Halifax Seed is Canada's oldest continuously operating family-owned seed company.

It was established in 1866 and Canada's legalization of cannabis represents the biggest change to their business yet as they try to respond to growing customer demand.

“Over the past few years, the licensed producers have started to increase in Atlantic Canada, but from a recreational perspective and growing, no we never thought this was something that would happen,” said Emily Tregunno of Halifax Seed.

By law, growers can only have four plants per household and they must be grown indoors.

A tent unit with lights, auto-pot system, and ventilation runs between $1,200-$1,600, but customers could more than recoup that set-up cost with their first planting.

So shelves are stocked with items to help the home grower who wants to know what's going into growing their product.

“People are very much interested in growing their own,” Tregunno says. “They know what’s going into it from a fertilizer perspective with only four plants you have the ability to really control any insects or diseases much better, you know what may or may not be sprayed on it.”

Halifax Seed won't be adding cannabis to their catalogue. Seeds will only legally be available through the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation retail cannabis outlets.

Medical marijuana activist Chris Enns has been cultivating his grow-op business for years. Right now, he is selling seeds for medical marijuana users. He's worried the limited varieties offered through the NSLC won't meet the demand of what customers want and need.

“People may be picking a certain strain of cannabis because of the intoxication or the beneficial effects for one's mood, however there may be also of different medical avenues whether it is inflammation whether its anxiety relief that necessitate very different strains,” Enns said.

For now, it is still against the law to possess, use, or sell recreational cannabis, but there is nothing stopping businesses from sowing the seeds to cash in on cannabis when it does become legal on Oct. 17.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Marie Adsett.