28/02/2023
Chiang Mai (Part 1)
As with other cities, the number of shops selling cannabis products has expanded rapidly with new ones appearing weekly. Unfortunately, the number of shops massively outnumber the availability of high quality w**d. This is also combined with inexperienced growers producing low quality product, often containing material that had died before being harvested. The end result is a massive variation in the quality of what is on sale. Here I describe how to differentiate between indoor and outdoor grown and what to look for that indicates the quality of the grower, the shop and of the bud. I will also suggest a few questions to ask the shop owner to assess their knowledge when it comes to what they buy.
Cannabis Growth Phases
All cannabis/marijuana plants have 2 main distinct growing phases once germination or rooting has occurred. These are a growth phase and a flowering phase. Nature in some ways is very simple, all living things are “born”, they grow, they produce offspring and eventually die. In very basic terms all living things have a drive to pass on their genes to future generations. To maximise this the production of offspring is often timed so they have the best chance of survival. In cannabis plants this is to grow big during the prime time of year and production of seeds before the weather conditions limit growth and ability to produce large quantities of seeds and for those seeds to have best chance of survival and germination.
It may seem a ridiculous thing to say but plants don’t have a calendar with a date marked to start flowering. Nature’s calendar is the day/night length. In order to initiate flowering in cannabis the daylight/darkness must be approximately equal so in nature in the Northern Hemisphere this is mid way between Summer and Winter Solstices. When growing indoors it’s as simple as switching from 16 hours light/8 hours dark for growth phase over to 12/12 for flowering.
Indoor vs Outdoor
It is an oversimplification to split into 2 groups as there are many factors which affect quality and productivity. A well cared for outdoor plant will produce more and higher quality than the equivalent grown indoor without the correct equipment but where both are equally cared for indoor grown is easy to differentiate from outdoor grown. Generally the dried buds are much more dense. This is a result of optimised conditions during flowering producing larger and denser cola (buds/flowers/whatever you call them). Experienced growers know how to maximise the growth of the cola by choice of light systems, positioning of the lamps, nutrient feeds and even to the point of enriching the carbon dioxide content of air during the light cycle. For this article it is not necessary to go in to detail other than to say optimising conditions optimises yield and quality. Many of the conditions can be manipulated when growing outdoors but we cannot control the position of the sun or the level of cloud cover blocking the sunlight. It is this which plays the biggest part in the difference between indoor and outdoor grown w**d.
To be continued…….
