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Issue #359 - Sunday, March 3, 2019
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue...
- Learn about the "Light Dep" technique to produce an extra harvest outdoors each year, as well as increase bud quality and overall yields! If you're a outdoor hobbyist, this is a can't-miss!
- Once you have the knowledge of how to employ "Light Dep", get strains that are known to work well with the technique. Being prepared is always a good thing!
- Check out a video we made answering your most common grow questions in our recent survey!
- Do you think it takes 6-foot tall plants, or colas the size of a human baby to get your trophy pics posted? Not true! This weeks trophy pics show how a couple of seedlings (and some creativity) can easily steal the show!
- Last week, we asked you to help identify a bug for a fellow grower. We were taken aback by how many of you reached out to respond to our call for help! This week, we'll tell you what everyone though as well as our opinion!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
~Marcel Proust
"Light Dep"
for an Extra Outdoor Harvest!
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by Nebula Haze
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Thanks for contributions by Adam Jacques and Elton Prince!
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I’m always amazed at how mainstream cannabis cultivation has become in the USA! The other day I was in my local electronics store and I saw a classy-looking magazine for sale called Grow Magazine – The Quintessential Cannabis Horticulture Magazine (pictured to the right – here’s their website). I was ecstatic to see an upscale marijuana grow magazine in a big-box store and even more excited to learn they’d been around for a
while!
The March/April issue of 2017 (labeled “The Sun Grown Issue”) was one of their stand-out issues and was all about outdoor cannabis growing. I was pretty impressed by the amount of quality content! In fact, the issue was so good you can’t get it anymore! There was an interesting article on page 44 about cannabis light deprivation by commercial marijuana farmers Adam Jacques and Elton Prince. They share their experience operating an outdoor pot farm in Eugene,
Oregon using the “Light Dep” technique, in order to produce a second outdoor harvest each year while also improving overall bud quality and sometimes even yields.
Since that issue of the magazine is now sold out online and we are right around the time when growers are putting their marijuana plants outdoors, I wanted to share the main points for outdoor growers who may have missed it!
I've included the most actionable information from the article, as well as many extra tips and tactics I've learned from other outdoor pot farmers over the years! If you're intrigued, make sure you check out future issues of this awesome publication!
Light Deprivation ("Light Dep") for 2+ Outdoor Harvests a Year
There are several benefits to "Light Dep" or the "Light Deprivation" technique for outdoor cannabis growers!
In essence, a blackout tent is used to artificially alter the plant's light schedules (similar to how indoor growers put their lights on a timer), giving the grower the ability to force the plant to start making buds as soon as they are put outside!
2+ Outdoors Harvests a Year (instead of just one in the fall)
- Harvest #1 May - Late July (or your local Spring to Mid-Summer)
- Harvest #2: Late July - Natural Harvest (or your local Mid-Summer to Autumn)
- it's warm year-round at your location, you can also have additional harvests during the winter months
Better Overall Bud Quality
The outdoor commercial growers in Oregon who helped hone the Light Dep technique explain they've found that relatively smaller outdoor plants tend to produce higher quality bud than huge multiple-pound outdoor plants. The smaller plants are also less likely to suffer from bud rot or other types of mold. By splitting one harvest into two a year, they've found you end up with overall better bud quality on average.
Can Improve Yields
Although each harvest is smaller than it would be with one standard outdoor harvest, the overall yields for the year end up being the same or even larger with two harvests. This may be partly due to the fact that a second set of plants is being prepared vegetatively indoors while the first one is maturing under the sun. That means you have plants using sunlight to make buds continuously during the entire summer and fall, instead of only during late summer and fall. You get to use more of the
overall light in a grow season for bud growth.
Take Advantage of Budding Under July Sunlight
The Light Dep technique lets one set of plants finish flowering under the high-quality sunlight in July. Some of the highest grade outdoor sinsemilla comes from July-fattened bud, due to the strong direct sunlight, high levels of UV rays and overall lack of mold or wetness in the middle of summer for most locales.
Less Chance of a Catastrophic Failure
Since you have two harvests, if you lose one set of plants it doesn't mean that you've lost everything. So for example, an unexpected extreme heat wave or bug infestation won't kill all your plants for the year. You are also less likely to lose some of the plants to thieves, especially since few thieves are on the lookout for plants mid-summer. By spreading out your eggs into more than one basket, you prevent any one thing from ruining your whole outdoor harvest
for the year.
You Don't Have to Wait as Long for Buds
If you're out of cannabis, being able to harvest a lot of bud a few months early can make a world of difference!
There's something so natural about an idyllic outdoor marijuana garden, but if plants get too big it can start getting difficult to care for them!
There's also some evidence that small-to-midsize outdoor cannabis plants produce better quality bud on average than huge outdoor plants! This is an example of a mid-size plant.
