Time to move the pot plants outdoors, Peterborough hydroponic expert says

Now that the nicer weather is here, many gardeners have been busy planting flowers and vegetables.

And for the first time this spring, something else is being put in the ground — cannabis.

Michael Kidd owns Peterborough Hydroponic Centre in the city’s south industrial park.

“Ontario is a wonderful place to grow and Peterborough certainly is a part of that,” he said.

At his hydroponic store of 20 years, Kidd says there’s been great interest in growing cannabis outdoors.

“Lots of people who are doing traditional gardening think let’s throw a few plants out there and make the best of it,” he tells Global News.

But it’s not easy. Experts say cannabis needs a good head-start before putting it outside in the elements.

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“We want to make sure the ground, the root mass is warm when we take our cannabis plants outside, remembering they’re kind of native to more of the equator rather than to Canada,” Kidd said.

Inside the store there are all sorts of supplies: fertilizers and grow lights, to name two, and if it’s seed you need, Kidd says he sells all kinds under the restriction that they’re sold as a souvenir.

Packages of five cost $50.00.

If the fall harvest is a success, the cost for bud works out to be around 50 cents per gram versus $10 per gram through the Ontario Cannabis Store.

As for what you can keep?

Kidd says there’s no restriction or legal wording about how much you can store in your house. “I guess if you’re very good at growing your four plants, maybe you can store an indefinite amount,” he said.

And you can share up to 30 grams as long as the other people are 19 years old.