Page 17 - Landscape SA 97

FEATURE

He states further: “Technique is everything.
Soil, health, terroir and the quality of what
you feed/spray on your plants is of the
utmost importance. Our water quality,
isolated environment, soil diversity, in-
ground growing technique and the
Sonoma County sunshine have helped
us maintain consistency and keep our
production costs low.
We practice Jadam methodology, a system
based on 4000 year old Korean agricultural
systems that work with nature to allow for
healthy plants, increased flower quality,
diverse cannabinoids, colour, flavour,
strength and shelf life. Since we use a
living soil technique, we do not have to
continuously be buying and replacing
soil as we are always building soil layer by
layer.”
Theron says that in the USA, there is a he attempted to grow cannabis in pots: or a ready to go 420 mix yielded better
place for organic recreational cannabis “With the increased demand for products results sooner,” he explains.
growing, and that “where South Africa is in our garden centre after the change in
today, California was ten years ago.” laws around the use of cannabis, I wanted Further observations he made
to grow it as a trial so that I knew what were that:
Role of nurseries our customers were experiencing. As a
horticulturist, I had seen it growing in the • container size did not determine the
The cannabis market is still very new in ground and looking healthy without much size of the mature plant, and the type of
South Africa and because the growing of treatment or fertilisers, and it made me container made no difference. However,
it is difficult and technical, nurseries will wonder what all the fuss was about”. good drainage was essential;
tend to stay away from it. They are not • a combination of well known organic
permitted to sell cannabis seeds but may He decided to sow seeds in a container fertilisers as well as the made for
eventually grow small plants. as “this is definitely more popular for the purpose Feed 4 Weed range gave similar
younger generations who do not have results, but the former definitely gave
Theron says that there are so many gardens or live in smaller spaces.” The stronger stems and a deeper leaf colour;
varieties and profiles of the plant, and seeds were harvested from a healthy • water on the foliage seemed to be
each strain needs its own temperature and specimen grown in the ground, and he a problem, and if not in full sun, the
has different flowering times. “It’s a very used a standard potting soil, discovering container grown cannabis was more
regulated industry and the pharmaceutical that they did not like a high bark content susceptible to mildew. He also had a
profession has set the bar very high in soil, and that it was necessary to flush the bout of Red Spider on the plants against
order to limit the number of people who salt content out of the soil to get good the hot wall, trying to keep them dry.
might want to try and grow cannabis.” growth. The seeds in the regular potting
mix germinated quickly but they were Says Stewart: “In the end I decided that
Wayne Stewart, owner of Eckards Garden stunted and took their time to have a growing cannabis was not just a simple
Pavilion in Bedfordview, Gauteng, says growth spurt. “Using a coco peat soil base process and that all the gimmicks certainly
add to the experience for youngsters. For
me though, growing in the ground with
just some compost would be the better
option”.

Personal choice

Although in favour of indoor growing,
Cilo Cybin believes that it’s a matter of
choice as to what each person, nursery or
company wants to achieve i.e recreational
or medicinal growing. Theron and Slabber
both feel that indoor growing is more
consistent, but concede that outdoor
growing “gives a nicer experience”, as
indicated by Zelig Kronberg. LSA

Text by Karyn Richards.
Photos courtesy of Cilo Cybin
Pharmaceutical.

Landscape SA • Issue 97 2020 15