Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: DoctorNoname on March 23, 2013, 08:41 am
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Hi guys, I'm bored and thought I would see if anyone wanted any advice on growing cannabis!
I've got years experience and turn out a high end product, I just figured there was probably a few people on here a little less green fingered than me and I can help them.
There's not much that will stump me so go ahead, pick my brains and I'll see if I can't answer your questions.
Also, if you want any advice on making concentrates, hashmaking or anything like that I should be able to help
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Well, I'm a tad of a botanist myself. So...
Can we have a friendly challenge?
Pose questions to one another, and see how well we can answer them? See the difference in technique and such? All with respect :)
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Yeah, sure, are you in the US? I'm in the UK, so that may confuse things a tad but still, it will be interesting.
So how do you grow? Personally I use aeroponics, I've tried lots of methods over the years but so far this is my favorite. Personally I also prefer non-organic growing for medical grade cannabis but this is a matter of opinion.
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Aeroponics are wonderful, though when I use them I employ ultrasonic emitters to break water droplets to 5 - 15 micron range, with heavier ranged heads used just for feeding cycles, sometime employing surfactants for research.
Half my crops are coco coir with silica substrate, the other half are in soil so organic it would make most hippies ashamed of their own ;)
Do you prefer to create your own genetics, or do you prefer a few specific breeders? Do you like feminized strains, or do you select pheno to keep yourself?
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I tend to go for British strains, we have some great underground breeders like OT1, I've been growing his strains for about 2 years now. I usually germ 5 seeds, select my mother plant based on vigour/indica dominance for a short flower and because of my personal indica preference. I tend to use feminised seeds but that is generally more an issue of availability than anything else, it is getting harder and harder to find reg seeds.
At the moment I am growing Underground Originals' Killerskunk and No Name. I am establishing a GHS Exodus Cheese mother though as I want to make a large batch of cheese concentrate, I think SR would appreciate that.
It's interesting, in Europe aeroponics tend not to be done through fogging, it tends to be more sprayers. Does it really make much difference?
With silica substrates do you still add nutritional silicone? A lot of growers make a lot of effort to flush silicates but I assume it is a different form which isn't absorbed through the root system.
Heres a tip for you if you haven't heard of it, have a look on the clearweb for 'hemp root balm', its awesome stuff and makes me regret all the rootballs I threw away over the years
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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That's awesome! I've not tried any of that breeders strains.
I found a large improvement in fogging myself : ) And yea the Silica is a non soluble form for the roots, so it's doesn't affect the flush cycle. It's more if your using chelated nutrients, helps with absorption.
Will look up that hemp root balm thanks. Got a bunch of liniment I've made on hand :)
You use coconut oil or butter for edibles?
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COCONUT OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, its the best, check out my seller page to see my Buffalo Caps, they are super cool, I make them by adding 100mg concentrate(shatter or honeycomb) to coconut oil that has been infused with all the goodness of the roots, stems and fan leaves. They are amazing, they are a good brownie hit in a pill with the added benefits of additional CBD etc as well as the novel alkaloids active in the roots.
Coconut oil is great for sublinguals too, if you haven't heard of it have a look for GrayWolf's Holy Anointing Oil recipe, he also has a sublingual version that works fantastically.
I might have to look into fogging, but I don't know if I could convert my current set up over to it. It's definitely worth looking into though
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Looks like we do alot of the same thing :) Haha :) GrawWolf's a cool dude, read all his work. SkunkPh has archived info rather well :)
Well, I'm super glad that your there to cover the UK's need for superb edibles, and I'm here for the US :) Soy lecithen is a doll as well.
Have you created any particular fun gastronomic delights?
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You totally just reminded my I have a pot of lecithin, I need to try adding that to the Buffalo caps... Hopefully it won't make it too liquid, but that gives me something to do this afternoon, thanks!
I used to make a lot of butter etc but I just found boiling trim in butter to be far to unexact for my liking, I much prefer extracting with butane and using that as a base for cooking, medibles etc. I like being able to give a mg dosage for edibles and that was just impossible with eyeballed butter.
Just out of curiosity, do you have any experience with chronic Lyme disease and cannabis? My mother has chronic Lyme and I have convinced her that this could potentially cure her, I've done a lot of specific research on this and it is very promising
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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+1 to you Both!!
