How to Grow Hemp Legally

With CBD appearing to evolve into a booming business, many new entrepreneurs are thinking about starting their own hemp farm to be able to provide the essential source material for CBD. However, due to its connections to the marijuana plant, growing hemp isn't straightforward in the United States, as there's a lot of legislation and rules that need to be followed to ensure that you stay within the law.

Here are some guidelines to help you fully understand how to grow hemp effectively, and more critically, do it legally.

Where to Grow It

Hemp can grow in pretty much any climate, apart from extreme desert conditions or cold mountainous regions. Despite this dexterity, hemp plants best suit warm weather areas with well-drained soil rich in organic materials. You want to avoid ground and soil that's excessively damp, meaning hemp needs to be in a location that gets less rainfall.

These prime growing conditions make locations such as California and other warmer states perfect, but make sure that growing in the location of your choice is legal. Due to the Hemp Farming Act, it is legal to grow hemp in most states, with a few exceptions, and there's also plenty of other rules that farmers need to worry about. The 11 states where hemp farming is completely legal and thus become recommended locations are Alaska, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Vermont, Washington and Oregon.

Sowing Seeds

When growing hemp, it's important to sow the seeds correctly to make sure that it grows in the right way. You want to make sure you are tilling the soil before planting seeds as there's no herbicides labeled for use. To prepare for seeds, make sure to create a firm, shallow bed to place them in that is not unlike planting a clover or alfalfa.

It's best practice to sow the seeds directly to the soil where you intend it to grow rather than starting it in pots as you don't want to disturb its growth. To make sure you achieve maximum growth, you want to plant your hemp seeds just after the final frost of the year, which usually occurs between May and June in the United States. For the best results use ilgm seeds as they are some of the best quality seeds around.

Tending to the Crops

You want to make sure your crops are well irrigated, and even more so during its first six weeks when in the soil. This is because the crops can be very fragile and sensitive to dryness in its early days, so it's best to keep it well watered to avoid it dying out due to drought.

If you plan to use pesticides to keep bugs and nasty critters off your plants, you want to make sure you're using legal ones. The regulations on what pesticides you can use is primarily federal, but there may be stricter rules depending on your state. To make sure you're using the right methods, you can review the National Pesticide Information Center that lists all permitted herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and other pest control products.