Cannabis College! Head Grower Crazy?!

Hey guys,
I know this is pretty random but i though i had to share my experience with you. I have been in amsterdam the past week, enjoying the city and its fine fine reefer, and making every attempt to talk to local dutch growers. One day I walked into the cannabis college, located in the red light district, and donated some euros in order to see there organic raised bed basement garden.


The massive colas on the five plants (dutch law maintains a five plant limit) shocked me. The were the size of my forearm. But not only that, the head grower (forget the chaps name) told me he topped them all right before flowering, which made the plants grow seven enourmous colas. After talking to nice grower for a bit, one of us brought up fertilizers. he swears by a strict organic fertilizer regimen, and claims to never use one chemical in the growth of his plant. then i asked him what he thought of fertilizers like peters 20-20-20 and miracle grow and a couple other chemical ferts, his response was simply;

"that should be illegal, its radioactive and makes you bloody glow in the dark"

i waited for a smile and a laugh but the guy didnt budge. i asked him if he was serious, and his pissed off expression shut me up quik. THEN, we start to talk about hyddroponics, and he shocks me agian;

"hydroponics contain sixty percent more cancer causing chemicals than organic, because your feeding it all this chemicals. hydro is for people interested in only making money. chemicals make you glow! dont touch them!"

i swear thats exactly what he said. it was so wierd that the "cannabis expert" seemed to be so.....dare i say.....un-knowledgable?
just thot id share with you one of my many cannbis aadventures in that debauched week.
wierd isnt it?
theo

 

Meh. Don't worry about it. He's probably grown stricly organically for a while, and views fertalizers as some sort of steroids for the plants.


The mehtod seems to work, though. I've just never heard of anyone topping right before flowering. I thought that usually stopped them from sensing when to start to flower because they can't sense light and dark and shit.

 

never heard that man, but you could be right, it makes sense. All i know is this guy grew some monstrous plants. But a pretty big wackjob, when i was talking to him i felt like at any moment he would spring on me and eat my heart. I dunno, I had been at damprinkg (the dams finest) for an hour before.
theo

 

Heh. Yeah, he's probably one of those guys that has his own methods and gets defensive when someone questions him.

I know that I know a couple people who only look up stuff about fertalizers and light cycles for marijuana growing, and just apply their knowledge of other plants. I've actually heard of them growing with incadescent lights, too, which I thought was impossible. (But I also heard this from a chronic bull-shitter.)

 

^^Sounds like he must hang out at overgrow alot!



incadescent lights? i think thats actually physically impossible, b/c the light emmited is a totally diffrent spectrum. i dunno, i cant say hes lying, you never know.

 

LOL

Hello people
I am that guy from the college, and yes i have a bit of a problem with most hydro weed, but hey....i smoke cigarretes so what can i say.??
It is more out of a medicinal point of view, it is proven that many hydro nutrients have a higher level of radioactive radiation than most organic nutrients

( ask doctor Paul Hornby, he had an interview in Cannabis Culture dec.-jan. 2002-2003. organic nutrients 140 CPM average, hydro nutrients 675 CPM average, CPM stands for counts per minute of radiation detected in samples.)
---that makes it on average five times more radioactive---

And hydro weed does usually produce more carcinogens when burned, could be due to bad flushing, overfeeding and more, some people spray pesti/funghicides on their flowering plants, burning a chemical pesticide creates one of the more poisonous substances known to men, not aproved for consumption in my book.

Many of those so called medicinal growers who hand out hydro weed for glaucoma patients are some times actually creating more lethal diseases like cancer.
Why would people chance a natural alternative to chemical medicine to another chemical alternative, in my world i would call cancer a BAD side-effect on my medication, i rather have glaucoma.

If i had a growshop, then hydro would be much better, big money coming in, yes you would be advised to use as much nutrients as you can carry, i would be whistling to the bank with all the money you spend in my shop.

Many people dont realize that it is easy enough to grow indoor organic, fully automated like a hydro system, massive yields and superior quality, most visitors who visit the college think that as soon as they see a light burning it is hydro....so this is hydro then?...NO it is not...followed by weird surprised faces.
One guy i know grew 2.3 kilo of diesel in 9 weeks under three 600watt lights, all in soil, he just knows what he is doing, he understands the plants and knows what they need, he doesnt have a scientific approach and the cheapest grow-op i have ever seen

If i scare people in my garden...well at least i made an impression and my words will be somehow remembered, i never really took someones heart out in public.

Ever purchased a organic tomato and compared it to a "regular" ( hydro ) tomato, ever realized the different flavors.

I dunno....everlasting argument, just keep on smoking hey!

Miracle grow---or----miracle glow??

