to five, where five will be the best mark. The seeds that germinate first will receive five points. On the contrary, the last one to
germinate gets only one point. The fastest developing plants will again receive the best rating, and the slower ones will receive the corresponding loss of points. Then you assign the highest mark to plants growing in a way that best suits your growing system. A particularly important part of keeping the score comes once you start cutting test clones from a group of mother plants competing for the win – give five points to the individuals whose clones rooted first. When you make the first (test) clones, there are two selection options. You can either let the plants you made clones from flower, or you can try to grow and harvest the clones. I recommend the second method. Ideally, you end up with five to ten quality clones from each potential mother plant, then divide them into groups, and grow them all under the same conditions until they are fully mature. All you have to do is observe each group as a whole, but if you
16 want to obtain more detailed information, you can observe each plant in each group individually. Again – evaluate the monitored parameters until the harvest. It goes without question that yield, appearance, and chemical structure play an important role in every single selection process – so, if you feel like it, you can assign double points to some or all of the above mentioned parameters. The results of growing a group of plants of five to ten would provide you way more accurate information about the overall quality of potential mother plant from which the clones of the given group come from. When growing regular seeds, make sure to choose a smaller number of plants in each group, i.e. five. Once you have identified groups that come from male plants, you will still be able to use the growing area efficiently, as you will not have to get rid of such a large number of plants. You can also throw away mother plants whose clones grew into male plants. However, if you want to produce your own seeds or breed your own varieties, choose the best ones from the male groups as well. I do not need to remind you that avoiding pollination during selection is a must. Pollinated female plants create seeds in flowers and the yield of quality dry material is lower and the same counts for the absolute production of cannabinoids and terpenes.
Start selection with as many plants as possible.
received the same number of points, simply choose the one you like best. Make clones from it and let them become you mother plants for clone production. It is advisable to grow more mother plants just to be covered in case one mother dies for some reason. Keeping just one mother plant is
you do in the growing stage. Do not forget that larger plants need to be fertilized more often. In the case of mother plants, nutrient deficiencies usually begin to manifest in the lightening of the leaves, which eventually begin to turn yellow. If this issue occurs after longer period of growth and production of clones, these mother plants need to be revitalized. You can either move them into larger containers, or select the most visually perfect and strongest of their clones and replace old mothers with them. Although the mother plant can live for
several years, I recommend renewing them every six to twelve months, depending on how often you cut clones from them. The optimal frequency for cutting clones from mother plant is, at least in my opinion, two to four weeks. In two weeks, enough suitable shoots will be formed ready for another collection. If you are not cutting clones, you should at least trim it and adjust its shape every four weeks. When you maintain the proper shape, the cutting of clones is easier and it also contributes to their uniform size.
Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Indoor Cannabis Growing
Test clones will show how good is their mother plant. What can be also done is to leave the first test clones in the growing stage and initiate flowering in the mother plants. This way, you will soon find out necessary information about the yield, appearance or possible occurrence of males. However, information obtained from only one plant is not sufficient enough. Any fluctuation in fertilization, watering or even the light cycle can negatively affect one plant. But if you test a whole group, you actually obtain real and useful data. Evaluate the data carefully after the harvest as well. Select one plant of the strain whose clones received the most points during selection. If some plants
quite risky, especially if you put so much effort into the selection.
Growing and lifespan Always keep your mother plants in the vegetative stage. When growing hydroponically, provide them a nutrient solution with EC around 1.7 and a pH between 6.2 and 6.5. The difference between day and night temperature should be kept at 2–4 °C, while the daytime temperature should not exceed 28 °C (at least not much). Keep the relative humidity at 60–70%. When growing in soil or substrate, provide nutrients the same way
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18
Grow with Rich Hamilton By Rich Hamilton
RASPBERRY DIESEL
RAS DIES
Extracts from the Bud diaries GENETICS:
Hybrid, 65% sativa 35% Indica. Raspberry Diesel is a cross of Sour Diesel and Sweet Cherry Afghan that has been bred to be sativa dominant.
GROW INFO:
Grown under HPS digital lighting units with dual spectrum lamps. Mineral nutrients, hand fed in Coco Coir. Raspberry Diesel is considered to be of a medium difficulty to grow. Because it is sativa dominant it will grow tall! One of the most common mistakes when growing this strain is that the grower underestimates how much the plant will stretch when being switched from the veg cycle to the flowering cycle.
FLOWER
This bud has a lovely uniform almost pastel appearance, starting off as a light clay brown colour around the bottom of the leaves and along the veins and blending ombré style into a really nice muted light to mid green at the mid to tips. The generous frosting of cloudy trichomes powders the whole nug and the fine more vibrant orange pistils bring a pop of brightness through and compliments those more earthy brown tones. It's almost like this bud is wearing full camo gear! I love how understated it is. It is light and dense yet allows you to remove what you need without upsetting the remaining structure. Clearly
trimmed while wet, before dried. The bud had been cured to what I would describe as - medium to dry. The bud felt dry to break down, but still within the acceptable threshold of high quality bud (but definitely on the dry side). This strain is renowned for having a very high resin content.
ODOUR
The smell is fruity yet not overpowering. The odour is distinctively present and fruity but it's not overpowering. It smells like it could almost be fizzy, like when you first pop a tin of fizzy fruit drink open and you get that first whiff of carbonated gas. I'm also getting definite hints of the sour and the gas from the diesel but more as a side dish to the main course of berry fruits that is being served up here.
CONSUMED
Smoked straight (no Tabaco) with a plain king size slim rolling paper and a card, hand rolled roach. Lit with a gas lighter. The exhale was a light off white. Smoked and enjoyed in a nice hot bath on my own. For those of you thinking….who smokes weed in the bath? Well if your thinking that, you clearly have never done it before. Your missing out! With the right cannabis it’s a thing of utter relaxment and pleasure.
TASTE
Unlike the smell the earthy oil flavor does come through more in the flavor but it in
no way takes the focus of the fruity berry almost flowery tones, just serving to highlight this strains exceptional sweet and sour qualities. The flowery quality was definitely more pronounced in the after taste.
GENET
Hybrid, Raspbe Sour Di Afghan sativa d
STONE
A really light uplifting, relaxing, thoughtful cerebral high. As I mention before I smoked this in a hot bath, which brought the high to super deep contemplation levels with physical tingling around the top and back of my head. Raspberry Diesel is a great balanced choice for an after work, end of the day, wind-down weed. It is a strain that will at first invigorate and clear your mind of any stresses after a long day and then evolve into a gorgeous mildly relaxing and long lasting high that would still encourage creativity and socializing. Rich Hamilton is also author of the Growers Guide. A series of how to grow guide’s available now from www.thegrowersguide.com and host of the podcast THE HYDRO CHRONICLE available now on iTunes.
