Why weren't people using them?

They didn't look like a light bulb. They were long and skinny. They had 45-inch cone-shaped reflectors around a vertically mounted bulb. You know when I first saw those cone hoods I wondered why they were the best reflectors. I called stores all over the country and asked a lot of growers about it until somebody finally told me, “the material is 48 inches wide and when you make it into a cone it turns out to out to be 45 inches across. I thought, well, if that's all the thought that's going into this, no wonder they're not very good. When I went to Holland, I saw they were hanging lights horizontally and they had small hoods. I talked to an engineer from Poot Lighting (PL). He was the head lighting engineer for the Belgium freeway system. He designed the lighting system for Belgium’s freeways. Later Jack Poot, the owner of PL, hired him to design lighting for greenhouses. His name was Jay Mulenbelt and everything he said made sense and was so simple and easy. I took what I learned there and applied it in America. This changed indoor grow lighting forever.

What did you actually do?

I turned vertical lights horizontal. This simple act increased actual light received by plants by 25 to 40 percent!

Did you actually manufacture lights?

No. I spoke to people and explained what I saw in Holland. I wrote about it for HIGH TIMES. The news first broke in HIGH TIMES. It was a big thing. At first it pissed off a lot of manufacturers. They wanted to know what they were supposed to do with all their old light cone-shaped reflectors that were no good anymore. But those guys took the information and went from there. Now reflective hoods are much more efficient.

Where do you see the future?

Outdoors, legally. As far as indoor, lighting is the limiting factor. What we're going to start to see is they're going to start to use Photosynthetic Active Response (PAR), which measures specific spectrum, the nanometer levels of blue to red, and they'll find out the specific maximum levels of spectrum and intensity for each plant – because each variety is a little different. I've got a light meter that I use, and I'm also working with a light manufacturer to come up with the proper chemical dose to change the spectrum of bulbs. We’re learning more about lighting and soon we'll have an exact light spectrum and intensity. Now I'm collecting information. This is going to be important.

So you'll be able to buy a light for Northern Lights #5 and another light for Skunk #1?

Probably what it will work out to be is a more efficient light for plant growing. Remember, other people grow plants too, besides marijuana. After spectrum, reflective hoods are big too. Growth enhancers like trichoderma bacteria, hormones and fungi, are keeping plants healthy and growing fast. Atmospheric control things are very big. You can record what's happening 24 hours a day with the temperature and humidity in a room and adjust them accordingly. Because you can control things all the time in a grow room, you can manipulate plants. You can make the internodes shorter by changing temperature or light spectrum, things like that. But if you're growing and something changes in your room and you don't notice for two days, well, something can happen that you don't want. But if you can record these things 24 hours a day you can control them to get that extra 10 percent growth you really deserve. So that's where it's at now. And we'll probably see more aeroponics. But the deal with this plant is that it's so easy to grow that you don't need a high-tech system. Like we say in Spain, “It’s just plant another plant”.

Indoor Marijuana Horticulture is coming out again?

Yes, it is available now. It's a complete rewrite this time. It’s the fifth edition. I traveled 3 years just to collect information. I've been to Switzerland a lot, that's the biggest place these days. I spent a lot of time in the Netherlands and have a lot of history there, and Canada and Spain. Did you know that Spain has 100 hydro stores now, it's unbelievable. And Australia too, I've been there a few times. And I'll go again before too long. So that's where I've been collecting my information, anywhere but the US, and believe me, there is a lot.

What's happening in Switzerland right now?

People are growing lots of dope. It's unbelievable. I toured more than one grow operation with more than 30 acres! I don't know how many tons they harvested this year, but there were tons! One guy, Bernard Rapaz, owner of Valchanvre, is one of the biggest activists in Switzerland. He's great, but I just got news that he was put in jail and his harvest was confiscated. I’m not sure what the deal is with him now. I will know by the time this interview is in print. One day when I visited Bernard, a news team came down from Zurich to interview him. The night before he made candied buds that were really good and potent. After the interview, we drank cannabis wine, puffed on killer Swiss hash and gobbled down candied buds. Glad the news crew waited until after the interview to partake!

Why Switzerland?

Five or six years ago a lawyer found a legal loophole in Swiss law. The law does not distinguish between rope and dope. But if the cannabis is used or sold as a drug it was considered illegal. Until that point, when it is rolled and smoked, it is not considered an illegal drug. Immediately astute Swiss growers began planting huge fields. After that, within about three years, they'd refined growing and virtually everyone in Switzerland is growing superb weed today. Soon the government began changing the laws in different cantons (states). When they did that, growers and retailers countered with smelling bags. If the bags of buds are sold to smell as aromatherapy, they were not an illegal drug. When smelling bags were outlawed, they began selling cannabis-filled pillows and dried flower arrangements. Switzerland will soon legalize cannabis cultivation and consumption.

Where does all this dope go?

I don't know. I think it's being made into beer, wine and soft drinks. They are also using it for oil, perfume essences . . . I really can't say. I only know what I'm told. I suppose they make a little hashish. I mean, when you have that much around . . . I remember one day a nameless friend brought his white dog with him to tour fields. He ran through the fields all day and by the end of the day his coat had changed colors to green. It was packed with resin!

What are your plans for the future?

I will continue writing for HIGH TIMES and their new sister magazine in Spain, Yerba. I have several book projects going now and I will produce a few videos too. I’m working on a video now where I critique 10 different grow rooms. Few growers are able to enter as many grow rooms as me. I plan to take this classified information and share it with everybody!

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