and is why LP's do such a shit job of it lol
“It offends my Baptist upbringing,” Cullen chuckles over cannabis, which Canadians will be able to grow legally at home starting Oct. 17.
“I’d much rather have a beer.”
The law that will decriminalize the sale of recreational cannabis in stores and online this fall also allows adults to grow four cannabis plants per household at any given time. (Manitoba and Quebec declined to follow the federal rescission and will maintain a ban on home grown product.)
But if you can’t turn to your local gardening centre for advice — or even seeds or seedlings — there is no shortage of know-how that first-time growers can tap into across the country.
“There is a long history of cannabis cultivation in Canada and the United States,” says John and a long-time home-grow advocate.
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Y
The height of cool: Battling the heat from U of T’s experimental green roof
“And through things like message boards and magazines and books...there’s a good deal of information out there,” says Fowler, whose cannabis production company is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Fowler says two groups of home horticulturalists will likely emerge after legalization — one of which will grow the plants as a curiosity, the other for quality and consumption.
“There are the people who are doing it cause it’s novel and they’re probably only going to do it once and (will) put a couple of seeds in beside the tomato plants,” he says.
“And I hope that a large number of (these) Canadians get to enjoy the beauty that is the cannabis plant. That said, the odds that you get something worth consuming or should consume at the end of that is relatively low.”
Quality herb is hard, Fowler says and requires much equipment and attention — starting with seed selection.
THE SEEDS
Seed selection is a matter of first picking a strain, of which there are hundreds if not thousands, says Keith Kwong, owner of Calgary’s Upper Canada Seed Bank.
Kwong says seeds can be selected for plant size — to fit individual growing constraints — and for the concentrations of intoxicating THC or medicinal CBDs they will produce.
He places his seeds on wet paper towels for 24 hours so that they will sprout before planting.
Growers looking for a buzz from their product need to get female seeds, says Bjorn Dawson, founder and CEO of Waterloo’s Grobo Inc.
Only female plants produce the buds where the active ingredients accumulate in a plant, says Dawson, adding that “feminized” seeds are sold but that there is no guarantee even these will all be the same sex.
And Fowler cautions that some seeds will simply produce inferior highs.
“Every seed is like a sibling so you don’t know. You might have one (be a) doctor or you might have one (be a) couch potato,” he says.
Will Hyde, a subject matter expert at Leafly Canada, says growers can be more certain of their product by using clones — or cuttings — from plants that have a proven quality.
These can be created by taking a branch from an adult plant, placing it in water and a growing medium until it forms a root, says Dawson, whose company sells hydroponic systems.
SOIL OR WATER
For those in a rush to begin their home production in October, the only option is to do it inside.
That means either potting the pants or using a hydroponic system.
Potting them in soil is the cheaper of the two options says Dawson, but he does not recommend using the same types of garden centre soils you’d buy for your spring tomato planting.
“I’d recommend going to one of the hydroponic shops where they can walk you through it a little bit better because you are going to have to add some nutrients over time,” he says.
Dawson says the types and timings of fertilizer use depends on the soil you begin with and the stain of cannabis you choose.
“There are a whole ton of factors that would go into that, and that’s one of the challenges about trying to start growing cannabis on your own, it takes a ton of research,” he says.
For hydroponic systems, plants are placed in ground-up coconut-husk pods which hold them steady above the water while the roots dangle down into the liquid. That liquid is balanced for ph levels and contains shifting levels of nutrients depending on the plant’s development stage.
Dawson sells an automated system — that can be programmed to apply the right light levels and nutrient mixes — for $2,600.
“If you’re looking for the easiest way to start it’s going to be in soil. If you’re looking for the fastest grow times and the best results it’s going to be in hydroponics but it’s harder,” he says.
A PLACE TO GROW
If you’re thinking about growing it inside your home this fall, you should know this: cannabis is not a good roommate.
First of all, it needs the lights left on for hours on end. And second of all, it stinks.
Thus experts say, it’s nearly essential that you have a place to grow you pot in isolation.
This can be a room of it’s own, a high-end system like Dawson’s, a purpose built-grow tent or a jerry-rigged container of your own device, says Jason Makuch, chief product officer at Leafly Canada.
Plants, he says, need 18 hours of continuous light per day during their growing or “vegetative stage and 12 hours when they’re in flower. The light, which gives the plant its summer and fall cues on growth and flowering, can be produced by either high pressure sodium (HPS) or metal halide bulbs.
LED lights are also being used more and more, Makuch says. And while they are more expensive to buy, they suck up far less electricity over their lifetime. A simple Christmas-light timer can be installed to turn them on and off.
As for the smell, which grows increasingly pungent as the plant matures, special carbon-pellet filter boxes are available that can be placed in venting outlets on the plant container. There are also masking products that come in spray and gel form.
Fowler cautions that home growers living in condominiums should check board rules regarding cannabis growth and that all should ensure their electrical circuitry is up to code.
HARVEST
Plants should be cut down at the base and any leaves that aren’t part of the buds should be removed, Dawson says. The plant is then hung in a place with good airflow for three days until it’s dried out. Buds are then placed in jars that can be opened or “burped” each day.
“I typically recommend (they be cured) for two to three weeks minimum with a target of two months if you have the time,” says Hyde. “A lot of people think that once you cut the plant you’re done with it and it is what it is at that point ... The reality is that the curing process ...is just as important as all the time and energy you spent growing the plant.”
Novice growers would be “pretty stoked if they [get] an ounce off a plant” after a standard 60-day growth cycle, Makuch says. An ounce of pot can render anywhere up to 70 joints, depending on their size. But a plant’s yield could increase once a grower gains expertise at such things as nutrient use and pruning techniques.