A grow enthusiast before anything else, Rich Hamilton has over 20 years professional experience within the hydroponics industry. Rich is a widely published freelance author, specialising on all things Grow, from techniques and science to the latest business and market news from around the world. To further widen his media scope Rich has recently started “the Hydrochronicle” podcast which is a laidback conversational style pod cast featuring guests from all walks of the the Grow lifestyle. Available now on apple podcasts www.thehydrochronicle.com.
GROW
Grown u units wi Mineral Coco C conside difficult sativa d One of mistake is that t how mu when be cycle to
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22
Ask Stoney Author: Stoney Tark
Ask Stoney Hello Stoney,
Due to the cold wind outside, I am having trouble keeping my humidity low during the flower stage, and am worried I will lose the crop. What should I do? Bjorn - Oslo, Norway There is no need to be worried about losing the crop, as there are ways to maintain a consistent environment in your grow room. If you don’t treat the problem you may be subject to a powdery mildew infection or worse Botrytis. I would strongly advise buying a heater and connecting it to a temperature fan controller that will kick in when the sensor in the room hits below the comfort zone. You should aim to keep the temperatures as close to 24 degrees as possible, making sure that you have a strong current of air being circulated from multiple oscillating fans at once.
to allow the roots to really establish themselves and produce a top-heavy canopy that will produce the same amount of dried flower, as if growing in a Sea of Green. Growing large sized plants demands much more hands-on training and gives the grower the opportunity to manipulate the canopy as they wish, or even using a screen. The downsides to growing one large plant is the growing phase must be at least 6 weeks, more nutrients and space are required. If you are conscious of high electricity bills, then Sea of Green growing is the best in
nutrients to be fully utilised. Depending on your feeding regime, this process can take from 10 to 21 days before the plants reveal a full fade and begin to reveal multicoloured pigments in the leaf tissue. Oftentimes the most enjoyable part of the flowering period for many growers. A few ways to tell if your plants are ready for harvest is to inspect the trichomes, and see how mature the trichomes have become. A milkier silver trichome will indicate the plants are ready for harvest, unless you prefer to leave them until
Do you have a grow related question for Stoney? Email readers@softsecrets.nl question the best way to look at this is down to practicality. Regular seeds will often times be cheaper than the feminized version, and will offer 10 regular seeds for the price of 5 female. You will be required to sex the plants and separate the male and females once flowering begins. If you want to try making your own seeds, then you can find a good use for the male. Feminized seeds on the other hand will guarantee all the plants produce buds and the concern of removing male plants is eliminated. Female seeds mean you can
Dear Stoney,
I have used chemical nutrients and the leaves have become dry, and curled downwards like a claw. All of the plants in the tent are doing the same thing. Is it the nutrient I am using? Barry - South London, U.K This sounds like Nitrogen toxicity and can easily be resolved by feeding only plain, pH corrected water. The fingers of the bigger and oldest fan leaves will have curled inwards and taken on an unhealthy downwards claw formation. These leaves cannot be saved and it may be beneficial to remove these for the sake of letting more light into the lower parts of the plants. After a week or so the plants will grow back healthy and then you can begin to feed a nutrient solution. I would recommend using a slow-release form of Nitrogen that the roots can buffer easily such as fresh worm castings applied as a top layer.
Dear Stoney Tark…
Is it better to have lots of smaller plants or one big girl? Much Love. Natalie – Marseille, France There are many variables that can affect the decision making when it comes to a floor plan. Growing multiple small plants together like a Sea of Green means the growing period is cut short to 10 days maximum, there is no need for training such as L.S.T, pruning or topping. You are also able to rotate your crop every 7-9 weeks depending on cultivar and the final plant height when harvesting will be medium height. Growing one large plant on the other hand requires a longer growing phase,
A healthy fan leaf without any signs of toxicity or deficiency.
my opinion with the quickest return on investment possible.
Hello Mr. Tark,
I read that some people flush their plants for 21 days. Which is better to flush for 14 or 21 days before harvest. Marco – Amsterdam, Holland There is no right or wrong answer here, but more down to how the plant is being grown. The main goal of a successful flush is to wash away any dissolved salts that have built up over the plant’s life cycle, then to allow the remaining internal
the trichomes have an amber hue to them. Another is to see how stacked and swollen the calyx have become and try not to pay too much attention to the ratio of brown to white pistils, as this can often be misleading.
Dear Stoney,
I decided to start growing from home since reading Soft Secrets, and want to ask which are better…regular or feminized seeds? Mauro – Naples, Italy Congratulations on beginning your career as a grower, and to answer your
maximise your grow space without the risk of wasted pots, soil, nutrients and space. My personal tip would be growing with feminized seeds and later when you are more experienced and conscious of phenotypes, mother plants or breeding, then pursue regular seeds.
Dear Stoney Tark,
I need your help please with how tall my plants grow when flowering. My last grow they stretched so much I had to cut the tops off because they became burnt. I am growing Amnesia Haze in 10L pots. Thanks Josh – Nottingham, U.K
23 There are a number of factors that will play a role in the final plant height and how aggressively they stretch when flowered. Amnesia Haze will grow tall and display a sativa dominance, meaning she can grow very tall if left untrained. Other factors such as the pots are too small and as a result a stretching far more than they need or the distance and intensity of the grow lights is not where it should be. My recommendation is to apply low stress training and gently tie the tops of the plant down week prior to changing your timers to 12/12. This should dramatically reduce the final stretch and allow you to have a 60cm deep top canopy of dense nugs. Hot or cold temperatures can also cause internodal spacing to become excessive, so be vigilant with your daytime and night time temperatures.
Dear Stoney,
how can I grow the biggest organic buds possible? Mikael – Prague, Czech Republic I love to use beneficial microorganisms when growing organically, as these little helpers can really help increase yields. Combined with humic acids and molasses, it is possible to really pack on the pounds during the final stages of flowering. Avoid using high powered chemical boosters as these will only cause the final taste to become harsh and unpleasant. If you are able to supplement your indoor garden with CO2, this can also increase yields by up to 25%. My tip would be don’t focus on yield so much and focus on terpenes and harvesting your buds at the right times based on trichome maturity and also how swollen the calyx are.
