another strain that migrated into the gene pool. Gene Migration When we deal with a population of plants we refer to a group of plants that breed within themselves without any interference from an outside population. Over time a population will reach equilibrium and this will be maintained as long as no other population migrates to this one. When another population is introduced it will cause new genes to enter the pool. This is called Introgression. During the process of introgression many new traits will pop up in the population. Genetic Drift: If the population is small equilibrium may be violated. By chance alone certain members will be eliminated from the population. We will find that the frequency of an allele will DRIFT towards higher or lower values. Non-random mating and Natural selection: This suggests that something external may influence a population to a stage where mating is not random. If some flowers develop earlier than others then they will gather pollen earlier than the rest. If some of the males
373
release pollen earlier than others then the mating is not random. Or maybe all males release their pollen earlier resulting in some of the later flowering females ending up as a sinsemilla crop. This means that these late flowering females will not make their contribution to the gene pool. Again equilibrium will not be maintained. With regards to natural selection the environment may cause a problem with a section of plants. If this section does not survive then they will not be able to make a contribution to the gene pool. If this is the case and if selections are made so that other plants do not make a contribution then we know that trait frequencies can be controlled to a certain degree. And the ability to control the frequencies of a trait is what BREEDING IS ALL ABOUT. HOW TO TRUE BREED A STRAIN Breeding cannabis strains is all about manipulating gene frequencies. Most strains that are sold by reputable breeders through seed-banks are very uniform in growth. This means the breeder has attempted to lock certain genes down so that the genotypes of those traits are homozygous. If we can imagine for a moment that a
374
breeder has two strains - Master Kush and Silver haze. The breeder lists a few traits that they like. * Donates the trait that they like. This means that they want to create a plant with the following features and call it something like Silver Kush. Now all the genetics that they need are in both of the gene pools for Master Kush and Silver Haze. We could just mix both populations and hope for the best or we could try to save time, space and money by calculating the genotype for each trait and using the results to create a Master Kush Silver Haze Dark Green Leaf Pale Green leaf * Hashy smell * Fruit smell White flowers Silver flowers * Short plants * Tall plants Silver Kush Pale Green leaf * Hashy smell * Silver flowers * Short plants *
375
TRUE BREEDING STRAIN (An IBL). The first thing the breeder must do is to understand the genotype of every trait that is featured in his/her ‘ideal’ strain. In order to do this the genotype of each parent strain or population for that same trait must be understood. Since there are 4 traits that the breeder is trying to isolate then 4 × 2 = 8 Genotypes for these phenotype expressions must be made known to the breeder. Let us take the Pale Green Leaf of the Silver Haze for starters. The breeder will grow out as many Silver Haze plants as they can find. They will then note down if any of the population have any other leaf colour trait. If not, then the breeder will note that the trait is homozygous (We will call the trait - M). Now it can either be MM or mm. If other coloured leaves appear in with the population then the breeder must assume that the trait is not homozygous, but Silver Kush Pale Green leaf * Hashy smell * Silver flowers * Short plants *
376
heterozygous. If it is heterozygous then we must lock the trait down before we can continue. This is done through selective breeding. Let is look closely at the parents for a moment. If both parents where MM we would not have seen the variations in the population for this trait. It is a locked down trait. We know that this trait will always breed true in its population without any variations. If one of the parents were MM and the other Mm we would have ended up with a 50/50 population of both variations. But one is clearly homozygous and the other is heterozygous. M M M MM MM M MM MM M m M MM Mm M MM Mm
377
If both where Mm then we would have 25% MM, 50% Mm and 25% mm. Even though we can see the frequencies we still do not know if the Pale green leaf trait is Dominant or Recessive, but we can find this out by performing A Test Cross. Now we are not going to go through the Test Cross chapter again but we can show you how to isolate the genotype that you need, which is either MM or mm because we want to breed that trait true. We must also keep track of the parent plants been used. To keep parent plants alive, clone them! The exact same genetic material will be passed on from clone to clone. In this this cross do you see MM offspring and the mm offspring? Well by their very nature they can not be the same. By running several Cross Tests we can isolate the plant that is either MM or mm and break away any Mm from the group. Whether it is MM or mm, we can still breed the trait true by breeding it with other M m M MM Mm m Mm mm
378
parents that are only MM or mm respectively. So we may have to do several test crosses to find a male and female that have either MM or mm for that trait. Once we have done this we have isolated the genotype and it will breed true within the same population. So if we ran a seed-bank company called “PALE GREEN LEAF ONLY BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS NOT UNIFORM LTD” then the seeds that we create will ALL breed PALE GREEN LEAVES and the customer will be happy. In reality though they want the exact same plant that won the cannabis cup last year…..or at least something close to it. So we will have to isolate all the traits that helped that strain of cannabis to win the cup before people are happy with what they are buying. I think you get the point. How many tests it takes to know the genotype is not certain. You may have to use a wide selection of plants to achieve the goal, but never the less it is still achievable and much more so than non-selective breeding in the wild. Each trait must be locked down in a population, so that the population for that trait is homozygous. The next step is to lock down other traits in that same population. Now here is the hard part. When you are working on a trait you must keep the other traits that you are looking for in mind.
