Sustainable ... indoor growing?

[albertgriffiths]

Hi there,
There's a subject I've been thinking about for a long time, and I'd be curious to read your opinions on it.

Marijuana has been cultivated for thousands of years under the sun, then it got prohibited
Indoor growing appeared because of clandestinity
It is conflictual with the need to reduce our global carbon footrpint as a species
However, when it becomes legal, the industry massively invests in indoor growing facilities, that become huge sources of pollution (both because of the energy consumption and the runoff salts that ultimately end up in the rivers/sea/soil)

So here is the question(s):
- In your opinion, what would be the place of indoor growing in an energy-sober future?
- How would that impact breeding, producing and selling of cannabis products?

 

[albertgriffiths]

And here are my personal opinions on it:

There is evidence that - once legal- indoor growing is not necessary to cannabis production by any means. It should grow just like tomatoes or pepper, in open fields, greenhouses, light-dep...

However, there are certain exceptions where indoor growing would be of some use in the short-medium term:
1 - for keeping specific mother plants, for instance that show a certain cannabinoid/terpene profile that is of some medical interest.
2 - for breeding purposes, as it allows to make more than 1 reproduction per year

These exceptions stand in the short run, but if we are thinking long term (like 100 years...), I think it might not even be needed if we managed to approach cannabis breeding differently, and try making stable populations instead of standout individuals.
Such that it would actually be like tomatoes or cabbage: you just have to plant seeds from last year, and you'll obtain stable quality. Hardly any need to clone anything.

We could also imagine a global trade of it, after worldwide legalization. I can already imagine Colombian sailships bringing to Bristol or Amsterdam a year's supply of punto rojo , alongside a bit of coffee and chocolate.
There would be a seasonality of weed, as there used to be a seasonality of tea and coffee, in function of the dominant winds. You would have thai sticks in April, your local heirloom in November and some Santa Marta Gold in January...

Another way of seeing it (and it seems that is partly what's happening now in California), is that the market in the northern hemisphere would switch to open field autoflowers + extractions (rosin, bho, hash...). Hash has the benefit of being easy to store for months, years or even decades, without any specific equipment. And it is quite adapted to "population" seedlines, as it is able to provide a homogeneous mix of different plants.

How would quality be affected is another question...
The appearance of a rare, "elite", plant, would be a random fact, that would happen in a different garden every year, instead of being something you can brand and capitalize on for years. It seems to be traditionnally the case in some places of the world, for instance on La Reunion island, where their Zamal is sold according to its "quality" - "kalité poiw", "mangu-karot"... The Jamaicans also had their "high grade", without keeping indoor clones...

 

[armedoldhippy]

in your opinion, what would be the place of indoor growing in an energy-sober future?

greenhouse only, no supplemental lighting, for production. keeping mothers alive and healthy would justify things like lighting etc. if Mama aint happy, nobody is happy. many places mandate indoor to prevent temptation/theft etc. there will always be thieves whether you grow indoors, outdoors, your basement...

 

[GOT_BUD?]

your basement...

But do I really count as a thief when it's just sampling?

 

[armedoldhippy]

But do I really count as a thief when it's just sampling?

in my basement? naw. THEN you become a "casualty".