During the California Gold Rush, hundreds of thousands of hopeful miners flocked to Northern California, but it was merchants who amassed some of the greatest fortunes in that era by selling dry goods and supplies to the prospectors. Today, few if any of the original 49ers names are remembered, but Levi Strauss jeans remain an enduring testament to the ingenuity of their enterprising inventor.
Some think California is now poised for a cannabis green rush with the passage of Proposition 64. And Ouroboros Farms, an aquaponics farm on Highway 92 in Half Moon Bay, is preparing to adopt a role akin to merchant rather than miner in the states new boom.
Starting this month, the farm will be offering aquachronic courses on how to grow legal medicinal cannabis using aquaponics a symbiotic system that raises fish in tanks beneath plants grown without soil. The fish waste fertilizes the plants while the plants filter the water, and the system uses up to 90 percent less water than traditional farming. The courses will be led by High Times magazine author Stephen Raisner.
The farm has no plans to begin cultivating cannabis itself, especially in light of the fact that Half Moon Bay prohibits both recreational and medical marijuana cultivation.
We dont ever plan on growing any cannabis, said Ouroboros Farms owner Ken Armstrong. Its not the core of our business. Were interested in the educational space: teaching large-scale growers and home users how to do this in an environmental and sustainable way.
Launched in 2012, the farm has already fine-tuned the techniques of aquaponics and sells its lettuce, greens, herbs and heirloom tomatoes to restaurants along the Peninsula. It offers monthly courses on the elements of aquaponic farming, including choosing fish and plant species, nitrification, water chemistry, and managing invasive pests.
Every other month, from January to October, the farm will offer lessons on how to apply those same techniques to the world of cannabis cultivation in a series of two-day courses. Topics will include how to comply with relevant laws, how to tend the cannabis plants, and how to ensure theyre receiving the right amounts and types of nutrients.
Armstrong says that there are advantages to growing cannabis through aquaponics rather than through traditional soil-based methods. Traditionally, theres a lot of waste product and lost water, said Armstrong. By doing it (the aquaponic) way, the water efficiency is going to provide a much cleaner and purer and more sustainable growing system.
Thats not to say that cultivating cannabis the water-and-fish way present presents no complications. One of the challenges with using aquaponics for cannabis is that the plants require particular nutrients at different stages in their lifecycle. Cannabis needs higher levels of nitrogen when its leafing, but when its time for the plant to flower, growers need to provide it with higher levels of potassium and phosphorous. But in traditional aquaponics, the plants main nutrients come from fish waste, which produce large quantities of nitrogen.
It becomes more challenging to dial in the nutrient cycles at the particular time, said Armstrong. There are certain tricks of setting up the system, and certain types of organic fertilizer to address the problem.
Armstrong said the classes are generating interest from growers and individuals who plan to grow small amounts of cannabis for their own personal use, which is legal under Proposition 64.
Although aquaponics can produce high-quality cannabis, it doesnt seem to affect the fish that live beneath and feed off of the plants. The fish do not get high, said Armstrong. Certainly not.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Ouroboros Farms To Lead Classes On Aquaponic Cannabis
Author: Kaitlyn Bartley
Contact: 650-726-4424
Photo Credit: Ouroboros Farms
Website: Half Moon Bay Review
