Radio host tells caller how to grow his own

The presenter of a UK radio gardening programme who unwittingly gave a caller advice on how to grow cannabis today apologised for the gaffe.

Frieda Morrison, co-presenter of Beechgrove Potting Shed, said she thought the caller was discussing cabbages.

Frieda and fellow host Jim McColl spent more than three minutes explaining which compost to use and how to water the hallucinogenic herb.

When the caller referred to “Northern Lights” – very strong marijuana – the gardeners’ thought he was referring to a variety of cabbage of the same name.

The green-fingered duo were caught out during the show, which was aired on Sunday on BBC Radio Scotland.

The weekly show urges callers to “Come in from the garden, take off your wellies and relax for an hour”.

Frieda, speaking on BBC Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, apologised for the error.

“You know we are a very happening programme and want to be at the cutting edge of any grass,” she joked.

“Jim started off by saying how to use a propagator and you could argue that any gardening programme and book tells you how to grow cannabis.

“We thought the caller had said cabbages and if you look it up on the Internet there is a variety called the Northern Lights.

“So this is where the confusion started and all the way through the interview we were talking about cabbages.

“Why anyone would want to grow cabbages in a propagator and take cuttings we’re not sure yet.

“It is a very busy programme and we made a honest mistake.”

But she added: “There is a very serious side to this and we have to stand up and be counted and say: ‘Yes we thought the caller was talking about cabbages - Northern Lights’.”

Cannabis was last week downgraded from Class B to Class C in the UK last week, although police in Scotland say they will still arrest users.