MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

Insecticidal soaps work by mechanically suffocating soft-bodied insects. Since it is not a poison, the insects cannot genetically adapt to it. It is effective only at time of application.

Since 100 percent coverage of the plant (on both the top and underside of the leaves) is almost impossible, an application every three or four days is suggested. However, during the bloom stage, an application of insecticidal soap could trap foul tasting soap inside the bud which cannot be rinsed away.

Moisture from a spray may induce mold in the bud. That's why I recommend predatory mites during flowering stage. These cannibal mites first eat the eggs of other mites, and then the adults; they do not eat the plant. They reproduce twice as fast as their prey. Predator mites come in different temperature varieties. The ones native to South America (Longepipes) are among the most heat tolerant, while those native to California (Californicus) are less tolerant and the native Pacific NW varieties are among the least heat tolerant.

Most growers who cultivate under metal halides are interested in electrical energy conservation. An in-line heat trap can be installed where the water flows into your hot water tank. It prevents hot water from escaping by the force of gravity.

Most chemical NPK fertilizers have a dye which throws off the accuracy of color based chemical pH testers. This is why I recommend pH meters. Be sure and wipe the probe end dry after use.

Greenhouse plastic is available with a fungicide built in. It's a good idea to lay a strip of such plastic over your seed germinating bed.

Many people want to know what size container should be used for indoor cultivation. For most plant varieties, I recommend about one gallon of soil for each month that the plant will be cultivated.

If your grow room is not large enough for your cuttings, you may wish to use a 400 watt phosphor coated halide in a closet. For cuttings I recommend dipping into full-strength superthrive, perhaps with a bit of Indole-3-Acetic acid added to the bottle. Cuttings seem to be most successful if taken right after a full moon.

I have tried the Ever Fresh food preserver in my hydroponic tank and did not notice any difference before or after. I would be interested to hear from any readers who have tried this product. Also, has anyone heard of "Willard Water?"

I would like to hear from readers with their suggestions for future topics to be covered in this column. What is your order of preference among these topics:

1. Electrical info

2. Growing Tips

3. Economic disaster

4. Ecological disaster

5. War disaster *

6. Other topic

NATURAL ORGANIC AND SYNTHETIC

In one sense, everything which exists is natural because it is part of the natural world and obeys the laws of nature. "Organic" traditionally has meant that portion of nature which is or at one time was living. Now chemists have enlarged the definition of organic to include all material with a hydrogen- carbon bond, on the theory that there is no vital essence or force in living material.

I happen to think that the universe is one big bag of tricks and we've just begun to unwrap the presents. For this reason I think it is unscientific to dismiss out of hand the "vitalist" theory. I prefer to sidestep this issue because the evidence is not conclusive on either side and only consider the natural vs synthetic arguments.

All known life forms exist within the natural universe, but not all of nature is sympathetic to life. Asbestos or Uranium are naturally occurring mineral deposits, but I wouldn't want to use either as a soil amendment.

The artificial occurs when humans alter nature through technology. This alteration can be either good or bad, depending on whether it supports or hinders the systems necessary to nurture life, especially human life. So natural can be bad, and artificial can be good. Since nature contains everything which exists, the artificial is also natural.

Consider a case in point. Soil has been cultivated by humans for at least 100,000 years. During almost all that time and for millions of years before, soil has consisted of once living plants and animals, micro-organisms, manure and eroded rock. In the past 50 years or so, the word soil has often been used to thinking of the peat moss/perlite mixtures which have no animal waste products and few microorganisms.

The phrase "sterilized soil” is contradictory because microorganisms are an important part of real soil. If one started out with real soil and then completely sterilized it, the result is that the manure and organic fertilizers become completely useless because they cannot become available to the plant to use.

This means water soluble fertilizers must be added, which also kills earthworms and other micro-life. "Sterilized soil" cannot stay sterile for long because spores floating in the air will quickly contaminate the surface of the medium.

Composting will naturally heat the soil up to 160 degrees F., killing the harmful micro-life but leaving the beneficial organisms.

