* The following article was originally published in the October issue of Marijuana Venture, available now.
Matt LaScala
Botanist
Adakai
Phoenix, AZ
Having a good understanding of each strain you are working with is very important. Stress indicators, pest damage and disease susceptibility often are static through a given crop, so the further in front of any perceived loss one can get, the better. Keeping that in mind, it is worth mentioning the importance of plant placement in the flowering environment.
Once the flowering environment cleaning and sanitation have been verified by ATP (adenosine triphosphate) swab testing, the fill can begin. Moving the plants can serve as a valuable time to scout for pest populations and disease, prune excess leaf material and deploy any beneficial insects, all as the plants make the all-important transition into flower.
Consider things like the time it takes to finish, likelihood of stress and overall familiarity with the genetic (you would not want to put a trial strain in the back of a flowering bay as it makes observation difficult). This is not as big of a consideration when working in a small garden, but in a large garden or greenhouse environment every step counts.
The more planning you do upfront, the less wasted movement there will be throughout the flower cycle.