Croptober

CROP TOBER

Leaves turning to autumnal shades of amber, auburn and crimson, days growing shorter, and temperatures gradually beginning to drop, are quintessential signs that fall is upon us.

Furthermore, late September to early December marks harvest for many farmers, and October, in particular, can lead to family fun with the last pickyour-own crops of apples soon transforming into apple cider and ushering in the Halloween season with Pumpkin Patches being descended on, and families winding their way through corn mazes. For cannabis cultivators and growers, October is a pick-your-own extravaganza, dubbed Croptober, which is when outdoor growers harvest most of their sun-grown cannabis. According to an article posted by CannaSafe, “Sungrown cannabis has gained in popularity with cannabis consumers in recent years due to a general trend toward agricultural products sustainably grown to organic standards.” While most of the crops are harvested in October, like with most crops, some plants/strains need less or more time, with about 10% to 15% being harvested earlier in September or later in November. In an article posted by Ellie Herring on Vangst’s website, a recruiting platform for the cannabis industry, cannabis is harvest in October because “as the hours of daylight get shorter in the fall, the plants switch from growing large stalks and leaves to producing flowers (buds)”, that will ultimately be sold to dispensers and then consumers.

As the Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin told us in the mid-eighties, “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves”, and that sentiment can be extended to cannabis plants as well. Only female cannabis plants (yes, plants have genders like most living things) produce the flowers or buds (THC) that consumers ultimately smoke or consume. Like with many a relationship on Facebook, the relationship status between a female and male cannabis plant is complicated. In order to produce bountiful crops to harvest for Croptober, cultivators need to exclusively plant female cannabis seeds. Intermingling male plants, can not only crowd and stifle the growth of female cannabis plants, but if the male plant were to fertilize the female plant it would contaminate the plant and cease the production of THC.

Weather, as New Englanders know, is very unpredictable and therefore a wild card factor for outdoor cultivators during Croptober. According to an article posted by Ellie Herring on Vangst’s website, “There’s a relatively short time frame to harvest the cannabis buds before the plant starts to become less than desirable. During this peak harvest window, harvesters must chop all plants and prepare them for drying and trimming.” Furthermore, the stakes are higher for outdoor growers as the cannabis plant is an annual, whose lifecycle ends and doesn’t regrow the next year. As mentioned in an article posted by Ellie Herring on Vangst’s website, “For outdoor grow operations that only harvest once a year, Croptober is one of the busiest and most critical times of the year. Their entire year’s work is

dependent on the proper execution of the harvest.”

Once the cannabis plants are harvested, they go through a process that includes drying, trimming and curing the plant, which leads to the storage and sale of the cannabis to dispensaries and retailers and then finally the consumer. Per Tyler Koslow in an article on Weedmaps, “Although Croptober may seem to have the most direct impact on cultivators, consumers also benefit during this time as they can purchase high-grade cannabis flower at a lower price. After harvesting is completed during October, retailers will soon be stocked to the brim with fresh, sun-grown cannabis come November and December.”

Gaining in popularity amongst cannabis industry cultivators and consumers alike, Croptober has made its mark on social media over the last few years with its own eponymous hashtag but

has yet to join the ranks of celebrated holidays 4/20 or 7/10. Time will tell whether this month-long harvest will continue to gain momentum amongst the masses and join the echelon of the beloved cannabis holidays that came before it; but something tells me Croptober has no plans of going up in smoke.

“There’s a relatively short time frame to harvest the cannabis buds before the plant starts to become less than desirable.”

Sources: https://csalabs.com/what-is-croptober/ https://vangst.com/blog/what-is-croptober https://weedmaps.com/news/2019/10/what-is-croptober/