SINSEMILLA TIPS from ISSUE ZERO - Mary Jane Flashbacks - August 1994 The planet earth has just passed the equinox which means the days are now becoming shorter and the nights longer. A very important time in the lives of happy growers. The plants life-cycle undergoes major changes as the grower watches with patient anticipation. This is a short but concise account of the critical time for the harvesting muller. What to look for, when to pick, and how to prepare the buds; so they look great, smell delicious and smoke you into fantasy land!!! The cannabis plant regulates it's growth and flowering stages by measuring changes in the number of hours of uninterrupted darkness to determine when to flower. The plant produces a hormone (phytochrome) beginning at germination. When this chemical builds up to a critical level, the plant changes it's mode from vegetative growth to flowering. Male plants flower before the female. The male plants should be removed to stop any fertilisation occuring. A grower wants sinsemilla buds. An unfertilised plant will continue to produce new flowers. The buds get thick with the unfertilised flowers over a period of several weeks. The flowering patterns begin to change, the stigmas begin to wither and change colour. Next the ovaries begin to swell, however it's only a false pregnancy. Here the glands begin filling up with canniboids. Usually the heads will seem as though they will burst, showing the last stage of flowering. As soon as the heads show any amber shade they should be harvested, otherwise the THC will begin to degrade into two other canniboids (CBL & CBN). THC is the ingredient which is PSYCHOACTIVE!!! The other two are it's precursors, which often leave the smoker feeling disoriented, sleepy, drugged, and/or confused. The goal is to allow the plants to reach their full potential, that is to obtain the highest amount of mind blowing substance possible!!! When a bud is picked, many of it's metabolic processes continue for a while. The cell begins to convert carbohydrates back to sugars and break down some of the pigments. Chlorophyll is one of the pigments affected. Buds will appear a lighter green than when first picked. Some of the other pigments break down to give the bud a red-purple or cream colour. The crop needs to be dried slowly so that moisture remains in the cells to continue the life processes. Since all of the vegitation is contributing moisture to the air, ventilation is essential to prevent mould forming. While the plants are drying, the large leaves can be removed. It is harder and takes longer to manicure when the plants are wet. To manicure the budding area, large sun leaves present are removed. The buds should now appear almost naked, except for some single fingered leaves sticking out from between the flowers. To enhance appearance these leaves can be clipped to the circumference of the flower. Sun leaves are unsuitable for smoking, however they are useful for cooking, brewing or extracting the THC to make HASH or HASH OIL. IT IS A VIOLATION OF THE CURRENT LAW TO CULTIVATE MARIJUANA IN AUSTRALIA! Marijuana prohibition was initiated because of the people who smoke it. The laws continue in effect today for those same reasons. Politicians do not like people who think for themselves, are independant and who recognise bullshit. They would prefer for each citizen to become a subject; a ward of the state, who is dependant on the government for making his/her life decisions. Gunja tends to let us develop different set perceptions, to see the world a little differently, to change not only what we think, but how we think. This is what scares the regulators. Go forth and multiply Have a MARY season Raj - Profound Member