The Bud Report

Each day, 2 million Americans smoke marijuana, among them many thousands of Seattleites. And, according to sources in the pot community, those Seattleites aren't smoking B.C. bud, at least not to the degree they were a few years ago, despite press accounts and law-enforcement claims that what's harvested in British Columbia one day hits the streets of Seattle the next.

Instead, it's locally grown weed that's eroding the market share of the much-hyped, supposedly highly potent Canadian cannabis. There's a simple reason for this.

"B.C. bud sucks," says a grower who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity. "It's dry, there are no [THC] crystals on it, it doesn't smell good, and you have to smoke it every 15 minutes to stay high. Now, if I open a bag of my stuff in the next room, you'll know it. And you only have to smoke it maybe once an hour."

What he means is that Washington weed is the "kine," the Bordeaux of bud, while B.C. bud has become the equivalent of a quart of Ripple.

His account is largely supported by conversations with other growers, marijuana activists, and casual users. In fact, many in the local pot community say that a kind of Fertile Crescent has sprouted up around Seattle, one that supplies upward of 50 percent of the pot consumed here. Noted pot-growing appellations around the region include the Olympic Peninsula and Bremerton, as well as Seattle proper.

WHEN I LEARNED of this phenomenon several months ago, I set out to report on the work of growers. Their farming is illegal, to be sure, but it produces a product that many in the area prize. All the same, even the most casual of growers refused to talk. Over time, however, I was able to convince a couple of local growers to discuss their craft at length. In exchange for their honesty on a subject that only rarely makes its way into print, Seattle Weekly agreed to withhold their names, descriptions, and personal details of their lives. In both cases, I was able to verify the identities of the growers.

So how do they do it?

"You'll never find two growers that do everything the same," says one grower, who adds that he knows of at least 20 others who actively grow marijuana in Washington. He says that growing pot is easy. It is, after all, a plant.

What emerged from discussions with the growers is that, in many respects, growing good pot is quite similar to producing fine wine. Much as many Northwest vintners follow low-yield growing practices (fewer grape bunches on a vine result in a more flavorful wine), pot growers purposely clip buds early in a plant's growth cycle to focus the plant's energy (and THC production) on a select number of buds.

Many area growers set up grow rooms in the basements of homes they rent in urban areas. In more rural areas, growers often use outbuildings. Either way, most growers limit production to fewer than 100 plantsthe result of a largely mistaken belief in the grower community that law enforcement won't prosecute smaller grows. The grow rooms are typically 250 square feet in size and can accommodate separate "veg" and "bloom" rooms. The veg room is where the plants do their initial growth; its walls are either lined with Mylar or painted flat white (one grower reportedly insists on seven coats of paint) to create wraparound sunshine. Light is supplied by a series of overhanging, 1,000-watt halide lights, kept running upward of 18 hours a day. Using less light, the bloom room is where plants make their final push to produce THCthe active ingredient in marijuanabefore being harvested. Exhaust fans ensure a proper exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the rooms.

A 100-PLANT OPERATION can yield between 4 and 6 pounds of marijuana buds, depending on the abilities of the grower, his mania for low-yield methods, and the variety of the plants. Commonly grown varieties, or strains, in the Seattle area include Burmese Skunk, Haze, and Northern Lights. Sometimes you'll even hear mention of the near-mythical "UW" strain. According to local legend, it was developed for UW cancer patients in the 1970s and is valued for its taste and high THC content. (Another legend links its origin to the University District.)

An efficient grower can turn out four or five harvests a year. How much money a grower sees depends on output, quality, and the state of the bud black market at harvest time. Both growers I interviewed reported making between $20,000 and $40,000 a year from pot farming and report that few growers make a living from their work. One grower says that while most growers in the Seattle area keep grow operations small, there are some growers who run 400-plant operations and take in over $200,000 a year.

Growing costs include rent, electricity, fertilizer (some growers swear by Miracle-Gro), soil, and gardening supplies. A pound of locally grown pot can fetch $4,000.

Most grows in the Seattle area are indoor operations. An estimated 50 percent employ hydroponics. The remainder is plants grown in fertilized soil. One grower says that it takes two to three years for a grow operation to become profitable. Until then, an apprentice grower's yields are usually spotty as he learns to contend with insects, fertilizer, plant care, mold, and scorched plants.