Hi Stoney,
what strain would you recommend for growing outdoors this year in England? My last few outdoor grows were very disappointing and yielded almost nothing. Nigel – Bristol, UK
Plants will begin to fade and reveal themselves towards the final days of harvest.
It is best to find a strain that will adapt to the colder and harsher climate you experience in the U.K. Indica dominant cultivars with a fast-flowering time of 7-8 weeks, will usually stand up to the colder conditions thanks to their high resilience to the outdoors. Alternately you could try growing feminized auto flowering strains. The beauty about autos is they are extremely versatile and I have personally witnessed very impressive yields and bud quality from autos grown in England during Summer. My tip would be to avoid anything that demands more than 8 weeks to flower, as you may end up with plants that
are not compact and produce very little when it comes to ripening up and stacking. You could always plant a greenhouse full of autos and have a normal flowering variety alongside, ensuring you will harvest twice in the year in close proximity.
Dear Stoney,
is there a correct way to install aluminium ducting? Cheers Alistair – Stirling, Scotland On the basis that your ducting is tightly fit over the end of the R.V.K fan, or carbon filter, and that the fitting is totally air tight and firm enough to be
snag proof, then you are fine. Using metal clips, or plastic cable ties work just as well as heavy duty tape. I would recommend making sure that your ducting hangs in a straight horizonal line and does not droop between the outtake fan and carbon filter. I would also suggest to have a look at acoustic ducting, which is basically aluminium ducting with a sound absorbent inline, as a result causing a reduction in noise from the passing air being created by the outtake fan. Acoustic ducting can be 3-4 times more expensive, however is well worth the investment if noise is a concern and is it your first time setting up your indoor garden.
Stoney Tark has been involved with Cannabis for over 15 years. During this time, he has become Head writer for the long-standing magazine; Soft Secrets, a position he has held for the last seven years, alongside writing for every other main publication. Stoney is well versed in many systems and methods of growing, including, Organics, Hydroponics, Breeding and Hash production. Stoney is well known in the public eye for his easy to understand and detailed breakdowns of all things related to Cannabis.
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Grow with Stoney Tark Author: Stoney Tark
SOG (Sea of Green) Explained Cannabis is such a diverse plant and how we are able to grow it indoors allows us to alternate from long winded seasonal growing, to produce a quick turn around and abundant harvests. Sea of Green is the name given to a setup of a large number of smaller sized plants, that are purposely kept small during the growing phase and when flowered will grow to a medium height. Below is everything you need to know about S.O.G and the benefits associated. What Does SOG Mean? Have you ever flowered your tent or grow room and thought you could have filled the space much more? Or perhaps you could have easily added more plants or spent the time to train them ensuring your grow space is full from wall to wall? A Sea of Green set up will deliver that exact result and as the name indicates, when the plants are ready to harvest, there is literally a green sea of plants. Of course, you can still replicate this in a small grow space when having to decide if it is better to have big plants that take time to train, or lots of smaller plants.
breeder has explained how the strain is well suited for S.O.G or SCROG, this is because the growth structure,
ca dominant ones will also be the most consistent. A good tip is to thoroughly research which strains are best suited according to breeders, as this will make life much easier in the long run and especially when it comes to selecting the best mother plants for S.O.G.
No Need for Big Pots You should grow smaller sized plants in pots of 6.5L and never grow in large containers such as 10L or more. The plants simply won’t have a chance to fill the pots with roots, so in this case it is advised to work with 6.5L to 9L. In a 1.2 metre tent for example, you could have 16 x 6.5L pots, and be ready to harvest within 9 weeks as long as you
The 7 Advantages Associated: •E lectricity bills are cut down as 18/6 is only required for 7-10 days at the most. • Small amounts of growing nutrients and root boosters are needed. • Fast turnaround on a crop. • Perfect for commercial scale farming. • Zero plant training required. • Harvest short to medium sized plants. • Ideal for small spaces and limited height.
Perpetual Harvests: One of the main benefits about a Sea of Green set up is that you can harvest every 8-9 weeks depending on how fast
Short Vegetative Times During the growing phase of 18/6 when Cannabis plants are forming roots and foliage, it is best to give seedlings up to 10 days and rooted clones 7 days of vegetative time. One of the advantages of keeping the growing phase seriously short is the amount of nutrients used is minimised, making your nutrient bottles stretch much further. The other is your electric bills will be greatly reduced compared to a 6–8-week growing phase with one large plant.
No Plant Training Required Perfect for commercial scale farming, Sea of Green does not require any plant training such as low stress training, super cropping, pruning and topping. The seedlings or clones are simply left to stretch and grow to a medium height at best. If you are not comfortable with low stress or high stress training, then S.O.G may be the perfect alternative for you.
Which Strains Work Best? If you have ever browsed through a seed catalogue and noticed the
A commercial scale S.O.G size and flowering time will be most suitable for a Sea of Green set up. Normally indica and short stocky plants work best, as they will grow to around 75-100cm. Some hybrids can be good candidates also, but the indi-
have an 8-week flowering strain. As long as you follow everything carefully and grow the best plants possible, then you should finish with a tent that is packed full of topquality buds.
your strain finishes. This means that when a grower who spends 8-10 weeks vegetating a huge plant for SCROG or will only flower by the time another grower with a S.O.G setup is ready for their second run.
