t h c

Cannabis species are exceptional, unique from many viewpoints in biology, chemistry and pharmacology. They are among the oddest manifestations in the plant kingdom, something perhaps tossed off by the Creator as a wild afterthought on the seventh day.
Cannabis was originally classified as a member of the nettle family (Urticaceae) and then of the mulberry family (Moraceae). It is now considered most closely related to the hop plant and is thus a cousin to the fig tree! Classification is difficult because structurally it belongs in one place, while its sexual characteristics suggest it should be elsewhere. Over the last century or so, there has arisen a plethora of technical names for its variants: kif, vulgaris, pedemontana, chinensis, erratica, foetens, lupulus, mexicana, macrosoerma, americana, gigantea, excelsa, compressa, sinensis, etc., and there are those yet arguing for a single species. The law is beginning to accomodate to modern findings of three: sativa, indica, and ruderalis. "In spite of its great age as one of man's principal narcotics and its utilization by millions of people in many cultures," remark Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hoffman, "and notwithstanding the great economic value of the plant for uses other than as an intoxicant, Cannabis is still characterized more by what we do not know botanically about it than what we know."

Life cycle

These amazing plants tend to put off most pests--and thus don't rely on insects for pollination. Instead, Cannabis as a genus has gone its own way with individual plants being male or female but sometimes hermaphroditic. In the wild, Cannabis grows about half male, half female. Environmental conditions can change this ratio by as much as nine to one--the more light available, for instance, usually the more females. Generally speaking, adverse conditons result in more males. If conditions become extreme, the plant often becomes hermaphroditic with separate male and female branches, fertilizing itself for reproduction.
Its favorite conditions include light, dry, sandy, slightly alkaline soil. Still, it grows just about anywhere thistles or dandelions will sprout, except in clay or undrained soil. Distributed by hand, the seeds attain as much as a 60 to 80 percent germination rate. Because germination vigor is increased considerably with even slight care, seeds are often poked into the soil (1/2" to 3/4" deep) with the pointed end up, rounded end down. Cannabis can also be reproduced by means of cuttings.
If it is to be transplanted, both the plant and the soil should be watered the night before. The new soil should be as similar as possible to the old. Transplanting should take place on a cloudy or drizzling day or in late afternoon, because bright and sunny conditions can provide a shock that may stunt further development.
When planted closely, Cannabis tends to develop fibrous qualities and to stretch taller. (Cannabis produces about four times as much useful fiber per acre as saplings.) To promote resin development, it is best to keep seedlings at least six feet apart. Nourished by humus or other sources of nitrates and by a fair amount of light and water, the yield can be close to eight or nine tons of resinous flowers and leaves per acre---about a kilogram per square meter---or enough for about fifteen million joints.
In the northern hemisphere, seeds are usually planted in April or May. Depending upon conditions---more than ten hours of light a day, for example, greatly hastens growth---maturation of the male plants takes ten to twelve weeks. For about the first month, the two sexes are indistinguishable; then the males tend to get taller and the females become bushy and squat. Eventually, the young female plant has at least twice the weight of the male.
The male reaches the day of flowering after about three months, toward the end of the summer when days get shorter. About two hours before sunrise, the developing flowers swell; about an hour later, the first flower opens, usually two-thirds of the way up and near the stem.

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