It's interesting, on the subject of these extrusions.
The intention of the hobbies that I get myself into always lead to peripheral activities that I end up taking almost to the forefront of my interest.
Like, yeah, I
love growing cannabis and learning about it and its processes and optimizations.
But, now, all I find myself doing is thinking about my next light build; adding extreme spectrums; soldering an MCPCB; efficiency and drivers and series vs parallel wiring and... yeah.
So, aside from compiling a shopping cart for another 2' x 4' LED fixture,
I spent some of the night before bed thinking about how I'd like to utilize my grow space.
How can it really satisfy my needs?
First - 4' x 8' far too big for the amount of cannabis I require. I'm not like all you crazy potheads (
). I haven't smoked in about a month and when I do have some, I'm usually only about 1 - 2g/day. Wake untz bake (before work). For skateboarding. For sleeping. Sometimes for other stuff like watching the birds at the feeder, yoga, or household chores. I have had my interest thoroughly piqued (thanks Milson, Mimed) in how I might be able to cater certain terpe/cannabinoid profiles to help with my Lyme-induced synovitis/inflammation... so, that might eventually see me growing and consuming more. But, as far as for mental health, psiolcybin mushroom µdoses have proven to be a life-changing therapy. To the point that I am so balanced that I take them only as acute remedies for especially imbalanced times... sometimes months apart... which, for someone with basically 30 years of suicidal/self-deprecating thoughts... you have no idea just how indebted I feel to those marvelous little fungi friends.
Aaaaanyway.
Second - I just plain don't like monoculture. I believe in symbiotic relationships and plant psychology (romantically, but open to the actuality). I think plants like to mingle with foreigners. I know plants do well with different species present in their ecology. I want to foster that for their good while they're alive and for my good in my pursuit as a horticulturist.
Third - My better half is not one to partake. That's unfair in my mind - to be using all this space and these resources and time... and what benefit does she get? A smelly basement, a stoned partner, and higher energy bill? That's not an equal exchange by any means.
I dunno where I'm going with this but to hash out some thoughts and maybe get some suggestions from the community as to good partner plants.
We are very open eaters and spice and herb users - both culinary and medicinal.
I've done a little bit of preliminary research before posting this and found that many herbs don't really fall into the same photoperiodism that cannabis does. Which may be beneficial or not.
Basil's flowering, for instance, is triggered by short nights and water stress (over/under watering) - perfect for 12/12.
Rosemary flower triggering is relatively unknown and seems to be temperature (vernalization), or maybe photoperiod related. Extremes, nonetheless. Great.
(I wonder that others in the Lamiaceae (mint) family will fall into this category as well. Although, Basil falls in that family... so maybe water stress or vernalization are more responsible for their flower-induction as well..?)
Leafy greens like Kale, Lettuce, and Collards are super cheap, available from our co-ops year-round. However, not photoperiod-sensitive.
Tobacco is photoperiod-sensitive the same as cannabis. Depending on rate of growth, might be a contender.
Poppy is photoperiod-sensitive opposite of cannabis. 12/12 keeps it in vegetation. Short nights trigger its flowering.
Cilantro and Parsley are photoperiod-sensitive the same as cannabis. Again, to be considered depending on rate of growth.
Tomato flowers based on age or stage of development. Great.
Pepper flowers based on sun intensity and temperature. Above 60ºF / below 90ºF. Also great.
I mention this short list because they're common in our garden and some have already been taken in for winter. Even though it's now nearly 80ºF again...
A decent little article about photoperiodism with a list of some common garden plants and their response to photoperiodism from one of my go-to herb/veg seedbanks:
High Mowing Seeds
I should have looked at that before typing this as to more simply describe Long Day, Short Day, and Day-neutral plants...