Operational methods Dakota demonstrates — training, defoliation, dialing in environment, building beds and watering systems.
Trimmed, dried cannabis is sealed in Cvaults with Vevi Cure two-way humidity packs and left sealed for 10 days with no jar burping required. The humidity pack passively manages moisture to achieve a complete cure.
Discussed in: ep 005
Placing regular-seed plants under a 12-hour light / 12-hour dark cycle with a black tarp light barrier to force early pre-flower development, allowing sex identification before committing plants to the main grow.
Discussed in: ep 005
The recommended substrate ratio for the next Autopot CO2 room run, replacing the previous rice hull blend. Perlite provides drainage and aeration while coco provides water retention, following Autopot's official grow guide recommendations.
Discussed in: ep 005
Placing a cannabis plant or harvested bud on a motorized rotating turntable (MP 6X) and capturing continuous or multi-frame photography with studio flash units to produce a full 360-degree visual record of each phenotype.
Discussed in: ep 003
Running a batch of autoflowering plants in the greenhouse during the same period as a primary indoor photoperiod cycle to generate an additional harvest without extending the main cycle timeline.
Discussed in: ep 003
Per AutoPot guidelines: use a buffered, free-draining coco/aeration mix (minimum 30% perlite or equivalent); place a 1-inch layer of clay pebbles, pea gravel, or perlite at the base of each pot; hand-water for the first 10–14 days post-transplant with 2.5 gallons of pH 5.6 water at quarter-strength feed to stabilize the coco; only activate the automated bottom-watering system once roots are well established.
Discussed in: ep 001
Provide a tester with the cured flower and the CVault without disclosing any information about the cultivar's genetics, growing conditions, or expected profile. The tester evaluates bag appeal, smell, taste, burn quality, and effects independently before receiving any context.
Discussed in: ep 002
Mr. Q's recommended technique for defoliating large plants: start by sitting/crouching at the base and removing lower lateral branches that do not reach the upper canopy before addressing upper foliage. This avoids wasting time cleaning up branches that will ultimately be removed entirely.
Discussed in: ep 001
Physically pulling apart dense buds and examining canopy depth at harvest time to identify any internal mold, powdery mildew, or bud rot before processing.
Discussed in: ep 003
Selectively topping only the taller plants in a mixed-height canopy to bring them level with shorter plants, creating an even light exposure plane before installing a SCROG net. Shorter plants are left untopped to catch up naturally.
Discussed in: ep 001
Running exhaust fans only once per lights-out cycle (5 minutes) and keeping the room sealed during lights-on to build and maintain CO2 levels up to the controller setpoint, maximising enriched air time for plant photosynthesis.
Discussed in: ep 004
Gradually reducing CO2 supplementation levels in the final weeks of flowering rather than maintaining peak levels to the end. This mirrors the plant's declining photosynthetic needs and prevents unnecessary CO2 waste while the plant finishes senescence.
Discussed in: ep 005
Fully saturating new coco media via automated drip to pH 5.5–5.8 and EC 3.5 until 2% runoff is achieved before transplanting clones, ensuring the media is buffered and at field capacity for immediate root zone moisture.
Discussed in: ep 004
Place seeds on moist cotton pads, add 3–4 moisture sprays, seal in a labeled Ziploc bag 3/4 full of air, and place in a dark, warm area for 48–72 hours until taproots emerge. Seeds are then transferred to labeled Dixie cups with light soil.
Discussed in: ep 002
Before transplanting cannabis seedlings into living soil beds, the established cover crop is cut short with scissors and left as a mulch layer on the soil surface. This retains moisture, provides nitrogen as it decomposes, and maintains soil biology activity.
Discussed in: ep 005
Rather than supplementing CO2 from seedling/clone stage (which caused excessive stretch and wide nodal spacing in previous runs), CO2 is withheld through the full veg period and the first few weeks of flower. CO2 is introduced only after the stretch phase ends and plants begin bulking, theorized to maximize bud density without excessive vegetative stretch.
Discussed in: ep 001
Running timed feed events while collecting runoff in measured trays to determine ml-per-minute output per dripper, verify even distribution across all emitters in both beds, and calculate precise feed durations to achieve target saturation.
Discussed in: ep 004
Using VWC sensors feeding into Pulse to detect when substrate moisture has dropped 30–35% from field capacity, automatically triggering the Open Sprinkler to run a timed drip feed event without manual intervention.
Discussed in: ep 004
Removing large fan leaves from the lower canopy at day 3 of flower to improve airflow and direct energy to bud sites; no full topping performed in this first CO2 run.
Discussed in: ep 004
Rather than topping taller plants at the stem, removing the top 4–5 large fan leaves to open the upper canopy and redirect growth energy to lateral branches, used where height differential between clones and seedlings makes standard topping impractical.
Discussed in: ep 004
Use the Pulse Pro app to set alerts and alarms for critical events like missed feeding cycles or accidental light interruptions, reviewed on a daily or weekly basis to catch environmental or feeding issues in real time.
