M&F Talent Career Tip of the Month: Working in the Hemp Industry

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In this article, Kent Gruetzmacher of Mac & Fulton Talent Partners talks about the unique benefits and challenges of working in the Hemp Industry.

The following is an article produced by a contributing author. Growers Network does not endorse nor evaluate the claims of our contributors, nor do they influence our editorial process. We thank our contributors for their time and effort so we can continue our exclusive Growers Spotlight service.

For those startup savvy professionals out there, the cannabis industry has a lot to offer in the way of career promise. Moreover, with the Farm Bill and the recent legalization of hemp on a nationwide scale, a massive new industry has been born overnight. To this end, the hemp industry is poised to offer a plethora of job opportunities sourced from a variety of verticals. Because hemp is literally such a versatile plant, the industries being built around it range anywhere from building materials to pet medicines.

Exciting growth trends aside, there are still some important variables that must be considered by serious job searchers in the cannabis and hemp industries. The cannabis industry presents several distinct verticals of employment - these include plant touching businesses, cannabis ancillaries, hydroponics products, and the hemp market. For M&F Talent’s cannabis career tip for June, we are discussing the perks and challenges of working in the hemp industry.

What are Hemp Businesses?

Hemp businesses are those companies who deal with hemp products and / or service the hemp industry in some way. Unlike the cannabis industry, the hemp business often doesn’t delineate as strictly between plant touching businesses and ancillaries. Largely because, hemp companies generally don’t face the same sort of compliance scrutiny as their counterparts in cannabis. Hemp companies operate in both business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) capacities.

As stated in the introduction, because hemp is such a versatile plant, it offers almost countless career opportunities. For starters, the cultivation and harvesting segment is exploding in early 2019, with hemp farms around the nation scrambling to get plants in the ground. Within the cultivation segment, there is a serious need for controlled environment agriculture specialists in greenhouse growing. Similarly, hiring parties are also looking for growers who can manage hundreds of acres of hemp plants. Finally, there is also a huge need for efficient hemp harvesting and processing technology. To this end, forward-looking engineers and farm tech manufacturers are hard at work developing harvest equipment for the fall hemp harvest.

Looking to the product side of the hemp industry, things are also growing faster than can be imagined. For the most part, new hemp products fall into two categories with hemp-derived CBD products and hemp materials. Looking to hemp-derived CBD products, this industry segment is growing quicker than anything in the cannabis market today. To this end, every week, the cannabis and hemp industries see newsflashes about new massive CBD business ventures, featuring names the likes of Kroger and Martha Stewart. Looking to hemp materials, there is also advancement in non-CBD hemp topicals and oils, as well as clothing and building supplies. Needless to say, the hemp product vertical offers ample career opportunity for the motivated job searcher.

What are the Benefits of Working for Hemp Businesses?

The primary benefits of working in the hemp industry are related to hemp’s legal status and sheer versatility. As compared to other career paths in the cannabis industry, the legal standing of hemp gives this industry some serious potential job growth. The same can be said about the versatility of the hemp plant, as we are just scratching the surface of its applications in several verticals.

Since hemp was legalized with the 2018 Farm Bill, it has captivated the attention of the nation. Also, working in the hemp space poses next to no legal risk as compared to working with plant touching businesses in the cannabis space. Therefore, more conservative areas of the nation are embracing hemp as a new cash crop and are planting field by the acre. Yet, there are still some uncertainties regarding the FDA’s views on CBD, which will hopefully get fleshed out in the coming year.

What are the Challenges of Working for Hemp Businesses?

For those who work in the cannabis industry, it has been quite amazing to see the transitions that the hemp market has undergone in just a few short years. As such, with startup businesses literally “popping-up” all over the country, the hemp space presents likely the most volatile vertical of the entire cannabis industry. This fact says a lot. Therefore, while it is doubtless exciting to see hemp get legitimized, legalization has brought with it a tidal wave of startup companies. Many of these companies lack direction, structure, and focus, and cannot provide career stability (and sometimes pay) for their employees. To this end, we will continue to see a rapid flux of new and defunct hemp companies in the coming years - especially in the CBD vertical. Career searchers are well advised to thoroughly vet potential hemp industry employers.

Growers Network would like to thank Kent Gruetzmacher and Mac & Fulton Talent Partners for this information on working in the hemp industry. As an industry leading recruiting agency, Mac & Fulton Talent Partners have an inside look at the challenges face by job searchers in the cannabis space. To this end, M&F Talent takes great pride in helping individuals understand their place in the cannabis market. M&F Talent has partnered with Growers Network to help job searchers and cannabis professionals alike find success in this exciting new industry.

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Peat Alternatives: An Interview with Logan Leavitt of RainSoil

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In this article, Growers Network talks with Logan Leavitt of RainSoil to learn about some peat alternatives and what they have to offer.

The following is an article produced by a contributing author. Growers Network does not endorse nor evaluate the claims of our contributors, nor do they influence our editorial process. We thank our contributors for their time and effort so we can continue our exclusive Growers Spotlight service.

1. Hi Logan. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. I'd like to start by asking about the trends you're seeing in soil and soilless growing media?

The most noticeable is a demand for peat alternatives. Perlite products are becoming increasingly popular. We have also seen an increase in popularity of coconut coir. Another positive trend is people are educating themselves about media properties. Porosity, air-filled pore space, and container capacity are common terms known by even the most novice grower. While some of this is due to our modern information age, the cannabis industry can take some of the credit. With the rise of controlled environment agriculture – a sector where cannabis is slowly dominating – we have seen a demand for substrates that perform well in these conditions. As a result, many took a hard look at different materials and media blends. And since education is an industry priority, the unique properties, applications, merits, and drawbacks of these substrates are being presented for all to see. More importantly, the scientific concepts and terminology are carefully explained and used.

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2. How is your media manufactured and distributed?

We start with the highest quality coconut coir. This coir is thoroughly rinsed to remove sodium and other soluble salts, aged to improve cation exchange and buffering capacities, and sieved to remove coarse fibers and ultra-fine particles. We import this material to our state-of-the-art facility in Las Vegas and process it into our chief product, RainSoil SS. Our semi-automated system allows us to add desired amendments, such as perlite, and moisture to pinpoint accuracy, with virtually no material waste in the process. We also offer the raw starter material as our product, RainSoil RAW. Currently we sell our products direct but are open to partnerships with distributors.

3. Where do RainSoil's substrate products go?

Our product line encompasses garden soil/topsoil, potting soil, and commercial growing media. RainSoil RAW is used by professionals and homeowners alike. RainSoil SS, or Super Soil, was designed with the homeowner in mind. This all-purpose media is suitable for hanging baskets, containers, flower beds, and home gardens. We also have a cannabis-specific blend in the works. This product will be specifically designed for controlled environment (i.e. hydroponics). We expect to officially launch it in the coming months.

4. How does RainSoil's products fit into the traditional Peatlite (Peat & Perlite), Bark, Soil, Mineral Soil mixes?

We hold our suppliers to stringent quality standards. As a result, our coir products maintain a quality above the industry norm. RainSoil RAW is OMRI-listed for organic use and registered as an Organic Input Material with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. RainSoil SS, our flagship soilless media product, is an all-purpose blend designed for home and garden use. We start with our high-quality coconut coir – no peat, bark, or wood products. Just a 100% coir base. Next, we add a proprietary amendment suite that includes a coir-specific wetting agent, a hydrogel for added water and nutrient retention, and a silicon component to boost plant stress response. We top it off with a nutrient starter charge capable of sustaining plant growth up to seven weeks without additional fertilizer. The resulting Super Soil gives average gardeners that professional edge. As mentioned before, we are also developing a growing media specific for professional cannabis cultivation. Without giving too much away, our late-stage prototype includes medium-grade horticultural perlite to create a highly aerated media with enhanced drainage. Our vision is a simple product – a material consisting of few, high-quality ingredients blended consistently and offered in convenient packaging. The final material will give the grower complete control, as it will be easily incorporated into any nutritional program.

