Stress

Marijuana Horticulture

by Jorge Cervantes

Cannabis grows best and produces heaviest when it is given a stable environment. Stressed plants produce less than unstressed plants. Stress-induced trauma include withholding water, photoperiod fluctuation, low light intensity, ultraviolet light, nutrient toxicities and deficiencies, cold and hot soil, ambient temperatures and mutation. In addition, any overt application of growth hormones such as B9 hormone, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, ethylene, colchicine, etc., cause stress.

Stress can pause to produce more resin, but it simultaneusy causes odd and / or reduced o. For example, Felix, a Swiss outdoor grower, grew a filed of cannabis at 900 feet and another at 4200 feet. The upper field suffered stress, because it is exposed to cooler temperatures and more ultraviolet radiation. Plants there produce 25 percent more resin-packed THC than plants in the lower field. But, plants that grow at 900 feet yield at least 25 percent or more dry weight than plants at the 4200 foot elevation.

Removing large green shade leaves allows more light to shine on smaller leaves, but it also causes growth to slow and harvest to diminish. Remove only leaves that are more than half damaged by pests or diseases. often, partially yellow leaves green up once stress is eliminated. Removing spindly, dimly lit lower branches stresses plants much less than removing leaves to speed growth of upper foliage.

Mutilating plants by breaking the trunk, driving a stake through the trunk, torturing r slapping them around might increase resin production, but most often the stress retards growth and causes other problems. Withholding water may also cause more resin production, but it impairs growth and diminishes leaf, stem, and flower production. Water stress slows or stops clones from rooting. If clones have too many leaves and are too busy transpiring, root growth is very slow. Conversely, waterlogged rooting mediums harbor no air, and rooting mediums slowed to a crawl.