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The cultivar was named after then four-yearold Charlotte Figi , who suffered from Dravet Syndrome , and was enduring up to 300 grand mal seizures per week at the time . Figi benefited greatly from oil derived from the cultivar and her story was told on national television via Gupta ’ s documentary . Sadly , Figi died April 7 , 2019 after complications from the COVID-19 virus . She was 13 . Due to the legalities of prohibition , the story of the cultivar ’ s lineage was left untold . Charlotte ’ s Web came from a combination of seeds and starts purchased from the Southern Humboldt Seed Collective after being painstakingly hybridized by Lawrence Ringo . Another little-known fact is that a group of some 40 children with seizures were already being helped in Northern California with Ringo ’ s CBD cultivars , long before Figi ’ s story made headlines . Due to the covert nature of the region , combined with a fear of Child Protective Services , the story was kept under wraps .
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CHARLOTTE ’ S WEB ’ S ANCESTRY MAY STEM FROM A COMBINATION OF HARLEQUIN AND SOUR TSUNAMI , BUT HART SAYS THE PROFILING SHOWS A GRAB BAG OF VARIETIES , ALBEIT , WITH RINGO ’ S STRAINS PREDOMINANTLY IN THE MIX .”
HISTORIC HORTICULTURE
Historically speaking , it was the cannabis farmers in northern California who first focused on hybridizing the psychoactive properties of the plant . Lawrence Ringo — who had been growing weed since he was 15 and then farmed in Southern Humboldt for 35 years — hybridized the tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ) back down on some of his plants , while raising the CBD compounds to new heights . As with many medicine makers who dabble in cannabis remedies , his intent was personal . He ’ d suffered from severe back pain since childhood . Missing a disk between his third and fourth vertebrae , his bone-on-bone pain required something more than the pharmaceuticals could offer .
His widow , Kat Hart , says he also developed the cultivars to enhance his guitar playing — demonstrating the versatility of the plant as a crossover from recreational to medicinal in one strum , so to speak . As if Ringo ’ s history in weed isn ’ t colorful enough , he was taught to grow cannabis by the head of a neighborhood Hell ’ s Angels , after finding and returning a snub-nosed . 38 , a sapphire gold ring , and a film can full of cocaine . He threw the cocaine away , returned the ring and gun , and noted the rather large sativa plant in the man ’ s yard . When the man asked what he wanted for returning the items , he quickly replied he wanted to learn how to grow weed . It took him years to develop the cultivars that would help his own back pain , while enabling him to maintain productivity throughout the day . His goal was not to get as high as possible , but rather , to be as pain-free as possible . He saved the seeds of the plants that offered the most relief , and eventually hybridized them to get the strains we are familiar with today . For instance , the plants grown from New York City Diesel seeds , purchased from Canadian Marc Emery , were crossed with Sour Tsunami starts to get the Sour Diesel we know today . The irony of the lineage of Charlotte ’ s Web continues , as Emery would spend time in prison for selling seeds across borders . Ringo relied solely on the cultivars he developed to control his pain . In an O ’ Shaughnessy ’ s Journal article published in 2011 , Ringo stated , “ I ’ ve been to every doctor and chiropractor . No one can really help . When my back really hurts I do the high-CBD kief . Two pipe loads and I can go out and do anything — ride a motorcycle , work in the garden .”
FROM FARMER TO INNOVATOR
Though Ringo is known for his hybrids , he ’ s also known for using light deprivation ( a technique commonly used today ) starting in 1980 by tricking plants into thinking it ’ s time to flower . According to Ringo ’ s bio , found on kingofcbdgenetics . com , Ringo used the technique by covering his greenhouse , blocking out all sunlight . This encouraged early sexing , enabled females to be planted in early May , and ensured that large plants would harvest earlier . This ensures fresh medicine through the summer months when there is typically a void of plant material until a fall harvest . Because the CBD cultivars are not trimmed , allowing for whole plant compounds , there is no excess . On his 40 acres in Blocksburg , CA ., Ringo honed his skills as a farmer and breeder . He worked with landrace cultivars from around the world , including Mexico , Thailand , and Afghanistan . These are the strains that helped to create the high-THC strains found in today ’ s cannabis market .
Maximum Yield 77