379
By breeding alone you may accidentally lock down another trait that you do not want or even remove traits that you want to keep. If this happens then you will just have to work harder at keeping the traits that you want and exploring genotypes through multiple Cross Tests. Eventually through selection and keeping records you will end up with a plant that is true breeding for all the features that you want. The gene pool is there but the objective is to lock down the traits of the pool. Also by keeping your own records you will be building up your own little map of cannabis genes. For instance if someone grows Blueberry from a known breeder and asks what the berry taste genotype is, you might be able to tell them a little bit about your experiences and what you found. This may help them cut corners. Maybe one day we will be able to genetically map cannabis and everything will be much easier. Also a breeder never sits back and says “Right! I am going to be on the lookout for all 1000 traits that I want.” That is crazy. What they need to do is concentrate on the main phenotypes that will make their plant unique in some way. Once they have locked down 4 or 5 traits they can them move on. Step by step is how True breeding strains are created. If anyone says that they developed a true breeding strain in 1 or 2 years then you can be sure than the genetics they started with where
380
somewhat true breeding in the first place. (Known true breeding strains like Skunk#1 and Afghani#1 have taken 20 years to get to the stage they are at now.) Eventually you will have your Silver Kush strain but only with the 4 genotypes that you wanted to keep. You may still have a variety of non-uniform plants in the group. Some may have purple stems, others may have green stems, some might be very potent, and others might not be so potent. By constantly selecting new traits that you want to keep, you can manipulate the strain into a totally true breeding strain for every phenotype. However it is extremely unlikely that such a strain exists on the market that is 100% true breeding for every single phenotype. Such a strain would be called ‘A perfect IBL’. If you are able to lock down 90% of the plant’s phenotypes in a population then you can claim that your plant is an IBL. I think in today’s world that this would be an acceptable % to reach. Silver Kush Pale Green leaf * Hashy smell * Silver flowers * Short plants *
381
The core Idea behind this technique is to find what is known as a ‘Donor’ plant. A Donor plant is one that contains a true breeding trait (homozygous Dominant) for that trait. The more lock down traits are homozygous Dominant the better are your chances of developing an IBL. IBL is short for In Breed Line. This does not mean that the line of genetics will be true breeding for every trait, but in general this terminology (IBL) used by breeders does refer to a strain as being very uniform in growth for a high % of the strains phenotypes. Let us use the example of hamster. In a litter of hamsters we may find that they all have the same phenotypes. If that population reproduces and no other phenotypes crop up then we can consider the fact that these hamsters come from an In Breed Line. If the hamsters continue to breed and all show the same traits without variation then we know for certain that the gene pool has been locked down. There are some breeding techniques that you may like to know about. These techniques can seriously breach the law of Hardy-Weinberg’s Equilibrium. Which in our case can be a good thing because it will reduce a trait in a population or promote a trait in a population.
382
The strain MAY not be true breeding for the selected traits, but it will certainly help make the population more uniform for that trait. CUBING AND BACKCROSSING Our first cross between the Master Kush plant and the Silver Haze is known as the F1 hybrid cross. Let us pretend for the moment that both traits are homozygous for leaf colour. The Haze is pale green the Kush is Dark Green. Which one is MM or mm we do not know? Until we see the offspring. This F1 cross will result in hybrid seeds. Now since M is dominant over m, then we will know which colour is more dominant and from which parent it came from. In the example let us pretend that the overall results are pale green. This means that the pale green allele is dominant over the dark green. M = Silver Haze pale green leaf trait is dominant. m = Master Kush dark green leaf trait is recessive. m m M Mm Mm M Mm Mm
383
But we also know that because no variations occurred in the population that both parents where homozygous for that trait. However ALL the offspring are heterozygous. Now here is where we can take a big short cut in manipulating the gene pool for that population. By cloning the parent plant MM, we can use this clone in our cross with the Mm offspring. This is known as a BACKCROSS. Obviously if our parent is female then we will have to use males from the Mm selection in out backcross. Now out first backcross will result in 50% being homozygous for that trait (MM) and 50% of the offspring being heterozygous (Mm) for that trait! If we did not backcross but just used the heterozygous offspring for the breeding programme we would have ended up with: M m M MM Mm M MM Mm
384
which is 25% Homozygous Dominant (MM), 50% Heterozygous (Mm), and 25% Homozygous Recessive (mm). So backcrossing will seriously control the frequencies of a specific trait in the offspring. The first backcross is simply called A BACKCROSS. Now let us see what happens when we do our second backcross using the same PARENT that we are keeping alive through cloning. Our second backcross is referred too a SQUARING. Since we are dealing with only 2 types of offspring Mm and MM we will either repeat our results….. Which is the same as our results from our first backcross……..Or M m M MM Mm m Mm mm M m M MM Mm M MM Mm
385
All the offspring will be MM and thus true breeding for that trait. Those offspring are the results of squaring. We have not really cubed anything here, but this is a good example to get you started because it shows how we can manipulate a population by backcrossing. Cubing in reality is less controlled than this. Cubing is a way of increasing the frequency in a population for a certain trait. It MAY not result in true breeding but it will promote a trait in a bunch of plants. Also the actual selection process is somewhat random. In a population we select a mother plant that we want to keep because of her features. In the same population we gather pollen from 50% of the males that have characteristics similar to the mother plant and 50% that do not. The pollen is mixed is their respective portions. So we have two packets of pollen in the end. We must clone the female to create 2 females. We then use the 2 packets of pollen on each clone separately. M M M MM MM M MM MM
386
When we grow out the offspring from the two females we will select the population of the offspring that mostly resembles the mother plant traits that we are looking to promote in the population. What happens is that the best male pollen should have been selected by the female as the one that she prefers. The reason for taking the 2 sets of pollen from 2 sets of males is to create a control experiment to show how this method actually interferes with the frequencies of the gene pool. By right, your selection of poor male pollen will only bring about a poorer quality population that do not resemble the female clone. In reality we only select pollen from the best males that most resemble the female when we use this method. Do you remember one of the laws that breaks equilibrium? Non-random mating and Natural selection. Well that is what we are doing here. The resulting offspring should have a high frequency for the traits that we like in the mother plant. The problem is that we do not know which male from the bunch is the one that WON this female over, but it is quicker and less time consuming in creating a strain that is somewhat uniform for a specific trait. By repeating the process we can help increase the mother plants trait frequency in the offspring’s population but we will probably
387
end up with some plants that are non-uniform for that trait. The best way to achieve this process is as follows. Find a female that you like and clone this female and her farther. Take pollen from the farther and pollinate the female. The offspring should contain a 50%/50% of the genes for both parents. Take pollen from the males of that offspring and mix them together. Pollinate a clone of the mother. This step should insure that selection is no longer random and you are promoting the frequency of the mother’s traits in the next offspring. Repeat the process two more times and you will have effectively CUBED (meaning backcross x 3) this strain. This can push the mother plants traits as high as 90% in a population but we will probably get some non-uniform plants in the offspring too. Cubing does not really help us to select for traits that we want, like in our Silver Kush experiment. It simply helps us to keep a few traits that a mother plant has. Cubing is a common procedure adopted by breeders who find a good healthy mother plant in a selection of seeds that someone has given them. This method can also fail very quickly if your selection of males are the wrong choice.
