• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, January 20, 2016

Not afraid to be service-y, with marijuana now legal in its home state, The Oregonian of Portland, OR, has (unintentionally) developed its own strain of cannabis and is sharing lessons to help readers cultivate their own plants at home.

Oregonian staff writer and pot horticulturalist Teresa Mahoney, mentored by commercial grower Jeremy Plumb, posted diary entries and tips online throughout the five-month process, which included an indoor and outdoor phase.

According to Mahoney, she didn’t set out to create a new strain, but the hybrid – a cross of two strains called “Blackdog” and “Dogwalker” – resulted from a rookie pot-growing mistake. A male marijuana plant was accidentally allowed to pollinate some female plants in the indoor growing enclosure (a closet).

Following her successful harvest and curing of the plants, yielding about two ounces of dried product, her advice for aspiring home cultivators includes nuggets of wisdom such as: “A marijuana plant is ready for harvest when the hair-like pistils turn amber-colored,” and “don't touch your eyes while trimming. Trust me.”

With the project nearing completion, Mahoney said the next step is for a sampling and written critique by one of The Oregonian’s new professional pot reviewers. Then she will donate the rest of the crop to a medical marijuana user.

Ironically, while newspapers may grow their own marijuana, many of them can’t advertise it.

Last month, the U.S. Postal Service banned marijuana advertising in all 50 states, declaring any publication containing ads for pot to be “non-mailable” everywhere in the country. The nationwide ban extended a regional ban previously announced by the USPS northwestern district headquartered in Portland.

The ban impacts all publications that rely on the postal service for delivery, including magazines, as well as many community newspapers.