Does it matter if CBD is extracted from cannabis or industrial hemp?

Cannabis and industrial hemp are the same thing. Strains of cannabis with THC concentrations .3 percent and lower are legal to grow as agricultural hemp.

Depending on the strain, CBD can be extracted from cannabis. Some strains bear more CBD than other strains.

Anecdotal evidence exists that suggests that without THC being present in some quantity, CBD is not properly activated. There are many adherents to this belief. Keep in mind that there are many who believe in magical deities who are all places at once.

CBD extracted from cannabis is the same thing no matter what level of THC is present in a given strain. THC may be a force multiplier when combined with CBD.

There is limited data available at this time which can scientifically explain exactly how CBD functions in the human body.

What are the pros and cons of propagating hemp from clones as opposed to growing hemp from seeds?

No serious commercial grower will use seeds as they would quickly find themselves out of business. On the other hand, if you just like to watch plants grow and you enjoy killing plants that you’ve spent time and money growing because they’re male, hermaphrodite, or they express poorly, great, grow from seed.

If you’re growing cannabis from seeds, you’re only doing it for fun, not because you’re intending to produce buds more cheaply than buying it from someone. With seeds you will have plants exhibiting many different characteristics, while all being from the same breeding. Think of it like a couple of humans who have twelve children. Of those twelve kids - all raised in the same environment by the two successful parents - you’ll have 12 distinct personalities. One kid will be a doctor, another a lawyer, still another an ameteur boxer, while another will die in a drunk driving accident, another will be divorced six times with four kids not in her custody, etc.

In agriculture this is referred to as a specific plant’s phenotype. If you are at all serious about growing cannabis you should grow strain that has been carefully phenotype selected for good characteristics, such as: resistance to pests, excellent yield, high THC content and most importantly a terpene profile that is appealing to that individual.

None of these characteristics is identical amongst perhaps twenty cannabis plants raised from seeds procured from the same breeding. Acquiring clones from a reliable grower is a simpler method for a beginner - it’s rather easy to acquire a well bred and selected plant - and you can clone this plant over and over and have the exact same characteristics to repeat while you’re learning to perfect your growing style.

Additionally, growing cannabis from seeds means that half of your seeds are going to be male - and half are female. Unless you have control of your lighting cycle you’re not going to be able to see which are which and you’re going to work twice as hard to raise these plants because eventually you’re going to see which are male and which are female (after months.) When you cull the males to ensure that they do not pollinate your females so you get the highest, seedless yield possible it will be with a sense of regret as you spent a lot of time and effort taking care of ALL your plants - and half that effort is for naught.

You could purchase feminized seeds where 98 of 100 seeds are female - but then you’re looking at the same issue with phenotyping again. Additionally, 1 or 2 out of every hundred seeds will turn out male or even worse, hermaphrodite - and express bud and pollen sacks which can create catastrophic results by seeding your entire garden. So is that worth it? I have lain awake many, many nights after finding one single hermaphrodite in a garden with over six thousand plants. Why was I laying awake? Because that garden was planted entirely from seed.

The seed sales guys will poo poo on my answer. Let them. They use un-natural methods to propagate female “only” seeds. They have an enormous profit margin, they essentially breed a pair of plants together and can easily come up with two or three thousand seeds which they sell for $2 bucks or more each. Its nonsense to purchase seeds. You may hear seed vendors say something stupid like “you won’t get problems if you buy your seeds from a reputable breeder” while none of them knows what reputable means. Still, others will blame me for growing technique or whatever else. Truth be told, none of the seed vendors has more than a small little basement where totally unnatural events take place to create their feminized seeds - using caustic poison sprayed on the mother plant.

Without phenotype control, only one in ten of the plants from seed produced cannabis with bag appeal.

How much hemp grows in 22000 square feet?

This is a loaded question. There are endless variables - but I’ve built more than forty indoor / greenhouse / outdoor facilities and I can partially answer.

Lets assume you’re referring to 22,000 square feet of canopy and not a 22,000 square foot space.

If growing in a warehouse

With proper HVAC and humidity control

With artificial lighting at 24 square foot layout for each 1000w lighting source

Given 30% for vegetative growth, 70% for flowering space:

Gives 14,520 square feet of flowering canopy / 24 sq feet per light = 605 lights in flower

The gold standard is for 2lbs of dried bud per light, however with proper nutrients and good genetics I regularly see 2.5lbs of dried bud per light.

605 Lights if harvested at once would be 1210lbs ~ 1512lbs - however you couldn’t harvest this all at once as your veg canopy size is too small to propagate your entire flower area so one would typically propagate 25% of their flower room per two weeks and harvest 25% of their flower room every two weeks.

For a continual harvest cycle one would assume half of the previously mentioned yields per month (605lbs ~ 756lbs).

Total number of plants using this method would be be dependent on strains of course, but an average would be between 4 and 8 plants per light at 24sq feet.

If you’re growing outdoors:

With the sun as your light source in an arid climate

Given 100% of your canopy space for flowering space

One can assume plants to be between 5 ~ 8 feet in diameter or 19.6 ~ 50 square feet in canopy for each plant. If the plants have an abundance of good nutrients, good soil, room for roots, properly pH water, and good sun AND your weather holds out for at least 65 days after the daylight drops below 14.5 hrs per day without freezing and too much rain then…perhaps you can see a yield of the radius of the plant in pounds. Example, 6 foot diameter plant, 3′ radius, 3lbs of dried bud.

