Animals make weed farms their safe haven in Colombia

Animals have found a home and a special refuge on a unique weed farm in Colombia.

Despite their mutual love for all things green, cannabis growers and environmentalists don’t always talk to each other. If unregulated or poorly managed, cannabis farms can put quite a strain on the surrounding ecosystem. In California, for example, many rivers run dry in the summer because illicit growers divert water into their facilities, endangering the state’s salmon and trout populations.

The same goes for foreign countries that export their weed, like Colombia. Health Europa editor and Colombian cannabis investor Matt Youkee wrote that while the country’s isothermal climate is ideal for growing cannabis, the quality of the soil is not that good. Anecdotal evidence from breeders claims that varieties “struggle to adapt to soils contaminated by previously unknown pesticides and tropical pests”.

As Agricultural Vice President of Flora Growth and General Manager of the company’s picturesque weed farm in the Andean city of Bucaramanga, Javier Franco can enumerate the ideal growing conditions for the plant in his sleep. “At night it’s 18 degrees Celsius, during the day 26,” he told the High Times about Zoom. “About 72 percent humidity and coastal winds of half a mile an hour.”

As VP and GM, Franco also knows a thing or two about the importance of sustainability to cannabis producers, not to mention the somewhat poor example of his direct competitors. There are around six to seven weed farms within 20 miles of the place where Franco conducts this Zoom interview, none of which respect the local flora and fauna as much as he does.

Franco’s farm covers approximately 361 hectares. Next door is the forest, whose inhabitants often hop, crawl or fly on for a surprise visit. Every morning Franco is greeted by sloths (also known as the stoner power animal) who watch him at work from the treetops. Punctually from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., a porcupine family frolics around the farm and – on good days – plays with the guards stationed there.

Courtesy Javier Franco

Animals as friends and helpers

Franco also kept an eye on the number of species of snakes he encountered among the budding flowers. So far he’s at seven. The species that seems to like his farm best is the nontoxic but still quite dangerous boa constrictor, which kills its prey by suffocating it with its 10 foot long body and populating the jungles of many South American countries.

When Franco is not on the farm, he asks two environmental engineers stationed there to keep an eye out for the critters. Together they keep a detailed list of the animals that visit the farm and the times they usually appear. Franco instructs his breeders to be respectful of the animals as they are only guests in their world. He also knows that her well-being is closely tied to the success of Flora Growth’s farm.

“We only want to offer our customers a natural organic product,” explains Franco. “Something that actually comes from nature.” To achieve this, Franco and his breeders must ensure that their cannabis is grown in a location that is as similar as possible to the natural environment of the plant, without human or species To kill trees, little to no intervention.

Courtesy Javier Franco

Nowadays, cannabis is often grown indoors, where growers become chemists and gardens become laboratories. While Franco respects the art and science behind this type of micromanagement, he doesn’t think it’s the best way to go. “When you grow indoors, you want to be in control of everything. But you also take out the symbiotic interactions between the animals and the microbiology. ”

At this point in the conversation, Franco made a circle with his index finger and asked me to estimate how many microorganisms live in a patch of earth no wider than an inch. The answer, he revealed, can range from 10,000 to 30,000 unique species, depending on the nature of the soil. Franco compared cannabis to wine in this regard; a fine wine is not made indoors, but grown in a vineyard under the french sun.

Cannabis is a crop at the end of the day and, like any crop, many of its growers often use harmful pesticides to protect plants from unwanted invaders from the outside world. So these breeders guard their precious cargo with rodenticide and carbofuran, a teaspoon of which could kill a bear. To put this issue in perspective, more than 79 percent of dead fishermen (a weasel-like animal) found in California in the past five years died after consuming pesticides from weed farms.

Not only is Flora Growth a pesticide-free company, the farm also employs wildlife to keep the flowers safe from pests. Ladybugs (known as mariquitas in Spanish) eat spider mites, which have been the undoing of many breeders. Franco calls these beetles his “greatest allies” and a sign that the glucose levels of his plants are where they should be. Anteaters that roam the farm also eat – you guessed it – ants, eliminating the need for insecticides like Termidor and Taurus.

Without getting too pedantic, I feel that grass has always helped people to get more in tune with Mother Nature. Think of the endless hours spent watching cloud parades or the canopy of stinging nettles blowing in the wind while you enjoy a good spliff. It is only fitting that the cannabis industry strives to be as green as possible, and Franco of Flora Growth points the way to a future where stoners and wildlife can live side by side: attracted by the same sweet scent of flowers.