Aeroponics

Using aeroponics, cannabis roots are suspended in the air and are fed water and nutrients via a fine mist. Aeroponics doesn’t require any type of medium or substrate, and the growing style is commonly used to develop clones. This is done through the use of cloners, or mini aeroponic systems that blow a mist over clones to allow growth. The lack of a medium usually ends up meaning less space per plant, and the roots don’t have to fight for space. One of the cons to aeroponic growing is that when the pumps break down, the roots die quickly without an alarm and a fast response. Since growers are dependent on timers, valves, and pumps working properly, there are plenty of ways to mess up the system if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Aquaponics

This relatively rare method combines aquaculture—small fish, crayfish, prawns, or snails—with hydroponics, feeding the plants with natural nutrients produced by aquatic animals instead of synthetic nutrients. The main reason growers experiment with aquaponics is for sustainability and eco-friendly purposes. It abandons any reliance on fertilizers that are mined and manufactured, so you can be sure no synthetic fertilizers end up in the final, chemical-free product. Online, some people say aquaponics is a complicated, overhyped process with few rewards, while others praise the benefits.

Hydroponics 

Hydroponic cultivation is the process of growing plants in a water-based nutrient solution that doesn’t use soil. Roots are grown in substrates like vermiculite or perlite (porous minerals), as well as coco coir (coconut husk fiber). They absorb water and nutrients like a sponge and roots grow around them. Hydroponics ideally provides a more controlled grow site, promoting faster growth, potentially higher yields, and higher nutrient uptake. Growers often take drastic measures to ensure their hydro setup is sterile, and they have to deal with pesticides less often. 

Sea of Green

The Sea of Green (SOG) growing technique is designed to maximize the yield per square foot of a grow operation by growing lots of small cannabis plants rather than fewer larger ones. It creates a dense canopy that can be harvested earlier with the plants growing a single large bud instead of branching out. A variation, the Screen of Green (SCROG) method, utilizes horizontal netting to create uniformity. SOG and SCROG setups are typically created by commercial operations that deal with larger-scale grows. These ways can be maximized through super cropping and other pruning and suspension techniques.

Soil-Grown

Keep it natural, the way nature intended, by growing plants in soil. Generally speaking, it’s easier to maintain a plant grown in soil than in most growing methods and it’s a great medium for beginners. Soil is also an abundant source found everywhere, while quality varies. Living soil, a variation of this technique, is when the soil contains organic matter, minerals, water, air, and microorganisms that work together synergistically. Cultivating in living soil is believed to maximize the terpene and flavor profiles of plants.

This article was originally published in the April 2024 issue of High Times Magazine.

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New research carried out over three years in Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc vineyard by grape grower Kristy Harkness and viticulture researcher Dr. Mark Krasnow has found that hemp is a viable cover crop, at least when it comes to the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc vineyards. 

The research, as  outlined by New Zealand Wine Grower, found that the hemp did not compete with the vines and beneficially affected soils and wines. During the country’s dry season, the hemp also became established without supplemental irrigation when other crops failed to survive, allowing the plants to sequester carbon longer into the season.

For U.S. regions like California, which have both booming wine and hemp markets, these findings could potentially prove useful for the future of both industries.

Assessing Hemp’s Impact on Wine Vineyards

To assess the effects of hemp as a cover crop and intercrop on the vines and vineyard soil, searchers sowed industrial hemp seeds in the mid row of the vineyard. The hemp plants showed a superior ability to acclimate without additional irrigation, and rather than having a negative effect on the wines, it actually improved the quality compared to grapes not grown alongside hemp.

“Hemp plants grew large roots to at least 30 cm, and were able to grow in compacted tractor wheel tracks in the row, where the root system can alleviate compaction caused by vineyard operations,” researchers said. “Juice/must samples from the 2019 harvest showed a higher diversity of yeast species from the hemp area than the control, and produced perceptibly better wine.”

The “stark difference” in hemp growth between the 2020-21 season and the other two seasons also showed the importance of using quality seed, according to the study, saying it was “absolutely imperative for other crops, and hemp is no exception, as strongly evidenced in this study.”

A Potential Game-Changer for the Future of Wine

Harkness pointed to the hemp’s ability to further benefit the affected soils and wines, calling the finding “very exciting.”

“The differences in native yeast populations brought about by a hemp cover crop is an aspect sparking much interest,” Harkness said. “The suggestion that hemp could improve wine quality is an interesting further study topic, but not a path I’m currently going down. As a grape grower, my focus is on producing the highest quality fruit, and improving soil health in vineyards.”

