By RQS Editorial Team

At Royal Queen Seeds, we are constantly on the lookout for the best information and knowledge about cannabis. In our interviews, we talk to figures from all over the cannabis industry. Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Mr.José.

<< My pseudonym is Mr. José—I’ve grown weed since the early ’90s, and I currently live in the Czech Republic, where I work as an author and grower in an experimental cannabis growing facility. I’ve been writing books and articles about cannabis growing since 2010. Today, my book has been translated into six languages, and I collaborate with several cannabis magazines across Europe—Soft Secrets, Grow! Magazine, HighWay, Legalizace, etc. You can find me on Instagram at @mrjose.eu and see more on my website www.mrjose.eu. >>

(Listen to it in Spotify and Apple Podcast)

In addition to our Podcast Interview with Mr. José. ✍️
We’ve done an exclusive Q&A about Growing Indoors to get some advice for our readers. You can find Mr. José’s insights below!

1. Which type of light would you choose for the growth and flowering periods—LED or HPS?

Both technologies have their pros and cons. I mostly use LED for production, but for mothers I use metal halide or ceramic metal halide lamps. High-quality HID lamps are still cheaper than high-quality LED, so for mothers it is a more economical solution—with great results from my point of view. The production area is usually much bigger, and you can cut expenses considerably on electricity with LED. I do prefer dimmable, passively cooled LED lights with uniform light distribution and higher IP protection.

2. What would you choose in an LED system: full-spectrum (white light) or red/blue spectrum?

I think full-spectrum lights have lots of benefits and show that LED technology is capable of fulfilling essentially every demand. Anyway, I believe the best method is to focus on providing a light spectrum that can be 100% used by plants during a particular period of the grow cycle.

There are some parts of the light spectrum that don’t really influence plants. If you don’t waste energy and money on providing a suboptimal light spectrum, you can be more effective. But, honestly, we haven’t yet uncovered all the connections between plant development and light source. Full-spectrum fixtures provide assurance that your plants receive the same light they’d get from the sun. Other fixtures try to focus on light we know for sure positively influences a plant’s growth.

3. Which N-P-K ratio and micronutrients do you recommend for growth and flowering?

In my opinion, for most growers it is essential to use fertilisers and growing media made for cannabis. In the case of hydroponic systems, water quality plays a crucial role. If I don’t know what elements the plant needs to grow and thrive in general, it makes no sense to focus on the nutrient ratio of fertilisers. If you use soil, fertilisers, and growing methods specifically suited to cannabis, you can reach a successful harvest very easily.

Nitrogen, as everybody knows, is most important from the veg phase to the mid-flower phase. Closer to harvest, we need to increase the amount of phosphorus and potassium—elements necessary for flowering and ripening. Calcium and magnesium are also very important for plants, and a lack of either will be visible on plants quite quickly. Regarding microelements—iron, manganese, zinc, boron, copper, and molybdenum should be present. Their exact amount and ratios vary depending on the growing system you opt for, and other factors. Don’t forget to correct pH, which is 5.5–6 in hydroponics and 5.8–6.5 in soil. Proper pH helps plants to absorb macro- and microelements more effectively.

"To keep the smell of dry cannabis away, use hermetic boxes with two-way humidity control. Correct humidity will preserve terpenes and help to achieve a perfect taste and smell." 

4. What are the most common mold diseases, and how can we avoid them?

The most common mold diseases are different kinds of Botrytis in maturing buds. The best way to avoid them is to keep air humidity low during the last weeks of flowering. Using air disinfection with UV-C or chlorine could be very helpful, but you have to do it properly to avoid damaging the plants or yourself.

5. Which parts of an indoor grow space are most important to clean to avoid infections?

To avoid infections, it is necessary to keep everything clean in your grow room during the entire grow cycle. Dust, dead leaves, and water on the ground or walls mean a big risk of disease. Disinfection of your grow room, pots, vents, reservoirs, and all solid surfaces is very important between grow cycles. You can use agents with natural chlorine, e.g. Purolyt or another disinfecting agent. If you have problems with pests, don’t forget to use some natural insecticides in your grow room between grow cycles.

