Hey peeps! As we continue with our interview series, we spoke to Guru Sour_D who loves to grow cannabis plants, just like all of us. As someone who adores Sour Diesel, we resonate with his name :)
We’d like to thank him for taking the time to magnanimously answer all our questions. If you want to understand the depth of his knowledge, head over to his grow diaries and take a peek. You won’t be disappointed. After all, it’s the best way to learn how to grow cannabis.
We hope this interview helps you get to know him better and pick up some useful skills along the way. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to shoot them to Sour_D and he’ll be glad to answer them!
1. Question: Hello Sour_D! We are very excited to conduct this interview today. Your profile tells us a lot about your skills. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What does your name stand for?
Answer: Hi! I am super happy to talk to you too. I love Growdiaries, and I’m glad you reached out to me. I appreciate the kind words :). We’re all here to grow some beautiful buds, so I’m excited to be a part of the interview series.
I guess I'm an OG when it comes to cannabis. I'm 60 years old and have been growing for many years. I'm in the US, California, where it is legal for an adult to grow and use cannabis. One of my favorite strains is Sour Diesel, so I chose the abbreviated version, Sour D, as my username. I have grown many cannabis strains, but Sour D is somehow very special.
2. Question: Why did you start cultivating cannabis?
Answer: I am not new to growing cannabis. In fact, I started experimenting with growing in the late 80s. Back then, it wasn’t easy at all. It took a lot of time and trouble to source good weed. And, if you somehow succeeded at that, it was way too expensive. Most often, I wasn’t happy with the quality and felt everyone deserved to smoke good cannabis, just like nature intended.
So, I began to wonder if I could grow it myself, and here we are! Slowly, as I delved deep into the science of growing cannabis, I realized that I had a passion I hadn't discovered before, and I haven’t looked back. You can say that cannabis made me fall in love with growing plants and nurturing them. Most importantly, it makes me very happy, so I’ve stuck to it over the years.
3. Question: How has cannabis helped you?
Answer: Cannabis has helped me in more ways than I could have imagined. First, as I said, it makes me happy to tend to the plants and watch them grow from babies to adults, haha!
Next, it helps me with the stress and anxiety of everyday life. I am mellow, happy, and an easy-going guy after consuming cannabis.
4. Question: Do you remember how and why you started using Growdiaries?
Answer: Yes, I do.
I had grown a lot of photoperiod plants but saw this new thing called autoflowers and wanted to try them. I mean, these plants grow as well as photoperiods but take half the time? Where do I sign up?
So, I was searching for some credible information to grow them as it all sounded complicated. I was googling for information and stumbled upon Growdiaries. After just a few minutes of looking at various diaries, I realized that Growdiaries is a treasure trove of information. I also noticed how willing everyone is to help and to share — truly a grower's community. And everyone just seemed to love cannabis just as much as I did :). I decided I wanted to learn and also contribute through Growdiaries.
5. Question: What do you love about Growdiaries?
Answer: There are many things I love about Growdiaries. I love that it is a great place to chart your grows, from the nutrients used, the heights and intensity of the lights, the overall growth cycle of the plants, and the yield, of course.
Plus, I realize that journalling helps me a lot. I often go back and refer to some of my previous grows to help tweak what I'm doing. But most importantly, it is a great community of helpful friendly growers. I've developed many friendships on GD with people all over the world who share the same passion as I do, growing cannabis. Plus I like that if you are having any growing issues, you can post a question and many helpful people will jump in eagerly to assist you with the problem.
In addition, there are so many contests to get you competing with others and winning some cool prizes. What’s very important is that you learn a lot even during these fun contests.
6. Question: Do you train your cannabis plants? If so, can you describe one technique that's easy even for beginners?
Answer: I always Top my photoperiod plants to increase the yield. Initially I only Top the main cola, but 2 or 3 weeks prior to flipping to flower, I Top all of the colas. Also, I tie some of the branches down a bit to get more light to the tops. I've only recently begun growing autos, but I don’t Top them.
I also like to defoliate and keep the plants trimmed, clean, and ready to produce good yields. I've been getting some pointers from my buddy @Tropicannibis_Todd (He gets great results with his autos) on how to tie down the plant properly and so far I'm seeing great results.
7. Question: Are you a DIY person or do you purchase most equipment, Including nutrients?
Answer: I am a DIY person, but with regard to equipment and nutrients I do purchase mine as I don’t want to take unnecessary chances.
8. Question: Can you name a few growers who have inspired you here?
Answer: To be very honest, I have been inspired by so many growers here. I am fortunate to have made many friends on this site, all of whom I consider to be top-notch growers and I've been inspired by each and every one of them. The list of names is too long to list, and I don't want to accidentally leave someone out.
So, I will not name anyone as it’s not fair for everyone. Let’s just say that I like and am inspired by growers who work hard to grow good cannabis plants. I believe that you get what you put in so you get good yields if you put in the time and effort and anyone who does that is an inspiration in my book.
9. Question: Is there any strain you grow in particular? Would you recommend it to beginners?
Answer: I don't have a specific strain I grow, although I usually go with indicas and Indica-dominant hybrids. I like that relaxing feeling that indicas provide and love to light one up after a long day. And, as you may have surmised by now, I love Sour Diesel :)
I have been trying many different strains and many different breeders because I really like variety when I smoke. It's nice having various strains to choose from when it's time to partake. I do prefer the dank earthy skunky strains though.
10. Question: Who are your favorite breeders?
Answer: Well I still have many to try! There are so many top-notch companies here that it amazes me.
That said, I've never been disappointed with Exotic Seeds. Ganja Farmer and Seedsman have some solid strains too. Also, I am currently growing a couple of strains from Kannabia Seeds and I am very impressed with them so far. With regards to autos, I don't think anybody can top Fastbuds.
11. Question: What type of nutrients do you use to grow cannabis?
Answer: I am a big fan of Fox Farms. I use their Grow Big during veg, then switch to their Tiger Bloom during flower. I also supplement those with Mammoth P from Mammoth Microbes. I start adding that after a few weeks and continue throughout the flowering stage.
12. Question: What was the latest strain you grew?
Answer: I just finished growing LA Peyote Kush and Critical Purple Kush from Seedsman, along with Bubble OG Gum from Ganja Farmers and Elmers Glue from a custom breeder. Currently, I am growing Mataro Blue and Kiss from Kannabia, Green Potion From Cannuk Seeds, Purple Lemonade, Sour Diesel, and Bubble Gum Autos from Fastbuds, and Zkittaberry Auto from Exotic Seeds. I also have two plants of a custom strain called Fruitwalker that Coopmc bred, and he was nice enough to gift some of the seeds to me.
13. Question: What was the latest strain you smoked?
Answer: I am currently smoking Critical Kush from Ganja Farmers as I answer these questions :)
14. Question: Any tips for our readers to enjoy cannabis more? Perhaps, concentrates, gummies, etc?
Answer: As someone once said, variety is the very spice of life. It is great that there are so many different ways to enjoy cannabis. What works best for one might not be the best for another. I would just say that you be adventurous and explore the many different ways to enjoy cannabis and find out what works best for you.
