Trichomes, THC and UVB light.....

I've just placed two Afghan Kush seeds into germinate, not 5 minutes ago. So set the timers and see how quick they take to pop the casing...

I've already decided that I'm going to try and kill them with radiation overdose. My lamp needs 90 hours burn out time before it stabilises.

Obviously, I really want them to live and this isn't going to be straight out murder (I hope)... so I'm going to give them a couple of days.

I don't want to give them any other light, I'll just give them fluoro's... maybe. Not exactly sure... I was considering just giving them 16 hours UV with no other light source... see what happens. Yeah, I think I'll go for the straight out murder, throw them in at the deep end... see how they cope.

aaaarrrgggghhhhhhh.....nooooooo....I'll have you taken away! thats right...don't think I won't......hahahahahaha....I'll be watching you!

skunkushybrid said:

I've just placed two Afghan Kush seeds into germinate, not 5 minutes ago. So set the timers and see how quick they take to pop the casing...

I've already decided that I'm going to try and kill them with radiation overdose. My lamp needs 90 hours burn out time before it stabilises.

Obviously, I really want them to live and this isn't going to be straight out murder (I hope)... so I'm going to give them a couple of days.

I don't want to give them any other light, I'll just give them fluoro's... maybe. Not exactly sure... I was considering just giving them 16 hours UV with no other light source... see what happens. Yeah, I think I'll go for the straight out murder, throw them in at the deep end... see how they cope.

Click to expand...

Hopefully they'll pop by the morning... the seeds were very fat, fresh and healthy. One of the seeds looks like it might be twins. Which will still give me at least a few days to set things up how I want them.

The furthest i can really put the light is around 5ft away.

Anyway, i have much to do to get this thing up and running, haven't even wired the light up yet to test that it's working... Can't see why it wouldn't do though.

Better get started.

good luck man...if you get a moment....can you take a look at my thread, and provide your feedback on my questoins... thanks...i know ur busy with this other stuff too.....cheers!

skunkushybrid said:

I've just placed two Afghan Kush seeds into germinate, not 5 minutes ago. So set the timers and see how quick they take to pop the casing...

I've already decided that I'm going to try and kill them with radiation overdose. My lamp needs 90 hours burn out time before it stabilises.

Obviously, I really want them to live and this isn't going to be straight out murder (I hope)... so I'm going to give them a couple of days.

I don't want to give them any other light, I'll just give them fluoro's... maybe. Not exactly sure... I was considering just giving them 16 hours UV with no other light source... see what happens. Yeah, I think I'll go for the straight out murder, throw them in at the deep end... see how they cope.

Click to expand...

What kinds range are you trying? As 500wu/cm2 is like the top range near the equator, maybe something like 700wu/cm2-1000wu/cm2? I don't see the point in actaully trying to kill them, maybe just push the boundries and see how the plant copes/adapts to it..

I don't really know how much of this is speculation. It seems like an ok idea but not great... just ok.

First, are there any studies done on this? Like, actual studies done with clones, one group with uvb and the other in regular HPS w/out uvb? If conditions were kept identical including feeding from the same reservoir, wouldn't there be some more simple and empirical evidence proving a higher CBD % and/or the amount of resin produced?

It just seems like resin production has more to do with attracting pollen than from exposure to UVB. Hell, in antarctica uvb exposure causes quite a bit of cell death in plants since the ozone is depleted down there. Also, the density of glands being higher is probably an evolutionary trait so the plant catches more wind and thus a better chance of being pollinated especially in the wild... the lower reaches of the plant would be in a lot of other vegetation. If it were a protective measure against UV radiation doesn't it seem like the plant would have it on all of its leaves and during the entire life cycle? Studies have shown younger plants to be more vulnerable to UV damage. Also, aside from the utility of making pollen stick, another advantageous adaptation would be keeping things from eating your reproductive glands, which is in my opinion the true role of THC. It isn't coincidence that all animals have cannabinoid receptors, thus at one point in time the adaptation of the plant developing that gave it better fitness in the wild.

edit: Also, angiosperms(flowering plants) are the "youngest" plants in terms of evolution. If UVB had that much of a negative impact on plant genomes and led to cell death, more plants would have similar defense mechanisms don't you think? Only recently has UVB become damaging to plants and its our fault for killing the ozone layer.

Just my opinion, but I don't buy it. We all know dual spectrum bulbs work the best anyways, I'd just stick to that.

