1.
BREEDING AND THE FEMALE SEED
Many
readers write in because they wish to start a breeding
program or to preserve a special plant. They seek
advice about how to go about breeding. Some commonly
asked questions on this subject include how to stabilize
a variety; whether or not to use forced hermaphrodites
in breeding, whether it is possible or desirable to
create all-female seed, and how to maintain hybrid
vigor over generations.There
are two fundamentally different concepts for running
a breeding program.
One
method is to cross plants you like and see what results.
This method takes little discipline and can produce
unusual and novel plants with many combinations of
characteristics. Desirable plants from several generations
of crosses may provide you with plants with the exact
characteristics that you are looking for. The problem
is that the results are impossible to duplicate easily,
so a desirable plant can only be reliably reproduced
using cuttings (cloning), not by seed.Some
advantages of crossing two hybrids is that the offspring
have hybrid vigor and the breeder has a wide selection
of combinations of characteristics. Each plant has
its own unique set. Once the best plants are chosen,
they are reproduced using cloning.
Another
approach results in stable varieties. Start with a
mental picture of an ideal plant. First, two hybrid
lines that have desirable characteristics are stabilized
by inbreeding them for five or six generations. Then
they are crossed with one another, creating an F1
hybrid. This F1 plant is easily reproducible by crossing
the two stabilized varieties at any time. If
you are starting with clones, you probably have only
females. This is a problem since there is no male
from the line to cross with. All is not lost. You
can pollinate the female with a male plant from a
variety that has some characteristics similar to its
chosen mate. However, a male from a dissimilar plant
can be used. The
F1 plants that result receive half of their DNA from
the mother. Backcrossing one of the males that results
with its mother produces F2 plants to which the mother
contributes 75% of the DNA. Backcrossing a male from
the F2 generation to the same mother creates the F3's
that receive 87.50% of their DNA from the mother plant.
Backcrossed F4's have 93.75% and the F5's 96.87 of
their DNA contributed by the hybrid mother.
Each
backcross provides an opportunity to affect the genetic
development of the stabilized hybrid. Instead of choosing
the best female, the best male is chosen. The plant
is selected for potency and quality of high, ripening
time, odor, shape, vigor and other characteristics
that are important to you. By
the fourth or fifth generation of backcrosses to the
original hybrid, the plants should be similar to the
plant they were backcrossed to, only better, because
of your selective breeding. Now select both females
and males from the last generation for breeding. Two
or three more generations should be enough to stabilize
the variety. By this I mean that plants grown from
seed will look, grow and produce similarly. The stabilized
hybrid is now ready to be used to produce the new
hybrid.The
plants from seed don't need to be backcrossed. They
should just be inbred for three or four generations
to stabilize the variety. Then they will be ready
to use for breeding the new hybrid.
FEMINIZE
THE SEED?
It
is at this point that you may wish to create feminized
seed. These F1 hybrids will be used for planting in
gardens, rather than for breeding. With feminized
seeds, the grower knows that every plant is female
because the seeds were produced using pollen from
male flowers that were induced to grow on female plants.
None of the pollen contains male genetics so they
grow only into female plants.
There
are a number of ways to create feminized seed. These
include using chemicals such as aspirin and hormones
such as gibberellic acid.It is easier to breed females
to females using chemically-induced or stress-induced
male flowers that produce pollen on female plants
(forced hermaphrodites). However, plants that are
induced to produce male flowers may have a slightly
higher proclivity toward hermaphroditism than the
general population. Using them for breeding may be
inadvertently selecting for hermaphroditism.
After
five or six generations, some of the plants might
have more of a tendency towards hermaphroditism. There
is little chance that plants grown from first-generation
feminized seed will become hermaphroditic, so they
are ideal for using in the garden. As the two lines
were bred to themselves, the plants lost some of their
vitality or vigor. This results from the genetic makeup
becoming more homogeneous as siblings are bred to
each other or progeny are backcrossed to parents.
When the two lines are crossed, they produce a hybrid
that will exhibit hybrid vigor. Once a desirable hybrid
is created, it is possible to take cuttings from it
and its clone progeny repeatedly without loss of vigor.
2.
FERTILIZING TRICKS
I
often receive questions such as "My plant isn't
growing." "The leaves are turning color
or dropping." "The plants have small or
veined leaves." Here are some ideas you might
consider when diagnosing an unhappy looking plant.
pH
If
basic conditions-light, temperature and CO2-are satisfactory,
and the plants still aren't growing well, the problem
probably concerns pH or nutrients. The first thing
to do is to check the pH, which is the measure of
alkalinity or acidity of a substance. It is measured
on a scale of 0, the most acidic, to 14, the most
alkaline. Seven is neutral. Nutrients are most available
in a slightly acid solution, from 6 to about 6.5,
and this is the best pH range in which to grow plants.