Good luck
Amsterdammer

 

The root system of a plant basically supplies only water and mineral nutrients to the plant. It's the upper part of the plant, through photosynthesis, that provides all the other types of compounds to the plant and its fruit regardless of where the plant's roots are growing.

Hydroponically grown produce has more of a chance of being good for consumers' health because there is no contact with the ground. This reduces the risk of getting disease organisms from soil and manure in the produce. In practice, the major health problems from vegetables have been associated with the external contamination of produce rather than what's inside them.

Many countries don't differentiate whether the produce has been grown hydroponically or by any other method—they just concentrate on the quality of the produce. To produce a good vegetable product requires good horticultural practice and hydroponics is no different. It's not technology, it's just a different, if more sophisticated, horticultural technique. Therefore, hydroponic growers must have a good knowledge of their crop if they are to grow successfully. Hydroponic plants are often less stressed than in other systems which means that produce quality is more likely to be maintained consistently, especially in adverse conditions.

A nutritional study published recently claimed that hydroponic produce was higher in certain vitamins than field grown produce. The study was carried out in San Jose, California, by Plant Research Technologies Incorporated. Several varieties of tomatoes and sweet peppers were tested for vitamins A, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine), vitamin C and vitamin E. The study showed a dramatic increase in vitamins and minerals in hydroponics, in some cases up to 50% higher vitamin content.

 

It is possible to boost the taste and nutritional value of some hydroponic produce by increasing the strength of the hydroponic solution feeding the roots.

Take tomatoes, in particular. It is possible to improve their taste by using higher strength solns. This not only pushes more mineral nutrients into the plant and fruit, but also increases the strength of the solutions inside the plant, consequently rasing the strength of other beneficial compounds such as sugars, organic acids and vitamins. A well-grown hydroponic tomato does have a taste and nutrition benefit compared to those grown by other methods. The down side of this is that poorly grown tomatoes will be inferior, as happened with ignorant entrepreneurial growers in Australia in the early 80's.

In the case of tomatoes, the taste and nutritional benefits are directly related to the variety and the length of time the fruit is allowed to ripen on the vine, regardless of what growing method is used.

There are many areas where hydroponically grown produce and organically grown produce are similar. Both industries are trying to achieve excellent quality, presentation, a longer shelf life, and better flavour.

There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that organically grown produce is nutritionally better or has less chemical residue than traditionally grown produce.

As far as hydroponic systems go:

I run NFT. Growth rate in NFT is generally very fast, due to high oxygen levels, the ability to aerate, heat and adjust the strength and PH of nutrient.
If you can perfect NFT this is great as your ongoing labour and costs are minimal. On top of all that, no incriminating waste to dispose of.
I use 155mm x 70mm channel and there's no way I would go smaller. I would, if I could source even wider channel, like 300mm wide, go to that. The small channel, I believe 100mm x 75mm, certainly suits lettuce and other small root zone leaf crop genera. Cannabis simply packs on too great in scale. So in small channel setups you'd have plants yellowing up, major root restriction and inevitable early stress induced senescence.

The "bubbler" (DWC) system is a really poor design, and so many people on cannabis boards use it. I do not like any system where you end up with the majority of your plants roots submerged in nutrients. No matter how much air you have bubbling through the solution, most plants do not like it. Now I have seen similar systems work well, but sooner or later you will experience root disease and sick plants.
Another reason I'm not a fan of it is on the basis that you have to keep an eye on the bubblers within the buckets. This means MORE maintenance and ultimately lifting the lids off the buckets where you might damage/stress the plant.

In addition, you can't horizontal espalier the plants either ("SCROG", as the yanks like to reinvent horticulture centuries old). This means some sort of jerry rigged tie off to yo-yo strings and the like. Now that to me seems like more effort than it is worth. Point is, under rectangular or square prism foot print, ideally a 600mm deep crop canopy, so you stay in the "sweet spot" of the square inverse limiting factor, you have to train the plants. Now that's easily done with a wire mesh on the top. I believe in keeping the whole design as simple as possible in terms of one's ongoing work input. You've had a long day, you have to attend to the grow, you will be far less enthusiastic if you know it will mean more fiddly input. A good grow is an easy grow. Simple as that.

Aeroponics is theoretically an excellent system, but in practise has proven to be troublesome. These types of systems are being developed because of the need to grow plants without spending any money, for the food industry. Aeroponic systems have been in research stations around the world for many years, and have never really made it out of the research stage.
The injectors will clog in precipitated nutrients, that's inevitable with chelates. That chalky residue you see with hydroponic is calcium sulphate. That's ok when you're running 4mm spaghetti to NFT channels, but try doing that with micron sprayers. You'll be having to run clearing injections at least once a fortnight. That means another reservoir of water (clean water) to do so. Even then, there's a degree of calcium in almost any tap water, which will determine its hardness or softness. Some states in Australia have really hard water. This is why South Australian hydroponic growers opt to "run to waste" systems. They know all too well that recirculated systems will fail. True, an aeroponics system can be run to waste as well, but for all practicality and getting back to a "good grow is an easy grow", aeroponics is not easy.