How to grow cannabis indoors 2.0

6. What do you do to keep the cannabis smell away?

To keep the smell inside the grow room, you have to maintain negative pressure at all times and use a carbon filter on the output of your ventilation system. Don’t forget to change the carbon in your filter on a somewhat regular basis—once every one or two years should be enough, but it depends on the volume and how often you grow. Check air output from time to time to ensure your filter is still working properly.

To keep the smell of dry cannabis away, use hermetic boxes with two-way humidity control. Correct humidity will preserve terpenes and help to achieve a perfect taste and smell.

7. How often should we water our plants?

Overwatering is a common mistake, so sometimes it’s better to water less and slowly increase to see how your plants respond. If you're not experienced with gardening at all and you want to avoid overwatering, you can use systems such as DWC or RDWC, or an automatic watering system based on clay pebbles. In these systems, it is technically impossible to overwater. But, I recommend everyone try manual watering. In doing so, you will learn a lot about plant needs, and you'll be more capable of setting up future watering systems, should you try them later down the line.

Growing in light soil mixes or coco, I like to use passive systems such as AutoPot. I mix coco in a 1:1 ratio when using it for AutoPot, or simply use some Light Mix.

Watering frequency depends on air humidity, air temperature, pot volume, medium, and the size of the plants. There is no universal watering schedule. But, if you spend some time with your plants, you will soon understand their needs.

8. How long should we keep our plants in the growth phase?

I prefer a shorter vegetative period, so I switch to flowering between the 5th and 14th day after seedlings or clones are potted. Usually, it’s around 10 days. But, if you have enough space or time for advanced training techniques, you can keep your plants in veg for a month or more. But then you will get monsters! I do not count the time during which seeds sprout and form their first two nodes as the veg stage, as I usually do this in advance when growing from seeds.

9. How many plants should we grow per square metre?

From my point of view, 1–9 plants is optimal. Again, it depends on system choice. For example, DWC is not suitable for the sea of green method, and using rockwool cubes on a planter table is not suitable for large plants. Sometimes, you are limited in the number of plants you can grow by law, so it is better to grow one giant plant per square metre. But, if I want to be very effective, I grow 4–9 plants on this surface.

10. What are the most common mistakes indoor growers make?

I already mentioned overwatering, and as the second-biggest mistake, I would like to mention overfeeding. The worst part of these two issues are their symptoms. When plants receive too much water, the root system doesn’t work properly, nutrients don’t get transported to plants, and leaves start to yellow. But, what do most people do when plants get yellow? They start to water them or add nutrients—both things that make the problem even worse.

Then, people start to search internet forums and try to pair dots and colors of their leaves with leaves on the internet. Weeks ago they didn’t even know boron existed, but, after checking the internet, they are 100% sure this is exactly what their plants need. Based on this new information, they try “proven tricks” to get boron to their plants. But the problem is usually somewhere else.

I will get back to the beginning of our speech—using systems, fertilisers, and growing media made for cannabis is the best way to achieve a spectacular harvest for the absolute majority of growers.

Cookies settings

We are requesting your permission to use your data for the reasons stated below:

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data from a particular website that get stored on a user’s computer while they’re surfing the internet. Cookies have several different functions. Some of them track browser activity that enables businesses to deliver targeted advertisements. Other cookies serve to remember user login details to different websites to make jumping on social media, or other sites, a more fluid process. Because each cookie has its own unique ID, these pieces of data allow website owners to measure the unique traffic coming into their site.

Why do we use cookies?

Cookies come in handy when you visit our website. They ensure you stay logged in, that you can shop safely, and that the items you add to your cart stay there before you make a purchase. But cookies also help us. The data they provide allow us to improve our website and enable us to present you with targeted advertisements that are compatible with your interests.

What kind of cookies do we use?

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

How can I disable or delete cookies?

Not a fan of cookies? No worries. You can disable them (with the exception of necessary cookies) in your browser settings. However, blocking cookies may impact your browsing experience and prevent you from enjoying all of the technical features of our site.

Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: