It’d be about the same effect as the folks who move their lights up as the plant grows, only automated. It generally works well, as long as you don’t let the plant tips get too hot as they grow toward the lights. I think the trick with an automated system would be to get the lowering/raising rate to reflect the rate the plants grow and gain height at. Since that varies with a lot of different factors including the stage the plant is at (veg vs. flowering would be the most obvious difference), it would be tricky. You’d probably need to control the rate with a computer.
If it became legal where I live, I’d probably start them early under electric light in the spring and then let them finish under a net in the back yard over the summer/fall.
As far as hermaphrodites go, some varieties just seem to have more of a tendency to do that than others. I’ve grown from a lot from bag seed back in the day. Their parents grew under the sun. I’d say about 10% of them would go hermaphrodite. It never really bothered me. A bunch of buds with a few nice, healthy seeds beats a bunch of field grown buds with weird false seeds in them. Easier to remove, and I know I liked the seed’s parents.
Some of the craziest weed I bought back in the day was from one of the craziest hobbyists I’d ever met. I had bought a couple of ounces off her before, and while I was buying the third I mentioned that it was amazing quality and price. She replied “You wanna see the plant?” With wide open eyes, I said “sure!” So we went out into her backyard where there was a 25’ or so sativa growing. It seems it would have to be at least 18 months old considering its size. It was covered in buds, all still unripe to my eye, but the cola was 20’ above my head. It might have actually been ripe. She’d apparently been clipping buds off the lower branches, dried and cured them very well, and started selling as a hobby over the last few months, and that’s how I met her.
After all of that, I walked out to my car parked across the street. turned back and viewed the beautiful plant clearly visible over the roof of her house. If you knew what you were looking for, it was obvious. If you didn’t, it just looked like a majestic bush growing in their backyard.
I vowed to never go back to that house, because they were crazy and were just waiting to be busted. But if it became legal here, that’s the way I would do it if I could get a long-maturing sativa.
The plan is to order my gear next week. I’m now looking at seeds. A bewildering variety. I confess to coming to a complete stop when I read how a particular plant grows buds so big they have a tendency to break their branches
I have a ton of bag seed, and a few years ago I started about a dozen and put them outside by the garage. I cut the males as they became apparent, and ended up with 20 jars of dried, cured flower from six females.
I also have a 250w HPS and a 100w LED for indoor growing, but I haven’t used them in years. I grow for just me and have enough to last for years still.
The thing I was wondering was, what would a plant do if it received even light from just the sides? I’m tempted to get a bunch of cheap temu lights and see how a plant would behave.
My stems were turning purple. I used a 300 watt VHO, very old technology. I had 6 small plants (18" high) I grew them like bonsai plants mostly for looks. Every week I would strip off all the leaves. After a couple of months the leaves started producing decent smoke. Great flavor, not harsh. Not super strong but very pleasurable high.
I thinking “different” lighting rather than over lighting. And you’re right- the forums are my friend. I’ve been doing a ton of research. A lot of very detailed videos. The variables like fertilizer and soil require study. I’m keeping my eyes on the prize. I believe, from all I’ve read so far, that if I do everything right, I could get 4 oz out of my first grow. And what’s cool is that it won’t have gone through a trimmer, shaking off the goodies.
Here’s where I am now: My tent set up arrives tomorrow! At the advice of some random grower on Reddit, I opted for the 6’ tent, rather than the planned 4’. Now I can theoretically grow monsters. Is this a viable plan: soak the seed via the paper towel method, and then straight into the pot with coco? The first days in the pot worry me. Should I let it sit for a few days, then mist it? Maybe a glass bowl over it for a little greenhouse? I’m going to mix in some perlite, and then water with weak nutes at first.
Feminized seeds have not been treated chemically, and there is no safety concern with the practice.
Feminized seeds are produced by applying colloidal silver to the flowering nodes of a female plant from the time that the photoperiod is changed until flowers start to appear. This suppresses the hormone which causes the plants to express female, so you have male flowers which produce pollen with 100% female DNA.
There are no trace chemicals in the pollen produced by these flowers, and the plants treated this way are discarded. When female plants are pollinated with this pollen, the seeds will always produce female plants. The seeds aren’t treated chemically, and neither are the plants that produce them.
Beyond that, the total quantity of colloidal silver used to get a female plant to express male is far below the typical quantities which ignorant woo-woo people consume as a single dose as an alternative medicine. (Definitely not suggesting that this means it’s safe for consumption of course - but the point is that feminized seeds are indistinguishable from “natural” seeds as far as purity goes, the only difference is that 100% of the DNA comes from female plants.)
This is a really handy technique if you want to preserve genetics of a plant, and especially useful for people who don’t grow continuously and don’t want to pay through the nose for seeds each time they start a new grow.
Whatever works for you and you feel comfortable with, for sure.
For someone with a 2’x2’ tent that’s going to grow a single plant in a SCROG to make the most of a small area, knowing that your seed will produce a female plant is pretty essential.
Working with clones is fun. Buy a little jar of rooting hormone containing indolebutyric acid (IBA). It works wonders. Keep your cuttings under some sort of humidity dome and expect roots in 5-7 days.
I believe it’s possible to get as much as 4 oz as a first time grower.