388
SELFING Selfing is the ability for a plant to produce seeds without the aid of another plant. This refers to hermaphrodite plants that self-pollinate. There is no such thing as a ‘gene pool’ or population with regards to hermaphrodites since the only pollen that a hermaphrodite will use is the pollen that it generates itself. Both male and female flowers are located on the same plant. There can be variations in the offspring though. It is impossible for a hermaphrodite to create any male only plants. A hermaphrodite may create female only seeds and hermaphrodite seeds. Also the female only seeds may carry the hermaphrodite trait. Extra Notes on Selfing by Vic High: [These notes where taken from a commentary that took place on the Internet and are worth reading. Provided by Vic High, BCGA breeder]
389
Notes and Interviews by Mr XX 100% Female Seeds Posted by TheSiliconMagician on February 13, 1999 at 05:17:41 PT: As some of you know I have been a regular in the chat room for awhile now and I spend large amounts of time in there. Anyway, I have had the extreme pleasure of speaking to Mr. XX. over the last few nights for many hours and have gotten to know him quite well via E-mail and the chat. As it turns out he confided in me and a few others about his process for coming up with 100% Seeds. Now, Mr. XX is a very nice guy. Funny to and its always a pleasure to speak with him. The guy does not speak English too well but his wit comes through the rough language and he’s a riot to talk to. He is a pure lover of cannabis. He feels that everyone should share and share alike and help the community in general. He simply wants to share his knowledge with the cannabis community because he has spent 15 years researching this and I spoke with him in depth about it. Done with Mr.XX’s permission because he wants everyone to be able to do
390
this. He stressed literally hundreds of plants with an irregular photoperiod. What he does is put the lights on 12/12 for 10 days. Then turns the lights on 24 hours, then 12/12 again for a few days, then back to 24 hours for a day, then 12/12 again for a few weeks. If he does this and no hermaphrodites come up. He has found a 100% XX female that cannot go hermaphrodite naturally. He says that your chances of finding a 100% XX female is vastly increased when using Indica genetics. He told me that the more Afghani or Nepalese genetics the plant has, the better the chances of finding a natural XX female. His exact words were “Where did Mother Nature give weed a home at originally?” I tried to get him to narrow it down to a ratio, but he never specified just how many plants per are XX females his exact words are “plenty of XX girls for everybody” and that is all he will say on the subject. Only that it takes a lot of time and a lot of plants to find that one female. He then uses Gibrellic acid. 30 centilitres of water with 2 grams of Gibrellic acid [Authors note: This is an incorrect amount
391
please follow the directions at the end of this section next to the * mark. TSM did correct himself but not in this post. He did so later on.] (Continued) and 2 drops of Natruim Hydroxide to liquefy the Gibrellic. Then applies as normal and creates the male flowers. He has as pud said gotten down to the 4th Generation with NO loss of vigour, NO genetic deficiencies and NO hermaphrodites. He claims that the plants are EXACT GENETIC CLONES of one another. Complete sisters. Basically it’s clone from seed instead of from normal cloning methods. Posted by TheSiliconMagician on February 13, 1999 at 05:17:41 PT: Mr.XX also says that it is easy for the home grower to find an XX female. It’s a very time consuming process but a straightforward one. He says that home growers should confine themselves to ONE strain. Mr. XX used a Skunk#1 x Haze x Hawaiian Indica. He says to separate those plants from your main grow and stress the hell out of them. Do this over and over with every new crop of seeds you get of that strain until you find the XX female. While this is probably difficult it is by no means impossible.
392
Another anecdote “The slimmer the fingers the harder it is to find the XX girls”, so if you have that Columbian Sativa.. it is going to be nearly impossible for you to find that 1 female.. he says it’s possible, but very unlikely.. TSM * CORRECTION: 0.02g of Gibrellic, NOT 2 grams And this concludes the chapter on Basic Breeding. Hopefully in later editions we will be to expand on what we have mentioned here and show you some examples of some breeding projects and how they work. In the meantime you should have enough information here to start work on your own cannabis strain. I wish to thank Vic High, Chimera and Strawdog for making a major contribution to this chapter.
393
Chapter 16 STRAIN INDEX This section contains a list of cannabis strains that you will more than likely come across if you shop around. KEY * = A very good strain. ** = Suitable for new growers. *** = Not suitable for new growers. TB = Indicates an IBL strain. OUT = Not suitable for indoors. P = High potency. C = No seeds available. Clone format only.