26
Rich Hamilton By Rich Hamilton
UK LEGALLY
EXPORT CANNABIS
THE UK IS THE LARGEST EXPORTER OF MEDICAL GRADE CANNABIS! Ever get the feeling you’re being cheated? We live in an exciting time where cannabis legislation is slowly changing for the better in many countries year by year. As research continues, the stigma attached to this plant is fading. It has been proved without a doubt that it does indeed have a medicinal benefit and can safely replace many pharmaceutical drugs with substantial side effects and addictive qualities. In terms of recreational use, the story is the same. People from all walks of life are already using or considering using cannabis, seeing it as a safer, less addictive way to relax than other stimulants such as alcohol and tobacco. Others are taking advantage of the non-psychoactive benefits to their general wellness by harnessing the power of cannabinoids such as CBD and CBG. This is the case across much of North America and Europe; however, it is a differ-
It seems crazy that whilst virtually all UK patients struggle to get access to medical cannabis via the NHS, the UK continues to be the largest exporter of medical-grade cannabis in the world! A fact confirmed by a UN report in 2018. Most of this cannabis comes from a secretive government-backed greenhouse operation tucked away discreetly in the picturesque English countryside, about 2 hours outside London in East Anglia. This Grow farm
and other local villages nearby started complaining about potent cannabis smells in 2017. The only public announcement that site owners “British Sugar” made was to update their website. In the update they announced that they would be using this site, the largest greenhouse in Britain, to produce what they called “a key ingredient” for a medicine called “epidiolex” a cannabidiol (CBD) based drug that can prevent seizures, sold by GW Pharmaceuticals. In what most would consider a purposely under publicised move it appears that in 2016 British Sugar was granted a home office licence to grow a non-psychoactive strain of cannabis. However, whether this is strictly still, the case is up for debate. It has since been disclosed that cannabis grown at the Norfolk site is also used to manufacture an anti-spasticity drug
that cannabis should be treated as a class B drug with no medicinal or scientific value whilst in complete contrast, producing half the worlds medical supply. The plot only thickens when you look at the close links that this business endeavour has with the ruling conservative party. Victoria Atkins was the backbench MP who announced that British Sugar had acquired a licence to grow medicinal cannabis at the Norfolk greenhouse to the Houses of Parliament in 2016. She currently holds a government post in the home office as “Minister for Safeguarding”. Ms Atkins husband is also the MD of British Sugar, Paul Kenward. Closer to home still is the fact that GW Pharmaceuticals leading investor is the US-based “Capital Group” where former Prime Minister Theresa May’s husband, Phillip May has been a relationship manager for over ten years! Theresa May was the serving Prime Minister between 2016-2019 when British Sugars’ growing licence was granted. There is no doubt that Britain is lagging behind many other countries when it comes to cannabis reform. The law to make Medicinal cannabis legal was brought in with much fanfare but turned out to be far from the revolution many thought it would be. The amount of cannabis products available in Britain is slim, and with access to prescriptions so challenging to obtain, It doesn’t feel like much has changed at all.
ent story in Britain, where there is still much resistance to significant policy changes. Whilst it is true that in 2017 Medical cannabis was legalised in the UK, a whole heap of government-related red tape stops the people who need it from gaining access. Doctors are scared to prescribe it due to personal ignorance, cautiousness and a fundamental lack of knowledge on the subject.
that is roughly the size of 23 football pitches produces 90 tonnes of medicalgrade cannabis for export a year.
called Sativex, which has a ratio of 1:1 in terms of CBD and the psychoactive cannabinoid THC.
Until 2016 this site was used to grow tomatoes with the “upgrade” to a new crop being kept so quiet that the first anyone knew about it was when residents in nearby Downham Market
It is no surprise that in light of this situation, the British government has come under fire for hypocritically profiting from this double standard. For so long they have claimed in law,
British patients miss out on the benefits of medicinal cannabis. Simultaneously, the government and private companies profit from exporting it worldwide, in enormous volumes for other countries to put to good use. This arrangement seems wholly unfair and unjust to the British people and shows that in some ways, we have a long way to go before we get the cannabis reform and acceptance that we want.
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29
News By Rich Hamilton
UFC CANNABIS REFORM In a “first of its kind” move the worlds top mixed martial arts promoter “UFC” alongside the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) has announced significant changes in how they handle the use of cannabis by its high profile sports stars. Under the new policy, cannabis will no longer be a banned substance for fighters, in most cases. MMA athletes will now not face a ban if the psychoactive cannabinoid THC shows up in their pre or post-fight drugs test. This new rule doesn’t mean that Fighters can use cannabis right before a fight, however. Fighters still run the risk of a ban and fine if any evidence is discovered, proving that cannabis was taken for performance-enhancing purposes. For this to happen, the USADA would have to prove that an athlete was under the influence of cannabis directly before a fight took place. Jeff Novitzky UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance said: “While we want to continue to prevent athletes from competing under the influence of marijuana, we have learned that blood/and or urine levels of carboxy-THC have little-to-no-scientific correlation to impairment”. Novitzky further added, “ We care about what an athlete consumed the day of a fight, not days or weeks before a fight, which has often been
the case in our historic positive THC cases”. “Why the hell do we care what someone did a week before, let alone a night before, when it doesn’t have any effect on their ability to fight”.
prioritise fighter health and safety by not punishing fighters who may need treatment for substance abuse, which may lead to a fighter being impaired and jeopardise their safety in the Octagon”. This is excellent news for athletes where UFC self regulates; however, cannabis is still a banned substance in the eyes of most athletic commissions, including Nevada (Las Vegas), who can suspend and fine athletes who
Nevada State Athletic Commission following the discovery of cannabis metabolites in his system. UFC is hoping that by educating, lobbying and informing the athletic commissions, they can get uniformity on the rules surrounding cannabis in the not so distant future. Whatever happens moving forward, for now, this is all a step in the right direction as cannabis continues to be de-stigmatised and recognised for
The rule change is focused on Fighters health as medicinal cannabis becomes more widely accepted. Novitzky reported that a large percentage of fighters use cannabis medicinally more so than recreationally. For many Fighters, cannabis is replacing much more potent and more addictive pharmaceutical drugs such as Xanax, Vicodin and Ambien, all of which are currently approved for fighters to take, to help them with pain control, anti-anxiety and insomnia. The idea that fighters were being told that they could not use cannabis and instead were being pointed in the direction of opiates seems crazy. On the scale of danger and addiction, cannabis is way lower down the list than prescribed pharmaceutical opiates. The USADA outlined this issue further in a recent press release on the subject: “This change is designed to
test positive whilst under their jurisdictions. Only in December 2020, MMA fighter Niko Price had his draw with Donald Cerrone overturned to a no-contest. He was fined $8,500 and received a six-month suspension from the
its natural, therapeutical benefits. Benefits which offer a real alternative to the addictive pharmaceutical drugs that we have come to rely on. It seems like common sense is finally prevailing, and we can only hope that more sports and industries start to follow suit.
30
Seed banks Jaypp / Photos: Sweet Seeds® and Tommy
Here is the plant’s technical datasheet Genetics: 60% Indica / 40% Sativa Cannabinoids: 16-24% THC / 0.1% CBD Indoor yield: 450 to 600 g/m2 Outdoor yield: 400 to 650 g/plant Indoor flowering time: 6 to 7 weeks Outdoor harvest time: late August to early September A prominent feature is the high percentage of THC (up to 24%), more than enough for any experienced consumer. Another interesting aspect is its flowering speed which, combined with its rich harvests, makes it one of the most demanded strains in grow shops. It is especially appreciated in rainy areas and in Northern Europe, where it was previously impossible to harvest photodependent plants without the risk of their being plagued by botrytis. Now, with the Fast Version® from Sweet Seeds®, harvests are rich!
Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version® A walk in the tropics with Sweet Seeds®
Hello, dear growers! It is always a pleasure for me to write articles about the test growing of the amazing Sweet Seeds® strains, as all tests have resulted in guaranteed success and plants boast an incredible quality and stand out for their aromas, yield and appearance. Cultivating these strains is very simple as they were well tested by their breeders themselves before being put on the market. The purpose of these tests is to see their behaviour with different cultivation techniques and assess their adaptability and stability. Then, when cannabis growers like us get their hands on these seeds, it is easy to appreciate the time and effort put in when our grow tent or terrace bursts with healthy and colourful specimens. Today, I want to talk to you about a wonderful strain that will fill your eyes with beauty, one of Sweet Seeds®’s recent innovations called Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version® (SWS85). It is a new creation for 2020 and part of the now legendary ‘Red Family’, cannabis plants, which exhibit purple, blue and red tones in their flowers. On top of that, it’s a Fast Version®, so you will have your flowers ready in a record time of 6/7 weeks from flowering start and before the arrival of autumn, if you are growing outdoors.
Among my hobbies, the one I enjoy most is growing cannabis, but I also enjoy the complex world of mycology, and I think I can perfectly compare the degree of surprise and admiration I feel when I walk in the woods and find a mushroom with the feeling I have when I see a cannabis plant like Sweet Seeds® Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version® in full bloom. A primal instinct will be triggered and your mouth will water at the sight of her white pistils emerging through her deep red calyxes and the glow of her trichomes... It is a wonder of nature, both medicinal and rewarding at the same time. Its red, blue or purple colours are not a whim of nature. They are due to anthocyanins, i.e. pigments that colour the leaves, stems, flowers or fruits of certain plants in order to protect them from cold and UV radiation, or even to attract pollinating insects that will help them procreate. As we can see, these plants have multiple properties. According to scientific
studies on consumers, their antioxidant action is beneficial for the human health and avoids the production of free radicals, which cause various diseases such as cancer. These plants also have positive effects on neurological functions and obesity, and boost the immune system. In short, it is not only a matter of appearance, but also of health. Indeed, in addition to the multiple medicinal uses that cannabis has in itself, a full list of additional beneficial properties can be found in pigmented plants such as Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version® and all the other strains of Sweet Seeds® Red Family. The parents behind this extraordinarily beautiful plant are the ‘Super Strong’ strains from the most famous Cookies family in the US, i.e. the Tropicanna Cookies (Girl Scout Cookies x Tangie) crossed with the legendary Red Poison Auto® (SWS39), which has more colour, sweetness and a high flowering speed.
As we can see, this plant has everything needed to be one of our favourite strains. But now let us see how to get its red and fruity juice out of it with a summary of a simple cultivation process with organic fertilisers, and I’ll tell you about its wide range of flavours and aromas… Oh, I almost forgot… you may be interested to know that it is genetics and not cold water that is behind the special pigmentation of the Sweet Seeds® Red Family strains like this one. With no special care, you will easily obtain around 80% of specimens boasting these special hues.
How to improve the qualities of this great plant with organic cultivation, good drying and optimal curing If you want to enjoy the full flavour of Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version® and its great terpene mix, the first and most important thing is how you feed it. This Sweet Seeds® strain has been a challenge because, in order to balance its aromas, many crosses were needed to achieve something satisfactory for the breeders’ team of this seed bank, whose fame is linked to its very high-yielding, easy-to-grow strains with powerful aromas and tastes. The result in this case was even more impressive, for the tastiness, extremely fast speed and beauty of the plant. The aromas released by its buds vary from the sweetness of its dense sticky resin to the ripe mango of its body which stands against a background of skunk and tropical wood notes, with a touch of damp earth due to the high level Myrcene, a well-known terpene that alleviates chronic pain or the side effects of chemotherapy, for example.
31 Its extra hint of acidity contributes to an overall flavour thank can be especially appreciated though retronasal olfaction, when you inhale and then breathe back out its vapour. It is great to be able to enjoy its complexity as you expel air from your nostrils, even more than 5 minutes after your vaping session. As home growers looking for self-sufficiency, we are usually able to tell differences in each strain we grow. I have tried many ordinary herbs from other growers, all of which taste the same to me and have no ‘nuances’ – some flavours are coarse or too opaque, others are metallic and scratchy, and virtually all of these herbs look unripen and green. This is a common problem that can be simply corrected using organic fertilisers and letting your weed dry out as it deserves. If you use organic nutrients, the plants’ aromas will be greatly enhanced and you will no longer be faced with plant overfeeding, saturation or burning issues. The same cannot be said about the use of mineral fertilisers or preparations that are heralded as panaceas, promising 20%, 25% or 30% higher yields... In the end, we do not know if they work, but we tend to add them by inertia. And it is not only a matter of the money spent. Your health can be affected when you consume that marijuana and, above all, it looks like forgetting about the years of work by breeders, who strive so hard to preserve certain blends of terpenes, aromas and flavours in their strains. Personally, I love to always have different strains in my jars and notice the peculiarities that differentiate them, this is definitively more fun and pleasant. That said, it doesn’t mean that mineral fertilizers don’t work, it’s just that it’s harder to find a balance without exaggerating. What is more, not everyone is so mindful as to wash roots at the end of the growing cycle and leave plants with hardly any nutrition. To be well cured, specimens must end up yellow. A plant that ends up dark green will mainly have a metallic, bitter and lawn-
like flavour and other terpenes may not be appreciated. You need to be very careful with this strain, as it has a shorter flowering period and may not have enough time to take up all the nutrients it needs – it is better to shorten this period a little bit than waiting too long. The next time you grow it, you will already know what to do based on your previous experience. Organic fertilisers extol the taste of Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version®. I recommend you to switch to the most
organic fertiliser you can find, or even prepare your own. You can find a lot of information in specialised forums around the web. It can even be something as simple as using worm compost for plant growth and bat guano for flowering, or you can use your homemade compost. Whatever you do to improve growing conditions will make this beautiful strain stand out for its class. You will enjoy it a lot more, I can assure you. Then we have the issue of insufficiently dried or uncured stocks of weed, which normally happens when growers are in a hurry. This is pretty normal, since seeing red or purple buds and the tremendous amount of trichomes of this strain and smelling its aromas, you will be eager to try it out. But we can’t throw all our previous work out the window and have to wait. My advice is to harvest the whole plant, without separating the buds or trimming branches. You should indeed remove the big leaves without resin but, if climate permits, don’t remove anything else. Hang the plant upside down, in a dark, ventilated and not too warm or cold place. After a few days, you should test the condition of your plant. With your fingers, try to crush one of the branches in between.