Krasnow also called the lack of hemp’s competition with grapes a “little surprising, considering how large some of the plants grow.” While the study didn’t directly assess this element, Krasnow said that he sees hemp in the mixture with other cover crops, like clover for nitrogen and buckwheat for beneficial insects, as a huge potential benefit for vineyards. Doing so could not only produce better grapes with fewer inputs and sequester carbon but also alleviate soil compaction in the tractor wheel tracks, which can be a major issue in vineyard soils. 

These findings could pave the way for a vineyard where no grass needs to be sown, leading to no mowing. Instead, a mixed cover crop sward, including hemp, could be sown, which would be simp-rolled as much when vineyard crew walk down rows. This new option would improve grape quality, conserve water, be more friendly to bees, use less diesel and be more cost efficient, Krasnow said. 

“Mowing doesn’t add to wine quality. It may look lovely and more tidy as people drive past, but it’s not that great for the soil,” he added.

“Given the possibility hemp offers as a cover crop, in terms of improving vineyard soils, potentially enhancing wine quality and offering a second income stream from the property, it is expected more and more grape growers will experiment with hemp either as an intercrop or as part of a more diverse cover crop mix,” researchers state in the study’s discussion. “Further work needs to be done on the effects of wines, both in terms of quality, but also the potential for cannabinoid and/or off flavour pickup in red wines grown near hemp plants.”

The full study can be found here.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishes a weekly column called “Fridays on the Farm” where it highlights various farmers from across the country about how they embrace sustainable agriculture or protecting local species of wildlife. One of the more recent posts in this series includes an interview with the father and son duo, Jeff and Jeffrey Garland, who co-own Papa G’s Organic Hemp Farm in Indiana.

The interview explains how Jeff (the father) previously cultivated corn, soybeans, and hay on his 200-acre farm before his son, Jeffrey, asked him if he had ever considered growing hemp back in 2020. Although Jeff initially had considered selling his farm, Jeffrey helped connect them with the right people to get a hemp farm set up.

During their first season, they cultivated both in an open field as well as a high tunnel, or large, domed greenhouse. “At the end of the season, they tested the quality of the plants and the ones grown in the high tunnel had well-outperformed the ones in the field. They had grown longer and larger, which led to more oil being produced, and the oil itself was a better quality,” wrote USDA article author Brandon O’Connor.

With the improved results for the hemp grown in their high tunnel greenhouse, the duo sought out assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to expand the tunnel and maximize their hemp oil production. “They applied for an EQIP contract in 2021 and were approved with construction on the tunnel slated to take place in time for the 2022 growing season,” O’Connor explained. “Because of the ability to control the growing environment for their plants, the high tunnels enable the Garlands to extend their season by multiple weeks on both sides. It [is] a major part of turning their hemp operation into a truly year-round operation.”

Jeff added that the tunnel allows them to extend their growing season and increase their yield. “We’ll have to pull early [in the field]. Two to three weeks earlier in the field than we do in a high tunnel,” Jeff said in the interview. “When you let them go longer, you’re going to produce more oil. It’s important to have that high tunnel.”

Like other farms featured in the USDA’s “Fridays on the Farm,” soil health is of utmost importance. “It all starts with the soil,” Jeffery said. “If you don’t have good soil, you’re not going to have good plants and then you’re not going to have the best oil. So, we really put lots and lots of organic matter back into our soil.”

The Garlands add “multiple forms” of compost and fertilizer to feed the soil, but they also asked the NRCS to help them create a cover crop plan as well. With the help of conservationist Lee Scnell, they developed a cover crop mix that includes 17 species of plants.

Papa G’s Organic Hemp Farm cultivates hemp that’s used in a variety of salves, tinctures, soft gel capsules, gummies, and topicals.

Last year, the USDA released a report stating that the hemp market was valued at $824 million. As of last February, industrial hemp growers planted more than 54,152 acres of hemp, with 33,480 harvested. 

According to USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) Administrator Hubert Hamer, the report was a “needed benchmark” to assess the state of the industry. “Not only will these data guide USDA agencies in their support of domestic hemp production, the results can also help inform producers’ decisions about growing, harvesting, and selling hemp as well as the type of hemp they decide to produce. The survey results may also impact policy decisions about the hemp industry,” Hamer explained. 

The USDA first mailed out surveys to collect hemp farm data back in October 2021.

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