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Issue #505 - Sunday, December 19, 2021
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue...
- Have you ever heard of bud washing? Is it a good thing to do? What are the benefits? We learned all about this topic straight from the horse's mouth, so get ready to learn everything you need to know about bud washing, its applications, and whether or not it's right for your precious cannabis plants.
- Many of you are already growing weed, but some of you are still just thinking about it. Today I share the pros and cons of growing to help any growers sitting on the fence!
- I received some excellent questions about defoliation this week and I wanted to answer one that seems relevant to a lot of growers. Is defoliation effective when growing organic cannabis? The answer may surprise you!
- The goal for this week was to show off some plants that were more on the "normal" side of trophy pics. I hoped to show off some plants that one would typically find in a small-scale home grow. Somehow, mysteriously, all the plants ended up being crazy in one way or another. How did this happen?!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"Action is the foundational key to all success."
~Pablo Picasso
Bud Washing:
Should You Bathe Your Buds?
🌳🚿🤔❓
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Recently we’ve received a few emails about “bud washing” or essentially giving cannabis buds a “bath” to clean them after harvest.
Is bud washing necessary to grow the best cannabis?
Do marijuana buds need a bath after harvest?
Possible reasons to wash your buds
- Pesticides were used while buds were forming
- Plants had a bug infestation (bud washing can help remove bug poop and dead insect bodies)
- Remove large amounts of any other contaminants including hair, dust, fur, etc.
- Buds were grown outdoors and exposed to contaminants from nature
Essentially, bud washing is a last-resort option when buds need to be cleaned and you’re not willing to throw the weed away.
Bad reasons to wash your buds
Some growers wash buds because it seems like a good idea. For example, you wash an apple from the store right? There’s a big difference. We wash produce from the store because we don’t know what it came in contact with before it reaches our home. Most produce you buy was also grown outdoors without a personal touch. If you’ve grown your buds indoors in a clean environment, they shouldn’t be exposed to contaminants that need to be washed off.
Bud washing is a last-resort option when buds are dirty and you’re not willing to throw them away. In my opinion, the time to “wash” your buds is in the process of making bubble hash 😉
Not only is it unnecessary to wash buds if they're already clean, you run the risk of triggering mold. If you’re going to treat your buds with anything, stop to consider why. The best way to grow clean weed, in my opinion, is to grow weed in a clean
environment.
Here's how to grow clean weed indoors...
- how to grow pristine weed indoors
- growing clean weed outdoors
- easiest way to keep pet hair off buds
- what to do about bugs
- preventing other common contaminants
If bud washing seem right for you, I also included the original bud washing tutorial by Doc Bud at the bottom of the article!
Should I Grow Weed? (Pros & Cons)
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Should you start growing your own weed?
Would you like to grow your own cannabis? One of the most common questions we get from new growers is whether they should or shouldn’t start growing. The truth is that the process of growing marijuana has pluses and minuses and the answer is different for everyone. For some people, growing is a productive and enjoyable hobby that provides an unlimited supply of cheap, high-quality weed. For others, growing may be too time-consuming or involved. Plus, if you only
enjoy weed occasionally, the process of growing may produce more buds than you could use.
I’ve compiled a quick list of pros and cons to consider which should help you make the right decision.
Yes, you should grow weed if…
Click here to find out today!
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Defoliation Tip for Organic Growing
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These are the last plants I grew in "just add water" organic soil. Their growth seemed to slow down for a week or two after they were defoliated in the early flowering stage. On the other hand, their clones in another tent grown in coco did not skip a beat after getting defoliated.
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After my current grow is over, I'm be starting a new experiment using clones to test defoliation vs letting a plant grow naturally. How will it affect yields and bud quality?
Note: Defoliation means to remove leaves. Strategic defoliation is often used to get cannabis plants to produce bigger denser buds, but it can hurt yields if done wrong. There are lots of anecdotes about defoliation, but few (if any) published experiments with clones. That's changing with my next grow!
Since I announced the upcoming experiment, several of you have written with excellent questions about defoliation. I thought this one was worth sharing with everyone.
"Is defoliation effective when growing organic cannabis?"
Based on my experience, I don't recommend much defoliation in a grow style where you're not giving extra nutrients in the water (most organic setups).
The most common way to grow organic cannabis is "just add water" soil (often called super soil), which slowly releases organic amendments over the course of the grow so plants don't run out of nutrients before they start making buds. Sometimes growers create organic "living" soil, which involves nurturing a colony of soil microorganisms to
deliver nutrients to your plant roots "on tap". Key point: the grower is not adding nutrients in the water.
In my experience, cannabis plants grown in these setups have a harder time recovering from heavy defoliation compared to some other grow methods.
On the other hand, plants that get nutrients in the water (for example in coco, hydro, or soil with added nutrients) recover quickly from defoliation, or don't slow down at all.
Because organic soil, on its own, seems to perform poorly with defoliation, my upcoming side-by-side defoliation experiment was planned to use coco coir as the grow medium with Fox Farm's new Cultivation Nation nutrient trio. But maybe I should test "just add water" soil, too.
I was hoping you could help me decide. How many of you use "just add water" soil and are curious about the effects of defoliation?
