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a question about wide-spread hemp...

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
will hemp farming endanger cannabis growing? given the distance pollen can travel on the wind, is this going to become a threat to cross-pollinate weed meant for smoking? how difficult will it be to grow outdoors/in greenhouses etc? will HEPA filters adequately protect our desperate for love girls?:biggrin: inquiring minds (mostly me, lol) want honest opinions...
 

Lost in a SOG

GrassSnakeGenetics
HEPA filters are rated to block smaller particles than cannabis pollen so that will keep em safe. Its probably a good idea in general to be honest.

Whilst its unlikely the pollen will travel for much more than a few hundred yards before becoming denatured it could travel miles, some estimates for industrial hemp say up to 3-7 miles, but i doubt it a bit.
 

oldchuck

Active member
Veteran
It's an issue. I can see angry feuds developing around pollination. Courts will have to assign liability. Possibly new laws or regulations will be needed.
 

Mick

Member
Veteran
It could end up something like the recent case of the organic farmer Steve Marsh, who took a neighbouring farmer, Mr Baxter, who was using GM crops, to court for wind contamination of his organic crops, and losing his organic certification. The court ruled against the organic farmer with Monsanto bankrolling the GM farmer.
""""""""""The court found neighbour Michael Baxter had not acted negligently and could not be held responsible just for growing a GM crop in a conventional way. It also awarded Mr Baxter costs.""""""""""
 

MJPassion

Observer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
YES, Hemp farming poses a huge problem for cannabis farmers/growers due to cross contamination from pollen.

I've seen many cases where cannabis growers have had their crops compromised by neighboring fields of hemp. Cannabis eats the pollen up and becomes inundated with seeds making for a shitty yield for cannabis consumption purposes.

It is my opinion that hemp growing and commercial growers will take the same stance as monsanto and the case mentioned above proves this point very clearly.

The powers that be DO NOT want us to be independent of their control and they damn well know that... A) cannabis does more for the ill folks of this world than synthesized pharmaceuticals do and B) hemp will destroy the ability to grow drug type cannabis outdoors in the same areas.

I've successfully protected my cannabis crops from pollination using a carbon scrubber, HOWEVER, I was not being subjected to acres of pollen producing hemp/cannabis. A HEPA filtration system for your grow space will provide a measure of control from pollination but it must be remembered that... when the pollen is flying, everything, including & especially your clothing & growing tools, could be pollen transferring vehicles, potentially contaminating your indoor/greenhouse grows.
 

PDX Dopesmoker

Active member
YES, Hemp farming poses a huge problem for cannabis farmers/growers due to cross contamination from pollen.

I've seen many cases where cannabis growers have had their crops compromised by neighboring fields of hemp. Cannabis eats the pollen up and becomes inundated with seeds making for a shitty yield for cannabis consumption purposes.

It is my opinion that hemp growing and commercial growers will take the same stance as monsanto and the case mentioned above proves this point very clearly.

The powers that be DO NOT want us to be independent of their control and they damn well know that... A) cannabis does more for the ill folks of this world than synthesized pharmaceuticals do and B) hemp will destroy the ability to grow drug type cannabis outdoors in the same areas.

I've successfully protected my cannabis crops from pollination using a carbon scrubber, HOWEVER, I was not being subjected to acres of pollen producing hemp/cannabis. A HEPA filtration system for your grow space will provide a measure of control from pollination but it must be remembered that... when the pollen is flying, everything, including & especially your clothing & growing tools, could be pollen transferring vehicles, potentially contaminating your indoor/greenhouse grows.

You can still get 5% hash oil yield or so out of fully seeded bud and the buds weight a lot more because of those seeds so its not impossible to grow drug type cannabis outdoors in the same areas, but it is more work for less yield. Those worthless seeds are all edible and nutritious too.
 

pipeline

Cannabotanist
ICMag Donor
Veteran
It may not be as big of a deal if the hemp field gets harvested by mid August. The flowers will be small still, and there wouldn't be as much seed. After living though this oppressive prohibition, I won't complain at all. Go out and grow deep in the woods. There won't be any hemp pollen there. Hills can keep pollen count down too. It will be interesting!


Could always do spring flowering light deprivation gardens to avoid the hemp pollen in the summer. :smoke:
 

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
It may not be as big of a deal if the hemp field gets harvested by mid August. The flowers will be small still, and there wouldn't be as much seed. After living though this oppressive prohibition, I won't complain at all. Go out and grow deep in the woods. There won't be any hemp pollen there. Hills can keep pollen count down too. It will be interesting!


