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July 1, 2015 marked the legalization of recreational marijuana in Oregon. Now, everyone can legally grow up to four marijuana plants. Last year, WW had an office grow-off competition. But, this year, we are just trying to get the best yield we can out of our green girls. The five strains growing at Willamette Week World HQ this year are a Texada Timewarp, BC Pinewarp, The Purps and The Big.
You can find the previous week of our office grow here.
This week, our new intern Bennett Campbell Ferguson has taken over the duties of tending the rooftop cannabis plants.
Here's how it's going:
We ended up harvesting a small portion of one of our plants due to concerns over bud rot. We got a tip that early rains had brought in bud rot, destroying some crops around the city. Although our plants weren't entirely ready to be harvested yet, we decided to trim a large section, so we wouldn't lose the entire crop. Luckily, none of our plants have gotten bud rot, and they're enjoying their last days of maturing mainly inside a tent to protect from the rain.
The smallest of the group is still, well, small. As for the other four, they've grown so bushy and tall that they strain against the confines of the tent where we put them to keep them dry.
The tent has been in use lately to avoid a dew buildup and bud rot. We kept our two healthiest plants (the tallest and the widest of the bunch) inside during the recent rainy days and sure enough, it kept them looking spiffy.
As for our tiniest cannabis friend, I can't help taking an interest in its struggle. I keep waiting for it to suddenly sprout new leaves and buds and become the little seedling that could. So far, that seems unlikely, but I'm curious to see how it turns out.
So what's next for our little green friends? For starters, we're going to keep some of them inside the tent at night, even when it doesn't rain. And downstairs, we have a couple stalks recently plucked of their leaves, drying out (we decided to start harvesting, even though the plants aren't fully grown yet).
All in all, it's an adventure. And as a longtime gardener and first-time cannabis caretaker, I'm excited to be a part of it.
Willamette Week