Companion Planting with Cannabis

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CHA members will now have access to our PowerPoint slides as we move into our workshop series. First up is a 72 slide presentation on companion planting with cannabis. It can be located on the “Companion Planting” members page. 

The Companion Planting for Cannabis workshop will go over all the categories of cover crops and highlight their roles in soil biology and plant fertility while addressing certain caveats when utilizing these systems. It will then transition into companion planting to cover a local case study on intercropping with cannabis. Following up with numerous studies on trap cropping and banker plants, showcasing the banker plants capabilities for sustaining beneficial predatory insects. Quite a few regional farms are showcased through their companion planting techniques and interviews with farmers help highlight clear management strategies. The companion planting with cannabis series is sure to share information on how to cut costs through integration of specific medicinal and nutritive plants designed to be optimized for your microclimate!

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Eastern Washington Farm Goes Green on a Commercial Scale

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Walden Cannabis takes advantage of its massive property by reserving thousands of square feet for insectary beds and cover crops.

The farm’s size also allows Walden to utilize a system of crop rotation — somewhat of a rarity in the cannabis space. After each harvest, the company rotates its grow site to a new section of the property in order to maintain healthy soil….

Read the full article at Marijuana Venture.

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Pest Alert – Cannabis Aphid

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The Oregon Dept of Agriculture has detected a new pest species for cannabis.

Phorodon cannabis, known as the cannabis aphid, bhang aphid, or hemp aphid, feeds on cannabis. It is only known from two locations in Oregon (Portland and Estacada) at this time, but it is very likely that it is established and unrecognized at other facilities. The pest is established in much of Europe and Asia, North Africa, and it is known from Colorado in North America. It appears to be a recent arrival in Oregon, and it is in the interest of all growers of cannabis to slow its spread.

Download the PDF from the ODA:

Cannabis Aphid AlertDownload

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Calcium’s role in Cannabis Physiology

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“Calcium is an extremely important plant nutrient due to its many functions, which includes membrane structural integrity, maintenance of homeostasis, segregation of genetic material during cell division, gene expression, energetics and enzyme activities. The full picture of calcium-mediated physiological processes has not been fully described here nor clarified in academic research; however, researchers do know that calcium is immobile in plants and that it is a constant requirement throughout all growth phases.”

Mark June-Wells, Ph.D.

Visit Cannabis Business Times for an interesting article on the roles of Calcium in plant physiology…

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Pesticide Advisory Alerts

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With Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) leading the charge for testing pesticides for off-label ingredients, it has become increasingly commonplace for pesticides to contain trace residues of off-label chemicals. In 2016 a cannabis lab in Oregon decided to test the product Guardian Mite Spray and detected the chemical abamectin. This was reported to the ODA and a subsequent stop sale was issued.  Shortly thereafter, Mighty Wash tested positive for pyrethrins.  Now, the latest product that has come to light is Azatrol, a product containing azadirachtin, which is the concentrated extract from neem oil. The Oregon Department of Agriculture issued a stop sale for the Azatrol stating: “ODA’s actions come following an investigation of the product and laboratory analysis that found the presence of the pesticide active ingredients permethrin, bifenthrin, cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, and chlorpyrifos, none of which are listed on either product label.”

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Compost Tea for Cannabis

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Emerald Queen Farms uses compost teas

Cannabis farmers are always searching for ways to optimize productivity.  Larger yields, higher quality and ways to cut costs top the directives. Within this industry however, there seems to be an overuse of synthetic fertilizers with little understanding of the biological systems involved in nutrient uptake and disease control.  Many inexperienced growers overuse synthetic fertilizers, hoping that more nutrients means higher yields.  All that really happens is a massive salt buildup, which leads to dead microbes, nutrient lockout, and a lot of flushing.  Many others overdo synthetic fungicides without really targeting “the root” of the problem.

Over the last 20 years, compost tea has been clearly gaining traction as an important variable on organic and sustainable crop production.  Anecdotal evidence, now coupled with considerable scientific research now proves various types of compost teas can suppress plant pathogens and diseases while also boosting yields and quality through microbial activity, effectively eliminating the need for hazardous agrochemicals.

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The Facts About Dynamic Accumulators

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Chickweed

By John Kitsteiner

Within the world of Permaculture we often find reference to plants known as Dynamic Accumulators. In brief, this is the idea that certain plants (often deep-rooted ones) will draw up nutrients from the lower layers of the soil, and these nutrients will be stored in the plants’ leaves. When the leaves fall in autumn and winter and are broken down, those stored nutrients are then incorporated into the upper layers of the soil where other plants will benefit from their deposition….

Read the full article at Permaculture Research Institute.

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The Future of Pesticides … Pyrolysis Studies and Separate Classifications for Flowers, Concentrates and Edibles

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Pesticides

Accounting to the obscurity regarding the lack of regulation and oversight for the entire modern history of this plant, pesticide testing on cannabis is only now seeing the light of day.  The absence of official federal government rulings has left state regulators scrambling to standardize, monitor and enforce these guidelines on their own. This unfortunately has lead to unavoidable lack of oversight and widespread misuse of unapproved pesticides. Incredibly, the Cannabis Safety Institute has reported “that pesticide residue on retail Cannabis products is often found at levels exceeding the allowable levels on any agricultural product.” This lack of oversight has created an ever-increasing need to understand how long pesticides persist on the plants and what classes of pesticides are considered safe for use.

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The Future of Pesticides … Pyrolysis Studies and Separate Classifications for Flowers, Concentrates and Edibles Read More »

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