Sterilizing soil kills the beneficial micro-life thereby destroying the soil's natural balance. Millions of generations of plants have grown on the earth without the benefit of sterilized soil. I

have talked personally with hundreds of growers, and have not heard of a single instance of damping-off with the use of soil. In my own experience, damping-off has occurred only with bog peat and top watering.

For those who want a sterile growing medium, I suggest a perlite-vermiculite mixture. Even in hydroponics, many life forms can exist in the hydroponic nutrient solution, often creating a symbiotic relationship with the plants.

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

Previously I recommended setting the lighting cycle up to 14 hours from 10 or 11 hours once flowering is well underway so that yields would be increased. I now suggest a setting of 13.5 hours daily instead.

I also had stated that 240 VAC is really two 120 V lines, 180 degrees out of phase. This is true in the US, however, in Australia and Europe, 240 V is one hot wire at 240 V and one neutral, plus a ground. A step down transformer would usually be required to operate 120 V appliances on European styled circuits.

Also in an earlier article, I cautioned people against bypassing the electrical meter due to the existence of block meters. Actually the power company has a group meter every 4 blocks in most areas. For more information, send a dollar to: Consumertronics, P0 Box 475, Alamogordo, N.M., 88310.

The Sola company produces an excellent HID ballast, which is quieter and more reliable than any I have previously reviewed. Sola ballasts do cost more but are worth it.

REVIEW ON WILLIAM POWELL

A book by William Powell “The Anarchist Cookbook” has been called a “manual of terror” by Max Feltman, writing in the National Review (July 22, 1971). I find this phrase aptly descriptive but not in the same sense that Mr. Geltman would have us believe.

This "cookbook" consists of three basic parts: an introduction by Professor Berman entitled “Anarchism Today”; and two much longer sections by William Powell on drug and explosive manufacturing.

If ever there were  an example of Orwellian doublespeak, this is it! “Anarchism Today" is basically an interpretation  of the philosophic roots of anarchism, awkwardly coupled  with sketchy  references to current events. Almost all of the intellectuals discussed are writings from 1930 to present. This may be expected from someone who appears to have gone to college in the 1920’s and did not do any reading on the topic since then, except for what little information that can be found in the tail newspaper. Bergman should have been aware of Albert Jay Nock for example, and anarchists today are certainly aware of Murray Rothbard, Karl Hess, etc.

Bergman considers Nhilism to be a form of Anarchism, and Anarchism a form of radical revolutionism. He interprets Marxism in an anarchistic light, and correctly suggests that communist governments today are feudal/reactionary. However, his emphasis on the Marxist element in anarchist intellectual tradition is clearly one-sided.

The emphasis on the Nhilistic and destructive aspects of Anarchism I find disturbing. This emphasis seems to arise from the axiom that the State is all, so to oppose the State is to oppose everything. Anarchists do not have to propose a concrete alternative because that would be authoritarian.

The rest of this book consists mainly of drug and explosive recipes relayed to us by William Powell. His motivation for doing so is supposedly to allow the "silent majority" access to information which he claims only the radical groups now possess. The idea of "silent majority" comes from classic Greek literature and in that context referred to the dead who are the real majority. If you follow the steps outlined in these recipes, you may soon join them! The Library Journal (March 15, 1971) puts it this way:

"Much of it is so sketchy as to be harmless, but there are a number of booby traps still for the nitwit who wishes to try them. There are drug making recipes...that may make one very ill...There are also a number of stunts which could backfire on the idiot who tries them."

Let's get down to specifics:

"Ed told me that he had spent a lot of time trying to track down the rumors of pot growing in New York sewers. Well, I just may have stumbled on the original of the ‘New York White’ rumors.” Despite what Powell may think, plants are not as adaptable as alligators and need light to grow. Another choice quote: "...strangely enough, insects ignore marijuana and do no harm."

The DEA has a Precursor Control Program watch list. This means that if you buy large quantities of the common precursors to illegal chemicals, the Federal government may take an interest in your activities. Several of the chemicals on this list are used in Mr. Powell's LSD recipe, such as Acetonitrile, Trifluoroacetic Anhydride, Dimethylformamide, and Dimethylamine. Benzene is also on the list, and may also arouse the interest of the EPA because it is a known cancer causing agent.