:)
Peace,
ChemCat
8)
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Well... few questions right now but I may want to PM one of you guys in a few weeks when i begin my first try at growing. I'm not expecting much. Just want to grow a few outdoor plants. For a first time grower what kind of yeild can be expected? I plan on doing a good bit of reading in next week or so.
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For outdoor your yield is entirely dependant on your environment so it depends where you live. Humbold and Afghanistan grow copious amounts of cannabis for a reason and that reason is climate.
I'm not experienced at outdoor growing as it is next to impossible in the UK so my suggestion would be to find a good forum and read through their outdoor growing section
If for example you are in a northern climate you could think about growing a lot and making hash or concentrate to increase the quality/volume ratio of your final product.
Let me know if I can help with anything else
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Thanks for quick reply. I am in the southeastern United States. I'm sure the climate will work alright.
I am assuming that because this is my first time growing the bud will be less than great. My plan is to turn everything I can into hash oil, which would probably make me more cash and be easier to sell than mids.
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That really is a great plan, but if you want to make good oil you really need to vaccum purge your butane, the setup for that will cost you around $300 but will turn it into high quality extract.
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Cant I use most parts of the plant and the buds to make the oil? And luckily I have a friend who has a nice vaccum purge set.
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Perfect, you want to put anything with resin on it in the extractor. Everything else like the roots, stems and fan leaves should be boiled with coconut oil to make a topical hemp root balm, trust me, it is awesome stuff.
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Awesome. So basically the whole plant can be used. I want to use as much as I can. Basically this small grow is going to be my way of paying the thousand dollars I have. I really appreciate you answering my questions so fast!
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No worries mate, google 'hemp root balm' and you'll find loads of interesting stuff.
I must be one of the few people who has produced more cannabis than they have smoked
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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I have nothing to contribute here, however I just wanted to say I admire your good work DoctorNoname +1 to you and thank-you for keeping the UK concentrated (and medicated!) :)
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Thanks! The week before I found SR I got fucked by the guy who used to buy of me for £500 and a load of concentrate, that was bad times.
Then I found SR and everything got better, I'm thoroughly enjoying being part of this community and it means I don't have to deal with cumstains who rip me off
I really like being able to do this because I can do it, I'm just sat here stoned waiting for orders so I figured I'd let people pick my filled if somewhat disorganized brain
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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On growing outdoors:
As long as you choose genetics meant for being grown outside, and plan for soil depth accordingly. Often it can be thought that each foot vertically grown will be a square cubic foot of root space for the roots. Also planning your soil choice is very important. I can explain a very organic grow, a simple organic grow, or simple hydro done out door, just let me know and I'll break in to the science.
If your going to be making oil, your choice is to go profitable, or healthy. A healthy system if using butane, would be to use N-Butane and a closed system. If you don't have that much money, and don't worry most of us don't, you get a glass or stainless stell tube meant for extraction, pyrex pans, laser thermometer, vacuum chamber & vac (3cfm or higher, two stage means it will last longer), and depending on how you like your consistency (are you sending it ;) ) - if so your going to want desiccant and a dehydrator. If you want to further refine it you can use ethanol or hexane, a buchner funnel or syringe filter, and a way to easily evaporate said solvents. Also if you may want to heat the chamber, a kitchen griddle or an induction cooktop work well for this.
He's definately right about that coconut oil, I suggest also adding some l-arginine to help promote bloodflow. Useful shit.
Hey closet grower, what was your question? Closet grows are easy, grow tents can be useful if you don't have the time to construct one.
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^^What he said!
Seriously CoinBox, marry me.
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Haha thank you :D If only you were a beautiful girl, with all the knowledge, I would haha.
Have you ever looking into micropropogation friend?
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I googled it and it wasn't very clear, is it that thing where you take a small piece of the plant, like a bit of leaf and put it in this fluid or something and it essentially creates sort of a seed/clone type situation.
I read an article somewhere about it a while ago, not sure if it is the same thing but it was fascinating, so am i right?
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Yes, it's where you use a liquid medium to act as basal salts, suspend a tissue culture, and then use the basic hormones of plant growth to latter have it grow; Auxin, gibberlin, cytokin..
Then you can keep the sample cryogenicaly stored. Thus allowing us to keep males and females for 100 of years, with out any degradation. Some other forms include Thidiazuron-induced high-frequency direct shoot organogenesis, all very interesting :)
Would be happy to share some of my notes on it. At least enough for a smart guy like you to know where to begin research / experimentation :)
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Yay, I was right!