Let me know by replying to this email. If there's enough interest, I may add a soil plant to the experiment in addition to the coco plants. That way we can test both!
Need a last minute gift? Don't have time or money, but some extra weed? Put an 1/8 in a baggie and write “Happy Holidays!” on it with permanent marker. To this day I am still happy to get new free weed as a gift :)
Auto-Flowering Grow Journal: Week 9
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Still loving the ES300 LED grow light! The gap in the middle helps accommodate plants that grow too close. Despite being only inches away, the top of the Sour Diesel plant still has green leaves. Pretty impressive for a powerful LED. Those buds are getting fat! |
Not much change in the grow tents between this week and last week. Just chugging along as buds mature and fatten. A few weeks to go.
Untrained autoflowering tent (given just water from germination)
The autoflowering plants in this tent were topped at 3 weeks old and bent to produce a flat, orderly canopy. Other than that, they're the same strains and got the
same care and environment as the above tent.
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"Keep up the great work look forward to the newsletter every week!"
~Chris
Thanks, Chris. We aim to be a part of every growers Sunday (or Monday if you read it late) ~Sirius
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"New-B grower here. I began my growing journey last fall. This fall I'm growing Pure Red Auto CBD (from Sweet Seeds) in my tent. Bought a new LED for the girls. Holy cow - these are the biggest buds I've seen on any of my grows. And of course they are only gonna get bigger.
I'm happy, happy, happy!
You're a big part of my success. Thank you for what you do!!!"
~James
Woooooooooo! That's great to hear! 🎉🎊 ~Sirius
"Great Work you guys, just to let you know, GWE is my go to Guru in all things Ganja. You Rock 👍"
~R.C.
Now I'm going to be walking around with way too much pride because someone (kinda) called me a Guru. 😅 ~Sirius
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"Blue dream seeds from AMS. Also a pic of some strawberry ice."
~Hobby grower
The plant in the first picture looks amazing, and the plant in the second picture is both amazing and taller than a fridge. That plant would bump its head if it could walk through the doorway behind it 😲 ~Sirius
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"Hi Sirius, Reading your article on topping is these the nodes you are talking about? This is a SUPER SKUNK plant i was just wondering they look like seed pods to me. Thank you for your great site."
~Harry
Yup, Harry. That's exactly what I was talking about. Cannabis plants can grow big calyxes that many growers confuse for male sex parts. If your plant has a growth like the one in the second picture, you're fine 👍 ~Sirius
"Next year’s plants will be epic. I’ll be sure to send you those too. 😁"
~Thomas
Well done! That outdoors shot is glorious. Can't wait to see next year's plants ⏳ ~Sirius
"Hey, Mark here, if I am sending too many pictures, you might have to block me. Make sure you let me know so I don’t go thru this too much, LOL.
Hey, I decided to “unleash” my girl, so I took all the tie wires off and jest let her throw her limbs up and chill from here on out. She has been a JEWEL to grow, just fascinating. She is becoming more woody.
~Mark
We've featured these plants from Mark before and they look great! It'll be tough to keep them spread out, but it's going to end up looking absolutely epic. 🏆 ~Sirius
P.S. sure do wish you would give me a cool ALIAS, (handle). That would be cool coming from a pro, like a blessing…….
Nebula and I came with our alias' on the spot when we realized we needed a name to put on GWE that wouldn't get us in trouble at work or with our landlord. The only 'alias' of mine I've ever liked are ones I come up with on the spot, so maybe you can pick one the same way we did.
Mark, you have exactly 4 minutes and 20 seconds from the moment you read this to come up with an alias. It's a bit of pressure, but I believe in you! Let me know what you came up with 👍 ~Sirius
Quick Guide to Plant Problems
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Watch Out for Seed Scams!
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What scammers look like when they keep your money
Don't get scammed around the holidays!
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 fake seeds (or nothing).
Unfortunately, we live in a scam-filled world these days. 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.).
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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)
A good seed company leaves a smile on your face (confession: this happy golden retriever made me giggle so I forced it into the newsletter)
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...
- 15 Ways to Increase Cannabis Yields Indoors - Most growers want their cannabis plants to yield as little weed as possible when harvest time comes. Wait, I got that backwards. Most growers want to harvest as much weed as possible at harvest time, and this page will show you how to do that.
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The Secret to Excellent Bud Quality - When you've got the hang of growing, you'll quickly find yourself with an excess of homegrown bud. And once you have all the bud you want, the natural next step is to learn how to grow weed with quality being the primary focus. It's a great skill to have and it'll pay you back as soon as you
harvest.
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How to Increase THC When Growing Weed - Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to weed. I like taste and smell, but for me, the real thing I care about is potency. Potency is queen when it comes to my weed and increasing the amount of THC (and it's entourage) makes it stronger.
- Cool Growing Tools You Might Not Know About - You know what's cool about buying yourself presents for the holidays? They're always on time! Future-you won't be mad at past-you if a present shows up a little late...
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!
Ask Questions & Talk with Other Growers!
Please note: We let each person in manually, so please be patient after you request to join. We'll let you in as soon as possible!!
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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) 2021 GrowWeedEasy.com
NOTE: If links aren't working or if pictures are not showing up properly, please view the full newsletter here: http://archive.aweber.com/gwe-updates
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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