clones

There are many advantages to cloning as well as disadvantages, a lot depends on how the clone was obtained. It is important to be aware of the condition of the original mother, her generation, and how she herself was taken. If you are buying from a nursery be sure you ask these questions. Ask them how she has been cared for, what issues she may have, and what treatments, if any, were used on her. They should be able to tell you what generation cutting she is as well. This is important to maintain potency of the strain and you always want a cutting as close to generation one as possible. Some nurseries will keep strains in genetic stasis. If this is done you are more likely guaranteed a cutting close to generation one. In my own nursery I keep strains in stasis. Each new mother is pulled out of stasis instead of opting for the top of the last, which promotes degeneration. This maintains my strains original potency and genetics with little to no degradation. Some nurseries do not know which generation their cuttings are in, if this is the case I suggest opting for a nursery who knows what is going within their own gardens. 

Many growers will top their plants just before flipping them into flower. This gives them a very nice beautiful clone to work with as well as keeping the plant left short and bushy, allowing it to develop many top colas instead of just one. Never top a plant more than twice and never top when they are in flowering. This will put the plant and the cutting into a state of shock. This technique of taking clones, while efficient in many ways, allows for great degeneration and degradation of the strain. It is suggested, if possible, to start fresh from seed or cutting after a couple rounds of topped clones. 

It is possible to maintain potency, genetics in stasis keeping the plant at or near generation one. Keep in mind if you are going to be using clones you want to get as much information about the mother as possible if you have not raised and kept her yourself. 

start at the beginning...

Finally. 6 babies healthy, striving, clean. It took so long to get these 6. Just them and no more. the mother just wasn't strong enough if you could even have called her a mother. She was ill, so very much. I haven't pinpointed the issue but I will have a better idea once these get on father. I am hoping it was just where she came from and what she had been through before. The place I got her from wasn't so bad but I don't know at all about before that so I am just hoping she was suffering from deficiencies instead of anything major. These 6 are exceptional so I have high hopes. 

bubba blast

Today I decided to run the bubba kush (circa 1995) into bho. I acquired this strain from her original owner and have been logging her and running her ever since. she has maintained her potency and I have not allowed degeneration so she is just as she was in 1995. Each time I have run a bho I have tried a different finish. It is interesting to play around with different styles and techniques of purging. I do not own a vacuum chamber or anything but I do have a food saver and the last run I did I shoved the glass pan into a food saver bag and vacuumed and sealed it. It worked pretty well! I was surprised so I am going to be playing with that a little bit more for sure. This time I filled the tube as normal, ran two cans through it into a warm water bath, I don't allow my water to go over 195 (I use a water pot I have had for years bought from a Japanese market! It really does the job!) I am doing a warm water purge and one initial whip. The photos below are after all this. From here I will allow it to set for an hour or so then run another purge. One pan will go into the food saver bag and continue the purge in that way. the other I will slow purge with warm water as I cannot fit the glass pie pan into the bag!! I am contemplating purchasing a vacuum chamber. They aren't unreasonably priced and if I keep running this I am sure it will become imperative to the process! 

h2oooooohhhh!

I just love water extracts! I ran some bubble bags the other night, I have a 9 bag system but I really only use 5 bags. The end result this time came out beautiful! It is strong and potent, smooth and light in flavor. It isn't heavy or have that weird "all over mouth" taste some hash gets. No aftertaste and it is more potent as you sit! I enjoy water extracts a lot. Lately the request has been for the bho but playing with the bubble bags is always worth it. Consistency and patience, as with most of this field, is key!

Houston, we have a problem....

So these were cut about 8 weeks ago. They were not doing so well when I brought them home. They didn't come from an ideal environment and their parents were never in an ideal environment that I know of. From what I understand of their lineage they should be potent and quite top shelf indeed. At the time of these photos, today, they have been in these cups for about 6 weeks. New growth comes in very nice then after a few days it starts to go downhill. I have pulled them into rehab and we shall see how they fair. Time to stop any rapid growth and allow some damage control to happen. They will probably get about a two week rehab time after which they will be transferred into their buckets. To transfer them at this time with a clear root or genetic problem would be detrimental to their rehabilitation and put them into a state of shock. Therefore, even though they were going to be transferred today, they will have to wait so as to allow root growth and repair. Please look forward to their progress! :)

A little something I forgot to add... these girls were originally from a garden that constantly used floramite. I am not sure if avid or forbid was used. floramite, avid, forbid, eagle 20 these are all fine mite treatments for your ornamental plants but for anything for human consumption I whole heartedly disagree with using them. Even if they are outside, where the sun breaks down the chemical in the plant (I am sure you can mimic the effect indoors), they still test at least 5 ppms in the finished product. As it is highly recommended you completely cover your body and wear a mask when applying these chemicals, I do not see how any sort of consumption of any product treated with them would be good for you. It is my understanding these chemicals stay in the plant material indefinitely so perhaps they also can lead to genetic disorders in the long run...? This is just speculation, of course.