As fascinating as it is I don't know how much use I would have for the information, I'm not a breeder as I have limited space because well, I'm a dirty criminal in my wonderful country and that makes it awkward. What it does interest me for though is being able to get essentially a seed form of some of the novel clone-only strains like cheese. I'm currently growing GHS Exodus Cheese but I don't hold high hopes it has retained it's mothers uniqueness.
I have a question you might be able to answer, if my memory serves me correctly, curing bud/trim acts to decarboxylate it at least to some extent, is this correct?
I'm trying to figure out whether it would be worth decarboxylating BHO extracts from cured trim for my Buffalo caps, they are extremely active orally at 100mg due to the coconut oil bonding but I'm wondering whether throwing it on the hotplate to decarb whilst I'm mixing the oil and concentrate would significantly increase the active dosage contained.
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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You two sound like you're speaking a foreign language.
The root balm has peaked my interest. Can you use roots from a plant grown in soil as opposed to hydropoincly?
Beyond that it sound like it's pretty much the same as making butter, until you get to the end where you tweak the consistency and add flavors?
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Thats right, you make the root balm just like you would butter, just with roots instead of sugar leaves or bud. Just break the roots up as best you can and throw them in a pot with plenty of water and a fair amount of coconut oil depending on how much root material you have. I had the rootsystems from 12 large SCRoG plants and I only used about a pint of coconut oil, you could probably use more than that but coconut oil absorbs things very well so you are best to try and dilute it with regular coconut oil later to stretch it out.
To use roots from soil grown plants you just need to give them a good rinse, a lot of people soak them or use a pressure hose but you should be able to do it just fine with your shower head and some patience.
I was super skeptical when I first read about it but I figured I had loads of clean roots from my aeroponic setup so I should just try it, and it is truly amazing.
Just let me know if you need any more help
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Doc thanks for sharing knowledge im thinking of starting this project any general tips will be appreciated .
what temperature in Celsius should always be in the room?
how much dry product can you get from 1 good plant?
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You want to keep the temperatures between 21-30 degrees C, anything hotter than 30 degrees and growth will slow dramatically. They cope pretty well down to about 10 degrees without suffering too much.
Your yield is more dependant on how much light you have than how many plants, if you have a 600w lamp you could feasibly get 200g from your first grow if you put the effort in. I would recommend 4 plants, one plant is sort of an ''all your eggs in one basket'' situation for a first timer.
The most important thing is to find a forum on clearnet you feel comfortable with, that is the most invaluable resource for growers.
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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You want to keep the temperatures between 21-30 degrees C, anything hotter than 30 degrees and growth will slow dramatically. They cope pretty well down to about 10 degrees without suffering too much.
Your yield is more dependant on how much light you have than how many plants, if you have a 600w lamp you could feasibly get 200g from your first grow if you put the effort in. I would recommend 4 plants, one plant is sort of an ''all your eggs in one basket'' situation for a first timer.
The most important thing is to find a forum on clearnet you feel comfortable with, that is the most invaluable resource for growers.
Jah Bless
The Doctor
Jah bless you Doc
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Back to answer questions with the Doc :)
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Yeah, the offer still stands and I think between myself and CoinBox there aren't going to be too many questions we can't answer
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Pmed you an advice request ;)
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Well, if no one is going to ask me questions I'll just start giving tips from my own notes :)
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Say we had a grow accident one crop that I would like to replicate someday:
- plants were a few weeks from finishing flowering when we noticed the timer had switched to 24 hrs again
- it was too late hey had already reverted to veg quite bad
- fixed the timer and back to flowering
- resin on plants was quite a bit , but it all died back and turned yellow and brown resin
- plant grew new resin glands over top the old ones like a weave
- plants had so much extra resin he buds died and were like coated with hard resin
- it was the most resin I ever had off plants They were really heavy and almost plastic coated
Strange phenomenon but lotsa resin and the buds were crispy with resin and very hashy .
Can this be replicated and done over and over or what is a fluke ?
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This question is super fun :)
See some genetics (most those in the Thai family) can have a trait that allows for 'overwintering'. This means that they can go from veg to flower to veg and back to flower with increased production!
Now, yes you can revert any flowered plant back to veg then back to flowering, HOWEVER, most genetics will become stressed and after a week or two begin to hermaphrodite, so it's non advisable. You either had a phenotype or as series of genetics very happy to revert and come back or they just weren't grown out long enough to find out if there was any hermaphroditic response.
