We had a unique opportunity to visit Breeder Steve (Spice of Life) back in 2003 and see his grow factory in Switzerland.
Step back to the golden times of Switzerland, specifically in Lugano, where cannabis was tolerated at the time (almost as liberal as the Dutch policy). A government proposal in 2001 introduced a unique law reform to the narcotics act, exempting personal cannabis possession and use from any penalties. It also allowed some cultivation and trade for personal use under certain conditions, including provisions for licensed retail outlets.
Cannabis was sold by the ounce in tea bags in apothecaries as “tea,” “dried flowers,” and herb-filled pillows… It was also an ideal place to produce seeds.
In Lugano, we were welcomed at Breeder Steve’s factory. Steve was accompanied by Barge, a cannabis photographer, and Julio, a cannabis activist from Mexico. Because we arrived in autumn, it was after the harvest season, so we didn’t have a chance to see his greenhouse operation, only the indoor setup and harvest processing. The number of plants in the factory required continuous work, with Steve selecting and managing tasks for his comrades.
Alps create their own micro-climate, offering palm trees and stunning views of the lake and the Alps. Lugano has humid subtropical climate, at October sun shine is still strong with temperatures above 20C. At summer skiing is possible on glacier snowfields.
Many 250W MH lights and few 250W HPS lights in factory are used for tall plants and mothers. Fluorescent tubes for clones and revegging of small plants.
Breeder Steve is a huge fan of aquaponics (guppyponics as he calls it). Unfortunately the aqua room was still under construction (34x 600 HPS and two 1000 litres aquariums).
Hemp tolerant policy was originally designated for farming and exporting technical cannabis. Around 2000 the Netherlands has banned seed production, so many seedbanks moved to the Switzerland. For few years it was glorious time… We have probably visited there in the best years… Year or two later, Breeder Steve has left the Switzerland, because the situation got worse. Police started to notice, they tested fields for cannabinoid percentages and jailed anybody who had anything to do with “drug market”.
great… bring back memories of the countless joints i rolled while Steeve was getting swt seeds from buds in a hallucinogenic afternoon we passed there…
ty for posting it
…I think ( pictures isent enought close to plants) are not “palmtrees”, are " Palmitos" from Tibet: are used like decorative plants in cold climates. In The DogsHouse ya can see more “Palmitos” but from the wild Mediterranean n Subtropical Spanish varietés, or imported from África/Caribe…
Supongo, @LemonadeJoe, que tanto la orientación Norte-Sur de los valles, como el tener o no un gran lago que actúe de “reserva térmica” como el mar, y que los lagos fuesen de agua mas o menos frías, serian importantes a la hora de cultivar “outdoor” en climas, para mi, tan septentrionales y húmedos…
O me equivoco, y con hinvernaderos y calefacción esto no era tan importante?
I suppose, @LemonadeJoe, that both the north-south orientation of the valleys, whether or not having a large lake acting as a “thermal reserve” like the sea, and that the lakes were more or less cold, would be important to the time to cultivate “outdoor” in climates, for me, so northern and humid …
Or was I wrong, and with greenhouses and heating this was not so important?
a hallucinogenic Line once came from Switzerland. Weed was overall Top then, but i got hallucinogenic weed twice. One strain was called vietnam tourist
When coffeshops open in Ticino area…
I was 13 from Italy living just outside the barrier from Switzerland and we would go outside the coffeshops with the bike and ask old guys to rip us off to buy weed for us Inside
Later in the years was easier to buy directly in some shops thru connection and friends be legal age to buy…
But we would still risk jail to pass the barrier and bring to italy in many many different ways…
But the quality and potency of weed it’s something I can’t forget easily!!
Hallucinations and delirium.
Strains was usually
Belladonna
White widow
Orange bud
Swiss cheese
H25
Jaer o Yagga or similar
yep. switzerland sounds soft and kind, but the weed in the 2000s let me become one of the more experienced Vietnamese lovers in existence (wich also hunts for it and tells people how strong it was) not to prole, thats not what i say. Vietnamese, i smoked it once, it was lifechanging. so good i dont even tell you about the details how it was… its to intimate. thats how i am…
yes, now its nice in Germany. the Neighborcountry.
They actually allow unlimited plantcounts to be grown in the now allowed Socialclubs ! That means extended selctions, or preservations, everything that a breeder dreams about is now possible with COMPARABLY a low amount of precautions and paperwork.
It was the absense of PAperwork, and unlimited Plant-allowance in Switzerland that lead for many americans and English Breeders to atleast come here once, or start seed manufacturing.
So, i see a golden future in Germany (unless they turn the law back, wich is possible, but not shure) it would have been one of the best laws for genetical diversity that i know of (actually i dont know how complicated it is in most US States… only in some)
