25% THC from female hemp plants in Jefferson's time? I'm sorry Aurum, but again I've
got to wonder where you're getting you're info from. There's no chance that a Ruderalis
cross with hemp would ever get beyond 3-5%. Ruderalis is being brought back into the
strain database again due to it's high levels of CBD's, but certainly not for it's potency.
Back in Jefferson's day, there were only a couple dozen strains, worldwide. These are
commonly known as the "Land Race" strains, or the originals that all other strains came
from. The vast majority of these strains were found only in India, Africa and Asia.
George Washington was known for testing one variety imported from India, and
that was when a more potent for of MJ became available in the US. (Yes, it's very likely
that George Washington sat in his rocker on the front porch and smoked a fatty at
the end of the day).
Very, very few of these strains were brought to America before the late 1800's, and
back then there wasn't many people cultivating it; those that did were selling it
to the pharmaceutical industry, as it was a main ingredient in a large number of
medicines of the day.
Seriously...do a web search for "Worlds strongest strains of marijuana", and what you'll
find is that it's
only the TOP 5 or 6 strains in the WORLD that meet or exceed 25%
THC, and then only when grown under the most perfect of conditions. Word is that they
don't actually have to be ingested...just open the jar and breathe deep. Honestly, an
average indica/sativa cross today, grown as sensimilla, is somewhere in the 12%-18%
THC range.
(For some reason I couldn't delete the first post that didn't have Dizzy Diggers quote)
Dizzy Digger,
You are mostly right about the concentrations of THC in most marijuana plants. But, there is that extreme exception to these truths about THC concentrations that many are not aware of.
There is a something called a colchicine bulb. This bulb is used to mutate plants to come up with new varieties of plants. You simply crush the bulb in water and soak the seeds in this water for about 24 -36 hours. Then the seed is planted and there will be new types of plants from this crop of treated seeds.
This was tried in the 60's by growers trying to come up with super strains of marijuana. They called it "Frankenweed". Some of the strains from these experiments are still present in the common seed crops we have today.
When the colchicine was tried with marijuana for the first time in the 60's, people died that smoked this first crop. They then found that the seed had to be harvested from the treated seed crop and then planted to get a crop of marijuana that did not kill people that smoked it.
As a result of these super strains, indoor growing became viable because a Colombian or Mexican seed would produce a plant indoors that would not get a fly high.
Some of these super strains using colchicine treatments created THC levels that exceeded the 35% THC plateau that I mentioned.
I only mentioned these concentration levels because I am aware of the history of the present day seeds used for indoor growing. There used to be a Club call SSSC or Super Sativa Seed Club. This was out of Holland I think. In the late 80's, it became illegal to import these seeds. But, these strains are still treated and made more powerful using colchicine bulbs.
Also, the plant matter is thicker than the simple Colombian and Mexican strains that were common in the 60's & 70's. You can get this information in a few books that are still available in used book stores. I just happened to be interested in Colchicine bulb mutation of plants to create flower varieties and came upon these experiments with marijuana in the 70's. I was interested in the using cochicine with edible plant crops but there were studies already in place by the University of Georgia in the city of Griffin. Corn was growing to heights of 25 feet. The corn from these plants were donated to the police and fire stations for their families. The cob was about 12 to 16 inches long. Surprisingly, the kernels were tender even though they were larger.
So what you said is true, basically. But, if you know the study done as it was documented in books, you would not know about the present day seed crops that are so potent compared to the basic strains available in the 60's & 70's.
Here is a quote from a post on this that I found after writing you this. :
Triploid (3n) strains were formed with great difficulty by crossing artificially created tetraploids (4n) with dipbids (2n). Triploids proved to be inferior to both diploids and tetraploids in many cases. De Pasquale et al. (1979) conducted experiments with Cannabis which was treated with 0.25% and 0.50% solutions of colchicine at the primary meristem seven days after generation. Treated plants were slightly taller and possessed slightly larger leaves than the controls, Anoma- lies in leaf growth occurred in 20% and 39%, respectively, of the surviving treated plants. In the first group (0.25%) cannabinoid levels were highest in the plants without anomalies, and in the second group (0.50%) cannabinoid levels were highest in plants with anomalies.
Here is the link from this excerpt. : What is colchicine and how is it used?
This quote just confirmed my statement about the complex meristem formations that made the plant grow thicker. Instead of a seven leaf pattern, there became a 14 leaf pattern which meant larger buds during the flowering of the female.
About THC levels, this quote was in the article:
Overall, treated plants showed a 166-250% increase in THC with respect to controls and a decrease of CBD (30-33%) and CBN (39-65%). CBD (cannabidiol) and CBN (cannabinol) are cannabinoids involved in the biosynthesis and degradation of THC. THC levels in the control plants were very low (less than 1%). Possibly colchicine or the resulting polyploidy interferes with cannabinoid biogenesis to favor THC. In treated plants with deformed leaf lamina, 90% of the cells are tetraploid (4n 40) and 10% diploid (2n 20). In treated plants without deformed lamina a few cells are tetraploid and the remainder are triploid or diploid.
Of course, the plants that grew wild in the Americas never had this kind of THC level. But now, with the wind blowing the pollen to distant crops to cross pollinate plants as it always happens, and with bees doing a lot of this work, THC levels have naturally risen in the last forty to fifty years because of this colchicine use in mutating marijuana and hemp plants. This means that even in the wild, hemp may be making a comeback to have more THC. This is just a theory though. It is plausible knowing about colchicine use with marijuana.
oh Brother what a hoot........
