Spring is a time of rebirth, and the planting season is always fun as you sow the beginnings of a journey that ends in fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, or flowers like cannabis. In certain parts of the world, like California, the spring planting season comes early. This can be both a blessing and a curse because, depending on where you are located equatorially, supplemental lighting might be necessary to keep your plants from going into flower too early. Since cannabis is photosensitive and some types begin flowering when daylight hours change, you could have plants that start flowering in Apr ..read more

Breeding is a fascinating subject to examine as it is the backbone of commercial agriculture and is crucial to the success of the farmers’ crops. Without stable and vigorous genetics, a farmer could have massive issues with their crop, leading to a huge loss of revenue. Due to the cannabis industry living in the shadows for so long, breeding was largely relegated to closets and amateur “pollen chuckers,” people crossing random plants in the hope of getting something new and desirable. This is where the term phenohunting comes from. By crossing heterozygous parent stock, the genetics of the pro ..read more

Dry farms are rare in California, but the results people like Chrystal Ortiz of High Water Farm are able to pull off without watering their cannabis plants all summer are pretty amazing. Sure it takes a Goldilocks type of microclimate in the middle of Humboldt County just off the Eel River—the same neighborhood that hosts all the state’s dry cannabis farmers—but what those farmers are able to do is pretty impressive. It is certainly a leap of faith to start. Ortiz described the trauma of her first season trying dry farming as she watched the plants wilt before they adjusted to their new life o ..read more

A man in Minnesota is providing free growing and cannabis basics workshops—free to the public—to help people get a foot in the door of the industry. Minnesota allows home cultivation under its recently approved adult-use cannabis law, and residents are eager to see if they have a green thumb. Minnesota adults are allowed to grow up to eight plants, four mature. Growing cannabis takes years of experience to master, but you gotta start somewhere.  Inforum reports that Steve Rosenfeldt, who is the owner of Ediblez OTC in Moorhead, Minnesota, wants to share his expertise with the plant to oth ..read more

You’ve been trying your hand at cannabis cultivation over the past year or so, and now you’ve done it. You’ve finally harvested a batch of homegrown buds you can truly be proud of and can’t wait to start smoking. One thing, though, that was only half the work. Now it’s time for post-production, drying, trimming, and curing, the processes, methods, and techniques that will take your freshly grown flowers to their highest level in terms of quality, taste, and smokability. The steps growers take after the plant is harvested, whether you’re a cannabis company or a modest ganja grower, are essentia ..read more

No, that is not a typo. Rare, designer cannabis products have been popping up more and more in the last couple of years. If you haven’t yet come across one of these super heady black miron jars in the wild, that’s because they’re very hard to find and typically only available in, dare I say, small batches.  The first time one of my friends, who is about as heady as they come, told me he willingly paid $1,500 for an ounce of flower my jaw hit the floor. I could not fathom a world in which somebody with access to all the cheap and/or free weed he could smoke straight from multiple different ..read more

When asked by my dear friend Ellen, the editor in chief of this publication, to resume writing for High Times I jumped at the request. As a journalist/educator and lifetime student I’ve always enjoyed diving into topics that I’ve covered for this magazine over the years and revisiting certain subjects as new science became available. Here I look into growing cannabis specifically for terpene production. Terpenoids or terpenes are one of the most important chemical compounds produced by the cannabis plant. They are the compounds responsible for the plant’s smell and give each cultivar their uni ..read more

In this epic issue of High Times devoted to one of the biggest questions facing the cannabis industry today, legacy vs. legal, is legalization working? I feel like I’m in a unique position to tackle this query. Having been in the industry for almost 30 years I’ve had the chance to observe it through its many incarnations.  The cannabis plant, or Miss Mary Jane, has held a special place in my heart since she first blessed my lungs back in the early ’90s. Where we really bonded was in Amsterdam almost 25 years ago. There I had the good fortune of meeting two fellow plant lovers who both for ..read more

As the first hints of spring bring warming temperatures and longer days, the hardy crop of home growers who cultivate their weed in outdoor gardens begins a growing season that won’t culminate until autumn, when sticky, dank buds are ready to be harvested and cured. Although the process is steeped in tradition and lore, growing quality herb is within the ability of most home gardeners, even novices. With a little knowledge, work, and a sunny spot outside, your first crop of homegrown bud could be just months away. One of the first decisions to make at the beginning of the growing season is whe ..read more

Developers are in the middle of a race to see how they can apply freeze dryer technology to dry and cure weed faster, taking a process that could have taken weeks into something that is pretty much instantaneous. Drying cannabis after it’s harvested removes the moisture from the flowers so they can be properly smoked or vaporized and typically takes anywhere from 10 to 14 days. After that, the flowers are cured, a week to month-long process which removes additional moisture and helps preserve the buds and retain their flavor and potency. With freeze drying technology, what once could take week ..read more