SIDE-BY-SIDE GROW TESTS – YOU CAN PARTICIPATE AND HELP ADVANCE OUR SCIENCE

Our grow class has worked on and developed several new technologies, one of which is the Solaround light mover, a remarkable new twist on light movers which shows tremendous promise. (Check out the “resin-stressed” Hindu Skunk on the menu board!). We are about to conduct two new experiments, and members of DharmaRx who are patient / cultivators can participate. In a nutshell, we are going to do several side-by-side growing experiments, testing the claims of a nutrient manufacturer in one case and the claims of many outdoor growers in another.

Since planting time outdoors is rapidly dwindling as this is written, let’s start with an outdoor experiment. Foxfarm vs. Miracle Grow One of the first things covered in D. Gold’s grow class is the importance of good potting soil. There is a reason that Foxfarm at the grow store costs several times as much as Miracle Grow at Home Depot. The concept of spending another five bucks on potting soil to reap another $100 or more worth of medicine is a pretty sound one.

Miracle Grow potting soil has traditionally contained lots of dirt and very few amendments or nutrients. It has often been said that it would be a miracle if you could grow good cannabis in Miracle Gro. But the company may have recently seen the light. They now have two new potting soil blends that growers are trying with results good enough to talk about. The one side-by-side outdoors test that I recently witnessed produced results that are about equal to Foxfarm, and quite a few other growers have been singing the praises of the product, saying that it gets great yields and quality with a whole lot less work.

Testing potting soil in a controlled experiment is pretty easy. Simply plant the same plants in the two different types of soil and keep all the other conditions the same. One need not be Einstein to be able to observe the differences. In this experiment, we are observing Foxfarm Ocean Forest, Miracle Grow Organic Time Release, and Miracle Grow Time Release (non-organic). If you have a mix you like, add that one also. Water all the plants with the same fertilizer mixture (or lack thereof) and make sure that all the plants grow in identical conditions.

Keep good records of your fertilizer mixtures. Remember that in cases like this, it is probably better to keep the levels of added nutrients relatively light, in order to avoid overfertilization.

The second experiment pits General Hydroponics against Advanced Nutrients. Many members of the class have been bothered by a film on U-tube which claims over 20% THC with Advanced and only about 6% with GH in a side-by-side controlled test. Many believe that THC levels have more to do with genetics than a feeding program and this wide disparity could not have occurred in a true, non-biased, controlled experiment. We will set up a detailed side-by-side experiment that all the patient / cultivator members of dharmaRx.org can participate in, if they so wish. If you are thinking of giving hydro a try, here’s a good opportunity as a detailed method for inexpensive set-up and efficient production will be presented in great detail. Stay tuned!