5. What questions, misconceptions, and unknowns exist regarding the soilless components used in mixes?

A common misconception is that all perlite is the same. This is simply untrue. Perlite comes in grades from small to super coarse. For most horticulture applications, a medium grade is ideal. This size is still lightweight, so it is easy to incorporate into any media. It’s also the perfect size for creating large pore spaces necessary to introduce air to the media. Smaller grades tend to retain moisture, which restricts air space. An often overlooked factor with perlite is shipping. Larger sized perlite granules tend to break down into dust during transit. A medium grade will resist this mechanical breakdown. Most misconceptions we encounter concern coconut coir. Coir of yesteryear had a bad reputation for high soluble salts, particularly NaCl and KCl. Today the coir industry holds itself to strict standards to keep soluble salts below an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.0 μS/cm. This is achieved by rinsing coir excessively with clean water to remove salts and sodium. Another misconception is that coir needs to be pre-buffered with calcium nitrate. The thought is that calcium ions will replace excessive sodium and potassium ions on exchange sites, thus avoiding potential calcium and magnesium deficiency. Makes sense. However, the real-world application is impractical. As mentioned before, modern coir - even coir destined for buffering - is liberally washed to leach soluble salts and sodium. The resulting material has a small amount of residual sodium and fair amount of potassium. Calcium from buffering would only remove a negligible amount of sodium. Moreover, even if calcium could effectively remove potassium, the amount of calcium added during buffering would not even dent the potassium level. Luckily, potassium is non-toxic to plants, but excessive amounts compete with calcium and magnesium uptake, leading to deficiencies of these nutrients. So regardless of whether the coir was buffered or not, a grower would still need to add a Cal-Mag fertilizer at the beginning of a crop to avoid deficiencies. Buffered coir can also cost up to 40% more than normal coir.

6. What is beneficial silicon and why is it important to plant health?

Beneficial silicon refers to silicon (Si) in its plant-available form, silicic acid (H4SiO4 or Si(OH)4). This liquid form of silicon is created when silicate minerals dissolve – a process in which water breaks down the mineral’s chemical structure by combining with the SiO2 component. Plant roots can only absorb silicon in the resulting liquid form. Silicon has been shown to help plants prevent and cope with abiotic and biotic stresses. Plants absorb silicic acid through their roots, transport it to active growing points, and deposit it into cell walls. This incorporation strengthens the plant tissue and creates a form of plant armor, which aids plants in times of stress. Recently, some research suggests that silicon acts as a catalyst in plant stress response. Silicon can kick-start the reactive oxygen species pathway, helping plants respond to stress more quickly. It also activates the production of phenolic compounds – structures that protect plants against pathogens. Specific responses to silicon depend on the plant species and environment. However, all plants utilize silicon to some extent. In fact, the element is so prevalent that researchers find it difficult to have a true control group because water, growing media, fertilizers, etc. all contain trace amounts of silicon.

Silicon in its raw form.

7. Why is aeration important?

Roots need air, too. Adequate air space in the root zone allows roots to respire. They can easily absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide into the surrounding media. This carbon dioxide can then diffuse to the outside air with ease. An aerated media also allows for proper movement of water and nutrients through the root zone. A poorly aerated media restricts the flow of oxygen to the roots, thus limiting plant growth. The media can also remain wet for longer periods, creating ideal conditions for pathogens. Low drainage can also lead poor nutrient movement, leading to fertilizer inefficiency.

8. Your slogan is "Retain Your Rain", talk about why Perlite is so important to hydrology, water movement, and management?

The short answer is drainage. Perlite is a critical component in growing media for controlled environments. For example, let’s consider coconut coir. While coir has excellent porosity (sometimes as high as 95%) it is still incredibly absorbent. This characteristic is desirable for some growers, but in a hydroponic setting the media should hold on to water for shorter periods. Perlite increases the large pore space of coir, allowing water to readily move through the profile. The media can then dry between irrigations. Since the coir component remains hydrophilic (water-loving), the media will still wet up easily upon the next irrigation. This way, the grower can precisely control when plants receive water and nutrients.

When refined, perlite expands and looks similar to popcorn.

9. We know perlite is an aggregate to improve drainage through its pores. But the performance is dependent on the pore size. Talk to us about why a medium - coarse particle size is what you offer to your product offering?

We currently use Dicalite’s medium grade perlite in our cannabis blend prototype for a few reasons. The first is to obviously increase pore space. Medium-grade granules range from 1.0 to 10 mm in diameter. Pores of this size will easily fill with water, but also easily release water and subsequently fill with air. Perlite smaller than 1.0 mm tends to fill with water and hold it tightly – often too tightly for plant roots to access. These grades also create smaller pores, which add little air space to the media in the first place. The result can be a waterlogged media, which can create anaerobic conditions and a haven for pathogens. Another factor is shipping. Some perlite can turn to dust during transit due to mechanical abrasion. Larger grades are especially prone to this. The aggregates of a medium grade will better hold their structure during transportation.

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Growers Network would like to thank Logan and Rainsoil for taking the time to talk to us about peat alternatives. What did you think readers? What's your favorite peat alternative? Join our forum and let us know! Just click on one of the "Join Now" buttons on this page. See you there!

References:

Beuchel, Troy. (2019, 29 March). Air Porosity: What Is It and How Important Is It? [blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/air-porosity-what-is-it-and-how-important-is-it/ Buck, Johann. (2018, February). Silicon & Your Fertilizer Program. GrowerTalks, 81(10), 58-60.

Dicalite Management Group, Inc. Grades of Expanded Perlite & Perlite Particle Size [tech sheet]. Retrieved from https://ss-usa.s3.amazonaws.com/c/308462372/media/59bc04b6997a1/Grades%20of%20Expanded%20Perlite.pdf Dicalite Management Group, Inc.

Three Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Horticultural Perlite Supplier. Retrieved from https://ss-usa.s3.amazonaws.com/c/308462372/media/5ac665e001684/Dicalite%20Three%20Mistakes%20to%20Avoid%20Horticulture%20Perlite%20eBook.pdf Essington, M.E. (2004).

Soil and water chemistry: an integrative approach. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC. Huang, J., & Fisher, P. (2005, June 25).

Physical Properties of Propagation Media [Internal Report]. University of New Hampshire: Young Plant Research Center. Jackson, Brian E. (2018, April).

Substrate International, European and North American wood fiber products and perspectives. GrowerTalks, 81(12), 60-62. Kuack, David. (2015, July).

Buffering coir not necessary if it’s processed properly [blog post]. Retrieved from https://hortamericas.com/blog/buffering-coir-not-necessary-if-its/. Paramanandham, P., & Ronald Ross, P. (2015).

Scanning electron microscope analysis of coir pith after subjected to different treatments. International Journal of Research in Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2(1), 1-3.

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About the Author

Logan Leavitt is the Research Associate at RainSoil. As the staff Science Guy, he develops products, designs research trials, analyzes data, handles regulatory compliance, and oversees quality control. He is certified as an Associate Professional Soil Scientist (APSS) and has a B.S. in Environmental Soil/Water Science from Utah State University. He can be reached at lleavitt@rainsoil.com

Cannabis Cultivation: 7 Pieces of Advice No One Will Tell You

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In this article, cannabis blogger Jessica K shares her cultivation advice.

The following is an article produced by a contributing author. Growers Network does not endorse nor evaluate the claims of our contributors, nor do they influence our editorial process. We thank our contributors for their time and effort so we can continue our exclusive Growers Spotlight service.

For several years, Cannabis cultivation was illegal unless done by a licensed grower. With the drafting of new bills and amendment of State laws by various legislators, this has changed a great deal with many states now legalizing the cultivation or/ and dispensing of medical and recreational Marijuana. Cannabis requires minimal inputs and is fairly resistant to diseases and pests. They also grow fast and tall to out compete weeds with minimal need for hand cultivation. If you’re looking forward to investing in the pot economy, large-scale cultivation is probably your best choice.

Here are the 7 tips you would like to consider before making any move.

1. Know and Respect the Law

Legalizing the use of Marijuana doesn’t necessarily mean that growing it is legal. In fact, the rules governing the use and cultivation of Cannabis either for recreational or medical purposes are quite different. Out of the 32 states that have legalized the use of Cannabis, only 15 allows its cultivation either indoors or outdoors. According to Colorado’s marijuana home-growing laws, residents above the age of 21 can grow a maximum of twelve plants in an enclosed location- away from prying eyes. Such restrictions are, however, not applicable in California where organic farmers plant hemp both indoors and outdoors. The scale of cultivation is rather subject to state law and the nature of the farmer’s license. Before shopping the market for exhaust fans and a truckload of soil, do your research and learn more about your state rules.

2. Seed selection is crucial

Cannabis can be harvested for both its seeds, leaves, and flowers. Depending on the final product you want from the plant, genetics plays a major role. When buying seeds, consider a cultivar that has been developed to suit your needs. Feminized seeds, for example, have been developed to offer top quality yields with smokable flowers. Female cannabis also produces the best recreational and medical marijuana and are best picked by cultivators over their male counterparts. Some of the best concentrates, wax and shatter can only be achieved from high-quality genetics.