I have at the most only the growool I used to strike the cuttings, and the capillary mat used in the NFT. All of which, along with the roots, is simply a hole in the ground out the yard garden. Too easy.

This is far better than major slabs of rockwool packed in incriminating roots and or expanded clay. Heavy, wet and above all risky to toss to the landfill or a garbage hopper.

Below- NFT run. Belladonna at 6 weeks. I like it. Low in smell and botrytis resistant, not to mention lotsa booty. Final yield was approx. 2gms/watt

 

Lol, imagine the odds! i just want to thank college grower for not flipping out at me when i said i thought he would eat my heart. I had been at a coffeshop minutes before. My apologies. And the plants he grew organic seemed to be the largest ones i had ever seen. Including hydro.


MR SOul thanks man for clarifying the diffrent hydro techniques! Everyone talks about them, but i never kno the diffrence between them! Much appreciated.

 

thrawn - Not a problem.

Having been to the college, I will concur that I saw some lovely plants. I believe they could make any system or style of grow work well, as importantly, they know what makes a plant tick.

I was simply illustrating the other side of the coin. We all know that one-sided approaches are not of benefit to the canna scene.

I don't care about persona's or ego's, I care about providing correct information and the exchange of sound ideas.
Regarding my candid posting style....some of you may know me from long ago, and accordingly you know I don't like bullshitters, bullies, and most of all, political correctness. I have been posting like this for years....don't expect me to change now.

 

Why dont you finish with facts that the roots do supply the all the major and minor nutrients to the upper part of the plant with S,Cu,Fe,Mn,B,and Ca being fixed or simply put built into the cell structure for the developement of leaves.Roots also supply the mobile nutrients that get moved around where needed,once again within the plant and they consist of N,P,K,Mg,,Mo,and Zn all of which serve a particular need.N for leaf developement,mg for photosynthesis,Ca and P for fruits and root growth,and K for disease resistance and root developement are some examples.In no way can chem grown hydro create the smokability/quality found in soil grown organics,increased yields yes,which goes to say a plant is what it eats!You can flush that chem grown all you want,it will remain inferior to soil grown organics.

 

Im getting plants to grow totally organically, that spurt from 7" to 2' in 20 days.


Why on god's green earth would you need to get a plant to grow any faster than that is beyond me. Why risk cancer and poisons in your food? Do you or would you eat fruit or vegtables you knew had ddt in them, or had just been sprayed with a chemical? Would you eat something that you knew was poisoned? Hell no! Than why the hell would you want to grow something meant for human consumption in chemicals.
Grow big by fox farm is an organic based fertilizer that works for hydro or soil. What gives hydro dudes? why do you poison us so? And yourselves?

 

I'm beginning to think Mr S is supplying weed to the whole east coast (of australia) hell the stuff i buy might be coming from him! lol

anyway my mum buys organic tomatoes. sometimes theyre shit, sometimes theyre heaps better than the perfect looking ones form supermarket. jsut inconsistant quality i guess.

anyway i dont think you guys are the start of the thread should be paying him out for doing teh wrong thing until you can grow jsut as well. or know jsut as much (like mr soul here)

 

hah.
i too have spent time at the Cannabis College. pretty plants (saw them for free-hehe) there. nice overall setup and institution. but the best part was the shirt i bought for 10 euros; it has a globe printed on the front with cannabis college in big letters and a marijuana leaf in the background.
fun.

 

but hydro is great for circumstances like refugee camps and so on. when you need massive quantities of food, and the taste really doesnt matter that much. i like hydro to play around with, its really fascinating if you think about it.

 

NAMASTE


Well once again Mr. Soul knows more than the Cannabis College and the rest of us.Organic is supperior to hydro in far to many ways.Mr. Soul
does not like bullshitters and bullies and ego's.Wow to funny.Guess he does not read his posts.Time to find him a new book and web site to get him some better info.Reading a reply by him shortens the air in here.Very airy and shows threw time and time again that one who coppies write out of the books has know true thought of there own.Wander if all the sites that i see the same pics from growers from here would like there hard work stole by and reposted as his.Funny Funny.Well Mr. Soul please please teach all the world your 101 on growing we all wait with arms up.

 

This is so right on. Most "heads" are totally ignorant.