Much the same can be said of many of his other recipes, and in some cases the precursors are as hard to get as the final product. For instance, his recipe for DMT starts out with indole, which is quite hard to get. Much better methods using L. Tryptophan (available in health food stores) are covered in Synthesis (1973-present).

Powell suggests ground up nutmeg for a psychedelic experience. Nutmeg has a poor dose/toxicity ratio. However, the oil extract of Nutmeg, containing myristicin can be used in the synthesis of MMDA — a better and mellower high than MDA. See Journal of Psychedelic Drugs (Vol. 8 #4 Oct-Dec 1976).

For more information on drugs, see "The clandestine Drug Laboratory Situation in the U.S.", Journal of Forensic Sciences (Jan. 1983 pp. 18-31).

Let's now examine his recommendations for manufacturing explosives:

His methods for producing Mercury Fulminate is incomplete and dangerous. Between steps 2 and 3, the solution should be cooled. Do not breath the fumes. See A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry by Sir Edward Thorpe.

Powell's recipe entitled "How to Make TNT" is also quite dangerous and incomplete. In step 1, mixing sulfuric acid and nitric acid will likely result in red toxic fumes. Also the crude method he describes does not cover the removal of the Ortho Dinitro groups. If this is not done, the TNT would be extremely unstable. However, they can be removed with great ease by heating the crude material with aqueous sodium sulfite. See "Chemistry of Explosives" by George Wright, University of Toronto, in Organic Chemistry (p. 974).

The description of Picric acid does not sufficiently emphasize its unstable nature. For example, storing it in a cracked glass container, may cause it to explode. See Thorpe's.

He does have a couple of pages on general safety precautions, but the language suggests that they have been lifted from a military manual.

The Anarchist Cookbook was originally published in 1971. I wonder why it has gone through 26 printings without these errors being corrected. My theory is that Mr. Powell is not an anarchist, but in fact is spreading disinformation to potential enemies of the government. Mr. Powell, at the time of original publication was an unknown 21 year old college freshman. Where did he get access to this "information?" He says, from radical friends on both the left and right.

The Minuteman Manual is listed in the bibliography. The original Minutemen were colonial American revolutionaries. In the 60's there was a radical offshoot of the John Birch Society, called the Minutemen, they have since been disbanded by the FBI. It is not likely that the Minutemen would have handed out their manual to a long haired 21 year old college freshman. Also, the John Birch Society and the Minutemen are opposed to the United Nations, and Powell's father was a powerful bureaucrat in the UN propaganda ministry. Things are getting more curious all the time !

This same William Powell has also written a book entitled Saudi Arabia and it's Royal Family (1982). It consists of interviews with members of the Saudi Royal family and other observations gathered while teaching at the University of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It does not seem likely that the Saudi Royal family would give such generous treatment to a real anarchist. Reading the Saudi book, I came across some interesting quotes:

"Were something or someone to cut the flow of oil from the Arabian Gulf, the result would be truly apocalyptic for the U.S., Western Europe, Japan and much of the developing world...In a worst case scenario, all gasoline available would go to essential services such as the military, the police and fire departments, and the transportation of foodstuffs. Most nonessential businesses and industries would close."

Now ask yourself, would a true anarchist be likely to consider government services as essential as the transportation of foodstuffs? If governments ran out of gas tomorrow, anarchists would be dancing in the streets.

It just doesn't add up, unless an alternative theory is developed to explain these anomalies. My suggestion is that much of Powell's disinformation and influence may have come from the Trilateral Commission and/or the CIA. This theory would seem to dovetail with the National Review article which took the Anarchist Cookbook at face value and even included a patronizing reference to "the boys at Harvard." It is well known that W. F. Buckley, the National Review publisher, is a Yale graduate and once served the CIA in Mexico.

I would like to quote Mr. Powell from the April 12, 1971 issue of Newsweek:

"My book places power in the hands of the individual, where it belongs. The right call it communist, the leftists call it profiteering, the liberals call it Neo-Nazi."

Well Mr. Powell, this reviewer calls it bullshit!!!

 

 

Wolf Segal - Farmer in the Sky

35 Years of Innovation in Large Scale Cannabis Cultivation & Inventor of the Sea of Green method.