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Issue #434 - Sunday, August 9, 2020
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue...
- The year is 2020 and science fiction is is slightly more believable than regular life. It's about to get even weirder as we explore a techinique as crazy as the year we're living in: growing cannabis plants in a test tube! This techinique has many useful real-world applications for growers who can master it.
- What's the point of learning how to grow plants in a test tube if you don't have good genetics that are worth all the work? Make sure you start with something worth growing and preserving. Take a look at our suggestions if no strains immediately popped into your mind...
- I have to apologize in advance. The trophy pic section in this week's newsletter is huge. But just know that I wanted to make it like three times larger. If anything, this is the fault of these growers for sending in so many awesome pictures! Don't miss these ones!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong."
~Albert Einstein
Cannabis Tissue Culture:
Grow Plants in a Test Tube!
👩🔬🧪➡🌱🤯
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Example of cannabis explants in vials. Picture by MicroClone.
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Introduction
What is plant tissue culture and can it be used to grow cannabis plants in a test tube? Is micropropagation feasible to do at home?
Plant tissue culture is the process of taking living tissue from a plant (for example a piece of a leaf, stem, flower, or even a seed) and growing that “explant” into a full plant in sterile conditions. Although the process is more difficult with cannabis or hemp than some other plant species, it can be done.
Closeup of cannabis explants propagating with new shoots. Picture by Dr. Hope Jones.
The above cannabis explants have been cultured and grown into little plants. They will now be transferred to a rooting medium to grow roots. Just like coaxing a cutting to grow roots when cloning!
Overall, plant tissue culture is similar to regular cloning methods, only the starting pieces are smaller, treated to remove all pathogens, and grown out in test tubes under ultra-clean conditions. From beginning to end, the process takes
10-14 weeks.
Total sterilization is key. The tissue culture environment is great for plants but even better for microorganisms. They must be destroyed at the beginning or they will take over your culture. Yuck! Picture by BlueRidgeKitties.
The first known example of plant tissue culture was by Gottlieb Haberlandt in 1898, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that it became more widespread as part of the orchid industry. Since then, the process has become popular with all kinds of plants all over the world.
Interestingly, the technique has really not changed a lot since then, though now the information and supplies are available to more people than ever!
Tissue culture can be used for…
- propagating clones from a piece of the plant
- rejuvenate a “tired” or sickly mother plant by inducing what’s essentially a “reboot”
- remove epigenetic modifications that have built up over time in the plant tissue
- eliminate disease while keeping genetics
- sexual or asexual hybridization via protoplast isolation
- germinating old seeds
- produce botanical substances
- cell mutation and selection
- plant biotechnology
- somatic embryogenesis
- synthetic seed production
Did you know? You can preserve the genetics of auto-flowering cannabis plants by using a piece of one of their flowers to start your tissue culture. This "reverts" the tissue back to making stems and roots so the plant can be grown out again. Source.
It's difficult to preserve genetics from auto-flowering plants with regular cloning techniques. Plant tissue culture lets you take "clones" of auto-flowering plants even after buds have fully formed. I wish I could have kept the genetics of this auto-flowering Creme de la Chem plant!
Overview of Cannabis Culture Process – 5 Stages of Micropropagation
Here’s a general overview of the entire plant tissue culture process. This section will help you understand whether micropropagation is right for you.
Note: A tissue culture with cannabis plants typically takes 10-14 weeks before you have plants ready to put in soil.
- Identify the plant you want to use
- Put living tissue into a sterile environment
- Remove a piece of the plant (this sample is known as an “explant”)
- Trim explant
- Clean explant (start here if using seeds)
- Put explant in a disinfected test tube with suitable grow medium (typically a gel or liquid that includes nutrients and specific plant hormones)
- Let tissue multiply (grow into actual plants)
- Ensure proper temperature, humidity, light, and nutrients
- Force plants to make roots (known as “in vitro rooting”)
- Transplant to final home and let plants acclimate to the outside world
Now you can grow plants in a tube...
Make sure you grow good genetics!
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If you're about to go through the trouble of starting a cannabis plant in a test tube, make sure the strain is worth growing!
Good genetics are the backbone of any program meant to save good traits.
That dark weed filling up the coffee mug below is one of my favorite strains: Liberty haze by Barney's Farm. It has beautiful smell and flavor, great yields, and absolutely insane potency!
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The Liberty Haze in the picture above is almost a year old which gave it the dark color in addition to a heavy "couchlock" effect. We had a friend describe it as "too strong".
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"Just a note to thank you for so much valuable information on your site. I've been growing for years now, and whenever I have a problem or question, yours is my go-to website. There is so much ridiculous info out there....I find experience is the best teacher. Thank you for all your efforts!"
~Gail
I appreciate that you consider GWE a place to get good information. That means a lot in 2020! 🏆 ~Sirius
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"Hey! Thanks ever so much for all the information! Be safe stay well!"
~Andrew
Thanks, Andrew! I hope everyone reading this is keeping themselves healthy and safe. 👍 ~Sirius
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"Love you guys, 6 week gorilla glue auto. Bubbleponics, this is Sirius business . Thanks for all your help."
~Johnny Smoke
Good looking plants and a pun involving my name. I rate this entry 11/10! 🏆 ~Sirius
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"Lambs breath auto flower. 100 days in. I don’t top my autos, but I tie them down to my scrog net. This girl had a sister in a smaller pot that finished in 59 days, but only produced 2 oz of quality bud. This girl is currently in my drying cabinet and I can update on yield when I trim and
jar. GWE was my source for all my growing knowledge and you guys rock!"
~Fishnutz449
Wow! That plant looks like it's out for vengeance! A+! ~Sirius
"Here is a 4 month old AFGANI 100% INDICA growing in a 15 gallon fabric pot in secret soil. Being fed with RAW nutrients by NPK, dropping the B-52 on her periodically, cal-mag, & hydroguard. I couldn't be happier."
~KIRBINATOR
That's a beefy plant right there. Have you been putting protein powder in your nutrient mix? 💪 ~Sirius
"Hi Nebula thank you for all the tips and everything I need to research and experiment myself. I just wanted to share this with you. Its my mother plant ive had for 3 years now. I live in a multi unit house so I've had to move it around a lot and the lighting has never been perfect. But
that gave me the opportunity to try different things with it well anyways thanks and here's a pic. I'm no pro grower but this has kept me sober for a year plus thanks."
~Stickybudz.
Congrats on healthy looking plant, but more importantly, congrats on that one-year plus, buddy! 🏆 ~Sirius
"Tree frog hanging out in the weeds."
~Scout
Gotta show love for frogs on weed. They're little protectors! 🐸 ~Sirius
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...
- How to Make Feminized Seeds at Home - Since we're in high-techland, let's keep it going with making feminized seeds. Is it rewarding? Only if you liek the idea of having a free feminized seed factory!
- Picture Guide to Cloning Marijuana - It might not be as high tech, but it's still a way to make copies of a plant you like. If that's not sci-fi, I don't know what is...I mean, besides spaceships and ray guns.
- “True” Organic Growing vs Organic Nutrients - Instead of using synthetic nutrients, learn to copy the ecosystems that have stood the test of nature. Organic growing gets 9/10 science points.
- Decarboxylation: How to Decarb Your Weed - I included this one because decarboylation is a six-sylabel, $15 word that sounds packed with science. Turns out it just means to cook your weed to make the weed edible. Still, six syllables!
Check Out Our Growing Community! |
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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 update/add articles every week and have built a comprehensive growing resource. 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!"
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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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