IATTENDED COLLEGE IN the 1960s. Back then, I never would have guessed that Cannabis would be legal anywhere, that strains could be improved, or that Autoflowering types would be developed and made available to gardeners. My early record for predictions is not very good.
Of course, back then no one really knew it was the just the flowers that contained the sought-after psychoactive (and medicinal) chemicals. Who had even heard of CBD? Heck, how cannabinoids impacted the body hadn’t been discovered and wouldn’t be for years.
Today, it is much easier to see the future of Cannabis, and Auto-flowering Cannabis in particular, starting with my first prediction. There is no doubt in my mind that Autoflowering varieties will become more and more popular, both as plants for the home gardener as well as for use by commercial growers.
It seems pretty clear to me that there is a wonderful future for these plants. In fact, let me make a few more predictions.
Autoflowering Cannabis, so perfect a plant for home gardeners, will become not only acceptable but popular. They really are going to be the next tomato, providing lots of fun and entertainment to home gardeners. Given my frequent comparisons throughout this book, you probably could have guessed this prediction.
If the past 50 years of home-growing tomatoes has shown anything, it is that once a plant becomes embedded in gardening culture, all manner of gardeners take it up. Some just grow as they have been told. Others go beyond and push on, and extend, the frontiers of what was thought possible. My second prediction is that you can expect new methods to be discovered and developed.
And if the cultivation of regular Cannabis over the past 50 years has shown me anything, it is that the next 50 years will result in all manner of new Autoflowering Cannabis varieties. Just look at the number of Autoflowering Cannabis varieties that already exist. One can certainly see why a hobby gardener might get excited to be able to grow them.
There will be a big movement to go back and discover Cannabis’s roots, so to speak. Unfortunately, there is no longer easy access to many of the landrace strains as original seed stock has disappeared or is being held for private use. However, DNA detection will be used to rediscover landrace strains and their progeny, helping breeders back-cross to regain them.
Eventually, breeders won’t even need the actual landrace strain itself, only the genetic sequence of it so that the best part of the plant will be included in future plants. There are already yeasts that can produce cannabinoids. What is next, I can’t tell, but there is definitely a new world coming.
Next, and here is an easy one, I predict we will have even better Autoflowering Cannabis. New breeding programs will track genetics out in the open, using all of the tools and skills possible. Ultimately, genome sequencing will allow us to improve all aspects of growing Autoflowering plants.
All aspects of these plants are open for improvement: visual impact, taste, and smell; and optimization of the quantities and proportions of chemicals is already within reach. Over the next 10 years, discoveries will be made to improve every aspect of the use of these plants, from growing to ingestion.
Hardiness, or heat tolerance—As we go deeper into global warming, heat tolerance will be bred into some varieties, as will the ability to do well with less water. (After we deal with global warming, cold tolerance will be worked on!) Some breeders, home gardeners included, will concentrate on the size of plants. So many other dreams of growers will come true. Who knows, a home gardener just like you may even participate in the research.
Pest resistance—Genetics will also be used to develop varieties that are resistant to specific pests and pathogens. It is hard to imagine a world without root aphids (but it was hard for this 70-year-old to imagine a world were Cannabis was legal). Breeders will identify plants that produce metabolites to counter pathogens like powdery mildew, for example. Resistance to various pathogens and pests will be bred into plants.
Medicine—Over the next 50 years, Autoflowering Cannabis will be used to develop specific medicines. We know what particular cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenoids do, and we are learning more every day. We are probably going to discover new compounds in Autoflowering Cannabis. For research purposes, these fast-growing plants are just the ticket.
We already have the ability to identify the genetics which control the production of most Cannabis chemicals. Over the next 50 years, this will result in the development of all manner of different Autoflowering Cannabis varieties, capable of meeting a wide range of medical needs. You may even be able to grow your own medicines.
Different looking plants—Again, given how things have gone in the past with other plants, there is every reason to believe that over the next 50 years there will be Autoflowering Cannabis plants that look different than they do today. Some will be bigger while others may even be smaller. The number of nodes on stems will be studied and optimized as well as maturation times, color, and habit.
There will be colorful or interestingly shaped Autoflowering Cannabis plants developed for landscaping. These will be used for annual hedges and for texture in the garden.
And, no doubt, there will be Autoflowering Cannabis developed for holidays. It won’t just be Poinsettias, anymore. And then there is Cannabis’s own holiday, April 20th.
In the future there will be a better system for naming Autoflowers. There has to be one developed. Things are a mess today. Genetic testing will help, but so will a general understanding and universal acceptance of some system.
The wine industry has it right. Perhaps location, terroir, will take hold, at least for the outdoor grower. Perhaps it already has, since the whole concern about landrace origins is essentially a discussion of terroir. Groupings as with Pinots, Sauvignon, and the like make more sense than the hodgepodge of confusion we have now. One day, there will be an international naming convention for all Cannabis along with a central register to keep track of things.
Australian Bastard. Reportedly grown by an Aboriginal for at least 60 years before “discovery,” this unusual looking plant is tiny with a tremendous number of nodes, making it a perfect candidate for breeding with Autoflowering Cannabis. JUDITH HOERSTING.