394
INDICA STRAINS Afghani - *, **, TB, Afghani #1 - *, **, TB, P Bazooka BC Hash Plant Black Domina - P Champagne - P, C Cream Sodica Domino Durga Mata G-13 -P, C Hindu Kush - , **, TB KC36 Kong Kush -, **, TB, M-9 Mango Mangolian Indica Masterkush - *, ** Mazar Northern Lights - *, **, TB, P Pluton 2 Purple Star Romberry - *, P Shishkeberry - , P Shiva -, **, P
395
Slyder Twilight Williams Wonder MOSTLY INDICA STRAINS Aurora Borealis Big Bud - *, ** Big Treat Blueberry - , ** Buddha Chemo -, C Chitral Chronic -* Early Bud Early Girl -, ** Eclipse El Nino Great White Shark -, P Hawaiian Indica x Skunk #1 Hawaiian/Skunk Himalayan Gold -* Inca Spirit K2 M39 -* Matanuska Valley ThunderFuck -, C
396
MCW (Mighty Mite x Chemo x Widow) - Mister Nice Misty Northern Lights #1 -, **, P Northern Lights #2 (Oasis) -, , P Northern Lights #5 -,, P Peak 19 Romulan - Sensi Star Shiva Shanti -, ** Sweet Tooth - Texada Timewarp -, P Top 44 -, ** Yumbolt -* SATIVA STRAINS Cambodian -, P, OUT Durban Thai x Cinderella 99 -, P Haze Strains -, TB, P, OUT Malawi -, OUT Swazi -, TB, P, OUT Thai -, TB, P, OUT
397
MOSTLY SATIVA STRAINS B-52 Beatrix Choice Cinderella 88/99 -, **, P Durban Durban Poison -, , P Durban X Skunk Durban/Thai -*, P, OUT Early Pearl - *, ** Early Skunk - , ** Haze #1 -, P, OUT Haze #19 -, P, OUT Haze Skunk -**, P, OUT Kali Mist -, , P Lambs bread Skunk -, P Mexican Sativa -, OUT Mullimbimby Madness -, **, P, OUT Neville’s Haze -, **, P, OUT Original Haze -, **, P, OUT, TB Power Plant -, , P, OUT Pure Haze -, P, OUT Purple Haze -, **, P, OUT Purple Skunk -, **, P, OUT
398
Sensi Skunk -, **, TB, P Shaman -* Silver Haze -*, **, P, OUT Skunk #1 -, **, TB, P Skunk Passion -* Skunk Red Hair Super Haze -*, **, P, OUT Super Silver Haze -, , P, OUT Swazi X Skunk -, OUT Voodoo INDICA / SATIVA MIX STRAINS AK-47 -, P Apollo 11 -, P Blue Heaven BubbleGum -*, **, P California Indica California Orange Dutch Dragon - , **, P Early Riser - * Euforia -, P Flo -* Fruit Loop Green Spirit Hawaiian Indica -* Holland’s Hope Jack Flash -, P Jack Herer -, P
399
Juicy Fruit -* KC 33 Killer Queen -, P Leda Uno Mighty Dutch Nebula Night Queen Orange Crush - Orange Strains Plum Bud Pole Cat -* Purple #1 -, ** Purple Power -, ** Rosetta Stone -* Shiva Skunk -, **, TB Silver Pearl - Skunk Indica -, ** Space Queen - Special K Stonehedge -* Super Skunk -, **, TB, P Trance - White Rhino White Russian -* White Widow -*, **, TB, P This concludes the list of known strains on the market today. We will be updating this list with more feedback from you, the reader.
400
Chapter 17 HOW TO MAKE HASH Hash is a compressed format of the cannabis drug but it is not just compressed bud. In fact compressed bud has nothing to do with Hash contrary to public belief. Cannabinoids are the major drugs produced by the cannabis plant. We have already looked at Trichomes and we understand that these tiny stalked resin glands contain our THC and other cannabinoids. We also know that female flowers produce the majority of the little trichomes. Now this is all over the flower’s surface and is correctly referred too as “stalked capitate trichomes“. Since we are on this topic we will ask you to refer to Figures 1.12 and 1.14 in chapter 1. The gland heads (the rounded tips) secrete the major cannabinoids within an oil-like substance that you can remove by rubbing your fingers over the bud. We normally refer to this substance as resin. The stalks that support the gland head are secondary to the head in cannabinoid production amounts. The gland and the stalks may also burst. In the case of a strain like afghani#1 that is thick with resin, this sometimes-explosive action of the gland is automatic.
401
The reason why the cannabis plant produces resin oils is to gather fallen pollen from the male plant. When we smoke bud, we hope to covert the oil into a vapour, which we can inhale. However the surface of the flowers is not the only area which produce cannabinoids. It is known that the bulbous glands on the leaves produce cannabinoids and so does the stem, but these are only in minor quantities compared to the stalked capitate trichomes. Hash is made primarily from the collection of the stalked capitate trichomes. When the collected trichomes are compressed they form a blocky mass, which we refer to as Hashish. HOW TO GATHER THE STALKED CAPITATE TRICHOMES. There are many ways to do this, ranging from bulk hash production to small finger sized quantities. Also each method will produce different qualities or grades of hashish. Some methods will gather only the trichomes, while other methods will gather trichomes and some other subsidiary elements like leaf particles and branch shavings. Water extraction seems to
402
be the best way of achieving trichome extraction only. Let us look at each home method. We will not discuss other methods used for mass production by some eastern countries, as these are somewhat substandard to the home methods mentioned below. In fact some of these ‘old eastern practices’ are less common in their native homelands now because of these updated methods. There is also a preparation process that you must go through with your dried plants before you attempt any of the methods outlined below. SKUFF When you harvest your bud you will have trimmed the leaves away from the bud. This trim is what we refer to as Skuff. Skuff should be sticky. So whether it is on the stem or branch or leaf or bud, if it feels sticky then you can use it to extract the resin. Now if you really want to be a connoisseur about this then you should examine your skuff for trichomes with a microscope. If any parts of the skuff do not have trichomes then discard them. You must take this trim and store it much the same way as you would canned bud for 3 to 6 weeks. Also the quality of the overall result can not be much better than the genetics that you
403
started with in the first place. If you used plants that where not very potent then don’t expect to produce very potent hash from them. BASICS OF SCREENING Flat Silk Screening: Screening is a process much like cheese grating but on a much finer level. A silk screen is stretched across a square wooden frame and nailed tight to it. The screen typically has a pour size between 180 to 120 microns. The smaller the microns the higher the quality, but the lesser the amount. The larger micron pours will result in larger sieved amounts but some leaf matter and branch trim will drop through. This will degrade the quality of hash that you smoke. Actually typical street hash is not nearly as fine or better in quality than the larger pour screen method. The bud is placed over the screen and can either be manually dragged across the screen or rolled across the screen using a roller. Manually it is much easier if you are using smaller quantities of bud but for larger quantities another method should be adopted like the automatic tumbling method. A sheet of glass placed under the screen is the best way of catching the matter that falls through the
404
screen. After the process is finished the screen can be patted down to shake any powder that is stuck in the pours. Flat Metal Screening: This is done much like the flat silk screen method but before the flat silk is used the bud will go through a metal grating process. The metal grate is usually made from tough nylon or stainless steel and is of equal proportions in pour size to the silk screen. By first using the metal grate we can remove more matter from the bud than the single silk screen would do. The bud matter that passes through the metal screen can then be sieved through the silk screen by shaking the screen back and forth over a glass surface. You can end up with 2 grades of sieved bud residue this way. The silk screening should produce mostly trichomes. Multiple Screening Method: This is a refined version of the above two methods. Several screens can be used in this method but the average is four of five. Each screen running from start to finish should have a different micron measurement starting from the largest and running down to the smallest silk screen. The bud matter is sieved through the first screen and then down onto the second screen. The process is repeated picking up and
405