Thanks for the question, happy to answer it in more detail if needed.
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If your growing organic and have ever wondered about your soil mix, lets talk about it! I know there has to be a host of you guys on SR, and I'm in the mood to talk soil.
First off, do you guys prefer clones or seeds? I'm a seed guy myself (non feminized of course), and preferably I like something in the F1 or F2 generation, so I have many phenotypes to choose from.
For those of you that don't know what a phenotype is, I'll give you a very simplified example. If you've ever grown a plant from seed, and half of them were very tall and smelled of berries, and the other half were more bushy and smelled slightly more of vanilla, you would have to distinct phenotypes of the plant. You could choose your favorite and save it as a mother, your could breed with it, breed it within it's own phenotype and slowly stabilize traits. Now of course breeding has more fine points and finesses then that, but for those of you that just smoke, or grow and want to understand that it's a perfectly fine example.
So I go for seeds that are of a F1 or F2 generation so I can choose what traits in the plant work best for me, and breed with something unique. Undoubtedly my friend want clones. I usually use this mix for them:
1 part organic soil mix
1 part coconut coir fiber (thoroughly rinsed)
1 part small nugget-sized perlite
And of course always inoculating with some Mycorrhizal fungus, get the plant happy and start the fungus root relationship early.
This keeps them in medium that's very mellow, most people make the mistake of feeding the plants to early and this will stunt them mildly (unless they are an unusually voracious indica, then slightly b12 may be necessary).
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Question unrelated to growning specifically but question about where to grow.
I'm decidin on getting my own place how should I have a proper growing area in rurual areas out in the boonies?
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Question unrelated to growning specifically but question about where to grow.
I'm decidin on getting my own place how should I have a proper growing area in rurual areas out in the boonies?
Which country are you in?
CoinBox is the best, I can vouch for him, at least on paper he knows his shit.
Mad love CoinBox
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Glad i caught this thread, thank you DN. ;)
Dont know if this is a stupid question or not, but i wanted to know if there is much to save in using electronic ballasts versus standard high output ballasts.'
I was given a 600w Sunmaster globe and 600w ballast, and i would like to grow a mother plant in a grow tent for future clones, etc.
Just wanted to know if you save more power with an electronic ballast compared to a standard ballast, are they more reliable, etc.
Thanks for your help. ;)
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Read this quite a while ago, and still refer people to it to this day:
From: http://voices.yahoo.com/why-digital-ballasts-better-573729.html [Clearnet]
"Before entering into a discussion as to why digital ballasts are superior to the old-fashioned magnetic core and coil types, it may be helpful to know exactly what a ballast system is in terms of hydroponic gardening and grow lights.
All standard grow lights used in hydroponic gardening - whether some type of metal vapor or fluorescent - employ a ballast system. This consists of a housing, within which is contained electronic components that in essence "prime the pump." A fluorescent light has its own built-in ballast system; this builds up the energy required to activate the molecules inside the fluorescent tube, which in turn causes them to glow, emitting light. Metal Halide and HPS grow lights have "remote ballasts" which are housed inside a metal container. The components are what make up these lamps' main power supply. Together, they function as a "pre-heater," which allows electrical power to build up to the point that the lamp will run.
The drawback of these kinds of ballasts is that they build up the energy required to run the lamp, then sends it on all at once. The cold bulb is literally "slammed" with energy at full force. A good metaphor is the case of someone who puts a car in gear, disengages the clutch, revs the engine up to 4000 RPM then "pops" the clutch. "Pealing out" may be fun and impressive to onlookers (though illegal in most places), but as any automotive technician will tell you, can shorten the car's engine and drive train considerably.
It is the same with standard ballasts; the sudden surge of electricity tends to shorten bulb life. In addition, standard coil-type ballasts cause the bulb to "strobe," or flicker.
A digital ballast eliminates this wear and tear on the bulb by providing a flow of electricity that starts out at a low level, then increases energy flow as the bulb warms up and achieves full brightness. Studies have shown that MH and HPS grow lights used with a digital ballast lost only 20 to 25% of their PAR luminescence (the wavelengths actually used by the plant) after one year; those used with a standard ballast had lost over twice at much over the same period.
