Now I am not a plant expert or any other kind of expert for that matter. This is just for entertainment value describing how I learned from trial and error. I've read plenty of books and articles on the science of growing. I will include some science but it is more about the experience. Cannabis is appealing to a lot of people because of potential profits in a relatively small area. In Washington State a tier 3 license is the largest allowing 30,000 square feet of canopy area. That is a lot of space for cannabis but to put it into perspective an acre is about 43,560 square feet. Some of the larger industrial crops in the area such as sweet corn are grown in up to 130 acre circles in rotation with other crops. As far as big business cannabis is actually limited. There are far more profitable medicinal plants simply because there's no restrictions on growth area. Medicinal place are cultivated based on the pharmaceutical industry's needs. It all depends on extraction percentage. If it takes too much plant material it is likely cheaper to synthesize. If the percentage rate is high enough it is cheaper to extract. Pharmaceutical companies usually start with extracts from fungus, plants, poisons, and all kinds of life sources for potential cures. Depending on availability and ability to synthesize determines the process used to make medications. The difference in naturally extracted and synthesized is often in the side effects. Both can have side effects but synthetic is more likely however synthetic is cheaper to produce and usually takes effect faster. Organic extracts come on slower and last longer. All kinds of plants have all kinds of medical potential potential. Use of autonomous farming systems might allow for a more practical approach to commercial pharmaceutical extraction from plants. A lot of medical plants can not be sprayed because it can add impurities to extracts. I also enjoy food gardening as well as aesthetic gardening. I am fortunate enough to live in a farming community with many enthusiastic farmers and gardeners. What I will try and cover next is soil building and a polyculture approach to gardening. Not all areas are the same so I will stick mostly to techniques for the Columbia Basin.
There's actually a fairly wide range of soil types from different geological events. "A Black Boring Rock" is a book that offers some interesting geologist's theories that might explain some anomalies. The majority has higher PH soil with sandy, loamy soils. Blueberries are commercially grown in the area which require a lower PH so there are pockets of low PH soils and it can also be adjusted. Adjusting PH is done most practicality with organic matter. The first five years of organic farming is not sustainable. There are xeroscaping techniques but those are best for native plants that don't require water. For foods, flowers, lawns, medicinal plants, shrubs and trees it may require soil building to optimize results. In the area of the Columbia Basin I am most familiar with the wind blows most often from the South. Grasslands and places without a lot of natural trees are often windy. Observation of hills and valleys can reveal which direction the wind blows most often. What I have noticed is with a dominant Southern wind the dust settles on mild northern slopes. Rocks are often exposed on Southern sides where dirt is deepest on the mild Northern slopes. Every area is different but the majority of the areas in the Columbia Basin have a dominant South wind. Rocky ground can be shallow and hard to farm. For grapes and some fruit trees rocky ground can be beneficial but most crops don't like rocky areas. Ground in the area often has an average of about 6% organic matter. Adding heavy compost the first year and mixing it into the native soil yields the best results. Usually an application of compost as soon as the ground thaws out at the end of winter and another heavy application just before planting. People often add things like Mycrorrizae which is a group of mostly beneficial fungus in and around the root zones of plants. Beneficial fungus and bacteria feed on organic matter so adding microbes without something for them to eat can be a waste. The tops of plants use CO2 but the root zones benefits from aeration of soils. The more the soil can breath the better microbial benefits. Working in organic matter helps prevent compaction.
Most of the soils in the Columbia Basin are from ancient volcanic activities in the area. They are often high in phosphorus and potassium which is helpful in flowering. The problem is the soil is often high PH which can cause fertilizers to lock up. Cannabis takes in the most fertilizers with an average PH between 5.5 and 6.5. It will grow outside of this range very well especially outside but it will grow even better if water is kept within this range. Different plants like different PH ranges. When a plant is grown to optimum performance it's leaves will shine and look like they have a wax coating on them. They will have lush dark green leaves with no yellowing, spots, or other deficiencies. Like most gardeners know a fertilizer label usually has three numbers that represent nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. If there are four numbers the first number is often sulfur. Getting to know micro and macro nutrients and what effect on the plant they have is useful. There are many fertilizer systems that the instructions can be followed with great success. Using bulk materials to mix fertilizers requires a little more knowledge of plant stages. As far as those three numbers are concerned during the vegative period nitrogen is the most important but during flowering the levels of phosphorus and potassium go up. Nitrogen levels are probably the hardest to get right. A plant usually only uses the phosphorus or potassium it needs. I can grow based on intuition and what the plants tell me from their leaves but using a PH and EC or PPM meter is optimal. It brings it from guess work to more of an exact science. EC means electrical conductivity and PPM is parts per million both measure fertilizer levels. To determine how much fertilizer a plant can take just keep increasing the dose until the leaves curl a little and then back off the first time. Over time it gets easier to know what a plant wants. Over watering is often a rookie mistake but outside is a lot more forgiving than potted plants. I won't get too deep into fertilizers because people have their preferences. What I have found is different techniques and different strains have varying results with individuals. Do what works best for the conditions and experiment. Some fertilizers can cause lock up so get to know the soil and weather conditions. Knowing the basics about the nitrogen cycle helps. Organic nitrogen sources are basically from microbes eating and converting organic matter to nitrogen. Synthetic nitrogen is made like most gasses. The air is cooled until the nitrogen turns into a liquid and can be separated and compressed. It can be made into different forms through different processes. Once nitrogen heats up it becomes nitrile gas and goes back into the atmosphere. It is important to make sure the ground stays wet during fertilizing during hot summer days. Organic fertilizers often use lower rates more often and synthetic uses higher concentrated doses less often. A synthetic fertilizer label might read 20-20-20 where a organic fertilizer is more likely to be 2-2-2. Because of the chemical change from smoking, the industry prefers organic.
