Browsing: Growing

I desperately tried to tiptoe around the flu bug that just swept through Denver, popping vitamin C and obsessively washing my hands for weeks. Didn’t matter. Within twelve hours of feeling a tickle in my throat, fluids were exiting my body as though I were a Civil War soldier stricken with dysentery. And after finally breaking through a weeklong Nyquil haze, I was ready for some cannabinoid relief — an indica, to be specific.

Not smoking for a few days affects every regular user differently, but all of my friends would tell you that I become obnoxious and immature (or at least more so than usual). So finding a buff yet pillowy indica to calm my nerves was paramount on my visit to Herbs4You, and Alien Dream sounded perfect for a head-first dive back into stonerdom. Alien Dream is an indica-dominant hybrid of Alien Bubba and Blue Dream, two strains known to take users to otherworldly heights.

Fourth-generation farmer Randy Taylor has watched potential income disappear as a hailstorm obliterated plants on the 7,000 acres that he oversees. But having to destroy crops himself is a tougher pill to swallow.

In December, on what he calls “probably some of the hardest days in my life,” Taylor mowed down eighty acres of hemp that had spiked THC levels. The Colorado Department of Agriculture had told the Yuma farmer that his hemp was too hot, above the 0.3 percent THC limit that defines industrial hemp under state law. Taylor’s crop measured at 0.47 percent THC, over the limit by just 0.17 percent.

If you’re thinking about starting a cannabis grow in your house but aren’t an expert botanist, don’t worry: There’s now an app for that. The first app to offer personal horticulture services specifically for weed launched on the Apple App Store at the end of January.

Three a Light, released by cannabis consulting firm Medicine Man Technologies, is based on the book of the same name that uses simple methods to teach regular people how to increase their yields — up to three pounds per light, thus the name of the book — from their cannabis plants.

Cannabis businesses took over the Colorado Convention Center this week as the National Cannabis Industry Association held its Seed to Sale Show on February 7 and 8. Made up of nearly 1,600 members, the NCIA is one of the largest industry groups in legal cannabis and has been holding annual events in Denver to showcase industry trends and technology for over five years.

The technology around legal cannabis has evolved rapidly since its commercial awakening. Consumer trends and products are constantly changing, and events like the Seed to Sale Show often offer a glimpse into what the future of retail pot will look like. Here are five of my favorite up-and-coming consumer trends from the NCIA convention.

If ogres existed, I don’t think they’d be very pleased with their current reputation. Shrek has turned the ogre, once a fierce and disgusting terror of folklore, into a sweet, funny hero known more for a talking donkey than an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Luckily, cannabis breeders have provided the green monster a second chance at a killer reputation with Ogre, a skunky hybrid that can lean either way, depending on the grower.

I’ve been vocal about my hesitation to try strains named for synthetic drugs; they put me in a foul state of mind before I even light up. But a friend of mine recently pointed out that such strains as Herijuana and Opium actually help medical marijuana patients looking for heavy, sedated strains with effects similar to those of prescription medication. While smoking something named for exactly what you’re avoiding sounds a little counterproductive, I could see his point, so I decided to give Opium’s healing power a try after I sprained my toe playing basketball.

Colorado can now claim production of the first certified hemp seed in the United States after the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies officially validated one of its varieties. Fort Collins-based New West Genetics submitted its trademarked ELITE hemp genetics for AOSCA certification and received approval in 2017, according to an announcement from the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

“The farmer can now have confidence that what he is buying is what he expects it to be, which is below 0.3 percent [THC] and true to type,” says Duane Sinning, assistant director of the division of plant industries at the CDA.

I’ve never regretted my move from Arizona to Colorado a few years ago, even though I’m sure a lot of “natives” regret it for me. But while the scenery here is hard to beat, and seeing the Rocky Mountains on the way to work is a daily reminder of this state’s beauty, I’ll always miss the desert. And as I was longing for sherbet skies and shorts last week, cannabis provided a breath of home. Cactus Breath, to be exact.

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