Interview with Jorge Cervantes, author of We Grow Cannabis!

Today we have the pleasure of inviting our colleague Jorge to the interview table to celebrate the online publication of his latest work «We grow cannabis» a moment to take stock of his past journey and of the challenges of a future that seems to us to be increasingly green....

SSUK: For the community of cannabis growers you certainly don't need any introduction, nevertheless, if you had to describe yourself and share information that you consider fundamental about yourself, what would you underline?

I have been facinated with cannabis since I took my first hit when I was 17 years old, I liked it. A few years later at the University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico, I started consuming daily. All I could think about by the time I graduated University was growing more and better cannabis. I started growing in Southern California. I jumped into the cannabis cultivation 100%. One of my main pleasures in life is to teach and share my knowledge.

I combined my fascination with cannabis and my love for sharing knowledge and started to write. I had no idea that when in 1983 I self-published my first book, Indoor Marijuana Horticulture, that it would be the first step in my journey that would transform my life and the lives of millions of like-minded people. I am inspired by all the people that I learn from and will continue to share my knowledge.

I am very happy that my work has and will continue to inspire and influence cannabis growers world-wide. If my work has helped you, please join our community by downloading We Grow Cannabis www.marijuanagrowing.com [please add link to this] and continue to share your insights and expertise.

SSUK: Your Bible represents for our passionate world the «Milky Way of Knowledge». How many copies have you sold over the years?

Marijuana Horticulture, AKA «The Bible» sold more than one million copies that we published. I have no idea how many copies were pirated, and continue to be pirated. I self-published the first edition of Indoor Marijuana Horticulture after all of the publishers rejected it. I literally had to print it myself. Once printed, I went on the road to sell the book at headshops and hydroponic grow stores.

Most hydroponic stores would not sell my book because it linked them to cannabis cultivation. If their store were connected to cannabis cultivation, their store, bank accounts, and all assets could be confiscated. Then they had to defend themselves with no assets. This is what happend in 1989 in the USA, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raided hydroponic stores in 46 states and arrested 120 individuals.

Many of them served long prison sentences. Dutch was the first foreign language edition and Marihuana Binnen was published in 1988. The Netherlands was the only safe haven back then. All together in the last 40 years, my (50) cultivation books have been published in eight languages. You can see the complete list of books and my biography here, https://jorge-cervantes.com/about/ . 

SSUK: A green thumb’grower doesn't always have the pleasure of feathers and writing. After teaching thousands (millions) of citizens to grow cannabis with your Bible, what prompted you to write WE GROW CANNABIS?

COVID! I was bored during the «lock down», I had to do something, so I wrote and wrote, communicated with many sources via the internet and updated the Bible, Marijuana Horticulture, 6th Edition. I calculated the cost to print, ship, warehouse, and sell the printed books. The numbers did not add up in my favor. This was the point I knew that printed information was beyond help.

This is when I decided to go digital. Wow, what a change! I was forced to change my way of thinking. I decided to enter the digital world full force. A digital format changes all the dynamics of information. Now I can spend my time collecting, researching, writing and editing. I can also translate and distribute information in multiple languages. Instead of printing, shipping, warehousing, financing, order fulfilment and collections, I can concentrate on producing quality cannabis cultivation information in many languages.

Now I have a team that helps, Marcelo is the technico, Stefan Meyer and  Dr. Gary Yates are my two co-authors. They added the finishing touches that ensures we produced the best book possible. We completed all our work via the internet and kept our files on the cloud.

SSUK: To what extent can we consider this new book a continuation of your first Bible and to what extent is it a new milestone in the cultural and botanical landscape of cannabis?

The world has changed so much since the last edition of the bible was published in 2016, LEDs, digital probes, instant information on your phone! I’m an old guy and tried to retire, legalization and the explosion of information via the internet world-wide is the opportunity I have been dreaming about my entire life.

