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Issue #537 - Sunday, July 31, 2022
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue...
- The leaves of a cannabis plant are expressive. They can tell you when your plant isn't getting enough light, or too much light. Your leaves can tell you the acidity of your soil or even what it's missing. So, what is a cannabis plant trying to tell you when its leaves curl upward? It's not as common, but you'll know the answer after today. Being prepared for a situation before it happens is
great, ain't it?
- Have you ever heard of the "3-day dark period" technique to increase THC before harvest? Well I've got some crazy lab results for you!
- We've prepared a piping hot batch of sweet trophy pictures showcasing the cannabis plants of our awesome readers. There's an actual whale of a plant, some legal Thai weed, and a little test to see if you can tell the sex of a plant from a few pictures. Check them out, and try taking a fun weed-based test where you can't fail.
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike."
~Maya Angelou
Why Are My Cannabis Leaves
Curling Up?
💪🍂🌳😲
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Cannabis leaves curling up? Not a great look! What causes this common marijuana growing problem?
Most common reasons that weed leaves curl up
- Nutrient deficiency (incorrect pH, nutrients went bad, etc.)
- Light stress (light too close)
- Heat stress (too hot)
- Watering or root problem
- Cold shock
- Bugs (especially if there’s a lot of them)
Leaf curling is a sign your cannabis plant is having major problems getting everything it needs to those leaves. Plant processes are not happening normally. There are several potential causes, though it’s often a combination of two or more stressors. For example, strong light combined with a nutrient deficiency can produce insane curling.
When you have cannabis leaf curling, symptoms are often worst close to the light because those are the hardest-working leaves on the plant.
Examples of Leaf Curling and Their Causes
The next part of this article is a picture gallery of plants with leaf curling, along with an explanation of what caused the curling....
For example, learn what's causing these symptoms!
Results of a 3-day dark period just before harvest (it seems to have increased the THC!)
I have recently finished multiple grows and tests. Last week I sent all the buds in to the lab for testing and this week I got back all the test results.
Wow, there were some major surprises. This week I want to start with what may be one of the most surprising test results.
So you may remember I grew this Pacific Punch plant under an HLG 65W LED grow light in a mini 2'x2'x3' grow tent (here's the full grow journal).
A common growing tactic to increase THC is to give a plant a 3-day dark period before harvest. However, I'd never seen anyone send buds to a lab to check the theory, so I figured, why not me?
Here's what the plant looked like just before I put it into a 3-day dark period. I took samples at this point to send to the lab.
I put the plant in complete darkness for 3 days, and then harvested the rest of the plant plant. The buds didn't look any different as far as I could tell. Here's what the plant looked like after the 3-day dark period.
I loved how all the buds were not just sparkling but dense and heavy, especially for a 65W LED grow light!
Total Dry Yield: 83.87g (2.96 oz)
That’s about 1.3 grams per watt for a 65W LED grow light. Not too shabby!
Now onto the really interesting bit...
Lab results
- Before 3-Day Dark Period: 19.83% THC (20.45% total cannabinoids). Terpenes were 13.65 mg/g.
- After 3-Day Dark Period: 21.86% THC (22.5% total cannabinoids). Terpenes were 13.25 mg/g
- That's a major increase in THC in just 3 days!
Wow! Although this is just one test (and it’s important to remember that the THC varies naturally between buds on the plant), it’s pretty stark how much higher the THC tested after the 3-day dark period. Frankly, this is such a big difference I am absolutely going to have to run more side-by-side experiments to see if this is a fluke or not. The terpenes seemed about the same before and after, so I don’t think they were affected
much by the dark period.
Here are the buds after they were dried and jarred.
Final Thoughts
I absolutely love this little HLG 65W 4000k grow
light. I believe it’s the answer to a lot of growers who are looking to make a true microgrow. I want to try growing with it again, but this time with no fan or carbon filter. Just the tent with the light in it. I’m curious how well that would go, since that seems like the ultimate in easy growing and I think the light puts out so little heat it would work well.
When it comes to the effects of the 3-day dark period, it’s hard for me to even believe how much the THC increased after the dark period, at least in the lab tests. I am already planning the followup experiment which will be much more detail-oriented and based purely on testing this one thing.
I will grow separate clones so I can harvest one plant fully and then the other, as opposed to having to cut off buds from the same plant, which could affect the results. For example, what if it wasn’t the dark period but harvesting half the plant that caused extra THC in the other buds? Such an exciting time to be a grower :)
Stay tuned next week as I have a ton more cool lab results to share from my other recent harvests!
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"Thank you for all the information."
~Steven
Thanks for writing in with such a concise testimonial! ~Sirius
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"Grow Weed Easy ROCKS!
My 3rd year studying this marvelous wealth of information. Thank you, cheers."
~Mark……🌱
I've seen your grows and you've done us both proud, Mark 🏆 ~Sirius
"GWE is my favorite and I love your tests. Thanks."
~Kenneth
100% credit goes to Nebula for these insane tests. Seriously, she could write multiples articles on the amount of behind-the-scenes work it takes to do these tests. ~Sirius
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"Thanks to you we have been growing our own medicine indoors since 2018. Its legal now so this is our first outdoor grow. Moby Dick, Seed Supreme. She is 20 weeks, 72 inches tall, I'm 5ft 2 inches ! What do we feed her in flower? Thanks again for all your help!"
~The Halls
I'd say the strain name is appropriate because that thing is a whale! You can use the flowering part of any cannabis-centric nutrient line meant for soil. Fox Farms is a good choice 👍 ~Sirius
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"Wow, it's more than a foot taller than the person in the picture"
"Oh no, it ate her! Wait, she seems fine. Never mind, false alarm."
