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reserve your ad hereIndoor Cannabis Growing Issues are on today’s menu! Oh man, I’m so old now I can legitimately hurt myself in my sleep. But, on the upside, I am always coming up with little moves to make all my cannabis growing less work for me because I’m definitely not one of those A-type peeps that seem to actually get more energetic as they get older, no-no-no. But I’m happy to be mostly healthy, and I attribute that in great part to TLO (True Living Organics) growing, and how my diet drastically changed once I learned about real food, heh heh.
My newest book will be out soon. I’ll tell ya more about that below. For now, let’s get into some questions, shall we?
Alright then, earthlings, let’s rock and/or roll with today’s “Letters” to Rev…
Indoor Cannabis Growing Issues, Question #1: Hermaphrodites?
From: Robert P.
“I’m all worried and hoping you can help Rev. I got some seeds and sprouted ten plants. Eight plants were female, and I’m flowering them now. I am about three weeks into my flowering cycle. One of these females was a major hermaphrodite and started throwing male flowers. I killed it, but now I don’t know what to think. Do I need to do something, I mean besides watching them closely? What are the chances the rest are hermaphrodites? Thank you for any help.”
Rev’s Answer to Q1
Okay, Robert, the first thing is, don’t worry too much at all, as long as you killed the hermaphrodite (hermie) before it could throw any pollen out, then so far so good. There are different kinds of hermies. There are what I call ‘True Hermaphrodites’ like what you saw, and then there is another kind that expresses (shows up) much later in flowering (during the last half of flowering), often called “bananas” or “nanners,” because the mutant male flowers resemble waxy yellow/green bananas.
Between those two types of hermies, you got the “good” kind, LoL. Wilder types of genetics, like old-world cultivars and landrace strains, will throw out true hermie individuals here and there, and this is business as usual. Hybrids of these types of strains will often carry on with these traits. My point pertaining to your situation is that, as long as it’s just one plant (or even a couple) you should be fine amigo. The other females should be non-hermies.
The good news for you is that you are also fairly likely to find a couple of extra special females in that group, so I hope you took cuttings of all your females. I personally love going through wilder type genetics, so I also see an occasional true hermie here and there. I am also watching closely for them, so I always get them way before they can throw out any pollen. FYI, in case you don’t know, any seeds produced by hermaphrodite pollen are HIGHLY likely to produce hermaphrodite plants—yup!
Indoor Cannabis Growing Issues, Question #2: Powdery Mildew?
FROM: Will K.
“Hello, Rev. Could you please take a look at the photo (below) and tell me what’s happening? My humidity in my tents stays around 50% max, can this be mold? It appeared lately on various leaves of various plants. Thank you.

Rev’s Answer to Q2
Howdy Will. Well, amigo, that’s not mold. It’s Spider Mites. Look under the leaves with a magnifying glass and if you can see the little buggers then it’s Spider Mites. If you cannot see them, then it’s Russet Mites—which are basically Spider Mites of the microscopic variety.
If you are within 20 days of harvesting, ride it out is my advice. Don’t let the plants drought stress, and keep the humidity from dropping below 50%, and you should be okay. If you have more than 20 days until harvest, you may want to treat them with something safe-ish, like End All II. Read directions for use. DO NOT use this product within 20 days of harvesting. Your buds will take a hit from this stuff, they won’t be as tasty or smelly, but you’ll still get a harvest.

Within 30 days from noticing these buggers they can totally infest a plant to the point of only being able to harvest a small amount of really shitty buds. Hit them at about 21 days until harvest, and rinse off the leaves about five days later with a sprayer using water. Always do any spraying or rinsing about 30 to 60 minutes after lights on. Good luck with your mission. It’s worth the hassle to keep these bastards out in the first place.
Indoor Cannabis Growing Issues, Question #3: Soil Moisture Meters?
FROM: Ashley B.
“Hey Rev, longtime fan. My garden really started jamming after I got your book. Recently I took a fall dune riding, and for about ten weeks, I’m going to have some mobility problems, specifically watering my plants. I always lifted them to tell when they needed watering. Now, I have tried about three different moisture meters, and they all suck. Can you help me out with a good meter recommendation? I have semi-screwed about four plants now, either over or under-watering them. Thank you so much. I hope you can help.”

Rev’s Answer to Q3
Hi Ashley. Okay, I think there’s a very good chance all three of your meters actually work fine—yup—it’s true. It’s all about how you use them. I have decent physical damage that limits my pot-lifting from time to time. In the photo above, you can see my meter. It was cheap, I’ve had and used other cheap ones, and they almost always work perfectly fine. Lemme ‘splain how you use these puppies…

This is the probe location (in the photo above), halfway between the stem and the side of the pot, that I always use to give me what I believe are the most consistently accurate results. Now here’s the thing, you need to let the meter sit there for about 3 to 5 minutes to get a real reading. Don’t use the same holes to insert the probe in; always pic a new place. Last but not least, wipe down your meter after every session with it using a washcloth or something. About once every 3 or 4 months, I use a plastic Scotch pad and water to clean it more thoroughly. No chemical cleaners ever!
That’s it, Ashley. Out of like 7 or 8 of these meters I have owned, only one was a bit wonky. These don’t really work well outdoors in the ground because you can’t go deep enough, FYI. Cheers 🥂
Afterword

Alrightythen, hey, my newest TLO book will be out here within a few months, and it’s really a bomber guide to all-natural growing in living soil. A gazillion (many) soil recipes and options; it’s like a buffet, amigo, and you can find the options that work best for you and your garden(s). Most def grab a copy and you’ll be glad you did. I threw the whole “kitchen sink” of TLO dynamics into the book, and this allows you to pick and choose what parts work for you. A very adaptable cannabis growing guide indeed.
If you enjoyed this article—and I hope you have—here’s another one by yours truly: Skunk School – Indoor Growing. If you are looking for some very healthy and highly exotic potent cannabis plants, check out Kingdom Organic Seeds (KOS) and get you some of that! Make sure to check out ‘The Gamblers’ Section over at KOS for some killer deals. I would recommend trying some of the new G13 Haze, yowza!

Our time together has ended for now, but I’ll be back soon with some more cannabis babbling—LoL—I hope you are all enjoying your Summertime Summertime sum-sum-summertime! L8r G8rs.
- REv 😊
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I'm The Rev, and I have been with SKUNK for about a decade now. I hail from Southern California, spent mucho time in Northern California, and now reside in Southern Oregon; always coastal. I am an all natural style cannabis grower and I have written a couple books on the subject - check out True Living Organics 2nd Edition on Amazon - I have been growing for over 45 years, and I have been breeding cannabis for over 30 years. Check out kingdomorganicseeds.com to see some exotic selections. Growing connoisseur cannabis is what I teach mostly, growing it in living soil without using liquid organic nutrients to feed the plant. I am also a highly skilled synthetics grower, hydroponics, aeroponics, DWC/SWC/NFT, Ebb and Flow, and soilless, but I cringe when smoking synthetic grown herbs, so for the last 15 years or so I preach the artisan style of all natural growing, specializing in container growing. Cheers and welcome aboard.