I gotta do what feels good! We Grow Cannabis! It includes a similar format to my other books, including Marijuana Horticluture. The color images are outstanding and the information is top level. My writing style does not change. It is simple and direct, following an uncomplicated progression to an outcome. All said and done, We Grow Cannabis! contains 15 percent of the information that is in the yet-to-be-published, Marijuana Horticulture, Sixth Edition.

There are a few basics about biology that do not change, and they can be confusing. The Cannabis Biology and Cannabis Life Cycle chapters are written in easy-to-understand language. They help new and experienced growers understand the basics so that they have a solid background.

The remaining six chapters are designed for action, showing and teaching how to choose, germinate and grow seeds into seedlings, how to plan and set up an indoor garden, a 12-week garden plan, cultivation, flowering, harvest, drying and storage. Plus common pests and diseases. It contains everything a first-time grower could need.

SSUK: When you talk about a book inspired by the grower community what do you mean? 

The cannabis community has been my life. I was facinated with cannabis since the first time I smoked it in 1970. Progressively more and more of the people I associated with were connected with cannabis. Today, almost everybody I know are involved with cannabis. My friends are cannabis growers, breeders, writers, photographers, and researchers.

An expanding number of my friends in this community are well-educated in scientific diciplines. The cannabis community inspires me do things I could not do when it was illegal. I want to bring more growers together so that we all learn to grow more and better cannabis.

My work has inspired and helped millions of growers world wide, I grew up in the cannabis community. I am a part of the cannabis community. My roots go deep in the cannabis community. I want to give back to the cannabis community. We Grow Cannabis! is the first step in a much bigger, multi-year project.

For example, the finishing touches of the Spanish edition, ¡Cultivamos Cannabis! are being completed now. It will be available the first week in February 2023. I am actively appearing on podcasts, and building our community now. Please hit the links above to check out my blog, and sign up for my newsletter.

SSUK: This is an interactive work, can you explain what it means, what interactive content we can expect and how they work?

The PDF format makes We Grow Cannabis! easy to download and keep on any device. Finding information is quick and easy. Go to the «Table of Contents» in the front of the book and click on any subject/page number and go directly there. Use the «find» feature in the search functions in your PDF app to go to anyplace in the book. Quick easy searches make finding information when you want it invaluable.

SSUK: This edition is available as a free download. Why did you choose the open source path for this work of yours?

The availability of the internet, cell phones and the explosion of information has given everybody the opportunity to exchange data at an exponential rate. I saw the incredible volume of information, some of it was good and other confusing or misleading. There is so much information that it is confusing.

My speciality is to simplify difficult, confusing information so that it is correct and easy-to-understand. The digital world makes it easy for me to compile and present complex information in a straightforward format that is easy to reference. 

Translating into other languages is much easier and efficient when books are digital, too. I am able to continue to achieve my life-long goal, teach the world to grow more and better cannabis. Now I am figuring out how to give away my information for free and continue to make a living.

Sharing information on the internet is easy and rampant. Copyright is not worth enforcing, in fact I am flattered that so many people copy my work, especially when they give me credit. I think my YouTube videos were copied about 20 million times and some of my work has been copied so many times that people think it is the public domain!

SSUK: How did your partnership with Seedsman come about and what was their contribution?

Tom and I go back to the old days, we are mates. I am fortunate to be able to work exclusively with people I like and I like Tom. We talked for a few years about a joint project, but the timing did not feel right. Now, so many factors in the cannabis world have changed, and we decided to give it a go. We both have the same values, provide high-quality information and products, back up information and products with science and improve the industry. No secrets, just honest hard work.

SSUK: Based on your legendary experience, what message would you like to share with an aspiring grower who, for the first time, decides to understand the secret of life by germinating their first cannabis seed?

Your fascination with cannabis, germinating seeds and growing cannabis will open your mind to a new world. You will learn from inception. The first time you germinate cannabis seeds and nurture the tiny seedlings through the vegetative and flowering stages of life, all the way to an abundant harvest, will give you a sense of understanding nature and accomplishment beyond words. Start your journey today.

Check the new book here.