Florida agriculture officials have completed preparations to grow hemp in the Sunshine State and say they’re ready to plant seeds in 2019.
Florida legalized hemp production in 2017, but officials warned it could take several years to find a cultivar that could grow under the 0.3% THC limit in Florida’s tropical and subtropical climate.
But the initial work at the University of Florida has wrapped up, and three cities have been identified for hemp cultivation in 2019:
- Quincy (panhandle area).
- Hague (north-central Florida).
- Homestead (south Florida).
University agronomist Zachary Brym told Growing Produce that the school received DEA clearance to import live hemp seeds.
There is no timetable for private commercial hemp production to begin, but Brym said research is just around the corner.
“We will be importing seeds ASAP and plan to put plants in the ground during spring 2019,” he said.
Why import when we have seeds here in the US? No reason.
I think they mean into the state. There are, already, plenty of US Domestic seeds, with amazing genetics. I can’t imagine importing them internationally, unless they have no clue what they’re doing.
Florida is sub-tropical. US is not. THC will rise half a percent bringing plants this far south. You have to use plants from your latitude. Orlando is the same latitude as Western Sahara. Lexington, KY is the same latitude as Lisbon, Portugal.
Great information, in the process of learning more about hemp. We are using it with great success.
What kind of gains anticipating on for the upcoming year 2019?