Not
only should the water pH be measured and adjusted
after adding fertilizer, but the pH of the soil or
planting medium should also be measured. If the soil
or planting medium is highly acidic, the irrigation
water should be adjusted to a less acidic level. Highly
alkaline mediums such as rockwool and some western
soils should receive more acidic water-nutrient solutions.
STUNTED
ROOTS
One of the main problems that indoor gardeners experience
is growing too large a plant in too small a container.
Large plants need a larger root system so they can
obtain enough water and nutrients to support life
processes and growth. In a larger container, there
is a reserve of both. In smaller containers, there
is not much of a reserve so the unit must be irrigated
frequently. The feast-famine cycle is not a good environment
for the roots; it disrupts plant growth and lowers
yield. Plants
sometimes have deficiencies because the containers
are too small. If the roots are root bound they should
be transplanted into a larger container, even if they
are in early flowering. This increases the amount
of water-nutrient solution the roots can draw.Beyond
preventing plants from obtaining a constant supply
of water and nutrients, small containers stunt the
plants' roots. Stunted roots result in stunted above-ground
growth. Plants grow larger in large containers than
in small ones.
FERTILIZERS
AND WATER
Manufacturers
make fertilizers to use with "average water."
That's fine except that water in many locales is definitely
outside that average range. Water may be too pure,
for example, without much calcium; or it may be the
opposite-it may contain too many dissolved solids.
The pH can be too acid or alkaline or the water may
have a spike in one or a group of nutrients that affects
the nutrient balance.
Sometimes
one fertilizer doesn't "agree" with the
water or planting mix, but another fertilizer with
different ingredients works well. It doesn't mean
that the first one was bad, just that it wasn't good
for the conditions in your garden. If
the plants seem to have nutrient problems, check out
the symptoms in a marijuana grow book that discusses
and illustrates common deficiencies. They are usually
fairly easy to correct.All
water suppliers are required to test their water,
and provide the public with information about it what
it contains on request. All you have to do is call
and ask, and they will send you the test results for
the water they pipe to you. Sometimes this information
is available on the web.You
can also have your soil or planting mix tested for
pH and nutrients at a soil testing service. The tests
are inexpensive and used by conventional gardeners
all the time, so they raise no suspicion (as long
as there is not marijuana leaf in the sample). Check
out the yellow pages or the internet for companies.
The
mineral content of water and planting mixes affects
the nutrients' availability. These tests show you
what's going on regarding the medium and water. They
are invaluable tools for making decisions about fertilizing
the garden. For instance, one rockwool gardener was
using very pure water that had very little calcium.
The fertilizer, blended for "average water conditions,"
didn't contain enough calcium. It was apparent from
a description of the symptoms and figuring total calcium
listed in the water and nutrients. Adding a calcium
supplement, calcium nitrate, to the water solved the
problem.
THE
COMING NEW AGE
Fertilizers
and planting mixes are undergoing a new revolution
as manufacturers integrate enzymes, hormones, plant
stimulants and beneficial living organisms into their
mixes. Many of these products really do work. Even
though they may seem expensive, they are well worth
the cost because of their effectiveness at improving
stamina and growth.
3.
LIGHTING
Light
can be the most difficult plant growth factor for
gardeners to supply, indoors and out. I get a lot
of questions about the best ways to supply it. Here
are some ideas that you might not have thought about.
WINDOW
GARDENS
Do you have an unobstructed south facing window that
is not visible to neighbors or from the street? It
might be the ideal site for your winter garden. During
the winter, the sun shines low on the horizon and
lights up south facing windows. Seeds or clones can
be started in the window in August, when the sun is
bright but doesn't shine directly inside the window.
During the vegetative growth stage, the dark period
can be interrupted with light with no effect to the
plants. After September 22, the first day of fall,
the sunlight is less than 12 hours a day so they will
flower if given just natural light. You can turn on
house lights. Flower
the plants when they are about two feet tall or any
size that is convenient. To force them to flower,
make sure that they get no more than 12 hours of light
each day. Plants started in August and kept growing
vegetatively through mid-September will mature in
November. After
the first group is harvested, a new group can be started.
The intensity of light is weakest around December
22, the first day of winter. Even as the strength
of the light is waning, a sunny window in winter provides
enough light for the plants to grow vegetatively.
There is a problem with the length of light. Marijuana
flowers when it receives fewer than 12 hours of light.
