JORGE'S RX

MOVE TO AMSTERDAM
How does one go about moving to Amsterdam and becoming a coffeeshop employee or a grower/tester for HIGH TIMES? How do I do what everyone sees in HIGH TIMES?
J. Man
Via Internet

Dear J.,
Find yourself a cheap place to stay and visit as many coffeeshops as you can to ask for a job. Make sure you have a good résumé heavy on experience. If you speak several languages, you will increase your chances of employment.

Moving to Amsterdam is expensive for Americans because of the exchange rate: It takes $1.50 to equal one euro. The dollar has been sliding against the euro and most other currencies since the Bush administration came to power in America. Furthermore, Amsterdam is not the same city that it was in the 1990s. There has been a big movement to close down illegal coffeeshops—those without legal permits—and to shut down any that do not conform strictly to the law. About half of the city’s coffeeshops have been shut down during the last few years. A couple of years ago, some coffeeshops could sell alcohol as well as cannabis and hashish; now they have to choose to sell either alcohol or marijuana and hash. In addition, there’s been a recent movement to “clean up” the Red Light District, where many of the coffeeshops are located. Local businessmen along with the Amsterdam city council have come up with a plan to shut down up to 30% of the Red Light District and build new luxury apartments. This is not good for the cannabis scene in Amsterdam!

Americans fall under the Schengen Agreement in the Treaty of Amsterdam, which allows them to stay in Amsterdam beyond the automatic 90-day visa. But as an American, you will need to sort out your paperwork with the Dutch government and your new employer, unless you can find a job where you are paid in cash and no tax is taken out of your pay. But since coffeeshop owners are under increased scrutiny, finding one that will pay cash is unlikely these days.

By the way, HIGH TIMES doesn’t actually have grower/testers; the HIGH TIMES staff publishes magazines and organizes events. Those of you who are interested should go to the “Contact Us” link on the hightimes.com Web site to contact an editor about submitting photos or articles. My function is to answer grow questions; I do not decide the editorial content.

THE RIGHT MOTHER
If I’m growing 50 to 100 seeds to find a viable mother plant, what traits should I look for in deciding on the best candidate?
Johnny Cash
Via Internet

Dear Johnny,
The more seeds you grow out to harvest, the better your chances of finding the mother plants you want. Select for potency, taste, fragrance, vigor, harvest time, and pest and disease resistance. Potency is the No. 1 priority for most growers—and the more mind-bending the effect from the cannabinoids, the better. Taste is also very important, because there are so many different tastes to choose from. When selecting for taste, remember that buds must be treated properly at harvest and during the drying/curing process to allow the true taste to come out. Fragrance is also a major concern for many growers. Most of the time, potency and fragrance go hand in hand—that is, the most potent cannabis tends to have the most pungent fragrance. And taste also reflects the fragrance and potency, since the combination of volatile oils found in the resin greatly affects the high. So these three elements all comprise one big package.

Vigor is also very important, because strong, fast-growing plants will produce more and heavier buds. Vigor usually plays a role in the amount of time that a plant takes to mature. In general, vigorous plants become ripe in about eight weeks of flowering under the 12/12-hour day/night light schedule. Plants that take much longer to flower are not as productive in terms of grams of bud harvested per watt of electricity used. Of course, pest and disease resistance are extremely important as well: Plants that get eaten alive by spider mites or suffer mold attacks are poor candidates for mothers.

Finally, when choosing a mother plant, take a clone or two from each mother and keep it in the vegetative-growth stage until you’ve grown out all the prospective mother plants.

ELECTRICAL USE
How much power does an indoor metal-halide (MH) light use? Will my electric company be able to track me down if I’m drawing too much juice? I tried growing once, but my landlord uprooted my shit after he found it while doing some maintenance in my apartment. He didn’t turn me in for growing or smoking—I got lucky! I have only one grow light that I bought at Wal-Mart. Should I be worried about the power issue? I’ve got a house now, so otherwise I’m good to go.
Anonymous
Via Internet

Dear Anonymous,
You should be able to grow all the marijuana you need with a 400-watt flowering light and a 65-watt compact-fluorescent (CF) lamp. Add a couple of fans, ballasts, timer, etc., and your total electrical usage will be from 600 to 700 watts—hardly enough to raise any eyebrows at the electric company. My simple rule of thumb on safe electrical usage is to allow 1,000 watts for every bedroom in the house. You can further lower your electric bill by turning the temperature down in your water heater and using electrical appliances less. Remember, the lights and ballasts will generate heat that can be used to warm your home. (But vent the heat off quickly during summer months so that it doesn’t make a warm house hot.) Also, sign an agreement with your landlord to provide you with 48 hours of advance warning before he can come into your house to do maintenance. This way, you can remove your garden before he shows up. You might not be as lucky with this landlord as you were with the last one!