Unlock your strains' hidden powers.

[ethnoman]

Cannabis genetic architecture, like all other plants, is a dynamic system that can be exploited to induce the phenotypic expression of various traits. The obvious way to achieve this is through the use of PGRs. However changes the immediate environment can also induce altered gene expression. Because hydroponic systems allow for a high degree of control over the environment, they provide a unique platform for tinkering with your plants genetics that outdoor growing could not. At any one time plants will be expressing various genes based on sensing mechanisms of the surrounding environment. Some phenotypic traits may remain invisible until that trigger occurs. Because cannabis has such as short life cycle the events that occur early in the flowering stage will dominate what is produced in the final weeks. Trichome development and abundance and the structure and formation of buds is of obvious interest. Terpene production can be influenced by the induction of defence signalling cascades. Phenolic profiles can also be manipulated with temperature and water availability. Stressing your plants may come at the cost of yield as energy is diverted into synthesizing defence related compounds, but the final product may be more potent, colorful or aromatic as a result. Have fun tinkering!!

 

[psilobuds]

i definitely get more purple and red hues with cold temps and this seems 2 make my nugz more flavortastic. u mentioned availability of water. r u suggesting creating drought conditions?

 

[Fire Bean]

I've heard of people cutting their plants to increase resin production. Apparently just tearing some shades is enough to get the signal started.

 

[ethnoman]

Sure, you don’t need to go torturing the poor girls. Superficial cuts to the cambium, petioles or leaves are the standard procedures employed by scientists that study induction of defense related genes in Arabidopsis (a model plant very commonly used in studies). I wouldn’t recommend deliberately causing water stress. But if you have a plant that has become too dry by accident it may be worth taking note of any interesting phenotypic traits that are notably different from the rest of the crop.

 

[caveman4.20]

I love manipulating plant with droubt stress....two signs of too much droubt stress 1) preemy seeds I've read them being called heat stress seeds to 2) bananas

 

[Metalman]

You can water stress your plants in the last week. It stops growth but boosts oil production. Don’t know of the stats though. Be good to see some studies on this.

 

[LadybugGrrl]

Well that explains why my outdoor weed is so different from my indoor.
It looks totally different, smokes different and even tastes like a different strain. Actually the only person who know its the same strain is me! ^_^ ^_^

 

[infocus]

What about increasing flowering sites? can this be achieved without PGRs?

 

[caveman4.20]

I'm not a science guy but I'm pretty observant....

What about increasing flowering sites? can this be achieved without PGRs?

I think some can cause shorter node space which inturn appears as though there's more sites but Genetics are more dependable then manipulative nutrients ...environmental factors are just as manipulitve too....great thread

 

[caveman4.20]

What about increasing flowering sites? can this be achieved without PGRs?

Indeterminate phenos like in Flo can keep flowering and have multiple harvest that's genetics
Then there's overdrive that keeps the flower cycle going if used too deep into flower cycle with more sites but it has it's downside

 

[ethnoman]

What about increasing flowering sites? can this be achieved without PGRs?

Not to my knowledge. I think the best way to maximize flowering sites it providing an optimal environment for reproduction. The plant will limit flowering sites if there are chemical cues suggesting it will not be able to support viable fruit production. But a high number of flowering sites does not necessarily translate to high cannabinoid to weight ratio.

 

[AfricanHaze]

But there’s no one tried and tested method that's true for all right? Like this would all be experimenting as each strain has different genetics and different genes are suppressed or expressed under different conditions.

 

[ethnoman]

Sure. There will be a high degree of genetic homology between strains.

 

[infocus]

I'm not a science guy but I'm pretty observant....

I think some can cause shorter node space which inturn appears as though there's more sites but Genetics are more dependable then manipulative nutrients ...environmental factors are just as manipulitve too....great thread

Not to my knowledge. I think the best way to maximize flowering sites it providing an optimal environment for reproduction. The plant will limit flowering sites if there are chemical cues suggesting it will not be able to support viable fruit production. But a high number of flowering sites does not necessarily translate to high cannabinoid to weight ratio.

yes I suspected this might be the case, but thought I'd check.