[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The leaves and small stems arestripped from the larger stalks, and after drying they are bailed and stored ormade directly into paper pulp.Cannabis contains approximately 67% celluloseand 16% hemicellulose; this makes a fine resilient paper.In Italy, the finestBibles are printed on hemp paper.Fiber or hemp Cannabis is usually grown in large, crowded fields.Crowding ofseedlings results in tall, thin plants with few limbs and long, straight fibers.The total field is harvested when the fiber content reaches the correct level but beforethe fibers begin to lignify or harden.The cut stalks are stripped of leaves andbundled to dry.Fibers are extracted by natural or chemical retting, Retting is thebreaking down of the outside skin layer and tissues that join the fibers intobundles, so that the individual fibers are freed.Natural retting is accomplished bysoaking the stalks in water and laying them out on the ground, where they areattacked by decay organisms such as fungi and bacteria.Dew may also wet thestalks, and they are turned frequently to evenly wet them and avoid excessivedecay.Continued soaking, attack by organisms, and pounding of the stalksresults in the liberation of individual fibers from their vascular bundles.Naturalretting takes from one week to a month.The fibers are thoroughly dried, wrappedin bundles and stored in a cool, dry area.The yield of fiber is approximately 25%of the weight of the dried stalks.Seeds are harvested by cutting fields of seeded pistillate plants and removing theseeds either by hand or machine.Cannabis seeds usually fall easily from thefloral clusters when mature.The remainder of the plant may be used as pulpmaterial or low-grade marijuana.The Indian tradition of preparing ganja is bywalking on it and rolling it between the palms to remove excess seeds andleaves.Seeds are allowed to dry completely and all vegetable debris is removed beforestorage.This prevents spoilage caused by molds and other fungi.Seeds to beused for oil production may be stored in bags, boxes, or jars, and not exposed toexcess humidity (causing them to germinate) or excessive aridity (causing themto dry out and crack).Seeds preserved for future germination are thoroughly airdried in paper envelopes or cloth sacks and stored in air-tight containers in acool, dark, dry place.Freezing may also dry out seeds and cause them to crack.If seeds are carefully stored, they remain viable for a number of years.As abatch of seeds ages, fewer and fewer of them will germinate, but even after 5 to6 years a small percentage of the seeds usually still germinate.Old batches ofseeds also tend to germinate slowly (up to 5 weeks).This means that a batch ofseeds for cultivation might be stored for a longer time if the initial sample is largeenough to provide sufficient seeds for another generation.If a strain is to bepreserved, it is necessary to grow and reproduce it every three years, so thatenough viable seeds are always available.Curing Floral ClustersHarvesting, drying, curing, and storage of Cannabis floral clusters to preserveand enhance appearance, taste, and psychoactivity is often discussed amongcultivators.More floral clusters are ruined by poor handling after harvest than byany other single cause.When the plant is harvested, the production of fine floralclusters for smoking begins.Cannabis floral clusters are harvested by two basicmethods: either individually, by cutting them from the stalks and carefullypackaging them in shallow boxes or trays, or all simultaneously by uprooting or cutting off the entire plant.In instances where the floral clusters maturesequentially, individual harvest is used because the entire plant is not ripe at anygiven time.Removing individual clusters also makes drying easier and quickerbecause the stalks are divided into shorter pieces.Floral clusters will dry muchmore slowly if the plant is dried whole.This means that all of the water in theplant must pass through the stomata on the surface of the leaves and calyxesinstead of through cut stem ends.The stomata close soon after harvest anddrying is slowed since little water vapor escapes.Boiling attached Cannabis roots after harvesting whole plants, but before drying,is an interesting technique.Origi nally it was thought by cultivators that boiling theroots would force resins to the floral clusters.In actuality, there are very fewresins within the vascular system of the plant and most of the resins have beensecreted in the heads of glandular trichomes.Once resins are secreted they areno longer water-soluble and are not part of the vascular system
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]