Louisiana's Dupont Nursery Expertise and Experience Lends to Industry-wide Data
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By Dr. Matthew Indest
ocated in Plaquemine, Louisiana, Dupont nursery has been providing this great state and its neighbors with colorful, healthy plants for decades. As a wholesale nursery, they have a well-defined protocol for cultivating, propagating, and distributing plant stock across the Southeast US. Your landscape may very well be spattered with the vibrant palette of colors offered from their Cajun Hibiscus lines or the dozens of other bedding plants available at retail nurseries from Texas to Florida. As Louisiana’s hemp program was getting started, Dupont Nursery was one of the first in line to apply for three of the four license types offered. As a licensed seed producer and grower, Dupont has been setting the pace for hemp cultivation and propagation, but they did not jump in blindly. Dupont Nursery has been developing strategic partnerships with leading hemp scientists who have spent years in hemp and in traditional horticulture. Their experience in the wholesale plant business gives them an advantage in understanding the complexity and nuance of plant production systems. Combining what they have learned over the years operating in the Southern US and with their team of hemp specialists, they bring a strong datacentered approach to the emerging industry. As this historic first year in Louisiana’s hemp program starts to senesce, there is time to reflect on all that was learned through trial and error. In mid-February, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry began issuing licenses to individuals and businesses who met the criteria set by the federally approved rules and regulations. With license in hand, Dupont was able to begin propagating genetics in their spanse of greenhouses. Exploring the market for seeds or clones of compliant, cannabinoid-rich hemp can be a tiring and treacherous endeavour. The industry is rife with brokers that have no data to support their claims or worse, are making bold, baseless, and bunk claims to sell seed they likely have not even touched.
Dr. Matthew O. Indest, PhD Licensed Industrial Hemp Grower and Consultant 6
It takes more than intuition to find the right genetics partners in this new industry. With diligence in vetting and experience with plants, the hidden gems out there can be found. They struck a treasure trove of value and professionalism in partnering with The Hemp Mine, a company owned by two horticultural scientists, Dr. Allison Justice and Travis Higginbotham. They are actively researching the performance of plants in multiple environments to learn what performs well in various climates, day lengths, and different purposes. The genetics from The Hemp Mine are offered through Dupont in the form of clones, or liners. This gives assurance that the plants you buy are all female and genetically identical. Stock mother plants are nurtured here in Louisiana with special nutrient programs, pest-management strategies, and optimal day lengths to allow for the healthiest cuttings to be propagated for transplanting into Louisiana’s fields. Starting from seeds has a different set of advantages compared to clones. Seeds offer a clean start, and when started in one environment quickly, they “tune in” to the environment they are grown under. Seedlings also develop a vigorous tap root which gives an anchor for plants The branching patterns are also balanced differently than when using clones. A risk of growing from seed is whether the breeder is effective in their method for feminization and honest about their feminization rate. Weighing the costs and benefits of using seeds vs clones is something to which Dupont remains committed to exploring. As part of their research and development at the nursery this year, Dupont has grown over 20 different genetics under Louisiana’s environmental pressures to understand their growth habits, disease and pest pressures, yield and quality. This data will inform their decisions on what genetics they continue to grow and propagate for other growers moving forward. Finding the best adapted genetics with a fit-to-purpose examination is not an easy or inexpensive task for each grower to take on, but growers can be confident that Dupont Nursery has personally invested into research which supports the industry in Louisiana.
PHOTO CREDIT KERRY MIRE
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