If the branch still bends without cracking, wait. If it does, it’s time to grab a big table – you can also use a metal mesh for vegetable extracts, where you will collect all those trichomes, which would otherwise get wasted through handling – and separate the flowers with a pair of scissors. Put the biggest flowers on one side and remove the leaves without exaggerating. This is because they protect the buds a little from rubbing and because they slow down their curing a little bit. Put the buds in a glass jar and leave about 15% residual space. Don’t squeeze them too tightly so that they don’t get wet or lose resin. Then, all leaves with trichomes that you cut off and the smaller buds can be piled up separately. You will use them to produce an extract, cannabis butter or cannabis oil. Make sure you open the jars for a while each day until you notice that your buds are crisp but still retain some gumminess. They should not be left in an excessively warm place and kept out of the light. I promise you; these buds will remain extremely tasty for a long time. I hope you will be spurred to try out the wonderful Tropicanna Poison F1 Fast Version® by Sweet Seeds®, which I strongly recommend!
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books
Stoney Tark’s First Book Release A Real Game Changer
Stoney Tark has been with Soft Secrets coming up to 7 years, and as our head writer, we are extremely pleased to announce the long-awaited release of Stoney Tark’s Top Tips on Growing Cannabis. We sat down with Stoney to find out as much about the book as possible and also see what future projects he is working on. SSUK: Hi Stoney. What inspired you to write this book? I decided to write this book as a self-help guide to any new beginner growers, so decided to publish the book myself through Stoney Tark Media. The idea was to combine all my years of experience, and translate it back into an easy to digest, top tips and what to avoid style, to ultimately save growers time, money and from learning the hard way.
detail from growing, genetics, silencing the indoor garden, flowering, hash making, flushing, breeding, water quality, harvesting and drying, growing outdoors, organics and hydroponics and much more! Can you tell us exactly what a beginner grower can expect to learn? Anyone who reads this book will instantly improve their growing game, and will be hardwired with a whole new awareness
For me, all books about growing are the same and don’t really differ from each other, so my plan was to write something that was totally different to the conventional way and to add value and give my personal opinions at the same time.
I explain many times throughout the book that everything stated is based solely on my opinion and should never be classed as the right or wrong answer, and simply a new outsider's expertise and perspective. How many chapters are there and what do you cover? In total there are 18 chapters, covering 180 top tips, over 140 what to avoid points, and over 40 questions and answers all relative to the trouble shooting the contents of the book. The entire book is 191 pages and has been written in my usual easy to understand style that has made my work so popular to date. I believe that everything in this book has been covered and broken down in great
The main reason is because all of the questions are genuine troubleshooting questions, that I have received over the years from various seed banks, nutrients brands and from growers who have contacted me directly. Having other people’s questions as a reference point can often be the easiest way to diagnose your own problems. I hope that somebody can relate to some of the Ask Stoney Q and A, and even help solve their existing issues instantly. What do you think are the three main bad habits growers form? Personally, I think the first is not paying attention to temperatures and humidity as one of the main ones. This means the temperatures of the air, the root zone, day time and night time temperature, floor and reservoir. Poor air circulation is another bad habit I notice new growers forming, which goes back to temperature and humidity and the third is the drying out process after all the hard work in the garden has been done.
What gives you the moral authority to write a self-help book about Cannabis? There are a lot of Donnie Brascos in the industry and most of the writers, breeders and growers out there at the moment don’t actually put the work in, or have anything solid to show. They all seem to talk the talk...but cannot walk the walk. I personally am proud to say everything written in my book has been based on my past experience as a grower, breeder, hash maker and overall purveyor of all things Cannabis.
Why did you add a ‘Ask Stoney’ part of the book?
of how I personally work in my garden, and most importantly what not to do! I think it can be easier sometimes to explain what not to do and to save people years of forming bad habits that eventually become passed down in forums and amongst growers. Where is the book available and which available formats? The book is available to buy on Amazon as a digital, hardback and audio book format. As long as you have an iPad, kindle reader or even a laptop with a book reader, you can enjoy the book. If you prefer to listen to an audio book, then that is also available and can be purchased together with the other formats if you wish. The links to the books will also be embedded to the Soft Secrets website, as well my own personal website Official Stoney Tark that will be ready very soon!
The way a plant is dried can make or break the end result, and unless you have been well advised, you can easily form a bad habit in this department and be none the wiser. In my opinion, the best way to dry your Cannabis plants is to hang the whole plant for 14 full days with humidity levels at 50%, the room temperature at 15 degrees Celsius and never have a fan blowing directly at the hanging plants. What are your top tips for the growing phase under 18/6? Air circulation is very important, as well as checking your environment with digital hygrometers. These will also give you a minimum and maximum reading over a 24-hour period, allowing you to see the fluctuations between daytime and nighttime temperatures. If you are planning to use CO2, then early veg and early flower are best but beware of high temperatures needed in order to maximise uptake. Have
a play with growing many smaller plants in a Sea of Green, flower after 7-10 days and reduce electricity bills right down. Which are your top tips for flowering indoors? Being vigilant throughout the entire flowering cycle will give you the advantage when it comes to pest and pathogen control. I cannot emphasise how important the right amount of air flow is, especially when flowering out big chunky, dense buds. Judging the flush correctly is also a big difference maker and understanding the difference between washing the medium and root zone of undissolved salts that have accumulated over the plant’s life cycle, and when the plant has used up all of its internal reserves as well as all the food. Are you working on any other books for the future? Yes, and I am also making a short series of books that will be available as digital and audio books, aimed at the beginner grower. These will be available later in the year and will cover everything from A-Z about each set topic. Do you have any other projects in the works? I certainly do and am working on an audiocast that will be pre-recorded and educational. As well as my website which will offer a membership for 6 months, to give growers 24/7 assistance to help diagnose any issues they may have during that time. There will also be a promotional page that will offer savings and discounts as well as many other great ideas that will add plenty of value to any great grower. Between the breeding work for my seed bank Prana Medical Seeds and new projects, I am pleased to say there are lots of great things in the pipeline and they will be available for everyone to enjoy soon enough! Massive thanks for all your support over the years Soft Secrets and thanks in advance to anyone who will purchase the book. Peace Out!
