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CultivatingExceptional Cannabis
Cultivating Exceptional Cannabis
Copyright © 2003 DJ Short
ISBN: 978-1-936807-12-3
1st edition, 1st printing
Project Staff: S. Newhart & Jaloola
Cover Photo: Heirloom Blueberry by Andre Grossmann
Cover Design: D/Core
Interior Design: Small World Productions, San Francisco
Chapters 2-13, 16, 17 and 18 are revised from articles that previously appeared in Cannabis Culture magazine.
The material offered in this book is presented as information that should be available to the public. The Publisher does not advocate breaking the law. However, we urge readers to support the secure passage of fair marijuana legislation.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the Publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
To the plant, and all who serve her.
And to Canada, who will hopefully continue to do the right thing despite the Elephant with whom she sleeps.
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God(dess) keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Thank you.
Contents
Introduction: The Humble Indoors
Section I Cultivating For Quality
4 Growing Medium and Nutrients
5 Air Circulation and Temperature
6 Carbon Dioxide
7 When to Water and Feed
8 Light Cycles
9 When is it Ripe?
10 Re-Greening
11 Cloning
12 Curing for Quality
Color Section
Section II The Art of Breeding
13 The Art of Selection
14 Producing Exceptional Seeds
15 Genetic Inheritance: Backcrossing & Stabilizing
16 Cannabis Types: Sativa, Indica & Ruderalis
17 The Heritage Strains
18 Developing a Connoisseur Palate
Index
The Humble Indoors
It’s about time. A time to sprout and plant. A time to water and feed. A time to mature and grow. A time to develop and age. And finally, a time to cut, cure and, last but not least, consume the fruits of the labor. There once was a time, not-too-ancient, when it was all done in the great outdoors, under the full open sky.
But, as fate would have it, some creatures have chosen to appoint themselves as predators. They have chosen to prey upon the good folk who produce and use the blissful fruit. Some of the more sadistic control freaks of the world have taken it upon themselves to fabricate rules and laws that, supposedly, demonize and criminalize the production, transport, sale, possession and/or use of the amazingly benign and benevolent substance we know as cannabis. These latter day witch-hunters like to believe that they are succeeding. But we know better.
Welcome to the humble indoors. I am trying to accept the fact that I have been a closet horticulturist for thirty years now. I have the white hairs to prove it! (Pun intended.) Perhaps the greatest lesson the plant has taught me in all of my years of experience with her is that of patience. This plant has taught me the virtue and the potential value of waiting. Plants also have the ability to show us what it means to make the best out of a given situation. This book explains ways to cultivate patience and optimal conditions to produce a garden of exceptional quality.
Before Indoors
In the early 1970s we did not know much at all about growing good herb. We had grand quantities of seed from the commercial Mexican and Colombian herb we were consuming and we knew the plants grew from seeds. But we couldn’t get the damned things to sprout, no matter how we tried. Years later we found out that the seeds in the large commercial shipments were sterilized—some by pressure, heat or it is rumored by irradiation.
Two phenomena sparked what would become my lifelong ambition. The first came in 1973,