There are many other factors to consider in both of these situations, however, I give advice to people who are looking to grow cannabis professionally in legal states. We are happy to answer questions and give our best advice to anyone who inquires.

How do I grow hemp from seeds?

If you’re growing cannabis from seeds, you’re only doing it for fun, not because you’re intending to produce buds more cheaply than buying it from someone. With seeds you will have plants exhibiting many different characteristics, while all being from the same breeding.

Think of it like a couple of humans who have twelve children. Of those twelve kids - all raised in the same environment by the two successful parents - you’ll have 12 distinct personalities. One kid will be a doctor, another a lawyer, still another an ameteur boxer, while another will die in a drunk driving accident, another will be divorced six times with four kids not in her custody, etc. In agriculture this is referred to as a specific plant’s phenotype. If you are at all serious about growing cannabis you should grow strain that has been carefully phenotype selected for good characteristics, such as: resistance to pests, excellent yield, high THC content and most importantly a terpene profile that is appealing to that individual.

None of these characteristics is identical amongst perhaps twenty cannabis plants raised from seeds procured from the same breeding.

Acquiring clones from a reliable grower is a simpler method for a beginner - it’s rather easy to acquire a well bred and selected plant - and you can clone this plant over and over and have the exact same characteristics to repeat while you’re learning to perfect your growing style.

Additionally, growing cannabis from seeds means that half of your seeds are going to be male - and half are female. Unless you have control of your lighting cycle you’re not going to be able to see which are which and you’re going to work twice as hard to raise these plants because eventually you’re going to see which are male and which are female (after months.) When you cull the males to ensure that they do not pollinate your females so you get the best, seedless yield possible it will be with a sense of regret as you spent a lot of time and effort taking care of ALL your plants - and half that effort is for naught.

You could purchase feminized seeds - but then you’re looking at the same issue with phenotyping again.

What kind of ballast is good for indoor grow lights?

An integral electronic ballast with a power factor of .9 or better (1 being perfect) with the ability to operate on 277–480vac and that is able to maintain current regulation +/- 2% with input fluctuation of 25% per second and an ability to be dimmed via maintaining constant voltage, consume less than 3% of total current usage for internal operation while carrying a true UL, ETL, CE/CSA registration, and finally can be easily networked via UTP with a minimum of 254 additional fixtures plus controller.

We get all of this from Hortilux Schrader or PL Lighting in Canada. We like the durability of their NXT2 1000W professional agriculture fixture with lifetime coated German optics and Philips electronic ballast, commonly referred to as the “driver.”

How do you specify and install security cameras effectively?

Several factors need to be considered:

• Overall Budget

• Residential or Commercial Location

• Type and value of material at Location

As with everything you get what you pay for. Cameras used for security have a method that is applied to the clarity of their field of view called DORI. The letters stand for Detect, Observe, Recognize, Identify - and the DORI specification is something one should critically review prior to any purchase. Each level increases the amount of detail and information that is able to be identified. These levels of detail increase from 12.5 pixels/meter (4 pixels/foot) to 1000 pixels/meter (305 pixels/foot).

Detect: where it is obvious what is being observed, a human or a vehicle in the field of view (FOV)

Observe: able to detect color of clothing, make of vehicle in FOV

Recognize: determine with a high level of certainty if an individual in the FOV is someone you’ve seen before

Identify: facial recognition level, without a shadow of a doubt a person can be identified by anyone who compares the facial characteristics in the FOV with a mug shot or other ID.

The DORI levels change dramatically depending on combinations of the following:

• Type/Size of Object of interest

• Distance to Object of Interest

• Scene Lighting

• Camera Resolution/Imager Size

• Camera Lens Focal Length

• Expected Purpose of Camera

Cameras intended to capture only observational data cannot be expected to produce inspection level information. For example, a camera chosen to view a parking lot will not be able to reliably capture license plates. The expected purpose of each camera of a system must chosen carefully to meet the expectation set once the system is commissioned.

An example of DORI in use would be as follows: a wide FOV low-light capable camera may be mounted at the roof of the building with an overview of the individuals parking their cars and walking to the entrance for Detect, while another camera is located under a soffit at the exterior building entrance for Observe, a 12mp fisheye on the ceiling in a lobby gather views of the entire room for Recognize, while another cameras with a narrow FOV at 6mp could be employed covering a single elevator or single stairwell opening for Identify. In this manner, we know who it was who went up in the building and may have an idea of the car they drove and where it was parked as well as the number of other individuals arrived or left with and if the others entered the building, who those individuals may be.

We design and implement high quality systems for data centers, corrections facilities, cannabis facilities, armory and other law enforcement facilities. If you’re looking for help without hype, feel free to contact me.

GREENLEAF launches it's new package of cannabis industry services at Cannacon this weekend.

Cannacon is Washington's biggest trade show for the cannabis industry.  Obviously we are going to be there making new friends and spreading our enthusiasm about new equipment and lighting and growing techniques that our innovation has impacted.