Hello again IC.
Back in 2000, when I joined the "overgrow" site and began my affair with the online cannabis revolution, I had no kids of my own to care for. Now we have 3 kids, all home-schooled and fed all natural, high energy diets. I have been busy for the last 13 years! Each new child sapped more and more of my energy, as they do. Eventually I had little to no time for posting on ICMag or writing for the pot magazines, etc. I've tried getting more involved again, now and then, but I need large blocks of free time in a relatively scream-free environment in order to concentrate on keeping a relationship going with the grow community. Well, it seems my kids might just be old enough now for me to be able to concentrate in my own house! I had always intended to return to my grow community participation once the situation allowed. So here I am, with many new gray hairs and a new dedication to spending more time contributing to and learning from the grow scene.
I intend to start doing strain reviews again in the magazines. It's an exciting time, much different than last time I was regularly active. So much has changed, it's amazing to witness. I'm looking forward to catching up on the new genetics out there. I've narrowed my clone library to just 3 excellent cuts: Gorilla Glue #4, Legend OG Kush and Chemdog D. I've been concentrating on these 3 for a while now, for obvious reasons, but now it's time to get back to trying the latest and greatest cuts and reviewing them.
As I said above, times sure have changed! So much so that "back in the day" it would be utterly unthinkable for myself to admit where I lived. I always had a fake location under my avatar. Now, I will admit where I live, since I am completely legal and compliant and my state is so chill about cannabis. My family lives on a little mountain in western Maine, with ducks and chickens, cats and dogs. What a gorgeous place to raise kids. Closest neighbors are quite far. Our front deck overlooks the foothills of the White Mountains, has a commanding view of a gorgeous valley. We can see for many miles right out of our front windows as we have coffee.
I even started a small, single-origin, small farm only coffee roasting business here at home. Amazing, fresh-roasted coffee and weed... you KNOW that's a killer combo right there.
I love Maine with all my heart. The people are strong of character, friendly, compassionate, chill, helpful, adventurous and love a good clam bake and some wild Maine blueberry ice cream with a maple syrup drizzle on top. The land is beautiful and deeply respected by the culture here. Most private land is completely unmarred by no trespassing signs, as a person who buys large pieces of land and then posts it for no trespassing are... kinda' frowned upon here. There's an air of freedom that is palpable, you can feel it in your vibrations. The famous Maine spring water gushes out of public springs all over the region, you just gotta know where to find them. I fill up every time I leave the house. Life is grand here, and I am proud to be a Maine Medical Marijuana Caregiver.
I plan to do some travelling in my region to visit and photograph other gardens. I know New England is doing some serious growing nowadays!
My growing style has changed (again) recently. Anyone familiar with my past work might remember how often I'd switch grow methods drastically, like, ALL THE TIME. I always had new questions arising that I could only answer for myself by diving headlong into new methodologies to scratch my itch for knowledge. I just did it again. However, this time the change is meant to be the final method switch. I've finally settled on straight up organic growing. I also no longer buy/use ANYTHING in a bottle except for molasses. Why buy all that water in the organic liquid nutes when all the liquid is... is water and unnecessary shipping weight costs? I can simply purchase all the guanos, meals, etc and add the water my damn self, WITHOUT all the factory-added acids which are only meant to preserve the stuff while in the bottle. And you don't pay for shipping all that water around the country before it gets to you, so buying the dry guanos, etc is also much cheaper than the liquid versions. The dry ingredients also don't come with those preservative acids which stunt the explosion of the biology in my tea, and therefore the tea activates much quicker due to not having to first swing from a low pH, barely living tea, to a higher pH, highly active tea. The dry ingredients "set off" quicker than the acid-preserved liquid ferts.
I've been using a constantly-brewing tea reservoir rather than a water reservoir. I keep it highly aerated and only as rich as I need it. I feed my constant tea with a tiny bit of molasses when the activity seems to slow down. This way the plants are always getting a light tea, and sometimes a stronger version when the need arises. My reservoir/brewer never stinks! It gets slimy in there, but the constantly active environment in the tank seems to manage itself, as long as conditions are met, such as aeration, carbohydrate maintenance and good brewing temps. Oh, and I believe the fermentation in the brewer is also releasing lots of C02 into the grow, too. The constant tea method has some really great benefits!
That's for another post. I digress...
It's nice to be back. The plan is to get into a new/old habit of reading and posting online much more often. I miss hanging with folks like y'all.
