Maximum Yield USA 2012 March | Page 118

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 116 Maximum Yield USA | March 2012