Need Seeds? Check out one of our preferred Vendors!

3. Airflow and Ventilation

The overall quality of marijuana plant especially those grown indoors depends on the airflow. Proper circulation of air reduces the chances of mold which develops in damp and moisture-stagnant environments. To help with ventilation, exhaust systems and fans can be used to pull air out of the space. Some grows use their HVAC to control their environment while others use specialty products such as dedicated AC units and dehumidifiers.

4. Grow as Densely as You Can

To get the best from your investment, it’s economical to grow dense by planting seeds close to each other (but not too close! Large plants can need up to 3 square feet of space). This way, you get ahead of weed control and the plants will grow together and develop a rich, full canopy. More often than not, the industrial cannabis field should look like a wheat field.

Smart Pots available! 3 gallon up to 45 gallon!

5. Hydroponic vs. Soil Cultivation

Soil gardening is a common cultivation technique used by cannabis farmer. New farming techniques are, however, coming up with hydroponic farming being considered the future of cannabis cultivation. Unlike the tradition soil, hydroponic farming is a high-tech growing method where plants are grown without soil, just water with the necessary nutrients. When it comes to extracting some of the best marijuana concentrates, hydroponic growing has played a critical role. The latter prioritizes on high-tech farming techniques where proper lighting, pH levels, and right temperatures are provided for.

Check out this discounted hydroponic system!

6. Grow in the Right Climate

Cannabis sativa plant can thrive in many environments. The deep tap roots enable the plant to find water and minerals with ease, however, for a healthy hemp crop, additional water through irrigation, watering or rainfall is necessary. Alkaline soil with a pH around 6 is preferred. Additionally, the soils should also be well aerated. Marijuana grown for personal consumption can be grown indoors where humidity levels, temperature, and lighting can to be controlled. For some commercial grows, growing indoors would be uneconomical since the cost of production would exceed the monetary value of the yield.

7. Drying & Curing

This is the final process before packaging the end product ready for the market. Mistakes during these stages shouldn't be tolerated as they can compromise the quality of the yield. Proper drying and curing drive away moisture from the buds for convenient packaging and long-term storage.

Airtight curing from C-Vault!

Different countries across the world are rapidly adopting and legalizing the growing and use of marijuana for different purposes. A recent study article shows that modern science and technology is picking up among marijuana farmers with Canada being among the first nations to use greenhouses for commercial production of the hemp plants. This is, however, done with strict adherence to certain rules that ensure the highest quality is obtained.

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About the Author

Jessica K has been closely studying the cannabis industry trends from quite some time. Intrigued by the booming growth of this sector, she takes an interest in penning down her views providing quality insight on current marijuana trends, particularly medical cannabis.

The 3 Best CBD Products For Cats

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In this article, Growers Network introduces you to some of the best CBD products for cats.

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Any pet owner will tell you that the key to a happy feline companion is keeping him or her in the best of health at all times. But is there a way to do so naturally, and painlessly without spending a fortune?
For nearly a decade, the hemp and cannabis compound known as cannabidiol (CBD) has been researched extensively for its incredible potential in natural medicine. Today CBD's full range of health-positive properties still remains undiscovered, but there is now plenty of scientific evidence to certify its status as a medicinal and therapeutic powerhouse. As such, it is increasingly used in the treatment of various debilitating disorders such as:

  • Chronic Pain
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Epilepsy & Seizures
  • Insomnia
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Chronic Anxiety
  • Inflammatory Diseases
  • Cancer
  • Huntington's Disease
How Does CBD Work?

CBD works by regulating the function of our endocannabinoid systems, also called ECS. The ECS is responsible for the majority of our physiological processes – from pain and inflammation to anxiety, memory and even sleep. By activating and re-regulating the ECS, CBD is able to affect our chemical and physiological response to a wide range of disorders.
For this reason, CBD has gained tremendous popularity as a natural form of medicine or health supplementation among adults. Because CBD is proven as non-psychoactive, it has also recently become viable for children, and even pets.
Which CBD products are best, and for cats in particular? In this post, we go over our short list of the best CBD products our feline friends are sure to love.

Quick Look at the Best CBD & Hemp Oil products for anxious cats:

Best Overall CBD Product for Cats: RE Botanicals CBD Hemp Tincture for Pets
Best Liquid CBD Oil for Cats: MedTerra's Pet CBD Tincture
Best CBD Chew or Treat for Cats: Zen Pets Hemp CBD Chews

How I determined the best CBD and Hemp Oil Products for your anxious cat: As I said, I am recommending products I have had success with. Additionally, I've only included products that have been scientifically tested for purity, potency, and quality.

Editor's Note: Want to know even more about CBD? Check out TruPotency, the only online retailer that 3rd party tests every product they sell!

The Top 3 CBD Products For Cats in 2019

With its potency in treating or relieving the disorders listed above, CBD is already being used to manage the symptoms of many diseases in cats – the most common of which are arthritis, seizures, skin disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), an inflammatory disorder.
The best products that fulfill all of the above are, in no particular order:

1. Populum Zen Pets Hemp CBD Chews

Formulated with wild Alaskan salmon, apples, and domestically sourced full-spectrum hemp extract, Zen Pets Hemp CBD Chews are an all-natural supplement made with the highest quality ingredients for your pets. Only the best quality for your best friend. Share the all-natural, full-spectrum CBD chews with your furry friends.

Verified purchase - Ken R. - "My old calico started having a harder time playing in her cat tree. I tried these pet chews, she loved them, and about a week after daily use she seemed much more playful and was up in her cat tree more often."

2. RE Botanicals
CBD Hemp Tincture for Pets

RE Botanicals Hemp Tincture for Pets uses the same high quality U.S. grown, USDA certified organic full-spectrum hemp and certified organic MCT oil found in all of their tincture products. The amount of CBD per 1ml dropper is slightly lower than in their classic products and can be easily adjusted to meet your pet’s size and veterinarian’s guidance.

3.
Medterra
CBD Medoil Pet Tincture Flavored


Medterra's Pet CBD Tinctures are made with our 99%+ pure CBD and MCT Coconut Oil. They are available in strengths of 150mg, 300mg and 750mg, have various flavors (Beef, Chicken, or Unflavored) and are safe, affordable, easy to use and legal. Each CBD tincture contains either 15 or 30 servings, dependent on strength, that can be given to your pet sublingually or on their food.

An Ounce of Prevention

It's worth noting that CBD is not only a viable as natural medication, but as a health supplement as well. The next time you're scheduled for a long flight, a trip to the vet or even just planning a long ride in the car, give any of our top CBD products listed above a try – your furry friends (and your nerves) will thank you for it.

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CBD and Hemp Oil FAQs

Do these products contain CBD?

Yes. All products have been quality tested to assure you receive only the best CBD products.More information is available on the retailer's website.

Are these CBD oil products safe for my cat?

All CBD and hemp oil products listed are safe for your cat. They generally have no side effects and a re a natural remedy for cat anxiety.

How much CBD oil should I give my cat?

Each product comes with directions and dosing instructions. Generally the dose is about 0.25 mg/1-pound of weight, so for example, a 10 pound cat would receive 2.5mg of CBD in a single dose (0.25mg x 10 lbs = 2.5mg)

Will CBD oil get my cat high?

No. These products contain no THC and your cat will not get high. CBD is a completely different kind of cannabinoid than THC, and CBD will reduce anxiety whereas THC can exacerbate it.

Do these CBD products actually work?

While results can vary, CBD's effectiveness as a treatment for anxiety and other health issues is well-documented and backed by science. Additionally, the vast majority of customer testimonials state that the CBD and hemp oil products work and can give your cat "a new lease on life."

Can I find CBD Oil near me?

CBD oil is sold in a variety of locations and from online vendors. However, when I saw CBD on TruPotency.com I had to give it a try. They ensure that all their products are double checked and lab tested to ensure purity, safety, and potency.

Are CBD oil and Hemp oil the same thing?

Yes and no. People use these terms interchangeably these days but the fact is if you have a full spectrum hemp oil, it's going to contain CBD. Beware products made from only hemp SEED oil, these contain no CBD and won't be effective for anxiety.