"Hey you guys, just thought I would send this pic to ya. It’s Lambs Breath auto flower grown with Gaia Green organic products and a few other organic amendments. Also a homemade tea every 2 weeks. This plant has taught me a lot about teas and seaweed use. Anyways have a good day. I love your articles keep them coming ✌️"
~Ken
Your tent looks like a weed wonderland. I almost expected Tinkerbell to fly out from behind one of those colas. ~Sirius
"Hello,
That guy in Thailand again. Growing became legal a few weeks ago in Thailand. The government gave away one million plants for free. I like auto flowering and feminized plants. In your opinion what are the better strains for this environment? Today is 95 degrees here and humidity is always high. I threw this out to the community and repeatedly have been answered with " Gorilla glue".
Here in the magic kingdom recreational use is still illegal unfortunately. We say "TIT"....meaning "This is Thailand" Products with high THC levels are still illegal as well. Bags of leaves are sold in supermarkets, and cannabis cafes are opening.
Happy to say I have hooked up with highly educated local growers who give me their clones and experimentals. I forward your emails to them.
That's it for now. Keep up the good work. Stay healthy"
~Alan
Congrats to Thailand on gaining the freedom to grow. Although it isn't full legalization, this is a huge step.
When it comes to strains, the safe option is to grow something that's mold resistant. In fact, the monster plant in the pictures above is a mold-resistant strain: Moby Dick.
However, you already have established growers in your area and I bet they can help with growing strains that are well suited to the area!
~Sirius
[Pictures below are by grower "Steph"]
A grower named Steph asked for help identifying the sex of their cannabis plant. Lets test your sexing skills. What sex is the plant in the pictures below?
Did you say female? That's what I said, too. But Steph said that someone they knew disagreed with me. Their grower friend said it was a hermaphrodite, not a female plant.
I thought, "I think I know a female plant from a hermaphrodite, but let me look again anyway..."
For those keeping track, there were pollen sacs in 3 out of 3 pictures. My ego was bruised, but I let Steph know that their friend is right and to get rid of the plant asap.
I thought this would be a good story to show that you can miss stuff, even with experience. It's human to make mistakes. The best we can all do is learn from them, not punish ourselves and try to make just a few less mistakes in the future.
~Sirius
Help Others to Avoid Scams, Too!
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I mean, he seems like a nice guy and he's "proven by science"
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Does the .gif above seem silly?
It should seem silly! It's meant as a joke to poke fun at how obvious some scams seem to be. Many people who see this will instantly recognize this as poking fun at scammers and enjoy a sensible chuckle.
But did you know that some scams are poorly constructed on purpose? The scammers logic is: if you can see past the weird logic and terrible communication skills, you're a better target for their scams.
You might be prepared for these scummy tricks, but many of the people who fall for it simply don't have defenses ready for such aggressive social scam tactics. That means we need to watch out for each other when it comes to avoiding scams. The more successful these scammers are, the wider they'll cast their net, so helping others will help you in the long run, too.
Remember when it comes to buying seeds: Real seed businesses don't contact you. They let you contact them. If anyone messages you to sell you seeds on social media, look out! It's possible they will take your payment and send nothing. Always take a second to think before sending money to anyone, especially if they contact you (whether by DM, text message, phone
call, email, etc.).
Recommended Cannabis Seed Sources
These sources have gotten great reviews from our readers:
- Seed Supreme – California, United States
- ILGM (I Love Growing Marijuana) – California, United States
- Herbies Seeds – Europe (seemingly out of the UK and Spain)
We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
GrowWeedEasy.com has hundreds and hundreds of pages!
Check out some articles you may not have seen...
- Nitrogen Toxicity - Today's article tells you what to do if your leaves curl downward, but what if they go in the opposite direction? It can actually be a few things, but Nitrogen Toxicity is fairly common since growers of all levels accidentally overfeed their plant sometimes. Check out the page above if
your leaves are curling downward and be easy with plant food.
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5-Step Solution to 99% of Cannabis Growing Problems - If you have a good method of troubleshooting problems,
you'll solve problems quicker in addition to encountering them less frequently. It's kind of like having the answers to a test you haven't even taken yet: you can still mess up with the right answers, but the odds are much more in your favor.
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How to Make Hash Oil (aka Cannabis Extract Oil or RSO) - If you make it down this far in the newsletter on a regular basis, you'll know
that I'm a huge proponent of hash oil. I love my Source Turbo as a way of making it, but I wonder if any of you growers out there have tried a different device that you're happy with. Respond to this email and let us know!
- Auto Northern Lights in Grow Box Under 400W HPS - This is a grow journal from way back in the day by a mystery
grower. This journal was significant for us because after we posted it, we saw a huge influx of growers building grow boxes in this style. Apparently, a lot of growers can do this kind of stuff and just needed the idea! Let's see if anyone gets inspired again.
Check Out Our Grow Community!
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Check out our friendly growing community to ask questions, discuss your grow, share pictures, or otherwise talk about growing cannabis with other real growers!
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
When I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to make it easy for new growers to get started while helping advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We update/add articles every week. Anyone and everyone can grow if they want to!
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Learn which seed sources are recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture, bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis can be a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
Copyright (c) 2022 GrowWeedEasy.com
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Disclaimer: Grow Weed Easy only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we may receive a commission. Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized Financial, Legal, or Medical Advice. The contributors to this magazine grow
legally under their local laws but are not lawyers or medical professionals. Any decision to grow marijuana should only be made after consulting with an experienced lawyer or other legal adviser. Any medical decisions should only be made after speaking with a doctor. Be safe!
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Date: July 31, 2022
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