If plants were placed in the window, they would immediately
start to flower under the long dark period. The dark
period must be interrupted to keep the plants growing
vegetatively.There
are several solutions to this problem: use room lights
during the evening so the dark period is broken with
periods of light, allow streetlights to shine in or
flashing warm white fluorescents on the plants for
a few minutes every few hours during the dark period.
This is easily regulated using an appliance timer.
Another idea is to grow plants vegetatively to flowering
size under electric lights. When they are flowering
size, they are placed in the window where they will
flower because of the long uninterrupted dark period.In
the U. S and southern Canada, the window system can
be used during the fall and winter through the end
of March. Then the sun's light hits the earth more
directly and no longer shines into the windows. At
higher latitudes, the sun reaches inside even during
the summer, so the system can be used there year-round.
SOME
TIPS
If
you wish to turn on room lights in the evening once
the plants enter flowering, use blackout curtains
so you don't illuminate the plants. Light pollution
during the dark period messes with the flowering cycle
and lowers bud quality. Plants are not sensitive to
green light so you can light the room with green light
without disturbing their dark period.The
window area should get no cooler than 50 degrees F
(10 degrees C) at night. If it does, you might keep
the plants warm using a plant heat mat placed under
the containers.A
lace curtain defuses the light so that it is more
evenly distributed throughout the garden. Reflective
material such as a white or silver curtain or a screen
placed between the garden and the room reflects some
of the sunlight back to the garden.Streetlights
can interfere with the flowering cycle if they are
shining directly in the window. Opaque drapes can
be used to block out light pollution from streetlights
and passing traffic. Moonlight, even from a full moon,
isn't intense enough to interfere with flowering.
USING
NATURAL LIGHT WITHOUT WINDOWS
You
checked the windows in your house or apartment but
your neighbor, the local commandante of the local
Home Security Militia waved to you as sunlight poured
in through the window illuminating those useless heirloom
houseplants your fiancé inherited from his
beloved grandmother, who on her death bed, made him
promise to give a good home. So the window's out.
There
is still opportunity for you. Both sunroofs and light
tunnels can provide your garden with blessed sunlight.
A 4' x 8' sheet of double-sheeted polycarbon plastic
will supply the attic or top floor with ample light
year-round. By building curtains to contain and reflect
it, a garden can be sun-powered. Sun tunnels are used
to capture light from the roof and to deliver it to
a space using a "tunnel" to guide it through
the attic or upper room. They come at least as wide
as a 22 inches in diameter. The advantage of sunroofs
and light tunnels is that it is impossible to view
the garden beneath them and the signs of gardens that
police often look for-heat buildup and high electric
bills-are not present.Another
way to keep the electric bill down is to generate
your own electricity. This is easiest to do on the
grid because you don't have to invest in batteries
for storage. Instead, the electric company buys your
excess production. The meter goes both ways. Sometimes
you're buying current and the meter moves forward.
Other times, such as on sunny summer days you produce
more than you use. Then the meter runs in reverse.
In California, the companies will zero out your bill,
but will not pay cash for excess electricity you produce.
The state has incentive programs for homeowners to
install solar electric panels. Solar panels can generate
enough electricity in sunny areas to leave you with
a very small electric bill, even while supplying power
hungry lights.
SPRING
AND SUMMER OUTDOOR HARVESTS
Imagine
changing harvest time to summer by forcing the plants
to flower out of season. Light in autumn is not nearly
as intense as at the beginning of summer. Marijuana
uses summer's light's energy to spur vegetative growth.
It produces seed or bud under diminished light intensity,
and short days of uncertain weather. Spring and summer
harvests have many advantages. The buds ripen during
peak light intensity, high UV light and in warmer
weather so they grow larger and more potent than if
they had ripened in the fall.
The first day of summer, June 22nd, is the longest
day of the year and the time when the sun's rays reach
the northern hemisphere most directly, giving it the
brightest light. After that, each day grows shorter
and sunlight reaches the hemisphere at a more oblique
angle, making it dimmer until the first day of winter,
December 22nd, when light intensity and duration begins
to increase.Marijuana
plants can be forced to flower at any stage or size
by providing a 12-hour period of uninterrupted darkness
each day. Fifty to seventy days after forcing, the
buds will be ready for harvest. A plant forced in
the beginning of June will be ready around the beginning
of August. Plants forced in early July are ready the
beginning of September.
Several
strategies can be used to produce early harvests.In
areas where plants can be placed outdoors in the early
spring, they can grow vegetatively for six to eight
weeks and then be forced to flower using a frame or
hoop that encloses the garden. It is covered each
day at 7 PM with an opaque polyethylene cover. It
is uncovered each morning at 7 AM. Six or eight mil
polyethylene white on one side and black on the other
is an ideal material for this. The white side is placed
on the outside to reflect the light. The black side
is opaque. In
spring some areas are warm and sunny during the day
but have a large temperature drop in the evenings.