Could always do spring flowering light deprivation gardens to avoid the hemp pollen in the summer. :smoke:

it might prove to be that autoflowering varieties may be valuable in this scenario. start them so they will finish in July outdoors, thus avoiding hemp pollen...hell, plant them among hemp plants, lol. that would fuck with aerial searches in locales where LEO still gave a shit.
 

pipeline

Cannabotanist
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Oh yeah, autoflower plants would be an asset in a hemp growing region. Hmmm. Breeders take notes! There will be a lot of need for Autoflowering plants in the future I bet.
 

'Boogieman'

Well-known member
Where I live in the midwest wild hemp can be found growing in small patches by creeks and rivers and I even found some by a lake next to railroad tracks. It usually grows a bit away from the water source where nettles and thorn/berry bushes grow. It also grows in irrigation ditches on farmland if the ditches keep moisture well. I found a lot looking for spots to grow in my younger days. It grows where morning sun is strong in my observations but could be shaded by noon for the rest of the day. They also sex fast and throw pollen usually by mid july. I found a lot in Indiana.
 

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
dang stuff grows wild everywhere around Rantoul Il. i've seen it growing between railroad rails before. mind you, it only gets about a foot high before a train stunts its growth...:)
 

Drewsif

Member
I bet Monsanto was behind the push for hemp legalization. Now they gonna sell everyone sterile feminized seeds to avoid pollination. Ocasio-Cortez will ban indoor growing, forcing everyone into this hemp pollen situation. Its all a conspiracy man.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
dang stuff grows wild everywhere around Rantoul Il. i've seen it growing between railroad rails before. mind you, it only gets about a foot high before a train stunts its growth...:)

Training?

I will get my coat.
 

troutman

Seed Whore
To give you a clue how far pollen can reasonably fly.

A study was done a while back by Ernest Small and Tanya Antle in Ottawa, Canada called:

A Preliminary Study of Pollen Dispersal in Cannabis sativa in Relation to Wind Direction

Abstract

Pollen of Cannabis sativa is disseminated by wind in large amounts and for long distances, and regulations concerning the production of pedigreed seed of industrial hemp, therefore, often call for extremely large isolation distances to prevent unwanted pollination. In Europe and Canada, a standard distance of 5 km is required for the highest classes of hemp seed. This study examines the relative distribution of pollen from an isolated field over the 3-week maximum flowering period, with particular reference to wind direction. The amount of pollen distributed downwind was about six times the amount distributed upwind. In effect, this means that an isolation distance of 5 km on the downwind side is about equivalent to an isolation distance of 0.9 km on the upwind side. In theory, at the experimental site examined, the required isolation area could be reduced by about 58% while still achieving the equivalent of 5 km isolation in all directions. Given that weedy and illegally cultivated plants are widespread, making it difficult to ensure their absence over a distance of 5 km, it seems advisable, when possible, to take advantage of the considerably reduced isolation distance that is necessary on the upwind side. Pollen distribution appeared to follow the expected leptokurtic curve, reducing rapidly with initial distance from the source, but much more slowly with increasing distance. This makes it impossible to guarantee complete absence of potentially contaminating pollen in the field and, for practical purposes, a very low amount of undesired gene flow needs to be tolerated.
 

TychoMonolyth

Boreal Curing
dang stuff grows wild everywhere around Rantoul Il. i've seen it growing between railroad rails before. mind you, it only gets about a foot high before a train stunts its growth...:)

Then it's time to seed bomb those locations with regular seed and bring the hemp quality up :)

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delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
actually, outdoor hemp farmers prefer to use feminized seed in which only about 1 out of 4000 is male. they look for those and try to eliminate them as soon as possible.

the ones who are not using feminized seed diligently walk their fields in weeks 5 and 6 to eliminate all males before they throw pollen. this is to keep extraction yield up.

this is for cbd oil extraction which is what most hemp farmers in the U.S. are growing for.

hemp farmers growing for fiber will usually take all plants before pollination can occur so they pose little threat as well.

it is the ones growing for seed that you have to worry about as they will just let everything go full course until harvest.

but so far few farmers in north america are growing for seed as the chinese have a strong presence in the seed for food market.
 
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