sieving with each new screen until most of the matter has passed through. You should end up with several screens that contain bud matter running down to the finer trichomes on the last screen. This is an excellent way to achieve the best results. You should end up with several screens each with different qualities of cannabis residue. PROPER SCREENING METHODS Now that you have an idea of what screening is about we can look at it in better detail. This explanation will apply to all of the above screening methods. We stated that a metal screen is used first followed by a silk screen. Nowadays steel fabrics can be bought in sizes that have much smaller pours than even the finest silk screen. You should typically look for a metal screen that is ranged somewhere between 100 lines per inch to 140 per inch. A common screen used by most home hash makers is a screen with 120 lines. A wooden frame is constructed to hold the screen in place on one side. You can glue the screen on or nail it into place. Take 4 small wooden blocks and place them over a sheet of glass or a mirror. Place the screen over the blocks. Have a gap of an inch or so between the mirror and the screen. Place small amounts of skuff on the screen and gently role it back and forth across the screen using
406
a credit card or similar plastic object. Do this very gently, over and back and over and back and over and back. You may have to push the skuff over and back a hundred times before you can see the tiny resin glands gather on the mirror below. All this is done with very little pressure. Once you have collected as much resin glands as possible use the card to sweep them off the mirror and onto another surface. Now take the ‘used’ skuff and this time apply a bit more pressure to it as you roll it back and forth across the screen. With this little bit of extra force applied you will be able to knock through any resin glands that did not fall through the first time, but you will also push through some veg material such as branch shavings and leaf particles. This second round of pressing will result in a lower quality grade of skuff. You see skuff is skuff. From when you cure your trim to the point where you sieve it through, it is still skuff. Your objective is to try and collect as much resin from the skuff as possible. You will not end up with hash, but you will end up with different grades of skuff that can be used to make hash later. You can smoke the different grades of skuff there and then, but you may notice that it is hard to do so. Since this powder is so fine it will typically fall from a joint easily or pass
407
through the pours of a pipe screen. In order to solve this problem we must compress the skuff into hashish. This we will discuss later after we talk about other extraction techniques. Drum Machines: A drum machine is an automatic screening device. You will probably have to build one yourself but this is easy enough to do with the right materials. The size of the unit depends on how much cannabis you wish to sieve at a time. Most drum machines have a 1.5 - 2ft diameter. This is a simple example of what a drum machine looks like. In between the two wooden
408
cylinders is the screen. The cannabis trim is placed inside this screen and a small motor attached to the side rotates the drum. As it rotates, very slowly (2 rotations a minute), the trichomes drop through the sieve onto the surface stand between the legs of the drum. A simple mirror or sheet of glass is best used to catch the skuff. You can keep the tumbler rotating for up to 1 hour to get the most from your skuff without applying any pressure. If you want to apply more pressure to the skuff then place a small wooden cylinder in with the barrel. This will help press the skuff as it passes under the cylinder. Different sized screens can be used to extract better quality skuff. Water Extraction: Resin glands can be removed from the cannabis plant by agitating the trim in cold water, typically ice cold water or water that has been chilled in a fridge overnight. The trim is placed in a bucket and the cold water is poured in on top. The whole lot is swirled or mixed around using a blender. After mixing you let it sit for a few minutes before scooping out the skuff that is floating on the surface. The remaining liquid is strained through a sieve. By sieving this liquid through a coffee sieve you will be able to collect most
409
of the trichomes, as they will not pass through with the water. Just let the coffee sieve dry and hey presto!, you got excellent grade skuff to make hash from. The basic idea behind this is that cold water breaks the glands away from the leaf matter. The glands will eventually sink to the bottom of the bucket because they are heavier than water. The bulk leaf matter should stay afloat which can be easily scooped away. HOW TO PRESS SKUFF INTO HASH Again the quality of the skuff will determine the quality of hash that you will smoke. Remember on the first chapter we talked about Zero Zero? Well this is a term used to grade the quality of hashish. The simple ratio is cannabinoids : vegetable material. Good quality hashish has high ratio of cannabinoids to vegetable material. 00 is a term used by Moroccans to express that the hash has the highest level of cannabinoids to vegetable achieved by their extraction process. You can almost imagine that this is the finest skuff available compressed into hashish. To compress hashish is simple.
410
Take your fine skuff and put into a cellophane bag. Fold it into a block shape. Tape the ends of the cellophane down to create the package. Press it with your hands to make it more even and try to create the best square block you can with it. Use a pin to make a few holes on both side of the bag. Just scatter a few around. A hole per square inch is a good measurement to go by. Get two or three newspaper pages and dampen it down with a cloth that has just been rinsed. Don’t break the paper just dampen it down. Set an Iron to low heat and place the newspaper over the cellophane bag. Hold the iron down over the paper and press it down with medium pressure for fifteen seconds. Turn the bag over and place the newspaper on top again. Wet it down if need. Press again for the same amount of time. You should only have to do this twice. Let the bag cool for five minutes and remove the cellophane. Voila! You have a nice block of hash like in picture on the introduction to this book. Easy as pie! Also your quality of hash will be better than the street hash you find on the market. Street hash
411
tends to be made from the less finer skuff material to make more blocks of hash at a lesser quality. If you smoke homemade hash then you will probably understand why 90% of street hash is sold at rip-off prices. Those big ounce chucks you buy probably only contain 10% of the good stuff, if any at all! Many countries use most of these techniques to make hash. You can almost imagine that in order to achieve bulk amounts you will have to use a lot of skuff in conjunction with a lot of employees or several drum machines working around the clock. As a ratio you will find that in order to produce 50grams of good quality hashish you will need about 900grams of dry trim. That is a ratio of about 1:18
412
GLOSSARY OF TERMS Acidity: Acidity is indicated by the pH value Below 7. Aerate: Loosening or puncturing the soil to increase water penetration. Afghani: A short Indica land race strain from Afghanistan. Very resinous. Air layering: A specialized method of cloning a plant which is accomplished by growing new roots from a branch while the branch is still connected to the parent plant. Alkaline: Having a pH value of above 7. Alternate host: One of two kinds of plants on which a parasitic fungus must develop to complete its life cycle. Alternate: To be “located directly across from” or can apply to stamens when between the petals. Annual: Completing life cycle Awn: A slander bristle-like appendage usually at the end of a structure. Bactericide: A chemical compound that kills or inhibits bacteria. Bale: Any package of marijuana weighing over 10 lbs. Ballast: A transformer used with HID lighting equipment. Bhang: An Indian and Middle Eastern drink made from cannabis. Biennial: Completing the life cycle in two growing seasons. Cannabis is not biennial. Biological Control: Total or partial destruction of pathogen populations by other organisms. Blight: Rapid death of a leaf Blotch: A disease characterized by large irregular spots on a leaf. Blue light: Mercury based light. Blunt: A joint rolled in a tobacco-leaf wrapper. Bong: A water-cooled pipe made from glass.
