As cultivation editor for High Times, Daniel Vitkovetsky claims he has visited more marijuana grows than anyone on Earth.
From the tiniest closets and tents to massive outdoor, greenhouse and warehouse facilities, the man who writes under the pen name of “Danny Danko” has judged more High Times Cannabis Cups than anyone else and served on dozens of cultivation panels around the world. He also has written hundreds of articles and a few books, and does the FREE WEED podcast on how people can grow their own high-quality marijuana, even if they aren’t blessed with a green thumb.
“Simply put, I know good weed,” Vitkovetsky said in his new book, “Cannabis: a beginner’s guide to growing marijuana,” which was published last month.
Vitkovetsky is set to make his first public appearance in Maine this weekend at the 4th Annual Maine Cannabis Convention in Portland. He will be one of four panelists talking about the benefits and drawbacks of the various cannabis grow mediums – soil, soil-free potting mixtures like peat moss and rockwool, and water – at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Portland Sports Complex.
Vitkovetsky is one of more than 30 speakers at the two-day event. Topics range from hands-on personal-use tips, such as cooking with cannabis and making tinctures, to advice for marijuana business owners, such as how to deal with law enforcement and tax and accounting challenges, and how to find investors. Two stages will be operating at the same time, one focusing on cannabis demonstrations and the other on panel discussions.
As of Wednesday, the event had sold 1,100 advance tickets, which range from $20 for a one-day pass to $30 for both days, said organizer Marc Shepard. That’s more than were sold in advance of last year’s show, which ended up drawing about 3,000 people, Shepard said.
He predicts this year’s event will draw about 4,000 people. He attributes the increase to the passage of a regulatory bill that should launch adult-use sales next year.
The show offers networking opportunities for those in the cannabis business, but Shepard said most of the programming focuses on home growing, a practice that has been legal in Maine since shortly after voters approved recreational legalization in November 2016. Attendees can get free soil, nutrients and growing samples from exhibitors. More than 170 exhibitors will have their wares on display, up from 125 last year.
People wait in a line at the Maine Cannabis Convention in 2017 in Portland. This year’s convention is scheduled this weekend at the Portland Sports Complex. (Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald)
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