Angelo Caccamo pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court this week to charges of cultivating and using cannabis.

The court heard police searched Caccamo’s home in October last year and found 76 cannabis plants, ranging from 10 centimetres to one metre tall, in the backyard.

Another four plants were under a heat lamp in the shed.

The court was told Caccamo made full admissions to cultivating and using cannabis to police at the time, telling them he used it to treat his arthritis and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Representing himself in court, Caccamo told magistrate Frank Jones tree loppers had seen the plants in his backyard and “dobbed (him) in” to police.

Caccamo was lucky he was not charged with trafficking given the number of plants, Mr Jones said.

But the defendant said the plants were only for personal use, and that amount lasted him a year.

Mr Jones convicted Caccamo and sentenced him to a 12-month community corrections order with 100 hours of unpaid community work.

“Now you don’t have to tend the plants, you’ve got plenty of time,” the magistrate said.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.