413
Bonsai: The art of growing carefully trained plants. Bract: A small leaf or scale-like structure associated with and subtending an inflorescence or cone. Bud: Female flower. Caespitose: Growing in tufts. Calyx: Outer whorl of flowering parts; collective term for all the sepals of a flower. Cambium: The thin membrane located just beneath the bark of a plant. Canker: A canker is a necroticoften sunken area on a stem, trunk, or branch of a plant. Cannabinoids: The psychoactive compound found in cannabis. Chillum: A small fat pipe made of clay. Chlorophyll: The green pigment in leaves. When present and healthy usually dominates all other pigments. It is important in the conversion of CO2 and H2O into glucose. Chlorosis: Chlorosis is the yellowing of normally green tissues due to the destruction of the chlorophyll or the partial failure of the chlorophyll to develop. Chronic: A strain of cannabis or a high-quality cannabis weed. Clasping: Leaf partly or wholly surrounding the stem. Clones: Rooted Cuttings. Normally considered female in the context they are spoken about unless directed otherwise. CO2: The chemical formula for carbon dioxide. Cola: Refers to the main branch of cannabis flowers located at the top of the stem. Colombian: Common imported bud from Colombia. Also a strain. Compost: An organic soil amendment resulting from the decomposition of organic matter. Corolla: Inner whorl of floral parts; collective name for petals. Creeping: A plant creeps along a structure usually using the structure for support.
414
Dieback: Dieback is the progressive death of branches or shoots beginning at the tips and moving toward the main stem. Dioecious: The male and female flowers on different plants. Disease: Any malfunctioning of host cells and tissues that results from continuous irritation by a pathogenic agent or environmental factor and leads to development of symptoms. Dividing: The process of splitting up plants Doobie: A common expression for hash or weed. Dope: Usually refers to cannabis. Sometimes Heroin. Double Digging: Preparing the soil by systematically digging an area to the depth of two shovels. Epidermis: The outer most layer of cells of the leaf and of young stems and roots. Evergreen: A plant that never loses all of its leaves at one time. Fan Leaves: They are the largest leaves of the cannabis plant that gather the most available light. Fertilizer: A plant food, which when complete should contains all three of the primary elements Floret: A Small flower. Flower: Seed producing structure of a plant. Foliar Feeding: Fertilizer applied in liquid form to the plant’s foliage in a fine spray. FourTwenty: (420), the time of day that one starts smoking cannabis so that it does not interfere with one’s work. Fungicide: A compound toxic to fungi.
415
Gall: Swelling of plant cells. A result of a pest Ganja: Term for pot derived from Indica but associated also with pot from Jamaica. Genotype: The genetic constitution of an individual, esp. as distinguished from the phenotype; the whole of the genes in an individual or group. Germinate: The process of the sprouting of a seed. Glabrous: Smooth, no hairs present. Glands: Refers to resin producing part of the cannabis plant. Glandular: Bearing glands. Grafting: The uniting of a short length of stem of one plant onto the rootstock of a different plant. Grass: A very common term for cannabis. Habitat: Natural setting where a plant grows. Usually refers to a specific plant community. Hash/Hashish: Compressed Cannabis Resin. Hemp: This is the stalk and stems produced from the cannabis plant that are used to make fabrics. Herb: Another term used loosely to refer to cannabis. Hermaphrodite: A trait of plant where both the male and female flowers are located on the same plant. HID: High Intensity Discharge light system. Hookah: A large water pipe from India. Host: A plant that is invaded by a parasite and from which the parasite obtains its nutrients. HPS: A high Pressure Sodium Light. Humus: The brown or black organic part of the soil resulting from the partial decay of leaves and other matter. Hybrid: The offspring of two plants of different species or varieties of plants. Hydroponics: The science of growing plants in mineral solutions or liquid, instead of in soil.
416
Indica: A species of cannabis plant. Infection: The formation of a parasite within or on a host plant. Infectious Disease: A disease that is caused by a pathogen which can spread from a diseased to a healthy plant. Inflorescence: The flower cluster of a plant. Inoculum: The pathogen or its parts that can cause infection. Internode : The distance between branches along the stem. Joint: A cannabis cigarette. Kief: A term from Morocco used to explain a fine grade of quality Skuff. Lateral: Referring to side(s) of the plant structure. Leaching: The removal or loss of excess salts or nutrients from soil. Leaflet: Segment of a compound leaf. Leafy: Having numerous leaves. Lesion: An area of plant discoloured or diseased tissue. Linear: Resembling a line; long and narrow and of uniform width. Also refers to uniform growth. Loam: A rich soil composed of clay, sand, and organic matter. Lobe: A major expansion or bulge-like shape, as at the margin of a leaf or petal. Lumen: A scientific measurement for luminosity from a light source. Manure: Organic matter, usually the excrement of an animal such a horse, which is used as a rich fertilizer. Margin: The edge, generally of a leaf. Marijuana: Another term for cannabis. Mary Jane: A codeword for marijuana. MH : Metal Halide light system. Micronutrients: Mineral elements that are needed by some plants in very small quantities. Mildew: A powdery growth on the plant’s surface.
