You may have probably heard lots of strange myths about cannabis over the years, and some of them can be outlandish and extreme to say the least. With so much misinformation about cannabis coming from friends or the internet, knowing what to believe is not so easy, and everything should be taken with a pinch of salt.
In this article, I will debunk the top 5 cannabis facts and myths. Covering the cannabis flushing myth, you can clone photoperiod and autoflowering cannabis plants, how nutrients affect the taste of buds, if LED lights are any good for growing cannabis, and if feminized seeds produce sinsemilla, whilst explaining if they are myth or reality.
Contents Page
● Cannabis Myth #1 – The Cannabis Flushing Myth
● Cannabis Myth #2 – You Can Clone Photoperiod and Auto Flowering Cannabis Plants
● Cannabis Myth #3 – Cannabis Nutrients Spoil The Taste of Cannabis Buds
● Cannabis Myth #4 – LED Grow Lights Are No Good for Growing Cannabis
● Cannabis Myth #5 – Feminized Cannabis Seeds Are Guaranteed to Produce Sinsemilla
Cannabis Myth #1 - The Cannabis Flushing Myth
The first cannabis myth to cover is flushing cannabis plants, and if it is something you must do, or a total waste of time and energy. Flushing means providing only plain water for the final 10–14 days whilst a cannabis plant is flowering, to flush away all the salt buildup that may have accumulated over the entire growing process.
On one hand, many growers will testify that flushing not only improves the taste, it also saves a grower nutrients and will push the plants to use up any internal nutrient reserves. On the other hand, there are plenty of growers who continue to feed their flowering plants during the final stages. Not only do the plants need the nutrients more than ever during the last 14 days, it will also increase the final yield and will not affect the result as far as flavour and the overall smoking experience.
Myth or Reality?
Well, to debunk this, it is important to look at recent studies that have been performed by RX Green Technologies flushing trial using a Cherry Diesel cannabis strain. The results conclude that there was almost no major difference when it came down to flavour, aroma, yield, and potency. It seems that flushing is a personal choice for a home grower, however, the results prove that flushing or not showed any significant difference!
Cannabis Myth #2 - You Can Clone Photoperiod and Auto Flowering Cannabis Plants
Cloning cannabis plants is a way of producing a genetic replica of the original plant it was taken from. There are many benefits to cloning cannabis plants, and many growers will often tell you that you can take clones from photoperiod plants and autoflowering as they are both cannabis plants at the end of the day.
Photoperiod replies on specific light cycles ranging from 18-20 hours of light to keep them in a vegetated state, and then 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness to induce flowering. Auto flowering cannabis on the other hand, are easy to grow, low maintenance and resilient plants that will flower automatically once they pass week 4 of growth from the day the seed has been germinated and planted into soil.
Myth or Reality?
When it comes to cloning photoperiods and auto flowering cannabis varieties, sadly this is not true, and autos are not able to be cloned and grown up into a large sized plant or used as a mother for taking more clones in the future.
Only photoperiod cannabis plants allow a grower the freedom of producing a mother plant that can be kept alive for years. Unfortunately with auto flowering cannabis plants, due to their genetic clock and lifecycle, the result will be a tiny autoflower plant that doesn’t grow much bigger than the clone itself before flowering according to AutoSeeds.
Cannabis Myth #3 – Cannabis Nutrients Spoil the Taste of Cannabis Buds
The next cannabis myth that can be debunked is that giving cannabis plants nutrients whilst they are growing, will only spoil the taste once harvested, and smoking. There are plenty of old school growers who will testify that the best way to grow indoor or outdoor cannabis is to use a good quality soil and give them only plain water until the day you are ready to chop.
Then again, there are also a high number of grower who will say nutrients are what makes the big difference in terms of plant growth and optimal health, increasing yields and providing plenty of food for the beneficial microbes and microorganisms in the soil food web. Well let’s quickly debunk this myth and see which is true.
Myth or Reality?
From my experience as a grower, who has spent years using only soil and plain water, and then working with all of the different Atami growing mediums such as Kilomix, Bi-growmix, Janeco-Light-Mix, Washed and Buffered Cocos, and using multiple nutrient lines over the years such as the B’cuzz range, ATA NRG range (organic and mineral), VGN Veganic range and the Bastic range as flowering boosters, I can say this is definitely a myth.
In fact, using nutrients not only improves long term plant health, root growth, vitality and produces robust growth from the seedling, vegetation and flowering stage, the buds were all superb quality, and the flavour and aroma was as good as any Dutch coffeeshop or Spanish social club! If you want to still stay totally organic then I would strong recommend using the Atami Janeco-Light-Mix combined with the VGN Veganic range and to follow the feed chart for the best results possible.
Cannabis Myth #4 - LED Grow Lights Are No Good for Growing Cannabis
For decades the only way to grow top quality indoor cannabis was to use good genetics and then go to the local grow shop and buy either a metal halide (M.H) light for the vegetation stage and then use a high pressure sodium (H.P.S) for the flowering stage.
When L.E.D grow lights first came on the scene, they were met with a great amount of criticism from growers, and even now days, many indoor growers don’t believe the hype and are still dubious when it comes to making a decision if L.E.D lights are superior to metal halide and high pressure sodium.
Myth or Reality?
This is one of the easiest cannabis myths to debunk, and the ratio of home growers who have chosen to work with highly
efficient L.E. D’s is far greater than H.P.S and M.H. The reason being that not only are L.E.D far more energy efficient, saving a grower electricity, they produce much less heat and can be dimmed allowing a grower to choose how much power they wish to use.
Combined with the fact that the photoactive radiation (P.A.R) levels that they produce are often significantly greater than traditional grow lights, and the quality of the buds is incredible in most cases, it is safe to say L.E.D has easily taken over the grow light industry and there are many happy home growers who have said goodbye to their H.PS and noisy ballasts.
Cannabis Myth #5 - Feminized Cannabis Seeds Are Guaranteed to Produce Sinsemilla
In the old days, the only way to grow from cannabis seed was to use regular sexed seeds. This means that the plants would either be male or female. The downsides of using regular seeds would be that before flowering, you would have to remove male plants and hope that you had a good number of female plants left over.
However, in 1999 Dutch breeders were able to create the first feminized cannabis seeds, which revolutionized the cannabis industry and gave growers the peace of mind that the days of worrying about potential males were long gone. Home growers could maximize their grow space and fill their pots and grow rooms with only female plants (sinsemilla).
Myth or Reality?
I do not want to knock the confidence of a first-time grower who is excited to start their career growing feminized seeds, or in any way disparage cannabis breeders or seed banks, however, this is a myth.
Not only can regular sexed or feminized cannabis seed produce hermaphrodite plants under stress, environmental factors, or down to bad genetics, a plant that has both male and female cannabis flowers can unknowingly produce a seeded crop. As well as causing the other female plants to become pollinated, resulting in a room full of seeded buds.
A hermaphrodite plant is the biggest risk to producing a seedless crop. Not only will a hermie pollinate an entire crop as advised by M.S.N.L, having them in the grow room be a total waste of time, electricity, nutrients, lights and grow space as well as a risk of a grower’s freedom if the country you are growing in has not declassified cannabis and made it legal to grow.
DISCLAIMER:
This content is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. We do not endorse or promote illegal activities related to cannabis. Please adhere to the laws and regulations of your jurisdiction regarding cannabis use.
