Product Description
Cannabis has been cultivated for 10,000 years. In recent times, marijuana has undergone more genetic experimentation and cross-breeding than during the previous 10,000 years. This remarkable hybrid development was accomplished by thousand of individuals new to any kind of farming. Marijuana Botany offers accurate information about all aspects of cultivation. It explains how quality is affected by climate and environment; identification and desirability of female plants; consideration for cultivating sinsemilla; THC production and peak potency; producing desirable plants year after year.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 12 reviews)

Old but still good

This is a good book about the marijuana plant itself but is a bit dated. Still if you want to learn more about breeding and plant physiognomy then this is a good choice.
December 23, 2003

Excellent text on arranging a breeding environment

If you have read some other reviews posted for this book then it would seem as if this researcher was talking out his ass but if you bother to actually read the book at all then you will realize that the information provided may or may not be intended for either your level of education as far as cannabis goes or for the specific agenda behind your reasons for growing cannabis.
No it is not a book for the first hand grower, and No this book will not tell you specifically what you need to know for how to grow some "killer bud" but if you want basically a manual for how to develop a purposeful breeding growing regimine and the best way to establish a sterile environment and efficient pollen collection and cultivation techniques then this is the book upon which it wouldn't hurt to start your reading collection.
This book was written in the eighties as has yet to be updated but it is useful and informative. The research however outdated is still competant and unbiased and anytime that you have definative data you should try to learn from it. The stated research spans nearly half a century of labratory and field study from doctors, scientists, horticulurists, and regular old smokey joe from down the street, as a person who has spent a number of years in the research and breeding fields I appreciated the fact that someone else had done the grunt work.
As a person who done some research, here is one thing which I can tell you that is probably the single most important thing anyone can tell you, do your homework!, if growing cannabis is something that you want to do with success then wouldn't you want to find the best way to do it with as little effort and waste as possible the best way that you can do this is READ, books, magazines, college research papers, jotted notes, articles on the internet and do your own kind of gruntwork, talk to competant people who have grown and produced, but most of all don't make any hardcore decisions about who's word you are going to follow and don't take it all to heart.
There is all kind of hype out there and books that have been written by noted celebrity types and documented so called "authorities" on the subject for your sake don't decide to go with anyone specific person's material the more broad based your knowledge the better chance you have of starting the perfect crop.
Probably the single most important piece of information I gleamed from this book is how the plant reacts to environment, chemical, and altitudinal changes, this kind of detailed information is exactly what should be contained in a botany book, and in my humble opinion R.C. Clarke has done a tremendous job of putting this information together.
September 28, 2003

Clarke�s Marijuana Botany Review + What You Really Want!

The best place to start with this review is to tell you that you do not want this book if you are new to growing. This is not where you want to be going. Getting this book is a mistake which many new growers have made. So you have been warned!! There are other books that cover cannabis cultivation much more accurately like "The Cannabis Grow Bible" by Greg Green which I very highly recommend or "Indoor Marijuana Horticulture" by Jorge Cervantes a reasonably good grow guide. I find Ed Rosenthal's books a little wrong at times and Mel Franks work is far too old to be practical these days. So if you are looking for cultivation information go in that direction first but if you want some cannabis botany science and breeding information then carry on with this review.

The book is divided into four sections. The Sinsemilla Life Cycle of Cannabis, the Propagation of Cannabis, Genetics and Breeding of Cannabis, and finally Maturation and Harvesting of Cannabis.

The first section is very short and deals with the basic cycle of the cannabis plant from seed to the end of its life to the give the reader the basics of how the plant grows - however the botanical features of all the different strains in existence do vary from Clarke's basic descriptions, but at least his references are explained in extreme detail along with plant morphology. It is an important introduction chapter for what the rest of the book has to offer.

The second section is about the different ways that cannabis can be continued either by seeds or cloning and so this chapters covers both cloning and pollination but it is mostly concerned with pollen and manual pollination techniques. The seed selection part of this chapter is redundant and not really advised as a selection criteria for selecting seeds. There is only one way to know what a new hybrid seed can produce and that is to grow it out. The cloning section covers rooting and hormones, both important parts of the cloning technique for those who want to replicate their mother plant over and over again. The final part of this chapter deals with grafting, which is more of an experiment you can do but it is not used by cannabis cultivators. The chapter finishes with pruning, to help improve your yields.

The third section is really what this book is all about - the genetics of cannabis, and it can be confusing at the best of times because it dives right into it without much of a helper at the start, so be warned you will need something else to help you make head or tale of this section but I will come to that in a moment. After introducing us to the world of filial generations (F1, F2 ...) , heterozygous and homozygous, Clarke quickly turns to Polyploidy. Now this is a manmade condition which is inflicted on the cannabis plant to alter its chromosome number. The author believes this may increase potency but recent evaluation of Polyploidy cannabis and genetics have proven otherwise, but you will find this interesting all the same. The author then comes to meat of the book - breeding. Now this is 50/50 presentation. There is a whack load of breeding information that is extremely helpful and a ton of stuff that is very specialized towards strains that most of us will never see or work with because no one sells them anymore. You will also find references to the botanical aspects of the plant and how these traits can be mixed and fixed by breeding. Interesting and useful and this is probably the most important part of the book and the most often referred to by breeders.

The forth part of the book is about harvest times and how to judge them. The author also covers Cannabinoid Biosynthesis, but a lot of this has since changed since he wrote about it. Useful though, and you will reference it if you are interested in cannabinoids - but there are better books on cannabinoids out there. The book finishes by covering curing techniques and storage.

Now listen closely because this is exactly what I recommend you to do if you are interested in breeding cannabis. Do not get this book first. First of all you should take a look at "The Cannabible" by Jason King. It also contains an introduction by Clarke and will give you a look at the different cannabis strain, but forget the breeding section in that book because it has inaccuracies and is not the best. Your next move is a good grow book. Now you would do well to buy several but if you can only afford one get "The Cannabis Grow Bible" by Greg Green. Forget the garbage PDF that you might find on the internet of that book. It is old (2001) and is missing a lot. Get the 2003 paperback edition which is vastly superior and very different. "The Cannabis Grow Bible" has an excellent Chapter on Breeding and is an absolute `must have' for anybody interested in breeding. That chapter alone is sometimes more useful than this whole book from Clarke. Once you have that book and chapter you will be in a much better position to use this book from Clarke. I can guarantee you that now. Forget about the breeding chapter in "Marijuana Indoor Horticulture" by Jorge Cervantes. Its bunk. The author of that book claims that clones loose their genetic integrity with every generation. That is nonsense and voids that whole chapter of his book. If you are looking for a good book on cannabinoids then get "Marijuana Chemistry: Genetics, Processing & Potency" by Michael Starks. Okay this is the best I can do for you. Do get this book though. Just follow the path above and you will achieve your breeding goals. Good Luck.
September 24, 2003

A Masters Thesis, Not a "How To Grow Really Strong Pot" book

First of all, if we stick to the facts, Robert Clarke wrote this text as his master's thesis to earn his graduate degree in botany from UC Berkeley, not so that a bunch of dopers could grow stronger weed. With that in mind, think about the subject material; this book was written for scientists and botanists with MSc and PhD level accreditations in botany, not Phineas, Freewheeling Franklin, or Fat Freddie and his cat...

I think that most reviews of this book are negative because they do not understand the nature of this work. In all actuality, it is a very important piece of work that quite thoroughly details genetic breeding of a particular species of plant, and that just so happens to be marijuana...

If you want a very good "how to grow kick-butt weed" book, pick up a copy of, "Indoor Marijuana Horticulture" by Jorge Cervantes; its better suited to the layperson who wants to try growing at home. Another book I found helpful for consulting was "Marijuana Grower's Insiders Guide" by Mel Frank...
August 16, 2003

Read the FULL TITLE of the book!

Marijuana Botany: An Advanced Study In the Propagation & Breeding of Distinctive Cannabis

ADVANCED. This is NOT the book to read if you have never grown or have no knowledge of basic concepts of growing marijuana. This is not a BASIC 'How-To' book. It says ADVANCED and it means just that! This is a study in ADVANCED MJ techniques and information of selective genetic manipulation and breeding. If you want an 'I just need to know how to grow herb.' book, DON'T BUY THIS ONE.
January 11, 2003

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