I want to kill them. I want to see them die, and exactly what happens when a plant does die from too much UV. I believe there is much to be learned from failure. Plus, they're only cheap seeds. I wouldn't waste my NL doing this.

hey Serotonin....you have put forward some interesting discussion.....we have another thred going....The Evolution of the Trichome ....where we have debated the "purpose" of the trichome and its components.... in my view, if the resin was for pollen retention, how would the pollen make it to the stamen/eggs if it was stuck on the pollen? you would end up with pollen stuck to the p[lant in all the wrong place....like trying to make a baby by screwing the wrong hole....anyhow, in my view, trichomes and resin have a mutlitude of functions ..... but I will let you read the thread....it is very interesting I think.

the uv light question has been spawned as part of the above referenced debate/discussion. a laboratory directed experiment has not been done to my knowledge. the evidence is mostly anecdotal....old timers talking about the charateristics of outdoor vs. indoor....etc. AND a very instructive paper entitled the Chemical Ecology of Cannabis. UV is an important component of the production of trichomes and of THC. scientifically. empirical and measured. how much UV? that's the question. UV is biologically destructive in excess. sunburn, sterilization..etc all can be achieved with too much UV. but the right amount has the potnetial to equally improve our product, just as so many of the old timers talk about their highly regarded preference for outdoor smoke and not that indoor schwag.....(in their words...not mine). Indoor lighting does produced some but VERYY limited UV light. so, it is not all lost in indoor grows....but the motivation in indoor gorws has been predominatly more yeild and less time - in my view (and that of many others), at a sacrifice of quality. is indoor pot shit? no...is it as good as it can be? maybe there is an opportunity to improve how we do our indoor grows.

The seeds had little tails around 5mm out this morning, so an ideal time to pot them up. I've also wired up the light and it's working. I didn't let it warm up, but it doesn't seem too dangerous to me.

I'm wary of making a reflector for it, aside from anything else I have nothing to hand to make one with. The lamp did warm up very quickly in the few seconds I had it on. The light was still bright white when i turned it off.

I'll keep things posted with updates.

Good luck old boy-It's going to be hell, but it seems you have the spunk for the job. I am following with interest as I intend to do the same test with a flowering plant. Keep it posted...And may your God go with you

The normal sized seed is already pushing it's little pod head above the medium. The larger one seems to be struggling, but it does have a massive head. I had to do some reorganisation with it this morning to help it out a bit.

Maybe they know what i have in mind for them... lol

I'm kinda hoping that I'll be able to blast them with the UV and they'll live through veg'... wouldn't that be cool... but there are certain things I can learn, even if I don't consciously realise it at the time, through their deaths.

I have just started a quick and dirty trial. Noticed that my vegging clones are orientating toward the centre of the existing light source, and that they re-orientate themselves in one light cycle. I have set up a UVB 420 fluoro to one side and will check in 24hrs on the orientation. I think if UV is offering an advantage, the plants on that side will react accordingly. the bulb is an Aquarium moonlight simulator and is designed to assist marine photosynthesis. Iwill re-post 24hrs hence.
"Selah"

That's kind of along the lines of what i'll be looking for with the UV lamp. I want to see if the plants turn to face the light.

I have found that adding LEDs to the HPS light creates a huge increase in juiciness, fluff, and size of the bud. I know i grow on a small scale, but ever since I added over 2000 LEDs to my HPS in the flowering cycle I've seen a huge increase in my buds potency and flavor. Click the link below to check out my setup

Yeah, that's a cool cab. Got to give you loads of repect for making something so well.

Do the leds burn out? what did you use, x-mas lights?

I have thought of using a couple thousand x-mas lights before and wiring them to an mdf board, but then I've also thought of doing the same thing with fluoro's.

Did you notice any difference to the colour of the bud? What colour led's did you use?

This is a great site i bookmarked for getting leds from.
Heres a link to the most basic and cheap leds you can get all that you need from here to make amazing led setups if you have the money
LED 3mm ultra bright, LED Shop - portofrei - LED1.de ® - Geprüfte LEDs vom Fachhändler

No, most christmas lights its lens that is colored and not the bulb, thus not giving you the spectrum you need. If you do decide to grow LED, I would make 2 recomendations 1) Use an LED bulb that is designed for horticulture production such as gro-tek. they have a great line of LED lamps out. The "bud spotlight" works well. I have 8 of 'em. Each bulb and panel uses less electricity than a cfl and lasts longer than 50,000 hours! 2) Don't use them alone.Always use them in conjunction with an hps or mh lamp. Don't buy from thier website. ebay is much cheaper.

Yes, the money...

But they need the money to better their product, so they need us to buy them.

As soon as I see some good results from either fluoro or LED I would switch. I had a 200w grow king fluoro once... and after a while I didn't even rate it to do my clones.

The color of the bud won't change from using LEDs. just texture and potency. If you want to change the color of your bud what i use and would stronly recomend is the purple maxx snow storm stacker developed by Humboldt County's Own. your node regions will be stacked, massive trichome crystalization, and depending on the strain of your bud. it will turn your plant purple and you will be loving it. use with kelp extract or "gravity" which is a bud hardnerfor maximum results.

What about UVB LED's... I know that they have UV Led's but do they produce UVB... ??