Ed Rosenthal helps rookie pot growers

The days get hotter, the ground grows warmer and millions of cannabis plants are going into the soil across the state right now. The federal crackdown is arguably spurring more home grows this year, too. And while thumping on marijuana businesses, the Obama administration has tacitly blessed cultivation for personal use, and patients say news of besieged dispensaries has led to them to snatch up spring starter plants of Sour Diesel and OG Kush, just in case the election-timed crackdown lingers.

Celebrity grower and author Ed Rosenthal said that “clones are going out as fast and they are coming in” to dispensaries. It makes sense that more people are taking control of their supplies, and Rosenthal has a new book out on May 15, written expressly for this bumper crop of amateur gardeners.

It’s called Marijuana Pest and Disease Control, and Rosenthal did the improbable: He penned a book about pests that manages to be interesting to a layperson.

He describes how slug penises break off during slimy, hermaphroditic sex; vicious, territorial moles feast on gopher meat; and Donald Rumsfeld is called a “war criminal” in the foreword.

“I enjoyed doing this book,” he said in an interview. “Insects are so weird. Nature is so weird. We’re living on the same planet but in different worlds.”

Marijuana Pest & Disease Control covers “95 percent” of cannabis growers’ problems, he said. And he offered readers five tips for successful springtime gardening: barriers, biological controls, helpful soil bacteria, all-natural pesticide and overall sanitation.

“This time of year caterpillars can devastate young plants,” Rosenthal said. White moths endemic to North America lay eggs that turn into voracious caterpillars. Rosenthal uses an insect net tented over the tiny plants to let light and air in, but keeps moths, butterflies and caterpillars out.

Root and stem rot can kill baby cannabis plants or stunt their growth. Rosenthal recommends the beneficial soil fungus mycorrhiza, which is widely available in a number of brands.

He also fogs his greenhouse weekly with a one-quarter dilution of his brand of all-natural pesticide called Zero Tolerance—a mixture of cinnamon, clove, rosemary and thyme. Rosenthal is staunchly against the use of synthetic pesticides at home, in his greenhouse and in his books.

Lastly, don’t forget to keep it clean. “We don’t believe in spontaneous generation,” he said. Standing water, for example, breeds algae, fungus and fungus gnats. Wood piles harbor snails, slugs and many other nasties.

Also, don’t invite house pets into your pot garden.

Marijuana Pest & Disease Control also provides gardeners an insect’s view of the war between man and pest, leaving readers with a newfound respect for the annoyances. “We’ve co-evolved over millions of years. They’re survivors, perfectly adapted for where they are, maybe more adapted than we are,” Rosenthal said. “Chances are, we’re going to go out, but the insects will still be around.”