Why California-based CBD Seed Labs is an ideal supplier for Texas hemp farmers
Moses Levin and Dan Marinelli, both seasoned cannabis cultivators, crossed paths when their kids shared a kindergarten class.
“I was in charge of the school garden,” said Marinelli, who has a degree in horticulture from UCLA. “I have a love for horticulture and growing plants.”
The two soon realized their common love for hemp farming. When it was federally legalized in 2019, they embarked on a venture to discover, breed and refine what they believe to be the best legal CBD seeds for their particular climate. That’s when CBD Seed Labs was born.
Although located in Southern California, the business caters to Texas farmers because of the environmental similarities.
“A lot of what we do in our genetic development is called climate tuning, which means picking out the best varieties to reproduce that tolerate the challenges of a particular climate,” Levin said. “The particular climate that we’re in has a variety of challenges that match very well with what the Texas farmer has.”
From heat and high humidity to sometimes cold temperatures, CBD Seed Labs breeds plants that are resistant to those challenges, giving the seeds an advantage to those that are produced in Colorado, Oregon and other states where there are vast climatic differences.
Additionally, “If you grab a map and draw a line from Southern California to Texas, you’re going to find that we’re at the same latitude, so we have the same light cycle, too,” Marinelli said.
Soil is also a factor. While there are many soil variants in Texas and California, Levin said one thing many of them have in common is their ability to drain quickly, which is exactly what hemp plants want.