Why It's Harder Than You Think to Send a Pet to Heaven

I gave my geriatric cat CBD

Nala the cat may only be 12 years old, but you can tell things have certainly changed. In the last couple years, she has lost her purr, her eyesight, and her ability to comfortably jump, pounce, play, and recently, even cuddle. Her tail wave angrily, like a captured snake, now when I pick her up, set her on my lap, or even just sit next to her on the bed—even as she leans into a chin scratch. Her hobbies include sleeping by day and meandering around the room aimlessly at night, occasionally meowing existentially into the darkness. To know her inner thought might help me bring her peace, but alas we cannot speak.

My cat’s health is not great, despite good care. Nala gets regular checkups including bloodwork to check her organ function and dental care. She gets a her daily meds of liquid prednisone and a potassium supplement to support her kidney function. However, recently, it just hasn’t been enough. When I saw CBD on TruPotency.com I had to give it a try. They ensure that all their products are double checked and lab tested to ensure purity, safety, and potency.

The first time I dropped the CBD oil into Nala’s wet food for dinner, I went with the package’s recommended dose and saw a noticeable change within a couple hours, but the next afternoon the effects seemed to start fading. After talking to a friend who is a vet tech, they recommended splitting the dose up into twice a day feedings to keep the blood levels of CBD more consistent.

I tried half a dose twice a day, which seemed to be just enough to relax her facial expression and let her feel comfortable being picked up, held, or petted and the effects did not fade away. The CBD oil doesn’t completely stop her night restlessness, but it does relax her enough that I can carry her to bed with me and she’ll settle on my chest. I know we’ll be saying goodbye very soon, and no miracle drug will change that, but I’m so happy that I can offer a little more comfort as the light continues to fade.

Editor’s Note: Want to know even more about CBD? You can find articles on GrowersNetwork focused on…

Sleep and Insomnia

Sleep and Insomnia 2

Quality CBD products

Mind and Body

CBD for Dogs

and CBD for Cats

You can also check out TruPotency, the only online retailer that 3rd party tests every product they sell!

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Interview with Ian Caine Wilson – Cannabis Professional

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In this interview, we talk with Ian Caine Wilson, melanoma survivor, and cannabis grower.

The following is an interview with an industry expert. Growers Network does not endorse nor evaluate the claims of our interviewees, nor do they influence our editorial process. We thank our interviewees for their time and effort so we can continue our exclusive Growers Spotlight service.

Grower, cancer survivor, and a superstar among cannabis growers, Ian Caine Wilson took the time to talk to us about his background, give us his thoughts on the industry, and even provides some advice on cutting your cancer risk.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Could you tell us a bit about your background and how you started working with cannabis?

Sure I’ve been growing since 2005, like most people I started in a basement. And steadily I’ve just worked my way up to bigger and bigger projects. I’ve been growing at a commercial scale since 2014 when Washington’s recreation law kicked in. I’ve actually lived up there 3 separate times. I started growing in Washington. My best friends are there and I went to college up there. My buddies had a big medical facility that they were running and they were moving into a brand new recreational facility when that kicked in. So I went up there to run their medical facility and then also helped out at the rec facility. I had been growing in warehouses, but nothing at that scale. I don’t think there were a lot of people growing in those 20-30K sq ft buildings at that time. Anyway, I had kids and needed to move back because I was going back and forth at that time and it wasn’t working for my family, so I moved back and started doing large scale products here.

What did you study in Washington?

My bachelor’s is in psychology and I also have an MBA in sustainable business. For a long time it caused internal conflict to be frank, because being an indoor cultivator is inherently in opposition to sustainability. But now I’ve just decided that I’m going to do what I can within the restrictions, whether it’s financial or whatever. This new project is all going to be permanent organic beds. While we can’t call it organic, it’s more sustainable. You’re not having to dispose of the media waste every round. And it didn’t make sense to use LEDs because one of the big misnomers in LEDs is that while they’re more efficient, to cover the same amount of space as these other lights, you’re still using the same amount of electricity.

So while we’re not using LEDs, we are planning on supplementing with solar and being conscious of sustainability as much as possible and that feels a bit better.

Can you tell us about your experience with melanoma?

Prior to having melanoma I’d had basal cell carcinoma on my back, and given my family history I was on top of it. My wife at the time, found a black spot on my ear and I immediately went to the dermatologist and they did a biopsy and sure enough it was melanoma. It was early on and hadn’t metastasized, that’s the real risk with melanoma, but I went through 3 separate surgeries. One of which was the initial surgeries to remove all the cancer and they took a big chunk of my ear and the other two were skin graft related to cover the wound. It was raw and it was open, there was quite a bit of skin and cartilage missing so I had to go through two more surgeries and needed 150 stitches, 75 of them going all the way through the cartilage of my ear. It was brutal but luckily I didn’t have to go through chemo or anything like that, they got it with the surgeries but it was definitely a difficult time and a tough road. And at the same time just to be safe I took a bunch of RSO [Rick Simpson Oil] and that in itself is difficult because you are so high! I’m serious man, trying to function that high is not easy. I don’t hear a lot of people talk about that when they’re talking about RSO. I didn’t do what Rick Simpson was doing originally where he would take a whole pound of flower and the person would take all of the oil that came from that. I made a few ounces worth of RSO and took that over a period of time. But like I said it was very difficult to function. Once I went back in to get retested and the doctors were able to see that they got all the cancer, I had to stop the RSO because I was having a hard time functioning.

All cancer is caused by unregulated cell division in the body.

How did you make your RSO?

I used high grade alcohol rather than ether like true RSO. I bought as pure of alcohol as I could get and I slowly evaporated it over low heat with a bubbler in it.

The RSO helped with the pain and I was also smoking flower at the same time. I never took any of the other meds the doctors recommended, the narcotics. I’d dealt with that for back issues in the past and I really don’t like that stuff. I was growing ChemD at the time, it was highly potent, and it’s what I had access to so that made it easy.

Any insight into what caused your melanoma?

I’m sure it was UV exposure. I was born in ‘73 and that was pre-sunscreen so as a kid at the beach, I remember at 6 years old getting second-degree burns so bad I was physically sick. And I spent a lot of time at the beach or just playing outside and swimming constantly. I’ve had so much exposure to the sun and like I said, there wasn’t even protection on the market. You could use zinc oxide, but that was just for your nose and the rest was sun tan oil!

I also lived in Hawaii for a while and I was in the water a lot there so spending a lot of time outside exposed to the harmful rays.

Any Advice for someone entering industry to prevent skin cancer?

I would say they need to protect themselves. Wear products like Dan’s [Daniel Jordan, founder and CEO of RayWear], wear sunscreen, protect yourself at all costs. Some of these wavelengths aren’t going to leave work with a sunburn but that doesn’t mean that the damage isn’t occurring. You may not be conscious of it but you have to protect yourself because melanoma is a killer. I think it’s something like a 35% death rate. It’s not worth it and that’s what I’d say to people entering the industry, even if you’re working in a greenhouse, a lot of the materials used are UV blocking, but you should take the extra precautions to make sure you’re safe versus relying on the word of your boss or whoever. And Dan’s stuff is very comfortable. It’s a fantastic product. I really like it.

If you have a cultivation, this kind of safety should be on your mind. At very least you should be having your employees change their shoes and clothes when they come into work. As soon as you’re requiring that, you’re probably providing those close and a lot of places go above and beyond with lab coats and things like that. You’re probably already providing those things so you should be providing something that protects them at the same time. Ultimately, your most valuable assets are your employees and number one: it’s the right thing to do to protect people. You don’t want to lose them and additionally you don’t want to be facing a lawsuit down the road by someone who’s developed cancer and they can go back and prove to a jury that you’re negligent.

How did you meet Dan?

That’s a good question, how did we meet Dan? I think...I don’t even know. He just kind of showed up in my life one day. I think it might have been LinkedIn. He saw that I was a cultivator in Southern CA and we started talking, and I told him that I’d had melanoma and that really got it going.

Do you think we’ll see more lawsuits if cannabis goes federally legal?

I don’t think it would have to be legal. I would expect those lawsuits at some point. It’s the nature of our society, a lawsuit being an option. I’d imagine that if you got melanoma and you were a person who didn’t spend a lot of time in the sun and then you start working in grow environment where there were dangerous rays and you developed cancer, I think it’s pretty likely that you’d end up suing them.

Thank you again for your time Ian and the great insights into growing and protecting yourself from harmful rays. What did you think growers? Are you protecting yourself? Let us know your thoughts in the survey below or better yet, join our forum by clicking the "Join Now" button below and talk to our community of cannabis professionals. See you there!

