The medicinal cannabis industry in South Africa has evolved rapidly over the past few years, driven by legislative changes, increasing local and international demand, and investment interest. Horticulturist, Alec Yardley, discusses cannabis cultivation and how to stay on the right side of the law.
Yardley emphasises the importance of compliance and security in the cultivation of medicinal cannabis, highlighting key aspects such as licensing and security measures.
“When I talk about legal, I’m referring to licensing. To cultivate medicinal cannabis, you need a licence. That licence is regulated by SAHPRA, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority. It’s quite a stringent application because, at the end of the day, you are growing medicine,” he says.
Operationally, the facility must be located in an area with a suitable climate and access to essential utilities such as water and sunlight, Yardley explains. Equipping the facility with HVAC systems, clean rooms for processing, and secure storage is essential.
Planting in controlled environments
Yardley says the top three mediums for cannabis cultivation are living soil, hydroponics, and coco peat/coir.
He explains that hydroponics is a popular medium due to its water efficiency. “It allows for really precise control over nutrient delivery, water, pH, EC, and all those sorts of things. Funny enough, it has good water efficiency. You’d think that using hydroponics would involve a lot of water and lead to waste, but if you use the right system, like a closed-loop system, you’re recirculating water.”
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According to Yardley, cannabis typically takes about six months to grow from seed to maturity in its natural environment. The plant is cultivated in a controlled environment, so that the growth cycle is significantly shortened to approximately three months. By optimising conditions in a controlled setting, they effectively reduce the growth time to half of what it would be outdoors.
Yardley explains that during the vegetative stage, plants receive about 16 to 18 hours of light and 6 to 8 hours of darkness, which promotes growth and branching. When transitioning to the flowering phase, the light exposure is reduced to approximately 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. This change signals the plant to shift its focus from growing to producing flowers, which is the desired outcome.
“We want nice, big, good quality flowers. That is why the flowering phase is also one of the longest phases – to really develop those flowers and achieve good quality.”
In this episode, Yardley also discusses:
- Integrated pest management;
- Sustainable practices and more.
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Updated: 4 September 2024