Plants in moveable containers can be placed outside
each day and returned to the warmth and safety of
the indoors each evening.
Plants can be grown indoors vegetatively and then
set out to flower as soon as weather permits. After
March 22nd, they have to be covered nightly. If you
can place plants outside in February you will be harvesting
in April and nature will provide the correct dark
period for you. The small decrease in the length of
the dark period will not send the plants back into
vegetative growth. Buds grown for spring harvest receive
the benefit of an increasing light intensity as they
ripen.
Plants
that are ripened in the spring or early summer should
not be cut down. Instead, cut off just the buds. The
decreasing dark period the plants receive each day
will force them back into vegetative growth. They
will flower again in the fall and be ready for their
second harvest at normal ripening time.A
taste test of the two groups of buds, early and late,
from the same plants will confirm my observation that
buds ripening between July 1st and August 15th are
the most potent and tasty.
4.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
I
have received quite a few letters regarding marijuana
as medicine. Some of the questions I have been asked
are about how to use marijuana without smoking it.
Another theme is about studies of marijuana's medical
uses.Marijuana
is a medicine that can be administered in many ways.
Toking is only one method of taking it. Here are some
other ways of using marijuana medically, along with
their advantages and disadvantages:1.)
VAPORIZERS - These devices heat marijuana to the
point that the cannabinoids and the odor molecules
evaporate, but not to the point that the vegetative
matter burns. The vapor is clear and doesn't contain
smoke. Advantages:
The onset is as fast as with smoking without lung
irritation.
Disadvantages: It can take a few tries to learn how
to self-titrate. Some of the devices are bulky.
2.)
TEAS - Although cannabinoids are not water soluble,
they mix moderately in boiling water. Simmering the
grass in whole milk is an excellent way of dissolving
cannabinoids because they are fat soluble and the
milk contains lecithin, which is a powerful emulsifier.
Adding a bit of alcohol to the water once it has cooled
below its boiling point of 140 degrees F increases
the solubility of the cannabinoids, too.Advantages:
An easy way of ingesting cannabis. The effects are
mild and gradual. Teas are used as a folk remedy for
stomach problems and works well for some chronic pain.
Disadvantages:
These taste best for some people when mixed with other
flavors. The water-only tea is milder than some patients
require.
3.)
TINCTURES - A concentrated extract of cannabinoids
dissolved in alcohol. These can be taken as sublingual
drops or placed in food or drink. Advantages:
They are almost as fast acting as inhaling and easy
to self-titrate. They contain no pyrolytic compounds.
They are in conspicuous to carry and use.
Disadvantages:
They are not for people with alcohol allergies, although
it is possible to make non-alcohol tinctures.
4.)
FOOD AND DRINK - Marijuana or its concentrates
such as kief, hashish or tincture can be used directly
in recipes or first prepared as an oil or butter that
is then used in other food items. They can be quite
potent medicines that relieve deep or chronic pain.
Advantages: Easy to use, and not like taking medicine.
Also avoids smoking and the product contains no pyrolitic
compounds.
Disadvantages: Cannot be used for nausea. Takes up
to 30 minutes to start providing relief. It is more
difficult to determine a consistent dosage.
4.) SALVES - Marijuana salves have been used
to relieve muscle aches and pains for many generations.
They relieve topical pain and are often used in combination
with other herbs. They do not have psychoactive effects
(i.e., they don't get you high).
Advantages: Easy to apply. Provides topical relief
without the head trip.
Disadvantages: Provides topical relief without the
head trip. Can be messy.
Here are some sites that feature studies of marijuana
that you might find relevant.
Americans
for Medical Rights:
www.medmjscience.org
GW Pharmaceuticals: www.gwpharm.com
National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORML): www.norml.org
The Institute of Medicine Study, released in
1999 is found on many web sites, including http://www.nap.edu/html/marimed/.
Marijuana Policy Project: www.mpp.org
There
is a print magazine, Cannabis Health, The Medical
Marijuana Journal that covers the topic. They
can be found online at www.cannabishealth.com.A
scientific publication, Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics
can be reached on the internet at www.haworthpress.com.
The publishing house publishes several books about
medical marijuana including Cannabis and Cannabinoids
and Ethan Russo's acclaimed Women and Cannabis.
Once
again I'd like to thank all my readers, past and present,
and everyone who helped with its production. It's been
a wonderful trip so far. I hope you will continue to
enjoy the ride.