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How Are Medical Marijuana and Adult-Use Marijuana Different in My State?

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Recently, one of our readers wanted to know what the big difference is between these kinds of programs in states where recreational/adult-use of Cannabis is legal. Today Growers Network explains.

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night! Recently one of our viewers wanted to know some key differences between medical and recreational programs in states where recreational use is legal. So without further ado, let’s jump right in.

General Upsides (and Downsides) to Being a Patient

In most states that have both recreational and medical cannabis programs, being a medical patient has some perks. These are not 100% guaranteed, but are generally true:

  • Most medical programs have tax exemptions or tax benefits for medical patients.
  • Larger dispensaries will try to prioritize the needs of patients over recreational users and have separate lines for medical users.
  • Medical patients may be allowed to grow plants on their own property, typically under lock-and-key.
  • There are some additional legal protections for having a medical marijuana ID card.

However, being a medical patient is not all smiles and sunshine! There are some drawbacks and hoops you will have to jump through to get a medical card:

  1. In order to qualify as a medical patient, you must have one of the qualifying conditions for your state. Each state differs in what it considers a valid condition to qualify, but some common conditions to qualify for medical marijuana are glaucoma, epilepsy, and chronic pain.
  2. In order to acquire a medical ID card, you must visit a doctor, get a recommendation from them, and pay a processing fee for your card. This can cost anywhere from $100 to $500, which is a lot of money to spend upfront. Additionally, you will need to renew this card annually, which has its own fee associated with it.
  3. Some states medical marijuana programs are old and don’t offer as many protections against pesticide residues as their recreational programs. While this seems counterintuitive, it is an unfortunate side effect of the prohibition on cannabis.
    1. Conversely, some states are more up-to-date on their regulations regarding medical cannabis, and there may be shortages in medical cannabis as a result.

State-by-State Breakdown (As of Jan. 2019)

Alaska

Americans for Safe Access covers Alaskan enrollment and benefits in this article, but essentially you may apply for a medical card using this form. There is a $25 processing fee payable by check or money order, and if your application is rejected for any reason, you cannot reapply for 6 months. Renewal is $20 per year, and if your card has expired, they will treat your application for renewal as though it is a new application.

Benefits for having a medical card in Alaska:

  • Between you and your caregiver, you may legally possess up to 6 plants, with a maximum of 3 being mature at any given time. You may legally possess an ounce of cannabis in usable form.
  • You can designate a caregiver to grow cannabis for you. They must apply with the registry as a caregiver and have a valid caregiver ID card.
  • Minors can have a medical card with written permission from their legal guardian(s) and physician.
  • Changes in recreational law shall not restrict the privileges granted under the medical law.

If you would like to read the rules directly, the section covering medical cannabis is covered under Alaska Statutes 17, chapter 37.

California

California has the oldest medical system in the United States, dating back to 1996, and a relatively new recreational system. As a result, some laws may be considered antiquated, or have changed significantly. There are a few laws that matter specifically, and these are:

As you might imagine, digging through three separate laws can be a bit of a pain, and there’s the potential for unresolved legal questions. However, the Compassionate Care Act established that while you don’t need to obtain a medical card to get medical cannabis (a physician’s recommendation is enough), the medical card provides some legal protections. Additionally, a medical card allows minors to access medical cannabis.

As far as regulations go, AUMA established the regulation of all cultivation and sales of cannabis (both recreational and medical) under specific regulatory bodies.

Colorado

Colorado was one of the first states to legalize recreational cannabis and was also an early adopter of medical cannabis. As a result, Colorado has had some time to work out the bugs in their system and has a pretty stable set up. In order to qualify for a medical card, you must meet certain eligibility criteria and follow a relatively simple set of steps to apply. There’s a $25 application fee, plus the cost of a doctor’s visit, and the whole process is pretty quick if the information is accurate.

According to some sources, the benefits of a medical card in Colorado are pretty obvious. You get lower taxes, reduced prices, and some legal bonuses, such as being allowed to carry more cannabis at any given moment. Regulations that cover recreational production are governed by the Marijuana Enforcement Department (MED), and generally the same protections are in place for medical production that are in place for recreational production.

District of Columbia

Yes, yes. DC is not a state. It’s a district. There’s a whole slew of political problems surrounding that unique issue. But ignoring that, we’re looking at cannabis. The DC cannabis market is super strange, given the political significance of the district. Essentially you cannot “buy” or “sell” cannabis, but you can “gift” it.

Medical cannabis users have unique benefits, especially since they are allowed to visit dispensaries, while recreational users can only get “gifts” or grow their own cannabis. If you want to learn more about the process for applying for a medical card, the Leafly link above will explain in more detail. There’s a $100 application fee on top of a doctor’s visit.

Maine

Maine was an early adopter of medical marijuana, and only recently legalized recreational cannabis, much like California. Maine has a department specifically to cover medical cannabis, abbreviated as the MMMP. They are still in the process of rolling out their recreational system, so medical users have the UPPER HAND.

Just kidding of course. Maine’s medical system follows a caregiver-style of system, and as such you must have a medical recommendation to qualify. Patients may grow their own cannabis or designate a caregiver.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts legalized medical cannabis in 2012, and recreational cannabis in 2016. Medical cannabis use is regulated by their MMMP, and the application process has been streamlined to be doable online. An excellent article on wbur.org covers the main differences for medical and recreational patients. It even has a helpful table!

Michigan

Michigan just legalized recreational cannabis in 2018, so their recreational system is not online yet. Medical marijuana is currently the only way to access cannabis. In order to learn more about their medical system, you can learn about their MMMP here.

Nevada

Nevada’s recreational and medical systems are online. Famously, Nevada declared a state of emergency when they first legalized. In Nevada, both adults and minors can enroll in the medical program, and must have one of the qualifying conditions. Patients must apply online and pay a $25 application fee.

Patients are given several legal exemptions from prosecution. Patients and caregivers may also grow cannabis with certain restrictions, depending on location and availability. Medical cardholders can also possess 2.5x as much cannabis at any given time as a recreational user. They are also not subject to sales tax on their cannabis.

Oregon

Oregon was an early adopter of medical marijuana, and legalized recreational back in 2012. Since then, the recreational program rolled out with only a few hitches, and things have been chugging along ever since. In order to have a medical card in Oregon, you have to apply online or by mail. You need a physician’s statement, a photo ID, and $200 application fee. It’s cheaper under specific exceptions.

Medical sales in Oregon are plummeting as dispensaries shift towards serving recreational customers over medical ones. However, many of the benefits that medical patients see in other states apply to Oregon as well. Additionally, medical users can have higher concentrations of cannabinoids per individual serving, and can carry significantly more usable cannabis at any given time.

Vermont

Vermont legalized medical cannabis in 2004, and recreational in 2018. Vermont’s medical program requires patients to have a valid photo ID, qualifying medical condition, doctor’s visit, and $50 application fee. There are some benefits to being a medical patient in Vermont (like in other states), but there’s a weird conflict between the two laws. Basically the newer recreational law has fewer restrictions, leaving many medical patients wondering why they should bother getting a medical card in the first place.

Washington

And finally we come to Washington. The state legalized medical marijuana in 1998 and the first to legalize recreationally in 2012. Today, both programs continue on. The medical marijuana program is managed by Washington’s Department of Health. In order to become a medical marijuana card holder, you need to have a qualifying condition and a doctor’s authorization. Then you can go to a medically-endorsed store to get your card.

According to Leafly, registered patients don’t have to pay sales tax, are protected from prosecution based on the amount they consume, and can participate in cooperatives. If your doctor determines you may need more cannabis than the standard amount, you may also be eligible to grow your own plants.

Conclusion

So tell us what you think about this kind of article. Would you like to see more of these research articles comparing and contrasting? Or are there other subjects you’d like us to cover? Let us know in the survey below or on the forum!

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Hunter Wilson is a community builder with Growers Network. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 2011 with a Masters in Teaching and in 2007 with a Bachelors in Biology.

How to Grow Cannabis 244 – Why Use Synthetic or Organic Nutrients?

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In today’s How-to-Grow Cannabis article, Growers Network talks about a bunch of different additives, amendments, and nutrients you can put into your medium of choice, and what they mean for your grow.

In our previous How-to-Grow article, we mentioned that there are a wide variety of products out there that are typically labeled as “nutrients” but often have specific qualifiers attached to them, such as “synthetic,” “organic,” “amendment,” etc. In today’s article, we want to explain what all these different things are, and the benefits and drawbacks to each.