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Grow Report Stoney Tark By Stoney Tark
HSO Forbidden Dream Strain: Forbidden Dream Lineage: Forbidden Fruit x Geist O.G Lights: 2 x SANlight Q5 LED Growing Time (18/6): 28 days Flowering Time (12/12): 58 days Flushing Period: 21 days Grow Medium: Plagron Bat Mix + coco Pot Size: 12 litre fabric pots (Root Pouch) Nutrients: House & Garden humic acid + Guanokalong powder guano (1-10-1) Final Height: 74cm Growing Period – 18/6
By day 14, she was growing with a lush waxy green and glowing white stem. I continue to feed only water with humic acid and make sure the seedling is being gently blown around by my fan, to encourage a strong main stem as she grows up. At this she is only 15cm tall and showing her second set of leaves. The leaves have a long and thin appearance with more of a sativa influence, and I can tell from the internodal spacing that as she grows, she will be easy to LST and train. After the third week of the growing phase, this lady begins to grow with a bushy profile with thin wooden side branches. She is the tallest out of the other strains growing in the tent and is measuring at 27.5cm. The temperatures and humidity levels are perfect, causing the plants to point their leaves upwards. I take the opportunity to super crop this girl and break in the inner cell walls of the main stem and surrounding side branches. This technique will allow the plant to grow much stronger and form thick wooden knuckles as support where the original break occurred. On day 28 of the vegetative phase, the growth structure is very open, with long side branches. The aroma when rubbing the stems reminds me of the refresher chew sweets and perfume. An extremely unique profile that is new to me. I feed each plant at a rate of 5 drops of humic acid per litre until drip through and wait until the medium is completely dry before watering again. It is at this final stage of 18/6 that pruning is applied, and my intention is to remove all of the growth apart from the top 2 internodes. This converts all of the energy to the upper canopy and will prevent any pruning to be done once the plants begin their transition into flowers. She is now measuring at 46cm with a very bushy appearance and large internodal
spacing which has made her easy to manipulate the canopy.
Flowering Stage 12/12.
The timer is switched to 12/12, and during this time I will tie the tallest parts of the canopy down, to create an even top layer and allow an even penetration of intense light. By using green metal garden wire, I bend the top 6 inches down causing the plant to bend. My humidity levels are dropping down to 50% with the help of a dehumidifier. I feed the same amount of water and humic acid and check the temperature to maintain a daytime temp of 23.8 degrees, which is close enough to comfortable for me.
Heavy resin forming on this lady
On day 28 of flower, this strain is now taking over the tent with a top-heavy canopy and long thick side branches. Her main stem is twice the width of my thumb and upon close inspection, you can see bug round balls holding the branches in place, ready to support the forming flowers. The fan leaves and smaller leaves and new growth are all starting to frost up with resin and I notice the biggest leaves starting to produce resin tails. Over half way into the flowering period on day 35 and the resin formation is through the roof. The top dressing and water with humic acid diet is working incredibly well. Every single leaf has become crushed with clusters of trichomes that run all the way up the stalks. If you were an extractor or hash maker you would be over the moon! The bud structure is chunky and pointy with white hairs emerging from every single bud. Each bud is uniform and between 1-1.5 inches. By day 50, and the buds look spectacular and oozing resin. The calyx is very pointy with a dense structure that has a hard to squeeze quality. Trimming is going to be very easy as there nothing will go to waste allowing me to make some world class dry sift.
A very easy to grow strain that likes to stretch
36
Barney’s Farm strain story Words & Pics: Green Born Identity – G.B.I.
Strawberry Lemonade: A powerful bumper yielder In the mood for lemonade? No? Too many calories? Well, for cannabis aficionados, there is an alternative entirely free of sugar. And it has a purely organic fruity fresh strawberry/lemon aroma. I am talking about Strawberry Lemonade, a sativa dominant (60%) hybrid belonging to the Cali Collection of Barney’s Farm from the Netherlands. It was bred using Strawberry Lemonade and Barney’s own Lemon OG. This strain’s intense aroma is supposed to “make nostrils fizz and taste buds explode” – now that’s what I call a bold prediction by Barney’s! She’s got more than 20% THC under her belt, and just the way it ought to be with a good lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade bubbles fiercely, having a stimulating energising effect which makes her a good candidate for daytime use. Thanks to these kinds of effects, she’s able to cause mirth and act as the perfect mood booster. But Strawberry Lemonade not only boasts a bodacious aroma and effect, her grow characteristics are pretty top end as well – after a flowering period of 60-70 days, growers can look forward to a maximum indoor harvest of up to 700g/m2. Outdoors, she has proven to be a great performer too, producing yields of up to 2.5 kilos per plant. Another good aspect here, Strawberry Lemonade has strong mould resistance (5/5 on Barney’s rating scale) and has quite an early finishing (1st-2nd week of October) so that all helps keep the risk of mould infestation low. Spider mites don’t have it easy with this variety either as her resistance against these suckers is rated at 4/5.
Strong vigour in the vegetative stage
Making no secret of her sativa dominant genes, Strawberry Lemonade grows quite tall, not infrequently reaching heights of 120-150cm indoors. Nevertheless Barney’s rates its grow difficulty at 2/5, regarding it as a fairly uncomplicated strain. This was right on cue for The Doc, because more indica dominant strains are nowadays flooding the market than ever before, and he as a user likes to also have weed in his stash with a stimulative freshening effect, to counteract those sedative indicas. “Okay let’s go for it!” he rejoiced when he spotted this Barney’s Farm strain. Straightaway he got himself some seeds, two of which found themselves in Jiffy pots on the very same day. After a quick and smooth germination
37 process, the two seedlings soon picked up growth speed. In quick succession, one pair of leaves after another evolved, the young plants displayed a strong vigour. The Doc noticed that the side shoots were growing unusually straight upwards, not as expanding as usual. Also this fifth Barney’s strain tested by The Doc showed a great deal of uniformity – when he switched them into flowering after three weeks of vegetative growth, his two Strawberry Lemonades were 38 and 40 cm, quite tall at this point already, by his standards.
Weighing leads to a bombshell result, Strawberry Lemonade proved to be a bumper yielder
The Doc kept his two Strawberry Lemonades flowering for 70 days, then harvest time had come, precisely at the very end of the official maturity window. The plants grew to heights of 109 cm and 117, having increased their heights at the end of the vegetative stage almost threefold. Thanks to the buds` low leaf count, he waltzed through harvesting, swiftly trimming the numerous buds and placing them into his drying net. When it was weighing time a few weeks later, the scales needle shot to a sensational 272 grams. This really cheered up The Doc, “wicked! 136 grams per plant! A real bombshell result, Strawberry Lemonade has proven to be a hefty bumper yielder.”
In one’s mouth, body and brain, on the skin: This kind of lemonade bubbles everywhere!
