[Sleepy]

Welcome to our new forum....dedicated to side-by-side comparisons and controlled experiments.

Lets take a minute to explain the purpose of this new area with some guidelines:

The main purpose would be to have a place where differing opinions on grow techniques can be shown in a controlled, side by side experiment. This will not be a place to compare varieties, nor will any baiting or trolling be tolerated. The new sub-forum will not be a spammers’ showcase, either.

Controlled experiments can't really be conclusive by using plants from the same seed lot...due to the fact that F1 and subsequent generations do not all produce like plants, there will always be variances in phenotype expressions, to one degree or another.

your side-by-side comparisons will all need to be approved before showing up on the forum, with only those that meet the requirements of a true side-by-side, or controlled experiment getting approved.

From wiki:

“To demonstrate a cause and effect hypothesis, an experiment must often show that, for example, a phenomenon occurs after a certain treatment is given to a subject, and that the phenomenon does not occur in the absence of the treatment.
A controlled experiment generally compares the results obtained from an experimental sample against a control sample, which is practically identical to the experimental sample except for the one aspect whose effect is being tested (the independent variable).”

As the forum evolves and grows with your tests, Admin will have to decide on how best to show a new/different product or technique without coming across like a free ad for said product. This will NOT be a place to argue and harass each other. Think positive!

**A bit about links: Links to a product could lead to spam abuse, therefore, if you want to include information regarding products, the original poster should provide the pertinent info via copy/paste into their thread...no links.

All of you are welcome to post here, and we should remember why we are here and what the site provides for each of us:a global community of cannabis growers, activists, business entrepreneurs, photographers, breeders, vendors and medical patients.

I was welcomed by all when I joined a long time ago, and always appreciated the more experienced growers rapidly sharing their knowledge. I quickly became very interested in growing my own high-quality herbs. With each cycle, I was able to learn from previous grows. Some things I tried didn’t work out, while other things worked very well. While I still grow on a small scale, I am always learning and try to approach new methods with an open mind.

Some things that work for others may not work for you or me…this always confused me as to why…lets find out together!

Ahhh…all in the name of Science!

Lets get some real comparative experiments going…the more detail, the better!

[Brother Bear]

Gonna be a fun forum, glad to see it

[Natagonnaworrie]

Awesome! Let the games begin!!

By the end of this we should be saving everyone a few dollars on the useless 'additives' while uncovering the good ones.

A few potential topics come to mind... the first is the defoliation argument going on over in the hydro forum.

Then Co2 supplementation v Ambient
Silica products v without
Hardware comparisons (i.e. hoods, bulbs)

the list goes on..

this is a huge advancement.

Thank you Sleepy and IC!

[Greensub]

Love the idea...

[jaspmf]

This has been a large gap in the community for some time. HUGE props to those who've made this happen.

Hopefully this place pop's off...brilliant idea.

[*mistress*]

Canna Boost V Molasses - side by side comparison.
by Hazy Lady

excellent thread.................

[rasputin]

this is great! death to anecdotal evidence!

[spurr]

Originally Posted by rasputin

this is great! death to anecdotal evidence!

I agree this sub-forum is a great step in the right direction! And I think it's a great first step forward. That said, I feel the need to bring a little rain (reality) on this parade.

If people do not agree with what I wrote below, so be it, I don't want to start any arguments here. This will be my last post in this thread. I wrote this post with the best intentions at heart, I am not trying to diss anyone, nor diss this sub-forum.

Sadly, most all side by side growers are using conjecture, which isn't much better than anecdotal evidence. Thus the results of a side by side are usually not of much use due to the nature of conjecture. Without use of analytical tools, like measuring (qualifying) what I listed below, side by sides do not prove much. That is why scientific method needs to be used, ex. measuring and accounting for, and controlling variables that can affect the outcome.

Many growers doing side by sides try to use final yield as a measurement for the outcome of the side by side. But yield can't be used for most side by sides because it's not a direct measure, nor do growers account for the many factors that strongly affect yield. Also, when growers use yield as a measurement, they most often do not account for the amount of water in the bud, i.e. water weight. If using yield then the amount of water, and it's weight, must be accounted for, and subtracted from the total yield for a true value of biomass yield.. We don't smoke water, so water shouldn't be part of the yield weight reported.

Here are just some variables that should be measured and accounted for (dependent upon the reason for doing the side by side):

• rate of photosynthesis (Pn)
• chlorophyll fluorescence (ex. another method to measure Pn)
• irradiance (i.e. PPFD; Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density)
• level of Co2
• Co2 fixation
• level of active rubisco
• Air-to-Leaf Vapor Pressure Deficit
• sol-water status (i.e. water tension in soil and soilless media)
• tissue assays (ex. for level of nutrients like N, P, K, etc).
• etc.
• etc.
• etc.

[opt1c]

i agree; like in this comparison between plants grown in perlite vs a perlite vermiculite blend you will need all of the above listed measurements spurr quoted to tell a difference in root mass between the two groups of plants and in no way could you infer that one groups root mass was larger than the other without said measurements

[JWP]

Awesome! What prompted this i wonder? Speak up and great things happen.

This is bound to be a great part of ICMAG i cant wait to see which thread gets approved first.

So many great classics to choose from.

Maybe picos Air cooled reflector testing with Digital footcandle meter
Maybe a new one? Possibly Maripans Super Silver Sour Diesel Haze (Mysta Cut)

Anyway this is just great. Awesome move team ICMAG, well done