GodHerb had fun at KYTF: Taking the hemp message to Kolkata

We had a great outing in Kolkata this December. All of us at HempCann love doing something creative or being around people who do creative things. A little music, some theatre and everything that goes into making such things happen go very well with the herb.

HempCann supported the launch of the Kolkata Youth Theatre Festival, better known as #KYTF, because only the youth of India seems to understand the necessity of industrial hemp. Almost everybody we met in Kolkata seemed to want a greener and cleaner future.

Since our primary concern now is to educate people about the benefits of cannabis and hemp, we were happy when the organisers contacted us to be a part of the event. As Buddha said, if we understand even one herb deeply our entire lives will change. And cannabis is that herb.

We saw this very interesting Internet meme which says there should be “one medicine for many diseases and not many medicines for one disease”. Research worldwide has been proving time and again that the CBD and THC in the cannabis plant is that one medicine.

As a young organisation ourselves, we have decided to align with the youth and do our best to create awareness about one of Nature’s most important gifts, so that we have a future that understands its fears and moves beyond it. Only the youth seem to have the wisdom and the ability to see beyond the pop-speak of the establishment and the mainstream media’s views that often reek of inaccurate perception or even ignorance.

So, what did we do at #KYTF? We gave the event a hemp makeover by providing absolutely green hemp-cotton t-shirts. We also distributed HempCann pamphlets to all the art-loving young and young-at-heart people to tell them about the benefits of marijuana and hemp.

Here are a few pictures to give you a feel of the event. We thank #KYTF for the thrilling association and we will be joining these bunch of cool people again in the New Year in February for the theatre festival. And, yes, do follow our blog for the latest from the world of the beautiful herb, what we call #GodHerb. Do check out our Facebook page and Twitter handle as well.

The controversial ‘lost child’ of the cannabis family

You have heard about Cannabis Indica. Sativa you probably love. So, what about Cannabis ruderalis?
This is apparently a lesser known species of the cannabis family (ruderaliscomes from ruderal which means root), though there are a few debates that it’s only a descendant of Indica.

Ruderalis is a tough plant as its survival involved coping with harsh conditions, of both weather and human habitation. Found in Asia, Russia and Central/ Eastern Europe, the Ruderalis has a short flowering cycle of 21 to 30 days. The flowering does not depend on the light cycle, unlike Sativa and Indica. And this is the reason many growers love it: its ability to ‘autoflower’.

Once thought to be a wild cousin, in recent times there have been some growers who have used it to create new hybrids.

This autoflowering strain is short – just 1 to 2.5 feet at harvest time. It is a very robust plant with a more improvisational growth pattern with wide leaves that are light green in colour.

While the buds are smaller than usual, they have body and are held on by sturdy stems.

Ruderalis genes offer the ability for breeders to create an autoflowering hybrid with the advanced potency and flavour profile from its genetic partner.

While the general view is that Ruderalis has low THC content, there are people who think otherwise.

Jordan Stojanov had this to say about Ruderalis, replying to a report on Leafly that spoke about the low THC content: “We have Ruderalis here in Macedonia that are very potent: 23% THC content. They are old, from the Turkish occupation time when they used the land to grow opium and cannabis for 500 years.”

There are others who believe that Ruderalis is nothing more than the usual hemp.

While we are still to sample cannabis ruderalis, we are happy to see that the cannabis family has one more member, albeit bit contentious one.