Senescence Simplified
“Remember, fruit that is forced
to finish through increasing
environmental stressors will always
be inferior in taste and overall
quality when compared to the
exact same cultivar left to mature
naturally, assuming no other
variables differ.”
Finally, it is important to understand that the ‘if a little bit is
good, a whole lot must be better’ approach is not really applicable to gardening. This approach to indoor cultivation is
becoming increasingly prevalent in North America and runs
diametrically counter to what nature took nearly four billion
years to perfect. It is reckless and arrogant to believe that simple
reductionist science will unlock the nearly limitless potential
of plants—just remember when pushing your plants to their
limits with ultra-high ppms, excessive wattage and cool rooms
with low VPDs you run the risk of catastrophic crop failure. My
suggestion is to run the lowest nutrient ppms possible without
sacrificing yield, to utilize the smallest amount of wattage necessary for optimum growth and never run your CO2 ppms above
1,250. By following these fairly simple guidelines, your chances
of crop failure or disappointing harvests are slim. Bottom line—
sometimes the field just can’t take the stress!
Now I am sure I will catch flack from fellow academic types
criticizing my shockingly over-simplified summation of senescence and plant maturation, but in the end I don’t write articles
of this nature to further confuse an already enigmatic issue—I
write them in the hope of fostering understanding. After all, the
more you know the more you can grow… MY
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Maximum Yield USA | March 2012