OK pack your bags and I'll take ya on one
1975-
16 years old, moved to nor cal during one of the worst droughts in history, the drought was so bad people had to empty their pools. I was a surfer/skater fresh from Huntington Beach. The empty pools were ridiculously right on time. C-mon now! No waves lets learn to rip the pools... Not knowing any of the tobacco chewing farmer/cowboy type indiginous kidz, I found other displaced surfers/skaters. One--who would become my constant road dawg--possessed a bong, a baddassss ceramic one piece bong w/ a huge one hit bowl and big clay tube all built in, scrawled on the base were the words Chili Walt. We started a skate team named Chili Walt Skate Squad in honor of this bodacious bong, there were only 2 requirements to "make the squad" u had to clear the bowl of Chili in one clean rip - no cough, and you had to be able to grind coping.
Weed was mostly purchased by the lid or can, and was measured in fingers. A 4 finger lid was approx. an ounce. We were smoking Thai sticks, Columbian gold, regular Lumbo, Oaxcan spears, Muai Wowie, Acalpulco Gold and Red, and a lot of dirt weed. All this weed was highly compressed and full of seeds. We'd never heard of sinsemilla, but that was to come quick--didn't know it then but we lived in ground zero, the epicenter of the now infamous emerald triangle. Started popin beans in the hills, oh yeah and we road dirt bikes, we road dirt bikes all over the local mountains, firetrails, and hills. We just started planting bagseed everywhere. We didn't have a clue. At 1st we didn't even have enough patience to wait for buds, smoked the leaves (yuck) we called it "homer" homegrown was not a sought after strain.
Throughout the 70's my dawg and I continued to cultivate, we did all type a stupid shit. Stressed plants on purpose-thought it made them hardier- pierced the stocks with 16 penny nails, took off the bigger of the 2 leaves on each leaf set to encourage the "slow side" and give more juice to branching. Topping at diff times 2nd node 3rd, 4th, tying down, etc. etc. 1979- We began indoor ops, using metal halide lamps and homemade ebb-n-flo buckets we filled w/ pea gravel, we 1st used teas to make nutes then discovered GH (yes GH was around in the late 70's) We'd also been making quite a few beans by then, but we believed the whole trick was to breed for climate adoption. Or to climatize the seeds where they'd be adapted to either indoor or outdoor w/ respect to our particular longitude/latitude. We did not even trip genetics, we believed the dank would come from the plants being fully adapted to their new environment. We were chucking hella pollen w/ little regard or thought in selection. We had a friend named Yama from Afganistan who would go home every other year, yep one year he smugled us some beans. I believe it was sometime n the 80's we 1st got our hands on indica. We thought we'd hit pay dirt, hash plants... Knowing less than nothing about breeding I believe we were responsible for some of the faux-dicas around in that era -sorry if ya bought some-, we somehow unintentionally bread the smell out of it, and lost the taste and high too. But it still looked pretty good. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
I guess I better touch on the bust. I was busted in the very early '80s for a wherehouse grow: Manufaturing and Distribution of Marijuana. Loud odor tipped LEO, and this was my 1st introduction to the California Prison System. Was gonna scan the article of the bust as it said "highly sophisticated operation" and my ego needs that type a boost, seriously I know it's a bit narcisistic but I kinda like re-reading it, but truth be told it was far from sophisticated. Sorry can't scan the article until I decide I don't give a shit if my identity is discovered, too much 411 I think. Opps sorry fellas, didn't mean to take you on that long a trip, just so excited to holler at like minds, feels like breathing. I've learned and continue to learn so much about growing from you guys, so thanks.
If anyone's interested to know a lil' more of the story just let me know and pack a lunch, I'll take ya on a 3 hour tour.
By the bye that's me ( the avator) in 1976. The bottom of that deck reads "Chili Walt Skate Squad"
Aight, Chili