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SERIOUS GARDENING
Geeky Ganja Gardening Growing marijuana is part art and part science. In some ways, gardeners are very artistic: like a conductor in front of an orchestra they guide their plants from start to harvest, listening for off notes signaling something isn’t right. On the more scientific side, there are ways to take written notes to show how productive a garden is, and some Grubbycup simple math can be helpful. The most basic form of record keeping is noting what varieties were grown. Which strains have you attempted, and which are your favorites? When sitting down and making a wish list for the season, it’s helpful to know which varieties you’ve
plants aren’t tracked, calculating how much each plant averaged is simple: just divide the amount harvested by the number of plants. If two Super Critical Hazes produced 170 grams, then they averaged 85 grams (three ounces) apiece. This information can be used next season when selecting how many seeds to plant. If the goal is to have eight ounces of
those combinations have a female plant in them, and three divided by four is 0.75, there is a 75 percent chance of one of them being female. Three seeds have eight combinations: MMM, MMF, MFM, MFF, FMM, FMF, FFM and FFF. Seven out of the eight combinations result in a female plant, and seven over eight is .875, or 87.5 percent. Four seeds have 16 combinations, 15 of which include a female for 93.7 percent. Five seeds is 31/32 for 96.8 percent, six is 63/64 for 98.4 percent, seven is 127/128 for 99.2 percent. Eight is 255/256 for 99.6 percent, and nine is 99.8 percent. Finally,
Berry White or Blueberry Widow). When looking for new varieties, you can select something similar to a known favorite, or intentionally try something completely different than you have in the past.
GROWING SEASONS IN OUTDOOR GARDENS CAN BE EASILY COMPARED, AND HARVESTS CAN BE ANALYZED FROM YEAR TO YEAR. tried. For instance, I’ve had good luck in the past with Blue Widow, which is a White Widow and Blueberry cross, so I know to at least take a look at those crosses – even if they are named something else (such as
A somewhat more labor intensive and scientific record is how much was harvested; for example, 57 grams (two ounces) of Purple Lady, or 170 grams (six ounces) of Super Critical Haze. Even if individual
Grubbycup’s Stash is late-flowering, a cost consideration indoors smoke at harvest, and your garden tends to produce two or three ounces per plant, then you would need four similar plants taken to harvest. If using standard seeds about half will be males and discarded, so double that number to eight. I recommend planting a couple more as a safety net, as harvesting extra plants tends to be an easier issue than not having enough. Figuring out how many standard seeds you need to plant in order to get at least one female can be important when ordering from seed banks. It all focuses on probability. A single seed usually has two possibilities: to either be male or female (with the exception of hermaphroditism and inter-sex plants). Thus, each seed has an approximate 50/50 chance of being female. This Bubblicous benefits from cost-effective outdoor lighting
Two seeds have four combinations: MM, MF, FM and FF. Since three out of four of
ten seeds will result in at least one female 1,023 times out of 1,024 or 99.9 percent. This is one reason why a standard breeder pack has at least ten seeds. For expert level gardeners, here is a tip: gender and Mendelian genetic traits occur as one of two states, which make them very well-suited for binary mathematics. Growing seasons in outdoor gardens can be easily compared, and harvests can be analyzed from year to year. Climates that allow for a spring and autumn harvest can be noted as simply ‘Spring 2012’ and ‘Fall 2012’, for example, with variety names and harvest quantities. Indoors, seasons are a bit more arbitrary. Summer and autumn are set with lighting timers and other environmental controls. Short dark periods (six hours or less is
