Good Night and Good Luck!

Soft Secrets says a fond farewell to a long-time contributing editor from the UK

It seems like a long time ago when I saw the advertisement in Soft Secrets asking for new writers. Back then I was a keen gardener, having already worked in the industry for a few years, and any areas where I lacked experience, I like to think I compensated with enthusiasm! So, after a few late nights at the keyboard, I decided to take the plunge and sent in a couple of articles based on what I knew at the time - namely, hobby hydroponics. I never expected that, half a decade later, I would have written over 150,000 words for a publication that I loved!

After a few articles, I began to realize how much I enjoyed writing about my hobby (and, to an even greater extent, the industry that I worked in). I have been lucky enough to travel across Europe and the United States to experience how other cultures view our favorite plant. I attended trade shows across Europe, smoked a doob (nervously) in Moscow, bought medical bud in Colorado. It has been great to visit new places, meet new people, learn new growing techniques - and then, write about them.

Learning new techniques is something that was essential to my continued writing for Soft Secrets; I had to, as there are only so many articles you can put together about growing in hydro and I did not want to stop writing! So, I knuckled down and learned. Need an article about reverse osmosis? No problem. I would borrow a system from a friend in a hydro shop and play with it for a few months. Want 2,000 words on auto-flowers? Perfect. I would interview some seed banks at the trade shows and then germinate a few with my grower friends. Writing articles really affected my gardening in a positive way. A disappointing result at harvest time was transformed from a downer to a learning experience - what went wrong? What could I tweak and fine-tune? Equipment failure stopped being a ball ache and became an opportunity to buy (or blag!) some cool new stuff, try a new light, play with a new hydro system, run a new nutrient or additive to see what it did.

Looking back at my time at Soft Secrets, I think the biggest lesson that I have learned is this: quality counts. From your plant stock, to your growing equipment, to your drying and curing process, it is always worth remembering why you started growing in the first place - because you wanted quality. Do not cut corners. There is a big difference between starting a hobby in an affordable way on a modest budget versus just buying cheap shit. You only get out what you put in and I think that the UK hydro industry - especially manufacturers and retailers - have a responsibility to raise the bar where quality is concerned. Are we really attracting new growers to the market with all of this cheap equipment?

As for the future, we are in for an interesting few years over here; the tolerance and understanding of Cannabis amongst the UK public is increasing. I do believe that we are heading in the same direction as the US, albeit in a far more controlled and British way!

For those in the United Kingdom, just remember that no UK government will push legislation forward; it is up to you. Get out there; arm yourself with knowledge. Join your local Cannabis Social Club. Support CLEAR and NORML UK. Keep reading Soft Secrets!

One final word before checking out: a big thanks to Cliff (SSUK editor) for giving me such great opportunities over the last few years, gently steering me in the right direction when I waffle too much shit.

Thanks mate.

So... for one last time... happy growing!

All the best,
Little Lebowski