Marijuana Business Magazine

Hemp Self-Defense an Option Another suggestion is to seek hemp that can suppress weeds itself. Hemp plants that reach 12 inches tall within four weeks can help shade the soil and block weeds growing in between hemp plants. The trouble with using hemp as self- defense, though, is that farmers don’t yet know which cultivars of hemp will grow so quickly at their location. Limited pesticide options mean that once bugs are visibly chewing on hemp leaves, it’s too late. “There’s nothing you can do; you have to just sit there and let your crop get eaten up,” said Burt Eure, who is work- ing on developing hemp seed at White Hat Seed Farm in Hartford, North Carolina. Watch for Birds Outdoor hemp growers have one pest that indoor cultivators don’t – birds. Kentucky researchers have tried erecting nets over experimental hemp plants, only to see birds go under them to gobble tasty hemp seeds. “They’re beautiful, but as soon as birds see you’re putting seeds down, they’re on it,” said Tyler Goodlett, a student at the University of Kentucky researching bird-deterrent efforts on an experimental hemp plot. Doves and sparrows are the main culprits, he said. And some cultivars that might escape birds’ notice in the first year or two eventually fall prey after birds figure out that hemp seeds are tasty and filling. Complicating matters is that hemp – unlike other crops – is prone to “shatter- ing,” when the plant drops seeds on its own schedule instead of when the hemp grower wants it. The seed-dropping then draws birds, which can ruin the crop for any seed production. “Shattering is a trait that was bred out of most commercial crops thousands of years ago, so we don’t even know how they did it,” said Craig Schluttenhofer, a post-doctoral soil scientist at the Uni- versity of Kentucky. “Most crops don’t have shattering, but hemp does, and it can really impact yield,” he said, waving to a flock of birds circling above his test hemp plot outside Lexington, Kentucky. Don’t Get Complacent Hemp growers with a couple of seasons under their belts – an eternity in this nascent industry – have bad news for newbies.That is, even if they manage to fight off pests, weeds and disease their first year, they might see an explo- sion of pests in Year Two. Just like the Kentucky finches that figured out hemp seeds were tasty, smaller pests and microbes may not immediately follow hemp into a new environment. But they don’t take long. “Your only real defense is to start with the healthiest plants and use meticulous cultivation practices,” Gauthier said. ◆ A pruning cut like the one on this mother hemp plant can serve as an entry point for various fungal pathogens. Photo by Nicole Ward Gauthier 52 • Marijuana Business Magazine • November / December 2017