Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
As the first legal grow season for recreational marijuana in Massachusetts draws to a close, newly initiated home growers are coming away with a shared understanding.
Cannabis is complicated.
“I’m a little disappointed. I thought it was going to be a little easier,” Cambridge resident Mary Beth DeGray said. She added, “It really takes a while to get a product that’s smokable.”
Growers have to contend with the medicinal weed’s picky requirements for ph levels, soil nutrients, light, and watering – not too much, not too little – as well as pests like spider mites, and concerns over the plant’s gender (you want females only).
“If you want to get the maximum harvest, there’s a huge amount of steps,” said Jeff Pepi, who owns two cannabis-related businesses in New Bedford – Treebeard Inc., which creates items to help growers, and Growing in Health, a home health agency with marijuana expertise.
“Don’t just use MiracleGro, that’s gross. The bud will taste horrible,” said Pepi, a veteran medical marijuana grower. Also, “Shading of any kind, you’re instantly going to have issues with the density of your buds.”
Outdoor plants will be harvested by October or even early November. Then there’s the curing process, which can take days or weeks.
“You could’ve done all this work and right at the end when you put it in the jar (you don’t care for it properly) and then you can’t smoke it because it’s got mold in it,” DeGray said.
“In order to grow very cleanly, it’s expensive,” ProVerde Laboratories founder and chief scientific officer Christopher Hudalla said. “It’s very hard.”
ProVerde in Milford tests marijuana up to an international standard, looking for pesticides, heavy metals, and residual solvents, and measuring potency levels.
In general, the difference between the homegrown and commercial cannabis his company tests is minimal, Hudalla said. Potency, as well as the amount of product, and how clean it is of contaminants depends on the growers’ level of expertise, he said, and how much the grower is trying to get out of a plant.
“Cannabis is a funny thing,” Hudalla said. “It’s a weed ... When we try to control nature, we screw it up.”
For Lunenburg’s Ken McCormick, who tried growing marijuana this summer indoors to ease his partner’s insomnia, the newly legal process was smooth sailing and a big success.
“Neither of us are particularly interested in it from a recreational point of view. It’s not part of our lifestyle,” said McCormick, who grew basil and cilantro alongside his cannabis. “But we’re open-minded and it seemed like something to try.”
After five to six months of care, McCormick said he was able to produce five or six mason jars of buds his partner can vape or brew in a tea before bed. Though McCormick said he had to watch the plants closely for changes, he said any issues – yellowing of the leaves, for example – were easily resolved through an internet search.
“There’s a little bit to know, but there’s also a good community with knowledge,” McCormick said. “You can also Google most questions you have.”
Costs associated with the new hobby also varied. An outdoor grower in Framingham was able to achieve four, 7-foot-tall plants outdoors for about $100, while DeGray said she ended up dropping about $3,000 on her indoor grow operation, with about $175 per month in electricity costs alone.
Kamani said new growers will learn through trial and error.
“It was a lot of fun, and I tell people you can’t really say you love weed until you grow it,” he said, laughing. Stay open-minded, he added. “I think (new growers will) learn. You definitely can adapt and do some research. People have been growing this plant for a long time.”
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Gardeners tackle first recreational marijuana season - News - The Framingham Tab - Framingham, MA
Author: Alison Bosma
Contact: Contact Us - The Framingham Tab - Framingham, MA
Photo Credit: Ron Strider
Website: The Framingham Tab: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Framingham, MA
Cannabis is complicated.
“I’m a little disappointed. I thought it was going to be a little easier,” Cambridge resident Mary Beth DeGray said. She added, “It really takes a while to get a product that’s smokable.”
Growers have to contend with the medicinal weed’s picky requirements for ph levels, soil nutrients, light, and watering – not too much, not too little – as well as pests like spider mites, and concerns over the plant’s gender (you want females only).
“If you want to get the maximum harvest, there’s a huge amount of steps,” said Jeff Pepi, who owns two cannabis-related businesses in New Bedford – Treebeard Inc., which creates items to help growers, and Growing in Health, a home health agency with marijuana expertise.
“Don’t just use MiracleGro, that’s gross. The bud will taste horrible,” said Pepi, a veteran medical marijuana grower. Also, “Shading of any kind, you’re instantly going to have issues with the density of your buds.”
Outdoor plants will be harvested by October or even early November. Then there’s the curing process, which can take days or weeks.
“You could’ve done all this work and right at the end when you put it in the jar (you don’t care for it properly) and then you can’t smoke it because it’s got mold in it,” DeGray said.
“In order to grow very cleanly, it’s expensive,” ProVerde Laboratories founder and chief scientific officer Christopher Hudalla said. “It’s very hard.”
ProVerde in Milford tests marijuana up to an international standard, looking for pesticides, heavy metals, and residual solvents, and measuring potency levels.
In general, the difference between the homegrown and commercial cannabis his company tests is minimal, Hudalla said. Potency, as well as the amount of product, and how clean it is of contaminants depends on the growers’ level of expertise, he said, and how much the grower is trying to get out of a plant.
“Cannabis is a funny thing,” Hudalla said. “It’s a weed ... When we try to control nature, we screw it up.”
For Lunenburg’s Ken McCormick, who tried growing marijuana this summer indoors to ease his partner’s insomnia, the newly legal process was smooth sailing and a big success.
“Neither of us are particularly interested in it from a recreational point of view. It’s not part of our lifestyle,” said McCormick, who grew basil and cilantro alongside his cannabis. “But we’re open-minded and it seemed like something to try.”
After five to six months of care, McCormick said he was able to produce five or six mason jars of buds his partner can vape or brew in a tea before bed. Though McCormick said he had to watch the plants closely for changes, he said any issues – yellowing of the leaves, for example – were easily resolved through an internet search.
“There’s a little bit to know, but there’s also a good community with knowledge,” McCormick said. “You can also Google most questions you have.”
Costs associated with the new hobby also varied. An outdoor grower in Framingham was able to achieve four, 7-foot-tall plants outdoors for about $100, while DeGray said she ended up dropping about $3,000 on her indoor grow operation, with about $175 per month in electricity costs alone.
Kamani said new growers will learn through trial and error.
“It was a lot of fun, and I tell people you can’t really say you love weed until you grow it,” he said, laughing. Stay open-minded, he added. “I think (new growers will) learn. You definitely can adapt and do some research. People have been growing this plant for a long time.”
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Gardeners tackle first recreational marijuana season - News - The Framingham Tab - Framingham, MA
Author: Alison Bosma
Contact: Contact Us - The Framingham Tab - Framingham, MA
Photo Credit: Ron Strider
Website: The Framingham Tab: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Framingham, MA