Can one plant have more than one cola? It’s been Prove many times that it can be done. It’s actually very easy and straightforward. By pruning the plant the right way and the right time you can get up to 4 big colas.

So, what is a cola, anyway? A cola is the long thick bud that some plants produce. It’s called a cola after the Spanish word for tail. Not every plant gets a big cola as a result of strain and growing techniques and some get really big ones. If you’re growing for fun you should try for big coals because it will impress people.

The biggest colas probably come from single cola plants. Still, if you want more yields then multiple colas will probably deliver. You can do it by training the plant or by trimming it. We’ll talk trimming here.

Pinching off the main stem of the young plant is what I’m calling “trimming”. This is a common practice with many plants. Gardeners have been doing it for centuries. Pinching off the tips of fuchsias causes them to double the of blooms. The method is also used to get tall plants to stay short and bushy.

There are two ways to pinch off this type of plant. You get a slightly different outcome with each technique. Each technique has its fans. You can try both and make up your own mind about which you prefer.

You should let the plant grow until it has5 or 6 sets of branches. The place where these branches leave the main stem are called nodes. They occur on the main stem, and the plant keeps growing up the center by popping out a shoot between the nodes, going upwards.

If you pinch this growing tip off just above the 5th or 6th node the plant will replace the pinched off tip with two new ones on each side of the main stem. These will create two new main stems. Each will shoot off leaves and branches, but each will remain dominant stems.

You can do this different ways. If you like, you can just keep pinching off any central shoot that you see. You’ll get lots of little buds, but no huge colas. Or, you can pinch less. One way will create 2 big colas, and the other will create 4. Either way, you should get some big ones.

The first method requires you to wait until the plant has developed five or six nodes. You cut off the main stem leaving two nice healthy nodes below. You’ll get new stems from where you cut the stem as well as from the node below that. Two sets of new stems means 4 colas. The second way is to pinch the plant off one node lower. That will only leave one good inter node to sprout. Two sprouts equal two colas.

What happens if you wait until the plant is taller and then pinch the stem at the 10th node? Do you get even more colas? The answer is yes, but the colas are smaller. Small colas aren’t worth calling colas. They’re buds, and that’s all. They still work, mind you, and will perhaps increase overall yield. The thing is that clipping the stem manipulates the plant’s hormones. You can’t go too far before it stops working. Too much pruning will get lots of small buds, not lots of huge colas.

That’s about all there is to it. Clip and wait for Nature to take it’s course. Gardeners will argue about which method is best, but it’s hard to get a definitive answer. There are really no controlled experiments that I know of. There are lots of variables.Lights, nutrients and strain all have their roles to play. Try to spread the plant out (4 big buds will help here) so that light gets to the lower reaches of it. Whatever you do, remember that it’s about having fun, not getting maximum yield. You’ll have plenty. And remember to root the main stem that you clip off for the future!

Learn about ways to grow marijuana? Castulo Zane knows all about marijuana seeds, so google www.growyourownstone.com.

How big is the carbon footprint of marijuana? People are starting to ask that question. Sadly, the answer isn’t what everyone would like to hear.

The carbon footprint of the marijuana industry huge. Anyone who’s seen it can tell you that. You can’t have a room that is normally lit by two 100 watt bulbs illuminated by ten 1000 watt bulbs without increasing carbon release.

The issue won’t be swept under the rug. Most pot smokers are also environmentally sensitive, at least more so that the local NASCAR enthusiast. And, some jurisdictions already require legal pot growers to pay carbon offsets.

In the hippy days pot was imported from Mexico or Colombia, or Asia. It was grown outdoors the old fashioned way. When people in North America and Europe started growing it they started small and outdoors.

But the money took over. The indoor grow industry was born, and it took off. Energy use sky rocketed with high intensity lights. Chemicals were used to help maximize the harvest. Fuel was trucked into the back country to run generators.

Laws have relaxed. 16 states allow medicinal marijuana. 25 have decriminalized possession to some degree. Marijuana growing is rampant. There is a huge grow supply industry. And the grow ops consume one thing more than anything else – electrical energy.

