Few things are more satisfying than growing weed at home. Grow your own medicine!
Canadian Federal legislation permits you to grow cannabis across most of the country. Here’s what the law currently states, and how you can start growing asap.
Growing Weed at Home in Canada
On October 17th, 2018, Canada became only the second nation in the world to legalize cannabis at the federal level. Cannabis is now legal for both adult and medicinal use across the country. But, while countless dispensaries across the country now supply and deliver cannabis to patients, there are some who still prefer growing weed at home. Growing your own bud allows patients a greater access to different types of cannabis medicine, including salves, creams, edibles, and bud for smoking.
It should first be noted, however, that Canadian provinces and territories each have their own laws around home cultivation. And in cases where medicinal patients require more than is legally stipulated for recreation, there are additional exemptions.
Home Grow Limits in Canada
Each province and territory in Canada has its own specific cannabis laws. All but one allow home cultivators to grow up to four plants per household, with Manitoba being the only province that does not permit home growing for recreational purposes.
Manitoba residents, or those from other jurisdictions who require more than four plants for medicinal purposes, can register with Health Canada for an ACMPR license. This license is for those battling particularly severe conditions, or who require additional quantities.
Note that “no matter how individuals obtain cannabis (i.e., under Part 1 or 2 of the ACMPR), their possession limit is the lesser of a 30-day supply or 150 grams of dried marijuana or the equivalent amount if in another form.”
Where Can Residents Set Up a Home Grow?
If you’re growing weed at home, then choose the location carefully. Canadian law dictates that the plants must not be visible from a public space. Additionally, for the ultimate plant success, the ideal is a sunny, south facing section of the property.
Unfortunately, renters, condo-dwellers, and anyone living in housing where multiple families reside may find themselves restricted from growing cannabis at home based on rental agreements or condominium bylaws.
The law also stipulates that home cultivators can only grow at their own residence and not at more than one dwelling at any given time.
Can Anyone Grow Cannabis At Home?
No. For example, anyone wishing to cultivate cannabis at home must do so for themselves. The law does not allow a person to designate another person to grow it for them. The only exception is in cases where medical patients are unable to cultivate their own due to illness. In such cases, a healthcare practitioner can authorize them to designate another individual to grow cannabis for them. This exemption helps ensure access to quality cannabis for those unable to cultivate for themselves.
Purchasing Seeds
Under federal legislation, Canadians who wish to cultivate cannabis at home must purchase their seeds from a provincially regulated retailer.
How Long Does it Take?
Growing cannabis takes time. From seed to harvest, growers can expect to have to wait for around four months. And even after that time, there’s never any guarantee of a bountiful crop. With so many variables at play – from pests, to mold, and from poor climatic control to feeding mistakes, there’s a lot that can go wrong and no guarantee on final yield.
Precautions When Growing Weed at Home
There are several precautions that all home growers should take when growing cannabis at home as mishaps can occur among inexperienced growers.
- Ensure there is enough ventilation to remove excess humidity when growing indoors. This helps prevent mold formation on the plants and damage to the building.
- For outdoor grows, consider enclosing the grow inside a tall fence.
- For those making any adjustments to existing electrical wiring, seek help from a licensed professional to minimize the risk of electrical faults.
- Ensure all cannabis is out of the reach of children or pets to avoid any accidental ingestion.
- Exercise extreme caution if you decide to process your cannabis into a concentrated form. The use of solvents like butane is not recommended for home use, due to its flammable nature. Without the relevant training or specialized lab equipment, opt for solventless forms of extraction to minimize any risk.
Easy Legal Methods For Growing Weed at Home
There are several ways to make home cannabis cultivation a pain-free experience. Some purchase specialized grow tents; others construct self-contained indoor gardens to create an optimal growing environment. But for those who wish to really take the complexity out of growing, then automated grow boxes allow novice home growers to cultivate home cannabis without any of the associated complications.
The Automated Grow Box
Automated grow boxes provide one of the simplest ways of growing weed at home. They comprise a large enclosed box with lighting and climatic control inside. Grow boxes often come with sensors for nutrient levels, temperature, humidity, and pH levels. The in-built electronics consistently monitor the conditions and make dynamic changes when needed. Growers usually monitor the conditions via a smartphone app where they can even program the light cycles to suit the chemovar and its current growth stage, whether that be vegetative or flowering.
Automated grow boxes offer novice home growers several advantages. They save novice growers considerable time otherwise spent on maintenance. They also drastically decrease the risk of pest infestation and the formation of mold. In-built carbon filters also help eliminate any wafting odor.
The grow box itself comes in a stealth design that doesn’t look out of place inside the home. They run cheap, and usually cost less than $10 per month to operate. The most popular automated grow boxes on the market include offerings from Grobo, Cloudponics, and Leaf.
Growing Weed at Home
Growing weed at home can only save money over time, but it also allows patients to form a bond with their medicine. Healing is, after all, so much deeper and wonderfully more complex than blindly consuming a processed product.
For Canadians who wish to further explore the healing benefits of cannabis, the current laws empower them with the opportunity to take healing to the next level.