417
Mother: A selected mother plant kept for its vigour or likable characteristics by the grower. It is used for cloning and breeding. Mottle: Refers to irregular patterns on the leaf of light and dark areas like blotches. Mutation: A change in genetic material brought about by an abnormal influence such as radiation. Native: A plant that occurs and grows naturally in a specific region or locality. Necrosis: Necrosis is dead tissue on areas of the plant. Nematicide: A chemical compound that kills nematodes. Nematode: Microscopic, wormlike animals that live in water or soil, or as parasites of plants and animals. Node: Position on a stem from which one or more structures (especially branches) arises. NPK: Abbreviation for nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), and potassium (K), the three primary nutrients for plants. Oil: Refers to cannabis resin when it is not in solid state. Organic: This refers to a method of gardening utilizing only materials derived from living things and not man made chemicals. Osmosis: The process by which a solvent passes through a semi-permeable membrane into a region of greater solute concentration, so as to make the concentrations on the two sides more nearly equal. Paraquat: A defoliant used to kill the cannabis plant around the world. Parasite: An organism living on or in another living organism (host) and obtaining its food from the latter. Pathogen: An entity that can incites disease. Peat moss: The partially decomposed remains of various mosses. Used as a substrate. Peduncle: The stalk of a flower or of a flower cluster. Perennial: Living more than two years or growing seasons. Perianth: The floral envelopes; collectively the calyx and corolla,
418
especially when they are alike. Perlite: A form of obsidian consisting of vitreous globules expandable by heating and used for insulation but in our case it is used as a plant growth medium. Petiole: Leaf stalk. pH: The pH is a measure of the acidity of a solution. Photoperiod: The timed amount of light that a plant receives. Photosynthesis: The chemical process in plants in which carbon dioxide and water are converted into glucose by the influence of light energy. Phototropism: The inclination , which plants have, to grow towards light. Phyllotaxy: How leaves are arranged on a branch or stem. Pinching: Using the thumb and forefinger to lightly crush a branch or stem which promotes further branching and causes the plant to bush more. Pistil: The ovule-bearing organ of a flower, consisting of stigma and ovary, usually with a style in between. Pollen: The male gametes or microspores of a seed plant, produced as a fine granular or powdery substance in the anthers of a flower or the male cone of a gymnosperm and usu. transported by wind or insects. Pollinate: Convey pollen to or deposit pollen on (a stigma, an ovule, a flower, a plant) and so allow fertilization. Pot: Another term for cannabis. Potency: The strength of the cannabis drug. Usually measured by the THC levels in a plant. Predator: A predator is an insect or animal that feeds off other animals, insects or plants. Pruning: The cutting and trimming of plants to remove dead or injured wood , or to control and direct the new growth of a plant. Red light: Usually refers to a Sodium based light (HPS). Reefer : Another term used for dried cannabis. Specifically a cannabis cigarette. Resistance: The ability of an organism to exclude or overcome a
419
problem. rH: Abbreviation for relative humidity. The relative humidity is expressed in %and measured with a hygrometer. Roach : A filter for a cannabis cigarette. Root ball: The network of roots along with the attached soil of any given plant. Root bound: A condition that exists when a potted plant has outgrown its container. Roots: The colourless underground, part of a vascular plant (developed from the radicle) which serves to anchor it, convey nourishment. Rot: Rot is the disintegration, discoloration, and decomposition of plant tissue. Rust: Rust is a plant disease that gives a “rusty” appearance to an infected surface of the plant. Sativa: A species of cannabis plant. Scorch: Scorch is the burning or drying and browning of leaf margins. Usually caused by overfeeding. Senescent: The growing old and dying back of plant tissue. Sepal: Can mean a leaf or segment of the calyx. Serrated: Having jagged edges. Sinsemilla: Refers Non-pollinated female cannabis plants. Skuff: Sifted resin from the cannabis plant. Skunk: An old strain of cannabis that has a strong smell and sour taste. Spiciform: Shaped like a spike. Spliff: A term used to describe a cannabis cigarette. Staking: The practice of driving a stake into the ground next to, and as a support for a plant. Stamen: The male organ of the flower that bears pollen. Stash: A personal amount of cannabis. Stigma: The receptive part of the pistil on which the pollen germinates. Stipule: Appendage at base of leaf stalk, often leaf- or scale-like. Stoma: An organ in the leaves of plants. The stomata allow the plant to breathe.
420
Stout: Thick and sturdy. Substrate: Refers to the growing medium. Susceptible: Lacking the inherent ability to resist disease. Symptom: The external and internal reactions or alterations of a plant as a result of a disease. Taxa: A group of plants, defined by the scientific plant classification system. Terminal: At the tip of a structure. Tetrahydrocannabinol/THC: The psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana that is responsible for the high. Thai stick: A cannabis sweet made by wrapping cannabis around a thin bamboo splint. THC: See - Tetrahydrocannabinol/THC. Thinning: Removing some plants to allow sufficient room for the remaining plants to grow. Toke: To inhale cannabis. Transpiration: The release of moisture through the leaves of a plant. Transplant: The process of moving one plant from it’s medium to another medium or another location. Underground: A nasty term used to describe a movement of the people who grow and share cannabis. Vascular: Term applied to a plant tissue or region consisting of conductive tissue. Vegetative: The growth phase of a plant that occurs before flowering and after the seedling stage. Vermiculite: Any of a group of hydrated silicates resulting from the alteration of biotite and ultra basic rocks; spec. a monoclinic aluminosilicate of magnesium occurring as platy yellow or brown crystals or foliated scales. Flakes of this mineral used as a moisture-holding medium for plant growth or a protective covering for bulbs etc. Virus: A sub microscopic obligate parasite consisting of nucleic acid and protein. Weed: A common term used to describe cannabis.
421
Whorl. Group of three or more structures of the same kind (generally leaves or flower parts) at the same node. Wilt: Wilt is what happens when the leaves of a plant droop. Zonked: To be very stoned. Usually refers to the Indica type high.