Huge outdoor plants produce a lot of bud and are amazing to see, but are generally harder to care for and the huge colas are more likely to suffer from problems like pests and mold
Suitable Strains for
Multiple Outdoor Harvests a Year?
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When it comes to growing multiple outdoor harvest a year, some strains are better than others. What strains work well for the Light Dep and other Multiple strain techniques?
- Bred for outdoor growing
- Flowering period of ~2 months (avoid long-flowering strains like pure Sativas as they will mess up your schedule)
- Mold-resistant (since plants may be covered for hours at a time in a humid environment)
- Make sure to choose a strain that interests you! Even if it's not optimal, almost any strain can be modified to use this technique!
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Example Photoperiod Strains for Light Dep
- Holland's Hope - Plants get 3-7 feet tall on average and produce a "knock-down" and "euphoric stone" effect that's difficult to find with indoor strains. The buds tend to get fat and are very mold-resistant Buds often take on purple hues as they approach harvest.
- Frisian Dew - A popular strain because about half of the plants grow incredibly vibrant purple buds (the other half of plants grow green buds but still beautiful and the effects are just as good). This strain is very well suited to outdoor growing, even in northern climates.
- Power Africa FAST - A faster-flowering version of the famous African-based strain, which is well-suited to outdoor growing and is ready to harvest with unique bud effects (described as uplifting, energizing and "happy") and great yields by September.
Any photoperiod strain that really catches your eye can be used if you're smart about making sure it harvests in time! ;)
Example Auto-Flowering Strains for Multiple Outdoor Harvests
These strains ("Super" Autos) are bred to grow bigger and produce more buds than a standard auto-flowering plant. Although not well suited to indoor growing, these make amazing outdoor plants that are ready in about 3 months from seed. Since you don't have to worry about light deprivation, you can easily pull
multiple outdoor harvests a year by putting plants out in batches from Spring to Mid-Summer.
Join Our NEW Online Grow Course!
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Some of you may have already heard that we're going to be hosting a class for beginner growers! There's been a massive, positive response and we appreciate how great our readers have been!
This class is meant to be the easy way for potential cannabis cultivators to learn everything they need. But this isn't like your average "How to Grow Cannabis" class...
Anyone who joins our (limited availability) class will have access to Nebula and I so we can ensure all students make it to harvest. You heard right! This class puts bud in your hands instead of giving you vague instructions.
Similar courses will give you all the by-the-book growing knowledge you can take, and there's still a good chance you'll walk away not knowing how to actually grow cannabis. What you need is practical knowledge, that is, knowledge you can actually put to use after you've learned it.
Our course is all about that: Making sure you leave with knowledge you can use immediately and effectively.
We recently made a video answering some of your most common grow questions, and include more information about the class at the end. Click the thumbnail below to watch the video!
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Click Here Learn More |
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Subject: Fantastic - had to reach out.
I can’t thank you enough for the information you have compiled on this site. I just started growing again after 12 years off and every time I search something, I wind up back here.
Detailed, accurate and well done from a UX standpoint. Very, very rare.
Please keep it up. Which I see you are, I find freshly published articles quite often.
Thanks!
~Brett
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Trophy Picture of the Week!
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"For years I wanted to take a few pics of the early hours and days of a young plant. Now I don't have to think about it anymore because one of the female stars has just given birth."
~MSKL
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Help! What's Wrong with My Plants?!
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Last week, we asked you to help identify this bug:
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So what is it?
First, let's go through your votes:
- Assassin Bug - 9%
- Western Conifer Seed Bug - 18%
- Stinkbug - 56%
- Others - 17%
The bug above is technically a Western conifer seed bug, but this species is also known colloquially as a stinkbug and is in the same family as the assassin bug. So, I'd say you all know your
bugs!
Be warned, even though it isn't in the official family of stinkbugs (Pentatomidae), it can still conjure up an offensive smell if it's scared or squashed.
These guys primarily eat the insides of conifer seeds, and most of you agreed that they don't seem to hurt weed plants. However, a few growers did report that these guys damage leaves and new growth, so if you see one, at least keep an eye on them.
We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
Check Out Our Growing Community! |
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 and we'll try to let you in as soon as possible!! |
Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my
mission to make it easier for new growers to get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We are updating and adding articles every single week and our goal is to eventually build a comprehensive growing resource so anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone :) |
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Learn which seed sources are personally 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!"
Get Your Seeds Delivered Safely! |
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GrowWeedEasy.com has put together a hand-picked list of all the available seed
banks including what type of payment they accept and where they ship in the world!
List of trusted seed sources:
http://www.growweedeasy.com/seeds Get Seeds!
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Copyright (c)
2019 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 or other medical professional. Be safe!
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