SouthEast Lights Journal

Smoking, Vaping and Edibles

By Charles U. Farley / May 24, 2018

I'm going to start this off by saying there is absolutely no reason why anyone should be consuming cannabis by smoking it. My background as a Respiratory Therapist might seem to make this statement obvious but I used to be a heavy cigarette smoker from the late 60's until January 2, 1985. I quit because I never thought I'd live to be 30 years old, I was turning 30 that year and I didn't want to end up like the patients I was treating if I lived to be 60, which I passed a few years back. Luckily for the consumer of cannabis, cannabis smoke doesn't have near the devastating effect on the lungs as tobacco.

The pipe you see was made from 3 tracheostomy tube adapters that were used in the 1960's that I acquired in the early 70's when I was in RT school. They were used to connect mechanical ventilators to tracheostomy tubes that were placed inside the lungs by a surgical incision in the neck. These adapters had some of the nastiest "loogies" (loose boogies, aka boogers) flowing through them than you can ever imagine. We're talking snot you can smell. Thick, bloody, TB infested mucous that had to be sucked out by unscrewing the access port, sticking a suction catheter (rubber tube) down into the lungs and sucking that shit out while the patient spasmodically tries to cough but can't because you're sucking all the air and snot out of their lungs. Don't worry, I autoclaved and then ran it through a ethylene oxide cycle to double sterilize it. You would not believe the looks I used to get when I would pull this out at after work parties down in Miami.

I was the kid in high school who was always making bongs and pipes. That continued in RT school when I made a 100% humidified bong out of a Cascade humidifier from an MA-1 ventilator. Finding new and improved ways of consuming cannabis has always intrigued me. When I first started hearing about using vaporizers to consume cannabis, I thought about the Tandyn Slave-Master that's on the About page. The first vaporizer I used was pretty much a ceramic tile cube with a soldering iron tip on the inside that connected to a thick glass adapter that attached to a glass wand that contained dried cannabis. The next vaporizer was an Airizer Extreme Q and that was like going from a Prius to a Porsche. Outstanding vape and by the time it "gave up the ghost" the portable Airizer model was available that we still use today.

Even though it took a lot of time and experimentation, I've finally found a way to make edibles worth the trouble to make them. Over the years, I've tried many ways to utilize cannabis in edibles without a lot of success until I tried this one. Cannabutter always seemed grody to me and tasted like shit, so I use canola oil. It is mandatory to decarboxylate cannabis before trying to use it in any form of edible. I believe there's a fine line between decarbing it and converting too much THC into CBD-like components, so I set the oven to 240 degrees Fahrenheit for forty five minutes. After it has cooled down, I use a couple cups of shake/popcorn buds for every cup of canola oil. Since THC is not water soluble, I also use a cup of water to make a slurry like mixture that is placed in a Crockpot/SmartPot set to low for 8-12 hours depending on the quality/quantity of cannabis being used. Filter through a very fine mesh screen into a wide bowl, freeze overnight and fairly pure oil will be on the top with, chlorophylled, particulated frozen water on the bottom, ready to be discarded.

Mix in one half cup of the oil with Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix for a tasty and thought provoking treat.

It's Not Paranoia If They Really Are Out To Get You

By Charles U. Farley / May 19, 2018

It is my sincere hope that when my family reads this entry, the growing and possession of cannabis will be at least decriminalized, if not totally legal, in the state where we live. I'm not real optimistic right now because most of the southeast U.S. is being overwhelmed by opioid and meth abuse. Spineless, ignorant politicians like Jeff Sessions group all illegal drugs in the same category, so I don't think the progress we've seen the last 10 years in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and California will make it to my state. Enhancing tax revenue without impacting the rich and powerful is the only real motivating force for legalization in our area.

Fantec 6" Exhaust Fan

TerraBloom Carbon Filter

TerraBloom 8" Exhaust

I have been lucky enough not to get busted in all my years of growing, cultivating and developing cannabis. The isolated, rural environment where I have lived for almost forty years has obviously been quite beneficial but taking adequate precautions has been almost as important. I learned very early to live by three rules:

1. Don't tell.

2. Don't show.

3. Don't sell.

Unfortunately, many people have been busted who have also followed those rules from either bad luck, poor planning or complacency. I can't do anything about bad luck but I can avoid poor planning and complacency by anticipation and vigilance. The only ones who have ever known that I cultivate cannabis have been my wife and my dogs. Period... end of story. I have brothers, friends and kids that I would not only trust with my life but would lay my life down for but I have never told about cultivating cannabis. There was never a reason to discuss it. Put another way, since I never sold cannabis there was never a reason to show or tell.

After my first couple of indoor grows, I knew that smell would be a problem even when growing a low odor type like Northern Lights. I was using a 6" fan to ventilate the closet directly into the attic because of the heat the 1 kW MH bulb gave off. On hot, humid summer nights, even with 450 CFM of airflow the smell could be noticeable. That is simply unacceptable if deputies happen to show up on the deck for no apparent reason, which actually happened. That's not bad luck, that's poor planning. In 1987, carbon filters were not even a consideration so I did the best thing I could do, which was utilize a roof vent to exhaust directly into the air above the roof. The Fantec has been running almost 24X7 for over 9 years now.

When I had to get a 4X4 tent for the basement because of the 2016 election, the situation presented a different challenge than the closet. How was I going to ventilate the smell from an unheated basement? There is a fireplace that I thought about routing the ventilated air into but that would necessitate placing the tent in a very inconvenient, visible place. Carbon filter to the rescue! Since the tent had 8" intake and exhaust outlets, I went with a TerraBloom 8" 675 CFM fan and 24" carbon filter. So far, it has worked flawlessly at keeping smell non-existent.