The lights, pumps, fans, smell suppressors, irrigation systems – they all have an impact and contribute to the carbon footprint of each joint. Billion dollar industries (and that’s what marijuana cultivation is) use billions of dollars in energy. What uses more energy? A home and a car or a grow house? Some estimate the carbon footprint of a single joint at 2 pounds!

Moving the crop back outside is the answer, but there are challenges. Federal law still prohibits marijuana in the US, but out of sight cultivation is tolerated by local governments. In your face growing may not fare as well. Theft of outdoor crops is easier too.

There seems to be a recognized difference between commercial growers and medicinal growers. Many medicinal growers are small scale. While they do grow indoors it’s often by necessity. They need the weed, have few options other than the closet, and aren’t making money. The same can’t be said of commercial growers.

Legalization would help. Cultivation for personal use could become widespread, depressing prices and allowing outdoor growing. That would be good for everyone, from users to law enforcement to environmentalists.

Have you ever asked the question:how do you grow marijuana? Castulo Zane is well versed in the ways to grow marijuana.

Marijuana goes by many names, like indica, sativa, cannabis sativa, cannabis indica, etc., but they are all the same. People all over the world use marijuana for all sorts of different purposes.

It has a long history of use by man. Some think it’s evil, some think it’s useful, some think it’s harmless and fun. Western science is re-discovering much that was traditionally known about marijuana’s uses before it was stigmatized.

Oriental medicine has, in contrast, never stopped using marijuana as a basic part of it’s pharmacology.With more time and the increased use and de-sigmafication of marijuana we can be sure that new medical breakthroughs are coming.

Currently medical marijuana therapy is still a new field New applications are being tried all the time New techniques, usually pioneered by activists, are being shared through the internet and through cannabis culture participants Marijuana can be divided into two broad categories – the indicas and the sativas

These two types can be further divided into all sorts of strains that are quite distinct. There are also crosses of the two that have been developed by guerrilla gardeners. The result of the two types, multiple strains and the crosses that have been developed is an astounding diversity of marijuana types.

With varying characteristics, effects and profile,each is quite different.Indicas mature faster than sativas, both in the vegetative stage and in the bloom They arose in North Africa, Tibet, Pakistan and Afghanistan Traditionally producers of hash, indica lends itself to the practice

With wide, dark green leaves, indicas are shorter and denser than sativas They take about two months to mature once they begin to flower They get big stinky blooms They are good for medicine because of their pain blocking qualities It grows well indoors and it’s shape and size make it easier to cultivate as well.

Sativas are longer and taller They grow well outdoors in southern climes, but not further north, and they don’t grow well inside They can be traced to Latin America and Southeast Asia

These are the giant plants that you can see on pictures growing well over 12 feet high. Long, skinny (both in plant size and leaf size) they tend to be lighter green than indicas. They also take longer to mature once budding starts (2-4 months). Sativas account for the paranoia that some people attribute to marijuana, and can cause an irregular heartbeat. Their use in medicinal marijuana is, as a result, more problematic.

Now, that doesn’t mean sativas are bad. There are many strains of both sativa and indica. Since they can be crossbred, there can be some interesting breeds developed. The qualities they display tend to break out along the percentage breakdown of indica/sativa in each new strain.

Breeders try to do exactly that -develop new strains with desirable effects They try to develop what users need and desire This has created more crosses and hybrids than pure strains The results are indica/sativa hybrds, with the predominant strain being the first named in the combination

Sativa crosses are moderated by indica qualities Reverse the combination and you have an indica moderated by sativa qualities If you use indica to reduce a saliva’s paranoiac effects you make it more useful and exploit the motivational effects of sativa They have anti-depressive applications and are good appetite stimulants.Right now the indicas are the most popular medicinal marijuana because of their pain management qualities Nor then Lights, a popular indica hybrid,was the first hybrid I ever grew.

Learn about ways to grow marijuana. Castulo Zane knows all about marijuana seeds, so google www.growyourownstone.com.