Chemdog D closeups to kick off with.
cc
Back in 2000, when I joined the "overgrow" site and began my affair with the online cannabis revolution, I had no kids of my own to care for. Now we have 3 kids, all home-schooled and fed all natural, high energy diets. I have been busy for the last 13 years! Each new child sapped more and more of my energy, as they do. Eventually I had little to no time for posting on ICMag or writing for the pot magazines, etc. I've tried getting more involved again, now and then, but I need large blocks of free time in a relatively scream-free environment in order to concentrate on keeping a relationship going with the grow community. Well, it seems my kids might just be old enough now for me to be able to concentrate in my own house! I had always intended to return to my grow community participation once the situation allowed. So here I am, with many new gray hairs and a new dedication to spending more time contributing to and learning from the grow scene.
I intend to start doing strain reviews again in the magazines. It's an exciting time, much different than last time I was regularly active. So much has changed, it's amazing to witness. I'm looking forward to catching up on the new genetics out there. I've narrowed my clone library to just 3 excellent cuts: Gorilla Glue #4, Legend OG Kush and Chemdog D. I've been concentrating on these 3 for a while now, for obvious reasons, but now it's time to get back to trying the latest and greatest cuts and reviewing them.
As I said above, times sure have changed! So much so that "back in the day" it would be utterly unthinkable for myself to admit where I lived. I always had a fake location under my avatar. Now, I will admit where I live, since I am completely legal and compliant and my state is so chill about cannabis. My family lives on a little mountain in western Maine, with ducks and chickens, cats and dogs. What a gorgeous place to raise kids. Closest neighbors are quite far. Our front deck overlooks the foothills of the White Mountains, has a commanding view of a gorgeous valley. We can see for many miles right out of our front windows as we have coffee.
I even started a small, single-origin, small farm only coffee roasting business here at home. Amazing, fresh-roasted coffee and weed... you KNOW that's a killer combo right there. I love Maine with all my heart. The people are strong of character, friendly, compassionate, chill, helpful, adventurous and love a good clam bake and some wild Maine blueberry ice cream with a maple syrup drizzle on top. The land is beautiful and deeply respected by the culture here. Most private land is completely unmarred by no trespassing signs, as a person who buys large pieces of land and then posts it for no trespassing are... kinda' frowned upon here. There's an air of freedom that is palpable, you can feel it in your vibrations. The famous Maine spring water gushes out of public springs all over the region, you just gotta know where to find them. I fill up every time I leave the house. Life is grand here, and I am proud to be a Maine Medical Marijuana Caregiver.
I plan to do some travelling in my region to visit and photograph other gardens. I know New England is doing some serious growing nowadays!
My growing style has changed (again) recently. Anyone familiar with my past work might remember how often I'd switch grow methods drastically, like, ALL THE TIME. I always had new questions arising that I could only answer for myself by diving headlong into new methodologies to scratch my itch for knowledge. I just did it again. However, this time the change is meant to be the final method switch. I've finally settled on straight up organic growing. I also no longer buy/use ANYTHING in a bottle except for molasses. Why buy all that water in the organic liquid nutes when all the liquid is... is water and unnecessary shipping weight costs? I can simply purchase all the guanos, meals, etc and add the water my damn self, WITHOUT all the factory-added acids which are only meant to preserve the stuff while in the bottle. And you don't pay for shipping all that water around the country before it gets to you, so buying the dry guanos, etc is also much cheaper than the liquid versions. The dry ingredients also don't come with those preservative acids which stunt the explosion of the biology in my tea, and therefore the tea activates much quicker due to not having to first swing from a low pH, barely living tea, to a higher pH, highly active tea. The dry ingredients "set off" quicker than the acid-preserved liquid ferts.
I've been using a constantly-brewing tea reservoir rather than a water reservoir. I keep it highly aerated and only as rich as I need it. I feed my constant tea with a tiny bit of molasses when the activity seems to slow down. This way the plants are always getting a light tea, and sometimes a stronger version when the need arises. My reservoir/brewer never stinks! It gets slimy in there, but the constantly active environment in the tank seems to manage itself, as long as conditions are met, such as aeration, carbohydrate maintenance and good brewing temps. Oh, and I believe the fermentation in the brewer is also releasing lots of C02 into the grow, too.
The constant tea method has some really great benefits!That's for another post. I digress...
It's nice to be back. The plan is to get into a new/old habit of reading and posting online much more often. I miss hanging with folks like y'all.
Chemdog D closeups to kick off with.
cc
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cheers