422
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS It is by practical application of this book that the journey from novice grower to guru is achievable. Never try to do more than what you can. As a whole the following factors are the most important in achieving good results. -Light -Genetics -Preventing a problem instead of solving it -Air circulation -Soil -Pot/Container Size -Fertilizers -12/12 Light: Without a doubt light is a very important factor in bud production and plant growth. Although results can be achieved using a 250W HID or fluorescent tubes, a 400W HID is better. A 600W HID will produce a much better crop than a 400W HID and a 1K HID is the best single
423
light available on the market today. If you are not getting the bud sizes that this book is showing you then upgrade your light system. It still has to be said that not everyone wants to grow this amount of bud and a 1K HID does cost a good bit of money to run. However with a 1K HID light you will improve your results. Also conserving light is important. Use reflectors, white walls and Mylar to keep the spread of light even and contained in your grow room. Any light leaks mean that usable light is being lost. You’re paying for it so try and use as much of it as you can. Your plants will love you for this. Genetics: It goes without saying that a plant with genetic traits for low bud production amounts and potency will not create an outstanding plant. If you start with bad genetics you will only end with bad results no matter what you do or how good a grower you are. If you want to obtain good genetics then get your seeds from a seed-bank that advertises good strains from reputable breeders. Most of the best breeders enter competitions such as
424
the ‘Cannabis Cup’ in Amsterdam. You should pay a visit to Amsterdam and sample what the breeders have to offer in the coffee shops. The coffee shop owners will sometimes tell you where you can get seeds from some bud that you liked to smoke. Most of the cannabis plant pictures in this book come from well-known strains that breeders have produced. Most of these strains can be bought through seed-banks. Preventing a problem instead of solving it: Prevention is better than cure. Any problem will stunt growth to some degree. Solving the problem before it happens entails knowing what problems to expect during your grow. This book has explained some of the problems you will face. Healthy plants are rewarding plants. Take good care of your plant’s health and reap the rewards for doing so. Air circulation: Very important. Outdoor plants do not have this problem but indoor plants can sometimes stunt or grow weakly if they do not get fresh
425
air. Fresh air is important to replace any impurities that build up in your grow room. Also the percentage of different compounds that make up air can change or fluctuate if new air is not introduced into the grow room. This can cause problems with your grow. Also heat can build up in spaces that do not have good air ventilation. A rise in temperatures can cause a plant to stunt. Keep fresh air moving around your grow room at all times for the best results. Dust is also a problem. In a grow room you need to use ventilation to keep dust from settling on your sticky bud. Those tiny pistils are producing the resin that you want. A big blob of dust on a pistil will only stunt its growth, not to mention reduce the overall effect that the bud has when you sample it. Air circulation also brings a mild wind to your grow. This is important for stem and branch growth. Wind will make the plant react by stressing it a little. That reaction is thicker stem and branch growth. This is important for bud production, as the plant will be thicker, stronger and healthier overall. I have seen growers use fans in their grow rooms that can triple the width of a stem. On more
426
than one occasion I have seen indoor stems that are 2 inches thick and the plant was only 4 foot high! That plant produced the most bud in the same strain population too. The reason for this was because it was located very near to the main fan and was directly under the light. The growing conditions where optimal for that plant. It loved it. Soil: This is the medium that your plant will grow in throughout its life. If the soil does not suite cannabis then cannabis will not grow well in that medium no matter how good a grower you are. You may have to experiment with soil before you find a good soil that suites cannabis. Do not ever underestimate how important soil is. Make sure the pH is right and the nutrients that your plant needs are in the soil. Soils should hold a bit or water but should also drain well. We don’t want muds or fast draining soils. Find a middle soil that does both well.
427
Pot/Container Size: Also make sure that you use plenty of soil in large containers. I can tell you right now that a container that is only 4” x 4” will stunt your overall yield. You will be able to produce close to 0.5 Oz per plant (if the plant has good genetics) in a pot of this size, but a 6” x 6” will allow much more bud growth. A standard pot size for higher quantity results should be around 12” x 12” or more. I think a container that is 24” x 24” is good too, but takes up a lot of space. These larger containers are for mostly sativa and pure sativa species. Indica/sativa, Mostly Indica and Indica will grow well in 12” x 12” container. Fertilizers: Cannabis plants like food but not too much as we said before. If your provide the food that your plant needs then it will provide you with good results. However some fertilizers can change the taste of your bud. Many people say this is a myth but you will be able to taste the difference between natural outdoor bud and
428
indoor bud that has been chemically treated if you smoke enough varieties from various grow techniques. Some people have complained about headaches after smoking indoor cannabis that has been burnt through overfeeding. There are many reasons for this and one big reason is that the grower has not used a feeding solution that is for food plants but one that is for plant appearance like roses. Some of these non-food plant fertilizers contain other ingredients than just the standard primary, secondary and micronutrients. These extra ingredients can sometimes be toxic and a warning label is written on the side of the bottle to indicate this. The same goes for pest sprays that are toxic. This is another good reason why you should grow your own bud. However if you have read this book then you know to stick to food fertilizers only and sprays that can be used on food plants. If you get your feeding mixtures right you will boost the overall performance of your plant. You will keep it healthy too. Hormones can also increase the overall yield and vigour of your plant. In some countries hormones are banned because they
429
might interfere with a plant’s genetics…..and yours. It is best to read up more on hormones before you use them, but most people have used hormones, with a good brand name, and have achieved larger bud quantities. Hormones can sometimes be expensive. 12/12: If you use 12/12 and keep your flowering room completely light tight, you will improve your overall yields. A 100% light tight room will increase yields by 30% than a room that is only 99% light tight. That is how important total darkness is! If you can understand and control the above points then you will achieve the goal. This book will expand on a yearly bases. We will be adding new tips and tricks from growers around the world to keep up with the times. We hope that this book has helped you in some way and that you will use it for future reference. And remember - Do not break the law. Before
430
you get seeds, clones or grow cannabis check your countries laws to make sure that you do not conflict with them. We would like you to grow cannabis but we do not want you sitting in jail cell either. Have Fun and thanks for reading this book. Greg Green. - LIBERATE THE HERB -
431