Discussed in: ep 002
Immediately freezing freshly harvested cannabis material to preserve volatile terpenes and cannabinoids, subsequently using the frozen material for ice water hash washing to produce live rosin precursor.
Discussed in: ep 003
Nutrient solution or plain water flows by gravity from elevated reservoirs (8,000 L main + 2,000 L nutrient mixing tank) through disc filters and into four lines of drip tape per bed, with individual on/off valves per line. No pump required.
Discussed in: ep 005
Layering trucked natural earth with 300 kg of coco fiber and 100–250 kg of mycorrhizae and organic amendments per bed, mixed by hand and bobcat over multiple days to create a living organic raised bed substrate.
Discussed in: ep 004
Running the same strains simultaneously across three different environments (controlled indoor, greenhouse, and fully outdoor) to compare yield, bud quality, trichome production, and mold resistance.
Discussed in: ep 003
Rubbing live or recently harvested buds between fingers to volatilize terpenes, then immediately smelling to assess flavor profile for phenotype selection. Dakota conducts these evaluations systematically across all phenos.
Discussed in: ep 005
Walking through numbered male plants and evaluating each on stem-rub smell, internode stacking, leaf structure (width, overlap), stem thickness, and overall vigor to select 2–3 keeper males per genetic line for potential breeding use.
Discussed in: ep 004
When plants are overwatered post-transplant in coco, cut automated irrigation entirely for at least one day to allow the medium to dry out, then resume hand-watering with small volumes at correct pH/EC for 2–3 days before restoring automated watering. Optionally apply silica foliar spray during the dry period.
Discussed in: ep 001
After harvest, cut buds from different phenotypes and place them on separate labeled levels of a multi-tier drying rack to maintain phenotype identity through the dry and allow individual assessment of each pheno's final weight and quality.
Discussed in: ep 002
Deliberately running an entire flowering cycle without dehumidification or air conditioning to test the natural environmental resistance of strains under high-humidity conditions.
Discussed in: ep 003
Connecting the Open Sprinkler hardware to the Pulse grow management software so that sensor-triggered dry-back data from Pulse directly fires irrigation programs through the solenoid valves, creating a fully automated precision feed system.
Discussed in: ep 004
Growing cannabis plants fully exposed to outdoor elements — sun, wind, rain, humidity — with no environmental controls, to evaluate the natural disease and mold resistance of specific cultivars in a challenging climate.
Discussed in: ep 003
Running 50–100 seeds of a regular-seed cultivar across one or two full outdoor beds to find the best female phenotypes, accepting the sex identification step as part of the process in exchange for genetic diversity and stability.
Discussed in: ep 005
Selecting preferred phenotypes for photography, cloning, or further use based on hands-on terpene/aroma assessment, visual bud structure, trichome density, and color rather than purely yield-based metrics.
Discussed in: ep 003
Using a PAR/PPFD meter to measure light intensity at multiple points across the canopy (center, edges, and at different heights) to understand the light distribution profile and ensure appropriate intensity for the current growth stage.
Discussed in: ep 001
Deliberately holding plants in flower beyond their apparent readiness window (e.g., keeping Blood Moon Gelato pheno #7 past its optimal point) to observe how terpene profiles transform with additional maturation time.
Discussed in: ep 005
Removing a recently transplanted plant from its new container, adding new/corrected substrate, and replanting it a second time. Described as stressful but feasible if done quickly (under 5 minutes of root air exposure) with the root ball intact and covered during the process.
Discussed in: ep 001
Installing horizontal netting over outdoor living soil beds early in vegetative growth to spread branches laterally, control height, and maximize light interception across the canopy during flowering.
Discussed in: ep 005
Running video documentation and still photography capture at the same time in separate studio setups, maximizing efficiency during multi-day content production sessions.
Discussed in: ep 003
Use a smartphone's widest-angle camera in macro mode up close to flower buds to get a visual assessment of trichome development (clear/cloudy/amber ratio) as a quick no-equipment harvest timing check.
Discussed in: ep 002
Evaluate and score a harvested cultivar's aroma across six distinct terpene category axes (Dank, Earthy, Pungent, Dessert, Fruity/Tropical, Citrus) on a 0–5 scale to create a visual radar chart representing the full terpene profile. Adapted from 'The Higher Book.'
Discussed in: ep 002
Keeping pheno hunt plants in small cups past ideal transplant time to induce root bounding and mild stress, revealing which phenotypes remain resilient and easy-feeding versus which show sensitivity — an additional selection filter before committing to large containers.
Discussed in: ep 004
Remove the apical growing tip of a plant that is growing significantly taller than others to encourage lateral branch growth and create an even canopy height matching shorter companion plants. No additional leaf removal is performed—the sole goal is height equalization.
Discussed in: ep 002
Using the Pulse sensor to measure substrate VWC in real time, the grower calibrates wet and dry thresholds specific to their substrate and plant stage, then sets automated alarms and triggers to control when the AutoPot system is active, preventing overwatering without manual monitoring.
Discussed in: ep 001