Yep, earned a BS in Botany many moons ago and though I didn't go into the field, I've made it a hobby through gardening and helping others.
Anyway, my State finally approved Medical Marijuana and is now going through its baby steps in setting up its rules and regs (a little to slowly for many of us). Since I'm on a Disability, a limited income, and my health plan will not pay a dime towards MedMar, I'm going to have to find a less expensive method of obtaining it, especially if it does work for me.
It's funny, they'd rather spend thousands of dollars buying narcotic pain meds, such as Fentanyl for me, but won't pay for MedMar, a cheaper alternative. Bizarre, but true. So for now, I thought I'd try my hand at cultivating two plants, just to see if I could accomplish that goal.
In early May my husband and I visited Spain. There we passed a Marijuana Co-op shop. We stopped to peruse their wares and I saw a display for seeds. All different types. I was amazed; you see I grew up during the late sixties early seventies. Back then there were only three types of grass - home grown, Hawaiian, and Jamaican. Weed was named by where it was grown, there were no strains, no varieties.
So I asked the clerk for a recommendation, something for pain, and something fresh. I didn't want old, dead seeds (In April 2014 we visited Amsterdam and picked up 10 seeds from a flea market vendor, for ten euros - not one grew.) The clerk suggested a pack of Sweet Afghani Delicious, four seeds for €18. He guaranteed them, said if they didn't grow to contact the company for replacement.
We brought them home and I planted one seed on May 20th, the second two weeks later on June 4th. Both sprouted on the third day.
When each hit four weeks of age (and after hardening them off outside) I transplanted them directly into my veggie garden. They're both doing very well. The first plant is now on its eight set of leaves, and busy producing secondary leaves below.
So now I'm trying to decide whether to prune, tie down, or FIM.
I'm leaning toward tying down to keep the plants below six feet, the height of my fence. But since I have two plants, I could try a different method with each one to see if one way is better then the other.
All I know is I still have a lot to learn. I know nothing about Cannabis cultivation, how the plants grow, how this particular variety grows. One place said they mature in 60 - 65 days, I find that hard to believe when growing outdoors.
And they're growing in a good area, they get direct sunlight for most of the day. The soil they're in is mostly clay, but for the last 12 years we've been working into it lots of compost including bushels upon bushels of autumn leaves rototilled in each Spring. We don't use any chemicals nor pesticides, chemical ones that is - I prefer to grow our plants organically and it's paid off.
I'm hoping to get a decent crop of medical marijuana that will help me get off of fentanyl. If I don't have to depend on that narcotic, it will be worth every drop of sweat, every minute of my time spent in my attempt to harvest something I can use.
Oh, BTW, I'm so used to narcotics at this point, that they don't, and have never produced any sort of euphoric effect. Even during that visit to Amsterdam in 2014 we bought a Hash Brownie and split it. My husband go high, me? I felt nothing, absolutely nothing.
Here's a photo of my girls -
Anyway, my State finally approved Medical Marijuana and is now going through its baby steps in setting up its rules and regs (a little to slowly for many of us). Since I'm on a Disability, a limited income, and my health plan will not pay a dime towards MedMar, I'm going to have to find a less expensive method of obtaining it, especially if it does work for me.
It's funny, they'd rather spend thousands of dollars buying narcotic pain meds, such as Fentanyl for me, but won't pay for MedMar, a cheaper alternative. Bizarre, but true. So for now, I thought I'd try my hand at cultivating two plants, just to see if I could accomplish that goal.
In early May my husband and I visited Spain. There we passed a Marijuana Co-op shop. We stopped to peruse their wares and I saw a display for seeds. All different types. I was amazed; you see I grew up during the late sixties early seventies. Back then there were only three types of grass - home grown, Hawaiian, and Jamaican. Weed was named by where it was grown, there were no strains, no varieties.
So I asked the clerk for a recommendation, something for pain, and something fresh. I didn't want old, dead seeds (In April 2014 we visited Amsterdam and picked up 10 seeds from a flea market vendor, for ten euros - not one grew.) The clerk suggested a pack of Sweet Afghani Delicious, four seeds for €18. He guaranteed them, said if they didn't grow to contact the company for replacement.
We brought them home and I planted one seed on May 20th, the second two weeks later on June 4th. Both sprouted on the third day.
When each hit four weeks of age (and after hardening them off outside) I transplanted them directly into my veggie garden. They're both doing very well. The first plant is now on its eight set of leaves, and busy producing secondary leaves below.
So now I'm trying to decide whether to prune, tie down, or FIM.
I'm leaning toward tying down to keep the plants below six feet, the height of my fence. But since I have two plants, I could try a different method with each one to see if one way is better then the other.
All I know is I still have a lot to learn. I know nothing about Cannabis cultivation, how the plants grow, how this particular variety grows. One place said they mature in 60 - 65 days, I find that hard to believe when growing outdoors.
And they're growing in a good area, they get direct sunlight for most of the day. The soil they're in is mostly clay, but for the last 12 years we've been working into it lots of compost including bushels upon bushels of autumn leaves rototilled in each Spring. We don't use any chemicals nor pesticides, chemical ones that is - I prefer to grow our plants organically and it's paid off.
I'm hoping to get a decent crop of medical marijuana that will help me get off of fentanyl. If I don't have to depend on that narcotic, it will be worth every drop of sweat, every minute of my time spent in my attempt to harvest something I can use.
Oh, BTW, I'm so used to narcotics at this point, that they don't, and have never produced any sort of euphoric effect. Even during that visit to Amsterdam in 2014 we bought a Hash Brownie and split it. My husband go high, me? I felt nothing, absolutely nothing.
Here's a photo of my girls -
e one I bent over. Both still look in vegetative stage. I have a few questions to the Sweet Seeds people, waiting to hear back. 
