hajek@tartarus.uchicago.edu.UUCP (Greg Hajek) (09/08/89)
In article <1258@mva.cs.liv.ac.uk> zanussi@mva.cs.liv.ac.uk writes: >Thanks to all the people who, via email and the net, have brilliantly pointed >out that the Phototron can be used for growing marijuana. However, nobody >seems to have questioned :- >a) whether it actually works or not. If you'll excuse the source, Sinsemilla Tips magazine has been running an ongoing series of letters about the Phototron and one somewhat in-depth article about it. I have not actually used a Phototron, but the jist of what I've read is that, well, in SOME sense, ``pyraponimetric'' (DeMarco's term) growing works. One thing to keep in mind is that the technique is not just the machine (more on that below); for DeMarco's system to work, you have to: (1) Carefully select among starts (DeMarco recommends starting 50 seeds, and selecting the 6 smallest and most vigorous to actually go into the box). (2) Use DeMarco's ``secret fertilizer mix'', and periodically send back soil samples for nutrient analysis---they then mix up a special batch of secret sauce for you. (3) Maintain a small puddle of nutrient solution in the bottom of the box 23 hours a day, and let the puddle dry up for 1. (4) Prune the plants very frequently. Note that the only really surprising claim that Mr. DeMarco makes is the size that he can keep the plants to---assuming that the ``leaf matter'' that he's talking about in the ad is in fact marijuana, 6-8 ounces of leaf and stem a day (pre-drying weight, naturally) from 6 plants isn't that impressive. The 3-foot size for the plants is maintained, clearly enough, by the pruning. The 1-inch internodal length is a primarily a product of the extensive side- lighting the Phototron uses; keep the lights close and all around, and the plants don't have to grow to them. 1000 fruiting sites per plant, I assume, refers to the number of CALYXES, not ``buds''. For a marijuana grower, such information is practically useless---2000 stigmas don't mean much unless they're clustered into tight little buds. Of course, selecting for genetically small plants and tailoring the nutrients to your tap water don't hurt, either. >b) Mr DeMarco's claims about the largest bibliography, etc. ever. I had always assumed that ``the largest nonscientific collection'' of material on the matter referred to his collection of underground comix. Note also that he refers to the scientific bibliography, not the items in the bibliography. >c) why his brillant machine hasn't taken the world by storm. Presumably one CAN > grow things other than drugs in it. There are two prongs to the answer to this question: (1) The Phototron itself has been plagued by technical problems---it maintains very high humidity (love them parasites), offers the user little real control or flexibility, and is pretty unsafe electrically. So, the product itself isn't creating much of a stir. (2) The claim that the Phototron is the only system that will allow you to harvest every 45 days is somewhat misleading---it's really the only system particularly designed to REQUIRE you to harvest every 45 days. Most hydroponic systems are much more versatile, allowing you to grow entire plants (and try to maximize yield/plant), or use close cropping with clones (to try to maximize yield/unit of growing area). Of course, the EEC already encourages hydroponic growing of food crops like cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash. Extensive side-lighting isn't really feasible in a production setup, as there are just too many plants to try to baby each one. The problem here is that ``pyraponimetric'' growing really refers to a system for combining existing technology into a system that keeps plants small, and only requires the grower to follow instructions. That is, it's not that useful for anything other than growing drugs, and not too terrific for that, either. --------------- Greg Hajek (....!uunet!oddjob!tartarus!hajek) ``Playing the game of reality with no real cards in one's hand.''