Synthetic fertilizers often have heavy metals from mining processes. Throughout the growing season a thin topping layer of compost helps keep a fresh source of nutrients. Composting tea is great also but some experimenting is necessary to avoid burning plants. Rain forests often have poor soil but have amazing amounts of plant life. Nitrogen is one of the most abundant gasses in the atmosphere, nitrogen bonds with water. Places where it rains a lot like the Olympic Peninsula for example have lush forests with poor compact clay soils. It is strange to see rain forests growing row crops or pasture land. Mimicking nature is the best way to grow crops and improve the land at the same time. The Columbia Basin depends on irrigation and has made just as big of mark on the landscape as any other farming around the world but farmers out here feed the world and actually increase the wildlife population by making more water sources available. There's always bad with the good though. Since water is available the dry conditions make it optimal for high quality crops of all kinds and cannabis is right at home. The last thing I'll cover this time is polyculture. Monoculture is growing a single crop like a large circle of peas. Polyculture is growing crops together to have symbiotic relationships and reduce pesticides or eliminate completely. Polyculture is based on observation of nature but with a human purpose. I prefer a good combination but with some sense and order. Things also have to be practical to harvest plants especially when it gets applied commercially. For one person I wouldn't recommend more than five acres, it could be done at a time sacrifice. For cannabis the total canopy are is less than an acre so manageable. Besides aesthetics, food, medicines, or weather shield there are other reasons for polyculture. One reason is fertilizers can be locked up in soils so plants like sunflowers or yarrow can access fertilizers. Later when they are composted or drop leaves those nutrients become more available to plants. Another reason is to attractive beneficial insects like dragon flies, lace wings, lady bugs, hover flies, parasitic mini wasps, tuchinid flies, minute pirate bugs, damsel bug, big eyed bugs, and preying mantis. A wide variety of plant attract beneficial insects for example dill attracts lace wings, lady bugs, hover flies, and parasitic wasps. Herbs like dill or mint often need to be let go to flower to help attract more beneficial insects. Legumes are beneficial plants that take advantage of nitrogen available in the atmosphere. A pea is an example of legume and a pod is a good indicator of these type of plants. Legumes are able to collect nitrogen and translocate it from the leaves through the stem into the root zones. The plants use their nitrogen but when they are cut down or thinned nitrogen can be available to other plants also. Getting familiar with the shape and sizes of plants helps in organizing a polyculture garden. Knowing how invasive a plant is can be helpful also. Learning and knowledge is very important in growing plants however wisdom only comes from experience. No matter what science or knowledge that can be related only growing plants can give a deeper understanding. Plants are like pets or old friends and can have their own personalities. Talking to plants is not so far fetched when you understand what they want. "FEED ME" is usually what there saying if they have chosen to be cultivated. It is amazing that things like corn started as a grass and got force bred for thousands of years into maze and we bred it into something special like sweet corn. There are a lot of experts on polyculture gardening. I think the largest farm I have heard of is a permiculture orchard in Canada around 20 acres. Permaculture is just longer term like orchards or perennial plants.
Some polyculture gardeners don't like aesthetics but all plants have their functions and could be incorporated into a diverse garden. Because of the high cost of Cannabis or pharmaceutical plants polyculture is practical. Larger scale it will become more practical with autonomous farming systems and eventually might replace chemical use. One unintended side effect of monoculture is certain crops don't require pollination by insects and have decreased populations. A garden should be busy with birds and insects flying around. Watching dragon flies in the evening as the sun sets in the summer time while looking over the garden after a hard days work gives me a good medicine experience. I notice the birds change from an alarming sound to more sing song rhythms once I start working in the garden. Next time I will get into the harvest, proper curing, and trimming techniques. Cannabis is just the plant that created my interest in all plants. All plants give me satisfaction in the same way however cannabis and corn have male and female plants allowing more adaptable genetics. I may move on to other plants and just apply the knowledge I have learned. To me plants have limitless potential for solving all kinds of problems. That strange flower or shrub may have something to offer for future medicinal research.