Would you rather end up with a pound of mids, or a half pound of the chronic?
I grew up raising cattle with my grandpa the old fashioned way. No antibiotics, no cruelty, no force-feeding, and chasing the cows could earn you a boot to the ass. Fast forward to our present day treatment of livestock, and the horrors are endless. The consequences are an unhealthy populace, environmental destruction, and animal cruelty. The same is true of your plants.
If you are just starting out with your first crop you are probably dreaming of massive buds towering overhead. The kind of yields grow room legends are made of. But consider this: the reason we treated those cows gently was not just to keep them fat, but to keep stress, and the negative energy it creates out of the meat. Sure, you can pump a cow up to massive proportions, just like you can bend, break, prune, and manipulate your plants in many different ways to get a bigger yield, but is it worth it if the bud you produce carries that negative energy forward? I even heard that plants scream when you cut them, we just can’t hear it because of the low frequency.
If you aren’t moved to try a low-stress natural approach to growing by the spirtual perspective, consider the realist perspective–you aren’t going to be a natural Cervantes right out of the chute. (If you haven’t heard of Cervantes, and you plan to grow bud stop what you’re doing and click here.) Even Cervantes wasn’t a natural Cervantes, he had to work for it. There are no shortcuts to growing great buds consistently. Diseases can wipe out your grow faster than a swat team, and every time you bend, break, cut, or stress a plant you create an opportunity for a disease to develop. If you are a master grower with an impeccably clean grow, and you are basically hanging from the ceiling over your plants like a ninja waiting to spring into action at the first sign of trouble, then stress techniques could enhance your yield.
On the other hand, if you are a new grower, or a grower who tries all the latest huge-yield tricks, but your bud is mediocre, consider going au natural for a round. Those cows always looked happy, and the meat was superb. If you ever hear a grower say it’s easy, or they’ve never had a problem, scream “Cops!” and run the hell out of there. Growing decent bud is more than most people can handle. I say that not to discourage you from trying, but to remind you that a great grower is an artisan, and that you will never become great with shortcuts.
By all means keep growing, just consider that the size of the yield is only one factor in your pursuit. After all, a pound of mids is good, but a half pound of the chronic is better.