“It was a strong bubbling sensation on my taste buds, rarely before have I had such a fruity marijuana flavour in my mouth, this stuff could almost pass off as a mouth refresher! But just like the smell, it’s not only sourly lemony, but also somewhat sweetish”, The Doc described his flavour experience. While the first puff had an instantly eye-opening, view sharpening effect, the second and third almost gave him a goose bump feeling, just like previously in his mouth, there now was a tingling sensation inside his body and on the skin. He felt aroused to activity and his heart beat accelerated which made him leap from his chair in an agile manner and get to work – he had to do the dishes, an actually boring bothersome sort of work, but additionally driven by some upbeat house music, it was almost fun. The Doc was in high spirits and sublime mood, after having done the dishes, he even danced to the music for a while. When this strongly invigorating effect ebbed away after about an hour, he enthused “this was first-class sativa fuel that managed to kind of jump-start me!” What followed was a phase of relaxation and winding down. Summing up his test experience, The Doc
Cultivation data: Genetics
Strawberry Lemonade (Strawberry x Lemon OG)
Vegetative stage
three weeks (after germination)
Flowering stage
70 days / 60-70 days in general
Medium
Plagron Grow Mix soil, 11 litre pots
pH
6.2-6.6
EC
1.2–1.8 mS
Light
up to 12 x SANlight S4W = 1680 watts
Temperature
19-28°C
Air humidity
40-60%
Watering
by hand
Fertilisation
Organic Bloom Liquid from Green Buzz Liquids
Additives/stimulants
Living Organics, More Roots, Humin Säure Plus, Big Fruits, Fast Buds and Clean Fruits from Green Buzz Liquids
Tools
CleanLight Pro for mould prevention
Height
109 and 117 cm
Yield
together, 272 Gramm
said, “good, better, Strawberry Lemonade! This super sativa has enthralled me all the way, it achieved highest marks in every category and really is a fabulous plant. It has catapulted itself into my personal
sativa top ten, if not even top five – and that undoubtfully means a lot after four decades of home growing!” www.barneysfarm.com
38 Cannabis could have potential for "much needed new class of antibiotics" to fight "Superbugs" such as MRSA. A study by researchers at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, Australia believes that the cannabinoid CBD may destroy bacteria and "superbugs" which are otherwise resistant to modern antibiotics. The study carried out in conjunction with Botanix Pharmaceuticals is being lauded as a potential worldwide medical breakthrough in light of the "antibiotic resistance crisis" that the world faces. The crisis is linked directly to the overuse and misuse of current antibiotic treatments. It's a severe problem. Predictions currently suggest that antibioticresistant infections could become responsible for 10 million deaths, per year, around the globe by 2050 unless alternate forms of treatment are found. The hope is that these findings could lead to the development of new CBD based strains of antibiotics. This could mean the successful treatment of conditions such as meningitis, MRSA and legionnaires disease, which as it currently stands, do not respond to existing antibiotics. In the study, CBD has proved to kill some types of "Gram-negative bacteria". Gramnegative bacteria have an extra outer membrane that works as an additional defence barrier, making it harder for regular antibiotics to penetrate through and become useful. On the potential of CBD in antibiotic development Lead, author of the study, Mark Blaskovich stated that "Cannabidiol (CBD) showed a low tendency to cause resistance in bacteria. We think that CBD kills bacteria by bursting their outer cell membranes, but we don't know yet exactly how it does that, and need to do further research.". Researchers are hopeful that they can engineer a synthetic version of CBD that can successfully and efficiently attack stubborn bacteria. If this is possible, it could result in a new age of antibiotics for the first time in 60 years. Now that it has been proven that CBD is
Name Page Advanced Hydroponics
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of Holland
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effective against gram-negative bacteria, the plan is to look at how it does this. The next step will then be improving its effectiveness and discovering other molecules which may behave similarly.
Advanced Seeds
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Paradise Seeds
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Amsterdam Seed Center
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Paradise Seeds
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"We want something that doesn't break down in the body as quickly as CBD does. There's definitely potential there that CBD could be a prototypical representative of a new class of antibiotics" said Dr Blaskovich.
Atami
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Procare
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Barney's Farm
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Botanix Pharmaceuticals are optimistic about the findings too, so much, so that phase 2a clinical trials of a topical CBD formulation is being progressed. The hope is that these clinical trial results (due in early this year) will be positive. This will then pave the way to create successful treatments for infamous incurable "superbugs" such as MRSA. The reputation of Cannabis and its many compounds has been dramatically improved by medical science in recent years as the level of research has increased massively. Many discoveries have been made on how this versatile plant can be beneficial to all spheres of human health, be it general wellness, or the treatment of many physical and psychological conditions. If this new research is successful, it could be the most significant breakthrough in unlocking the medicinal properties and potential of the cannabis plant that we have seen so far. It is not something that is going to happen overnight; however. Dr Blaskovich estimates that it will be 10-15 years before a cannabinoid-based antibiotic could be approved if further trials are successful. Although this may seem so far in the future that it is irrelevant, CBD derived antibiotics' potential should not be underestimated. This discovery could lead to drug treatments that provide a much-needed solution to the antibiotic resistance crisis that the medical world is currently trying to solve. It is a solution that could save millions of lives in the not so distant future.
ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ: PAGE 12:
Index of ads
1. B 2. A 3. D 4. A 5. D 6. A 7. A 8. C 9. A 10. D
11. D 12. B 13. B 14. D 15. C 16. A 17. D 18. C 19. C 20. A
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Sweet Seeds
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Emerald Harvest
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Terra Aquatica
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Green Passion
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Urban Gardening
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Jorge Cervantes
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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 Editor: Cliff Cremer Contributors: Jorge Cervantes, Stoney Tark, Rich Hamilton, Mr. Jose, Green Born Identity (G.B.I.), and others. Comics: Jim Stewart Photography: iStock Editorial adress: readers@softsecrets.nl Advertisements: E-mail: info@softsecrets.nl A word from the publisher: Soft Secrets is a bi-monthly free magazine which is published in The Netherlands (called Highlife), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Poland, Czech Republic and Chile. World wide there is a process going on of relative liberalisation towards the use of cannabis, be it for medicinal or recreational purposes. Several countries legalised cannabis as a way of separating soft and hard drugs, as it has proven to do in Holland. Other countries legalised
the use of medicinal cannabis, including the right to grow cannabis plants for one’s own use. The publisher wants to highlight the process of normalisation of cannabis use. 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 and/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 editor takes no responsibility for unsollicited 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:
April 16, 2021