Here is another easy prediction: more and more sources of Auto-flowering Cannabis seed will become available. Now that things are legal in so many jurisdictions, you will be able to buy your own seed from seed racks just like you do tomatoes.
And, just as with tomatoes and other flowers and vegetables, there will be websites and even some paper catalogs which will specialize in providing myriad choices of seed to the home gardener. Of course, you will also be able to find seed for sale in the existing garden web and catalog outlets, only there will be more of them and more choices in the Autoflowering Cannabis category.
It is even probable that nurseries and perhaps even supermarkets will sell not only Autoflowering seed but Autoflowering Cannabis plants in pre-flowering stages. There will be celebratory Autoflowering Cannabis plants for sale on 4/20 day (look it up, if you are not familiar with this date) and perhaps color-oriented plants for holidays like Christmas and Saint Patrick’s Day.
Admittedly, these changes may not come fast, but that this book will be sold in many venues, where just a short while ago it was not legal to possess Autoflowering Cannabis, is proof that it will happen. It takes a while for a stigma caused by incessant and constant brainwashing to disappear (which is why we don’t use the M word).
As with anything in the hobby gardening arena, it doesn’t take much to see there will be a great deal of improvement in specialized equipment used to grow Autoflowering Cannabis at home. Lights immediately come to mind.
Future lights will provide the very exact wavelengths necessary to optimize your plant’s production of cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenoids. Home plasma bulbs the size of marbles will duplicate the sun’s light.
Equipment will come in all sorts of form factors to fit any home growing situation. The latest reflector material will be utilized. Heat efficiency will be extreme, as will power efficiency.
It is not hard to fathom the use of AI, Artificial Intelligence, to help grow Autoflowering Cannabis. It won’t just be Autoflower gardeners who will benefit, but their plants, too. Receptors will be attached and will automatically water at the proper time or increase air circulation or constantly adjust temperatures.
It will be possible to automatically feed Autoflowering Cannabis plants the right kind of nutrient after determining the existence of a deficiency. There will even be a way to set a signal for your (and your plant’s) optimal time for harvesting.
There will be special reflective tents in which to grow your plants as well. They already exist, with built-in light timers and automatic watering components. However, in the future, they will be easily controlled by computers and cell phones. You will be able to put your plants into a tent and walk away until harvest time. I predict, however, that many will forgo these automatic solutions. Using them isn’t much of a hobby.
Specialty soil mixes will be developed. These will include soils with a precise mix of soil food web members to properly populate protect and feed Autoflowering Cannabis.
The crystal ball on the future role of government when it comes to Cannabis, and Autoflowering Cannabis in particular, is hazy (sorry). Much of what is regulated comes from prohibition mentality. In some instances, this comes with a big wallop of stigmatization. Hopefully, this will change. People used to think tomatoes were poisonous. Maybe growing Autoflowering Cannabis will help change attitudes for the better.
While it is difficult to make predictions, governmental regulations, once in place, are hard to get rid of. Tax revenues have been a big carrot in the legalization movement. These have all been predicated on the supposed sinfulness of using and growing Cannabis.
Given all governments’ need for money, the idea that taxes gained from sales will go away is simply not realistic, and history tells us that there are going to be more of them. To be successful, however, the government will need to continue to foster the notion that there is something intrinsically wrong about growing and using that justifies the tax. I predict this will become increasingly difficult.
More realistic, and important to the hobby grower of Autoflowering Cannabis, will be elimination of the limitations that have been placed on the number of plants the gardener can grow at home without a license. Can you imagine being limited to growing 6 tomatoes, only 2 of which could be in flower? At some point, gardeners will unite and demand an end. Can you imagine a tax to grow a tomato plant?
Overriding all the other predictions, once Cannabis is legal everywhere, gardeners around the world will be joined together by an exciting new category of plants. That is one prediction you can count on. Autoflowering Cannabis will, indeed, be grown by home gardeners in the exact manner we as a group grow tomatoes.
I am not so sure that too many gardeners will annoy their neighbors by leaving baskets of Autoflowering Cannabis harvest on door steps, but all manner of foods will be baked with the harvest of Auto-flowering plants, and many will concoct homemade remedies (which is exactly what happened with photoperiod Cannabis in the past—back to the future, huh?).
There will be categories in various agricultural fairs with gardeners proudly competing for ribbons and proudly showing off and sharing the fruits (flowers) of their efforts.
There will be magazines, most probably web-based ezines, on growing Autoflowers. These will be full of recipes, breeding suggestions, variety developments, equipment and seed ads, and other predictable fare.
Heck, you might even learn how to make paper or rope out of your stems from a TV or YouTube show. (I can see the Martha Stewart now.) You are going to find TV and print stories about Autoflowering Cannabis and see them everywhere in the background as if they were just a beautiful plant.
The final prediction? Without a doubt, there is a bright future for growing Autoflowering Cannabis. There are no limitations in growing it at home, and gardeners just like you all around the world will embrace these new plants. That is one prediction you can count on.