If they can't see it and they can't smell it, there's no probable cause, so they can't find it..

Lights, Lights, and More Lights

By Charles U. Farley / May 12, 2018

All of the LED lights I've discussed so far have been 4-5 years old, so the technology has improved quite a bit since then. Let me repeat what I've said on this site before, I am not recommending any brand or type of light, just documenting what lights I've used and why I chose them. Finding what we used to call the best QPR (quality price ratio) on CompuServe's Wine forum has been something I've always done, especially when it comes to technology. Somewhere between the very best/most expensive and the worst/cheapest, there is a place where you get the most value for your investment.

The G8LED 240 was a $350 USD proof of concept purchase so I could determine if LED lighting was feasible in my environment. After successfully using it for germination and early flowering in an auxiliary closet, I knew I'd never buy a replacement HID bulb again. I was committed to LED's. Contrary to all the hype at the time, I also knew this was not going to replace my 1 kW MH light, so I'd have to invest a substantial amount of money in a new lighting system.

After my usual extensive research, I ultimately decided on the Lumigrow 325. At the time, it was the only light frequency adjustable LED light on the market, had a 5 year warranty and cost a budget busting (for me at least) $800 USD. I justified the purchase, quite correctly, by knowing I wouldn't be buying a $100 USD Sunmaster Warm Deluxe replacement bulb every year or two. The adjustable aspect of the light was not ultimately useful in my environment because I was exceeding the point of diminishing returns on the amount of light I was providing.

I decided to supplement the Lumigrow with additional red spectrum light for flowering with a California Light Works 220 Bloom Booster. This light cost $430 USD and is probably one of the highest quality lights available to the general public. It's built like a tank and will probably still be functioning in another 5 years as well. The only problem with all of these older lights now is the amount of PAR light they produce per watt of electrical consumption, in addition to their high cost relative to what is available today.

After the election of 2016, I knew my wife and I would need much more cannabis to deal with the political bullshit that was about to be unleashed on America. I had already completely maximized production in the main closet, so I decided on a 4X4 tent that I could put in the unheated basement. After much research on the newer LED's now available, I decided on a couple of KingPlus 1800's. The dual chip/10 watt LED's are a marketing gimmick as far as I'm concerned but I can't argue with the results. All of the photos from the Home page slideshow were grown under these lights and the canopy penetration is simply phenomenal. While consuming just over 500 watts of electricity, they produce an astounding amount of photosynthetically usable light. Both of these lights cost me less than $500 USD, yielding a massive QPR when compared to 5 years ago.

At some point in the future, I'll discuss the common fallacy that more light is needed for the flowering phase than for the vegetative phase of development. Those who believe this myth have absolutely no common sense or logical reasoning capability. No amount of light can make up for the absence of leaves and roots that are the result of inadequate lighting during the vegetative phase of plant development.

Roots + Leaves = Flowers

Lights, Camera, Action,

By Charles U. Farley / May 6, 2018

After getting a new roof on the house, taking a bit of time off and solving some technical/logistical issues, I can finally get back to concentrating on writing again. Lighting is the topic and let me say right up front I'm not an engineer but I have done quite a bit of research on the topic. I'm not going to get into technical terms like PAR, PPFD, etc. except to say that lumens are for humans and PAR is for plants.

I've found LED lighting to be far superior and more effecient than any other form of lighting, for my situation and environment. I've been using LED's for almost 5 years now, so I have a somewhat long term perspective. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for, but there are certainly price points that yield diminishing returns for the additional investment. Those price points have changed quite a bit in the last 5 years. I would not buy the same Lumigrow 325 I paid $800 USD for back then, because there are cheaper and better alternatives now.

The first photo you see is a 1000 watt metal halide light I purchased in 1987. It still functions quite well although I haven't used it in 5 years. The Sunmaster Warm Deluxe bulb I used for flowering can't be seen but it was much smaller than this standard vegetative bulb. Second photo is inside the case and I noticed all of the wiring is still quite flexible with no signs of degradation. Given the heat this transformer gives off, even when separated from the light fixture, that is truly an amazing thing after twenty five years of use. The giant magnet on the left helps this thing weigh in at almost 40 pounds, not counting the light fixture.

The third photo is a Lumigrow 325 that recently developed several burned out LED's. It came with a 5 year warranty that I used after 4 years and 4 months of usage! I sent them the fixture, they replaced everything but the case and I had it back in service in just over a week. It has adjustable Red, Blue, and White spectral controls that I don't use as much now as I used to, as I found it didn't have much effect on plant size or structure with the amount of PAR light I'm providing.

The next photo is the first LED light I bought in 2013 for $340 USD, a G8LED 240. I knew this light would not replace the 1 kW MH light but it was at a price point I could live with. It would allow me to utilize an additional closet for seed development and early vegetative growth while extending the flowering phase in the main closet. It looks like several of the LED's are burned out but they still function normally.

The final photo is a California Light Works Solar Flare 220 Bloom Booster that functions and even looks just like it did when I bought it back in 2014 for $430 USD. I added this to the Lumigrow in the main closet because I needed more canopy penetration and was still under 1 kW of electrical usage. The serial and model numbers are written in ball point pen, which I doubt they still do today. The Lumigrow and California Light Works products are superior engineered lights that, unfortunately, I would not purchase now.

I'll explain why in the next journal entry.