Synthetic Nutrients vs. Organic Nutrients

On popular e-commerce sites, you’ll often see the nutrients category split between synthetic and organic nutrients. For those unfamiliar with these terms, it might be easy to assume that one group is always better than the other -- most people will typically assume that organic nutrients are inherently better. However, depending on how you grow, this may not be the case. Your nutrient regimen should match your ethos and growing style.

Do you want to learn how to grow cannabis? Check out Growers Network University!

Aren’t synthetic nutrients bad?

If you ask the general population about organics or synthetics, you’ll find that most people are biased in favor of organically grown foods. And you can easily see why -- to earn the “organic” title from the USDA, organic products are held to much stricter standards than synthetic products. Organic food products cannot be sprayed with chemical pesticides, they cannot be grown with synthetic nutrients, and they should be grown in an environmentally-friendly manner.

This doesn’t mean that synthetic nutrients are bad -- there are numerous situations where they may be preferable over organic nutrients, depending on your grow’s setup. For example, synthetic nutrients tend to be microscopic, and are less likely to clog up your fertigation lines. That could be a major boon to a grow that grows entirely via drip feeding or aeroponically.

However, we need to make one thing clear: No cannabis that originates in the US can currently be labeled as organic. Because cannabis is still federally illegal in the US, the USDA cannot establish organic guidelines for its production, and therefore there is no cannabis in the US that is legally considered organic. Companies can claim they grow with organic methods, but they cannot call their cannabis organic. If you live in a country where cannabis has been fully legalized (IE Canada), organic practices for cannabis may be established by the government agency responsible for overseeing agriculture.

Why choose one type of nutrients over the other? Pros and cons?

Synthetics

Pros:

  • Synthetic nutrients are designed to be quickly uptaken by plant roots. There is almost no delay between when the nutrients are applied and when they are bioavailable. This allows for very precise and even nutrient dosing.
  • Synthetic nutrients can be used in nearly all mediums.
  • Synthetic nutrients are microscopic, and generally won’t clog up your irrigation/fertigation lines or drip emitters. If you grow aeroponically, this is a huge deal for your misters/sprayers.
  • Synthetic nutrients are generally easier to mix into your reservoir and usually won’t form precipitates when proper procedures are followed.
  • Powdered synthetic nutrients are cheaper to buy and cheaper to transport.
  • Synthetic nutrients have a very long shelf life and remain stable in your reservoir for a very long time.

Cons:

  • Synthetic nutrients are made with processes that may not be considered environmentally friendly.
  • Synthetic nutrients don’t benefit as much from mycorrhizae or other beneficial microbes, which could result in a less-than-ideal microbial makeup in your medium.
  • Synthetic nutrients are not perceived well by most consumers, and could have a negative impact on your sales.

Organics

Pros:

  • Public perception of organic nutrients is very positive, and could have a positive impact on your sales.
  • Organic nutrients align with environmentally-friendly growing methods such as integrated farming and permaculture. These nutrients are considered more environmentally-friendly.
  • Organic nutrients benefit greatly from microbial inoculants and help to maintain a positive microbial makeup in your medium. This could make them less labor-intensive and more self-sustaining.

Cons:

  • Organic nutrients cannot be used in all mediums or all hydroponic setups, particularly hydro setups that rely on fine mists (such as aeroponics) or small water lines. Organic nutrients are generally much larger than synthetic nutrients.
  • Organic nutrients generally have a short shelf life (anywhere between a few months to a few years), dependent on their microbial makeup. Their potency degrades over time.
  • Organic nutrients are usually more expensive.
  • Organic nutrients may cause precipitation in your reservoir, even when mixed properly.
  • Organic nutrients take much longer to become bioavailable to your plants, making precision dosing difficult.

What the heck are “veganic” nutrients?

Veganic nutrients take organic nutrients a step further by applying vegan principles. Organic nutrients frequently include animal materials such as bat guano, bonemeal, fishmeal, and more. Veganic nutrients discard nearly all animal materials with an emphasis on fermented plant materials or naturally-occurring minerals.

Veganic nutrients have all the pros and cons of organic nutrients, but are also generally more expensive than most organic nutrients, in exchange for the “vegan” label.

What about Compost Teas, Enzymes, Mycorrhizae, and Microbial Inoculants?

All of these products serve a somewhat similar purpose to each other, but the essential idea is that they enhance the microbial activity in your medium, making nutrients more bioavailable for your plants. These products work best in soil, coco, peat, or any other “natural” medium and do not perform well in setups that use high pressures, filters, sterilization, or other extremes.

  • Compost teas are made by taking normal compost and “brewing” it in aerated water. This encourages microbial growth and increases the bioavailability of the compost. Learn more about compost teas in our article on them.
  • Enzymes are products derived from microbes that make nutrients more bioavailable. Enzymes work by breaking complex nutrients down into simpler molecules that plants can absorb.
  • Mycorrhizae are plant mutualists, and can help break down nutrients and deliver them directly to a plant’s roots in exchange from some extra sugars from the plants.
  • Microbial inoculants are specially formulated packages of different microbe species that have been shown to be beneficial to plants. They can function like enzymes and mycorrhizae.

Conclusion

There is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to nutrients. As a grower, it’s up to you to decide your guiding principles and your growing style, and how your growing practices will align with them. As always, if you would like to continue the conversation, you can leave us notes in the survey below, or you can discuss the topic further on our forum!

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The Connection Between Cannabis and Ozone

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New research out of Denver is examining the link between Cannabis and ozone. Can growing Cannabis contribute to an air pollution problem in a city already over the federal limit on Ozone?

Recently, Science Magazine posted a few articles about the connection between Air Pollution and Cannabis. At first, the idea seems ripe for all sorts of puns: Denver is under a haze, people are lighting up trees, hotboxing the city, etc. But researchers are actually exploring a specific kind of air pollution: Ozone.

Ball-and-stick model of Ozone. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Ozone (O3) is a highly-reactive, strong-smelling, blue gas that is incredibly toxic to most life. In controlled applications, it can be used very effectively to sanitize surfaces of microbial life. But when ozone is floating around in the environment, it can start causing indiscriminate harm. Ozone can be formed in several different ways, but the one most relevant to researchers is how it can form in sunlight by mixing Nitrogen Oxides (abbreviated as NOx) and hydrocarbon compounds.

And this is where cannabis comes into the picture. Cannabis is well-known for its pungent smell, sometimes called “skunk” or “dank.” The compounds responsible for these strong smells are known as terpenes. Terpenes belong to a larger group of compounds referred to as “Volatile Organic Compounds” or VOCs for short. VOCs are hydrocarbons, so their presence in the air, when mixed with NOx in sunlight could theoretically cause the formation of environmental ozone.

Author’s Note: The NOx generally comes from vehicle emissions or plastics off-gassing.

So what does the research say? Well, not much yet. They’re still conducting trials. But we know that terpenes are getting into the air, because virtually anybody who visits a grow operation can smell what’s coming out of them.

How do I avoid creating Ozone while I’m growing?

There are a few different methods to avoid contributing to an ozone problem, but the simplest one is to not even grow in an area where it would be a problem. In order for ozone to form in the lower atmosphere, NOx has to mix with VOCs in sunlight. Rural areas generally have very low levels of NOx, and thus growing out in farmland or rural locations will reliably avoid the formation of ozone.

But let’s say you’re growing in a city, and you can’t afford to move, or it would be otherwise unreasonable to do so, and you still want to avoid contributing to ozone production. Lucky for you, there’s a solution there too!

It’s called carbon filtration. Your facility can be designed in such a way that any gases emitted from it can be pulled through a carbon filter. Carbon filters pull 98-99% of VOCs out of the air, meaning that your facility won’t be a major contributor to Ozone production. A lot of commercial grows are already using this technology to control the smell of cannabis, and in so doing, are also protecting the environment.

So if you’re worried about the environment, and you grow in a big city, consider installing carbon filters if you haven’t already done so. It’s nice to your neighbors, and can help everyone breathe easy!

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Ask Me Anything with Ethan Kayes

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Growers Network recently hosted an Ask Me Anything with Ethan Kayes, a thought leader and floriculturalist. We have truncated and transcribed the content for your perusal! If you are interested in joining these conversations, consider Joining Now.

In a new segment, we are bringing you our Ask Me Anything from the community! Our AMA’s were previously only available on the Growers Network Community, but we want to give you a chance to see the high-level conversations happening in our forum. Enjoy!

This Ask Me Anything was hosted by our Community Manager, Nick Sandberg.

