High Altitude Quality, Is it More Because of Conditions and Not UV?

Douglas.Curtis said:

What are your thoughts?

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My backyard 3 mile "track" ... Old logging roads, deer trails, etc.

What I like about it - it's so steep very few LEO types would ever come up there.

I have a feeling that LEO types in general don't like chasing contraband if it involves walking up steep slopes, falling a lot, getting face-fulls of poison oak & blackberry thorns, etc.

Of course, it doesn't matter whether the locals are speaking English or Farsi, or Pashtun ... maybe it's a little drier there so the primary safety issue is falling off a cliff ?

Guaranteed if a normal size SWAT team (10) tried to invade my guerilla grows, at least one of them would require medical attention afterwards.

Not because of anything I did - because of the however many dozens of times I've been to the top area (which is 45 to 60 degrees), there was only one time when I didn't fall on the way down.

As a side note to a conversation Putem & I were having - there's a big difference between falling 3 feet and falling 20 feet.

I think a lot of high-altitude hash grows are located for similar reasons.

If the cops went up there, they know a lot of them will end up looking like the 3 stooges. And these days, with nearly every person holding a video camera, their clumsy moments might end up on Youtube. What Leo wants that ?

LEO doesn't like to get too uncomfortable. And they don't like to have it highlighted that the growers they're chasing might be more physically fit than some of their recruits.


Maybe a project for some Grow-Mag -
It would be funny to set up a "Patsy" grow and report it to the Ocifer's.

Then set up trail-cams and video their attempts to capture the Cannabis.

That could make an epic article.


More light intensity in general at altitude.

70 watts per square foot at Sea Level in San Diego, about 140 watts per square foot without all that air (i.e. in outer space)

At serious altitude (e.g. 15,000 feet) I think the light intensity would be 100+ watts per square foot.

Plus these days, those grows are being CO2 supplemented. Natural atmospheric CO2 is up to about 410 ppm. The air may be thinner up there but I figure there's enough CO2.

If I was a sherpa who lived in the Himalayas, I might have Cannabis plants in my home just for the extra O2.

St. Phatty said:

My backyard 3 mile "track" ... Old logging roads, deer trails, etc.

What I like about it - it's so steep very few LEO types would ever come up there.

I have a feeling that LEO types in general don't like chasing contraband if it involves walking up steep slopes, falling a lot, getting face-fulls of poison oak & blackberry thorns, etc.

Of course, it doesn't matter whether the locals are speaking English or Farsi, or Pashtun ... maybe it's a little drier there so the primary safety issue is falling off a cliff ?

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This definitely is the reason a lot of grows are at higher altitudes, but it's not the reason hash producers prefer altitude. In the regions where it's grown at various altitudes, it's still the higher altitude crops turning out the best quality. The absence of law enforcement is not affecting the quality in this respect.

Highter altitude = more UV rays. If we consider UV rays like a possible plant source of stress and "more" stress = more resin production.
We can say: more altitude = more UV rays= more stress = more resins.

Did you actually read the thread?

The plant is using the glandular trichs as protection from the uv, if there more uv exposure at higher altitudes obviously the cultivar is a survivor and will adapt accordingly. Ideally the less man touches it the beter at those altitudes. Btw this plant isn't the only one to throw trichs to protect itself! Not on,y that but when I'm on the top of the hill, I tend to have a better outlook on things and life.....I wouldn't be surprised if being up there creates a better environment in a natural untouched by man farming wise......it doesn't have to compete for food and light as much at these heights maybe!? Just thinking outlook and typing as I do......

Sunshineinabag said:

I wouldn't be surprised if being up there creates a better environment in a natural untouched by man farming wise......it doesn't have to compete for food and light as much at these heights maybe!?

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Resources like water, nutrients and CO2 are much lower at high altitude. When left on it's own, everything grows smaller than it does at lower altitudes. Plants, trees, bushes, cacti, everything. Himalayan garlic cloves, farmed by man, are only the size of a large pea.

Air pressure is a key factor-at high altitudes its' significantly lower than at sea level,which affects the amounts of O and CO2 available,light spectrum and many other variables. In simple terms-Plants growing up a mountain have a little less "weight" on them than valley plants.

The desert conditions, hot days and cool nights, are a big part of it. If the plants are given enough fertilizer and water. Very low humidity during flowering. My experiments making hashish have shown that cool and dry conditions increase the quality and amount when sifting. All the best hashish regions have cool winter mornings.

On the other hand lots of excellent ganja is grown at lower altitudes. There's places with long hot summer with low humidity like northern California. Probably a reason why many tropical strains from lower elevations in Thailand, India, and Africa finish so late in the year. December and January probably have the coolest nights and maybe lower humidity. Timed to finish after the monsoons.

Londinium, that's a good point as there is definitely less air pressure there. I have no idea which processes use this pressure in growing, though I'm sure it is definitely used.

thereverend, I'm very curious about strains which do well in hot/dry as well. So far my experience has been with all kinds of hybrids, no strictly NLD or WLD, and they have all responded similarly to cool/dry.

I now live in a warm/wet area and planning a cool/dry room. The goal is to start running clones in both areas for comparison.