It should be noted that digital ballasts vary in terms of quality and reliability. In general, products made in Chinese factories tend to be of inferior quality, and should be avoided. The best digital ballasts will run all types of grow lights, and be able to recognize the difference between metal halide, HPS or LED. If a bulb is defective, damaged or incompatible, or if a short circuit is detected a well-manufactured, U.S.- made digital ballast will automatically shutdown before a safety hazard is created."
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And same to you good Doc :) You know your stuff for sure. Glad to be in the thread with you!
Always make sure to buy light systems that let you air cool them so you can bring them closer to the plants :)
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Thats great reading about ballasts, thank you very much. +1. ;)
When i scale up my grow room in the future, i will be using light movers and super spreaders to increase yield, for it also allows the lights to be even closer to the plants
which will be good. :)
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I haven't used light movers personally but aircooled lighitng was probably the biggest step forward I ever took in growing.
Even running a small space say a 400w you can use the cool tube extraction as your main extraction as long as smell isn't too much of an issue
Cool Tubes FTW!
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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I haven't used light movers personally but aircooled lighitng was probably the biggest step forward I ever took in growing.
Even running a small space say a 400w you can use the cool tube extraction as your main extraction as long as smell isn't too much of an issue
Cool Tubes FTW!
Jah Bless
The Doctor
I have read that light movers can increase yield by as much as 40%.
Smell and heat wont be an issue, i will be running ducts with carbon filters through floor of house.
Cool tube extraction sounds good though...didnt know about that, thanks Doc. ;)
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light movers are great if you are working on a large grow-op I'm sure, but for little old me I just run 600wHPS->600wMH->600wHPS over a huge screen all cooltubed together. That is the larger of my grows at least
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Sounds like a nice setup..sea of green by any chance?
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ScroG, over an 8 site twin Amazon Aeroponics set up. I only really use those nowadays, nice systems
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Now that sounds interesting...will have to stay in touch with you Doc, although i have my mind set on what i want, i'm so open to new ideas.
Will hit you with a PM soon if thats ok?
Have a great night...or day. :)
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Of course thats fine, I love helping people to grow weed. Part of the problem we have is in prohibited countries we do not have enough men/women with balls to start growing.
I'm not happy with Australia ATM, I started a thread offering to donate seeds and growing advice to get some new growers started and nobody wants to.
I think they need to do GPS logged guerrilla grows to save their nation but they seem pretty happy paying £30/gram seeing as nobody wants to do what needs to be done to change that,
No offense Australians, the offer is still open, I want to teach you to fish!
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Been getting some messages about tissue culturing, so I'm just going to share the resources that led me to know what I do :) The subject is vast, and thus a bit difficult to just write simply on.
A MICROPROPAGATION SYSTEM FOR CLONING OF HEMP (CANNABIS SATIVA L.) BY SHOOT TIP CULTURE ->
http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/41%282%29/PJB41%282%29603.pdf
Plant Tissue Culture Techniques->
http://www.ableweb.org/volumes/vol-11/9-mineo.pdf
Plant Growth Substances in Crop Production: A Review ->
http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=ajps.2010.215.222&org=11
The Biotechnology of Cannabis sativa ->
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14571756/The-Biotechnology-of-Cannabis-Sativa
Thidiazuron-induced high-frequency direct shoot organogenesis of Cannabis sativa L. ->
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11627-008-9167-5
Variation in protein, peroxidase isoenzymes and RAPD profiles in a population of Cannabis sativa L. ->
http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/20043209524.html;jsessionid=FAB96FE5867C75F36EC305BF70C051BC?gitCommit=4.13.29
Molecular analysis of genetic fidelity in Cannabis sativa L. plants grown from synthetic (encapsulated) seeds following in vitro storage ->
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10529-011-0712-7
Plant tissue culture in the classroom ->
http://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/pdf/biotech/plant_tissue_culture_in_class.pdf
Bangladesh Association of Plant Tissue and Biotechnology ->
http://www.baptcb.org/ptc/vol_list.asp
Plant Tissue Culture Reviews ->
http://academia.edu/Documents/in/Plant_Tissue_Culture
http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/sigma-aldrich/home.html
All are of course clearnet, and between them you will know some much new stuff :)
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Yeah, sorry, my bad. Somebody asked about it and I thought you would probably be better suited to help.
Seems like I was right at least!
Jah Bless
The Doctor
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Not your bad at all, I love having people directed my way! I just figured I would answer them all at once publicly so everyone would benefit!
Hope everyone enjoyed that link dump haha :)