Legend:

  • GNS - Growers Network Staff
  • Ethan Kayes - Our guest host
  • GN Member - A member of the Growers Network Community

Editor’s Note: Sections of the conversation have been moved or clipped out for clarity. Because our AMAs are living, breathing conversations, you can get people talking over and around each other. We have done our best to clarify people’s conversations without putting words into their mouths.

Skip to any section in the AMA:

About our Guest

I am a retired horticulturist [who earned] my bachelors [in] ‘87 and masters degrees [in] ‘89 from the University of Missouri Columbia. I wanted to [earn] my PhD, [and] I even had a topic picked out: Fecundity index modeling of pest to predator populations in homogeneous environments. But, I felt [that] I needed some real life experience before pursuing an even more advanced degree.

Real life happened.

I ran a cut flower greenhouse in Kansas City for five years. We worked 7 days a week 365 days a year. [My wife and I] had a baby and needed to offer our bundle of joy more time with his parents. I was [eventually] headhunted by a Fortune 50 technology company to lead up special computer language projects. One third of my time for twenty years was spent reading research journals in order to solve real business problems. I found many simple solutions to very complex business problems and often the solution came from very unlikely sources.

One last note about me. I was forced to retire because of a genetic health reason. So I live off [of] a fixed income. However, I am willing to share my knowledge and I am willing to research just about anything.

Editor’s Note: The genetic condition Ethan references affects his ability to type. I have done my best to improve the readability of his messages without changing the message.

Introduction

Ethan: Thanks to everyone for inviting me to speak. Old people still have good ideas!

[Here are some] topics that I am very interested in discussing:

  • Genetics in cannabis production
  • Technology and its role in making us better growers.
  • IPM in our SOPs [and] how can we simplify our procedures.
  • [How] our accounting departments should be an asset in our grows.
  • Defining a standard unit of measurement in cannabis production
  • Basic plant nutrition and plant physiology in cannabis
  • Fact vs fiction in Cannabis production.
  • Who will be the money makers in the cannabis industry of tomorrow?
  • What can we learn from the WW2 Hemp for Victory that can be applied to the cannabis industry [today]?
  • Research trends in cannabis production and research in other fields that can make us better growers.
  • How some grow lighting manufactures are letting us down.
  • Why do I say “From the voices in my head” and why do I only work for pairs of socks?

How will cannabis be legalized in Europe?

GN Member: Yeah, Ethan is [the] best guy for [an] AMA, he has great knowledge and experience.

Ethan tell me how you think cannabis will be legalized in Europe?

In my mind: It’s very hard to do this in Poland. Hemp is supposed to be legal, but [any] THC excretion >0.2% effectively hinders anything except typical industrial use. It’s terrible in my opinion.

Ethan: I don’t know how [or when] cannabis will be legalized as a recreational drug in the EU. As a fiber crop we are [already] there. [I expect that] if the US legalizes recreational cannabis, the EU will not be far behind. Or, it [may] happen the other way.

I worry that hemp will solely be [seen as] a commodity. This will shove small producers out of the market, and Big Ag will control the fiber industry.

GN Member: I was not just talking about marijuana strictly, but about the entire industry related to it. [I should have] used the term hemp. The law is too restrictive, [...] and it is really killing the production of hemp.

Ethan: Adam, I think in North America [the term] Hemp will [be used to] refer to fiber production. Cannabis will be [used to] refer to high THC production.

The problem is that they are the same plant [species]. I think Cannabis sativa is the primary plant species, and Cannabis indica is really just [modified] sativa. Cannabis afghani is its own species, but can [be] crossed with C. sativa. Cannabis afghani is a high THC producer and has long internodal fibers, but is very short, maybe a meter tall. I think we get the hemp we grow [today originated] from a cross between cannabis sativa and Cannabis afghani as a byproduct of First Anglo-Afghan War, because we see the first modern hemp [appear in records] after 1842 in India. It very quickly made its way to Europe and North America. I also think that this is [where the name] Cannabis indica originates. The herbarium specimens [we] see are collected from India in the 1850’s. Prior to this, we only see “hemp” referenced as oil hemp. The seeds made a good lubricant and lamp oil. The fiber was an ok quality kind of like flax. Once Indian hemp made it to North America, it became the dominant fiber crop. But [it] was not an abundant seed producer like the older varieties.

Varieties of Cannabis sativa [like] “Finola” were bred in Finland between WW1 and WW2 as a good fiber crop [for] northern climates. It is not very good in high temperatures. The dominant varieties of hemp in the US are very heat-tolerant and have a propensity to produce high-THC children.The Finola variety does not [tend to] have high-THC children.

We mostly want good THC producers, [and] I think [that] terpenes are closely linked to [the] color pigments in cannabis. So if you want flavor(s), you breed for color. And if you want a drug, you breed for THC. What is interesting about this is that] the heavily pigmented varieties [of cannabis] have some of the highest THC content.

How do you scale up a cannabis grow?

GNS: How do you scale up a cannabis grow?

GN Member: Our little ten-acre ornamental greenhouse in Oklahoma is the last of its kind in our state. At ~500,000 sq. ft. We rank about 110th or so on the annual list of greenhouse size in the industry. We are very interested in scaling our current 30,000 sq. ft. cannabis greenhouses to 2-5 acres.

Ethan: I don’t think that there any secrets in good growing. Cannabis is really no different than other floricultural crops. There are some tricks in growing great cannabis, just as there are some tricks in growing good [chrysanthe]mums.

The problems in large scale cannabis production [stem from] IPM and post-harvest handling of the crop. The list of EPA approved chemicals for cannabis is very small, and this change [can be difficult] for most floriculture operations. [It’s a challenge to switch to] very strict IPM practices as part of [your] SOPs. However, I think floriculture operations [could] benefit from the changes, and you will see lower operating costs as a whole.

[On a related matter], measuring costs by square foot week of production is not granular-enough detail for cannabis production. I think [the ideal unit of measurement is] grams of dry weight per square foot week. This [will require] some operations to change their accounting systems to reward good production practices and penalize bad practices. It is much more important in cannabis production to be proactive than reactive.

The other [significant] change [as you scale up] will be your choice of growing mediums. Large soil mixes for nursery production are most likely the best choice for a grow. The container size for Cannabis production is closer to nursery production than traditional floriculture.

GNS: I love this quote (there are no secrets in good growing) and I agree wholeheartedly! Gone are the days of “trade secrets” in the cannabis industry!

Ethan: I was told [that] the biggest secret to being a good grower is walking [through] the crops 3 times a day with a note card.

How did you get started in floriculture? How did you get into cannabis?

GNS: How did you get started in floriculture? When and how did you first discover cannabis?

Ethan: My father was an MD and my mother was a Ph.D biologist. I hated medicine, [but] I really loved plants and mushrooms.

Cannabis was what kids my age did. I just [happened to] do it more than my friends. I think I was trying to self-medicate. My friends and I would collect skunk along the old Katy train lines in St. Louis.

When I went to the University of Missouri, I found their horticulture program. They let me concentrate on what I loved: Growing plants. I particularly fell in love with cut flower production. I particularly liked Lathyrus odorotus and found a niche in the market for locally-grown cut flowers. Winter production was great, but summer sucked.

[As for] cannabis production... well there was a lot of illegal production in my teens and twenties. I stopped when [my wife and I] had a child. But I grew a lot of pot in that 10 year period. We were fortunate to not get in trouble.

GN Member: I ran the other road. [I was] born into a guerrilla grow family in NorCal. But that’s a story for another time. You have done amazing work. And it continues here. We are blessed to have you.

GNS: I couldn't agree more! Thanks for being here, Ethan target=_blank>@Ethan! Cheers!

You were visited by the DEA?

GNS: How long did you actively practice floriculture as a profession? In our past conversations, you told me the DEA visited your greenhouses on several occasions… can you elaborate a bit about that? What were those federal visits like?

Ethan: I actively grew floriculture crops from 1982 through 1996.

We would see the DEA at our greenhouse about twice a year, sometimes more often. They just wanted to know if anyone was trying to buy commercial horticulture products from us. [We would] walk through the greenhouse and give them coffee and some seconds of cut flowers.

For this level of cooperation, we [were granted] access to confiscated greenhouse supplies. We purchased a lot of lights for 10 cents on the dollar, and HPS bulbs were essentially free. I think I bought two cases of MAH bulbs for like $5 dollars -- 48 bulbs for $5 dollars.