“It offends my Baptist upbringing,” Cullen chuckles over cannabis, which Canadians will be able to grow legally at home starting Oct. 17.
“I’d much rather have a beer.”
The law that will decriminalize the sale of recreational cannabis in stores and online this fall also allows adults to grow four cannabis plants per household at any given time. (Manitoba and Quebec declined to follow the federal rescission and will maintain a ban on home grown product.)
But if you can’t turn to your local gardening centre for advice — or even seeds or seedlings — there is no shortage of know-how that first-time growers can tap into across the country.
“There is a long history of cannabis cultivation in Canada and the United States,” says John and a long-time home-grow advocate.
R
Y
The height of cool: Battling the heat from U of T’s experimental green roof
“And through things like message boards and magazines and books...there’s a good deal of information out there,” says Fowler, whose cannabis production company is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Fowler says two groups of home horticulturalists will likely emerge after legalization — one of which will grow the plants as a curiosity, the other for quality and consumption.
“There are the people who are doing it cause it’s novel and they’re probably only going to do it once and (will) put a couple of seeds in beside the tomato plants,” he says.
“And I hope that a large number of (these) Canadians get to enjoy the beauty that is the cannabis plant. That said, the odds that you get something worth consuming or should consume at the end of that is relatively low.”
Quality herb is hard, Fowler says and requires much equipment and attention — starting with seed selection.
THE SEEDS
Seed selection is a matter of first picking a strain, of which there are hundreds if not thousands, says Keith Kwong, owner of Calgary’s Upper Canada Seed Bank.
Kwong says seeds can be selected for plant size — to fit individual growing constraints — and for the concentrations of intoxicating THC or medicinal CBDs they will produce.
He places his seeds on wet paper towels for 24 hours so that they will sprout before planting.
Growers looking for a buzz from their product need to get female seeds, says Bjorn Dawson, founder and CEO of Waterloo’s Grobo Inc.
Only female plants produce the buds where the active ingredients accumulate in a plant, says Dawson, adding that “feminized” seeds are sold but that there is no guarantee even these will all be the same sex.
And Fowler cautions that some seeds will simply produce inferior highs.
“Every seed is like a sibling so you don’t know. You might have one (be a) doctor or you might have one (be a) couch potato,” he says.
Will Hyde, a subject matter expert at Leafly Canada, says growers can be more certain of their product by using clones — or cuttings — from plants that have a proven quality.
These can be created by taking a branch from an adult plant, placing it in water and a growing medium until it forms a root, says Dawson, whose company sells hydroponic systems.
SOIL OR WATER
For those in a rush to begin their home production in October, the only option is to do it inside.
That means either potting the pants or using a hydroponic system.
Potting them in soil is the cheaper of the two options says Dawson, but he does not recommend using the same types of garden centre soils you’d buy for your spring tomato planting.
“I’d recommend going to one of the hydroponic shops where they can walk you through it a little bit better because you are going to have to add some nutrients over time,” he says.
Dawson says the types and timings of fertilizer use depends on the soil you begin with and the stain of cannabis you choose.
“There are a whole ton of factors that would go into that, and that’s one of the challenges about trying to start growing cannabis on your own, it takes a ton of research,” he says.
For hydroponic systems, plants are placed in ground-up coconut-husk pods which hold them steady above the water while the roots dangle down into the liquid. That liquid is balanced for ph levels and contains shifting levels of nutrients depending on the plant’s development stage.
Dawson sells an automated system — that can be programmed to apply the right light levels and nutrient mixes — for $2,600.
“If you’re looking for the easiest way to start it’s going to be in soil. If you’re looking for the fastest grow times and the best results it’s going to be in hydroponics but it’s harder,” he says.
A PLACE TO GROW
If you’re thinking about growing it inside your home this fall, you should know this: cannabis is not a good roommate.
First of all, it needs the lights left on for hours on end. And second of all, it stinks.
Thus experts say, it’s nearly essential that you have a place to grow you pot in isolation.
This can be a room of it’s own, a high-end system like Dawson’s, a purpose built-grow tent or a jerry-rigged container of your own device, says Jason Makuch, chief product officer at Leafly Canada.
Plants, he says, need 18 hours of continuous light per day during their growing or “vegetative stage and 12 hours when they’re in flower. The light, which gives the plant its summer and fall cues on growth and flowering, can be produced by either high pressure sodium (HPS) or metal halide bulbs.
LED lights are also being used more and more, Makuch says. And while they are more expensive to buy, they suck up far less electricity over their lifetime. A simple Christmas-light timer can be installed to turn them on and off.
As for the smell, which grows increasingly pungent as the plant matures, special carbon-pellet filter boxes are available that can be placed in venting outlets on the plant container. There are also masking products that come in spray and gel form.
Fowler cautions that home growers living in condominiums should check board rules regarding cannabis growth and that all should ensure their electrical circuitry is up to code.
HARVEST
Plants should be cut down at the base and any leaves that aren’t part of the buds should be removed, Dawson says. The plant is then hung in a place with good airflow for three days until it’s dried out. Buds are then placed in jars that can be opened or “burped” each day.
“I typically recommend (they be cured) for two to three weeks minimum with a target of two months if you have the time,” says Hyde. “A lot of people think that once you cut the plant you’re done with it and it is what it is at that point ... The reality is that the curing process ...is just as important as all the time and energy you spent growing the plant.”
Novice growers would be “pretty stoked if they [get] an ounce off a plant” after a standard 60-day growth cycle, Makuch says. An ounce of pot can render anywhere up to 70 joints, depending on their size. But a plant’s yield could increase once a grower gains expertise at such things as nutrient use and pruning techniques.