GNS: When I worked in finance, occasionally the SEC would visit. Our office manager had a procedure that involved locking them in the boardroom, showing them the files, then slamming the thermostat as low as it would go. Your procedure with the feds sounds way friendlier! Sounds like you ended up with some nice perks though!

Ethan: I had a great deal more exposure to the government and regulations working at AON Hewitt. At the end of my working career, I was one of five people who could see the unmasked data for about 1/3 of the US population, [including] SSN, salary data, address, health data, [and more]. I was responsible for creating blind datasets for our actuarial group and our compliance divisions. All of our data was so encrypted, [and] I was worried [that] the guys with master [encryption] keys would get hit by busses.

How did your experience with floriculture help you with computer science?

GNS: Did you find that your background in floriculture served you as your career path veered into computer science? Also, it’s remarkable that progression software has made its way into the horticulture industry! Where do you see the future of cannabis cultivation as we see more synthesis of tech meets growing?

Ethan: In the following areas:

  1. First, the grow itself for environmental controls. Every environmental control down to watering your plants [will see more tech].
  2. Second is going to be accounting [that] supports the grow. This is a tech issue because we need a non-invasive way to record tasks performed by people in accounting.
  3. Third, we [have] reached the point where we have enough big data sequencing cannabis DNA that we can figure out progressive breeding programs. This is going to lead to the holy grail of seed-produced female F1 plants. This [will] cut our production costs dramatically.
  4. Last technology is going to allow us to quantify potential secondary compounds that any given cultivar can produce. We will be able to see how our grow measures up to other grows. My feeling is [that] the people who can produce the most root hairs as a percentage of dry weight are going to win.

Are water quality issues being addressed?

Ethan: The industry is moving to a lower pH than I am used to growing in. This will be a hard change to make for me because I have to learn a whole new set of availability numbers. Water in Oklahoma is evil. [It has a] high pH with one hell of a lot of buffering. I suspect that growers in the Midwest [will have problems] that are different than growers on the east and west costs. Water management in the Midwest is just harder.

Kansas City water was like having rocks flow out of the pipe. The water was so hard and had such a high pH that we were forced to use phosphoric acid in our main irrigation lines. This forced us to account for phosphorus in our grow. All the off the shelf feeds had to be adjusted to compensate for the phosphorus in our irrigation water. We also had to rebuffer the water to use insecticidal soaps and things like neem oil or just plain vegetable oils.

GNS: Do you feel the issue of water quality is being seriously addressed?

Ethan: [Unfortunately,] small growers are not spending enough time making sure their water is of a high-enough quality, nor do they understand [that] it changes [from] month by month and week by week.

The big growers in floriculture and cannabis know [that] their grows live and die by water. In many grows, [after the] cost [of] labor, water is the next biggest expense. If you hand-water a commercial grow, you are not spending the time in the correct place in the grow.

So we don’t spend enough time worrying about water.

GN Member: My dad would say in yiddish “lo-mich ales zain” - “Let’s all of us see!” You need to test this theory for water activity. A local cannabis lab can help you with this.

Ethan: “Oh what a beauty”? Was he talking about girls? My grandfather would say [that while] walking across the Yale campus at the coeds. Oy, vas zain goof or “Oh, what a beautiful body.”
My father would call him an alter cocker -- old fart.

@heainjectors is part of the forum. If you [are a] a serious grower, this is the best product on the market for getting anything into water. I once thought about an H E Anderson injector as a gift to my brother for a distillation project. Alcohol [though], nothing remotely illegal. They just do not break. And when they need scheduled maintenance it only takes a hour or two to do 12 heads. We had a four-head injector in the greenhouse and a one-head injector on our main supply line. I could not have been in business without this product.

Would a water softener help with water issues?

GN Member: Fun thread, thanks for posting Ethan. Just a quick note for your Kansas water problem -- Do you have a water softener on the line? They essentially replace the calcium with sodium, which is far easier for RO membranes to strip out, so your membranes live much longer.

We do dead-res flood and drain hydro, and since I’m one of the nerds who reads white papers, I found one about chlorine injection in hydroponic tomato farms. The tomato farmers found their best yields at 65 ppm free chlorine, over controls, 35 ppm and 100 ppm tests. Cannabis is remarkably tolerant of chlorine levels in hydro systems, up to 100 ppm causes no adverse effects. We use small chlorine tablets to slowly release 40-60 ppm of chlorine in our aerated reservoirs, which also acidifies the solution.

When used with RO and acidic nutes, it’s common to see pH ranges dip into the low 3’s. We use silica as an effective pH up until late flower, when we switch back to a pH Up so as not to have too much silica in the medium and tissue post harvest.

Ethan: When we ran the operation in Kansas we were forced to inject phosphoric acid into the irrigation lines. This caused us to adjust all of our feeds to compensate for the [additional] phosphate. J R Peter’s produced three custom blends to meet our needs.

I would never [use] sodium to soften the water [because] much of what we grew was sodium-sensitive, plus it [would] just throw all [of our] numbers off. We jokingly priced out reverse osmosis for the greenhouses, but between water storage and RO tanks, we would have spent about as much money [on the RO System] as [we did] on the structures.

We used a four-head Anderson injector in the greenhouse. 1 [was an] acid head, two [were] feed heads, and one head [was] for other uses. We also had an Anderson gas-injection head in the 3-inch water supply room. We didn’t like the chlorine levels in our water supply from the city [so] we added some additional chlorine into our water.

Today, I know we would handle the water issues differently. Every grower needs to spend more time thinking about there water.

Why do you say “from the voices in your head?”

GN Member: Hey @Ethan! Thank you for doing this AMA! I’m going to ask one of your suggested questions – why DO you say “from the voices in [your] head?”

Ethan: It comes from an old Yiddish expression [about] deep, contemplative inner talk. My father said it in Yiddish, Isaac Asimov used the line, as did Einstein. Rabbinic scholars would say this when thinking hard about how to apply laws to modern-day problems.

Why are light producers selling products that people don’t want?

Ethan: When are light producers going to give me lights I want? And not what they want to sell?

I want light producers to do thin-film chromatography on cannabis before I buy any lights. Prove to me that your light can match the absorption spectrum of my plants. I want every dollar in my production [facility] to go to the grow.

GNS: I’ll let @Lighting and @EquipManufacturers take a stab at this question.

GN Member: I’d say because the financial sector doesn’t (currently) properly understand the abnormalities in regard to infrastructure capability/demand, or ‘supply/demand’. Neither do contract manufacturers. They say to [our] industry, “Not yet.” - Well, the time will come, inevitably.

For us personally, we’re not selling anything yet; simply because we are busy with other things, and don’t need money from this company, which provides us with a sense of patience.

GN Member: I feel this for sure. I’m testing out a lot of current lighting tech. While it’s pretty good, I feel like I’m missing something - some level of control in the way my rooms are lit. I’m sure build my own. But in all honesty I just don’t have [the] time. Would rather have the professionals who have the right equipment to get it done…

Question is what are we missing [that] you’d like to see?

Ethan: Great question GN Member,

First don’t waste your time building lights. Lights like @GrowFlux [provide] end-user control of the light spectrum.

I also think we are lighting the wrong part(s) of the plant. We know in cannabis only the top 1/3 of the axial flowering branch is producing 80% of the food at flowering. The older leaves are used as sinks for things the plant does not want. Additionally, the plant is stealing Copper from the older leaves and moving [it] to newer leaves.

I also think we are solarizing our plants. [What I mean is that] the excess light not used in photosynthesis is going to waste and is causing problems in maximizing our output. I want some realignment of chloroplasts in the leaves but not past the compensation point of maximum carbohydrate production.

Why are environmental solutions not designed for cannabis? And why do people buy it?

GN Member: Ethan, why do we see less than ideal solutions for temperature, relative Humidity and air movement in the grow space? Why is the equipment not purpose-built, and why do those growers who buy this equipment think it will work? [As] an example, the air flow over a coil is an engineers desire to produce a certain outcome, not one that produces an ideal air flow for any other function such as air movement in the room.

Ethan: This is a question [straight] out of my greenhouse structure design class in college.
There is [one major] point: Grow rooms are different than greenhouse [when it comes to] light control and temperature control.

Both have calculable Delta-T loads for temperature, in both heating and cooling. Greenhouses from the BIG manufactures have this down tos a science, by the part of the country you live in. Nexus and Stuppy build great greenhouses.

[The issue of] Grow rooms [are a matter of] layout. Growers are not thinking about material handling in the production [room]. This is just a maturation issue.

Grow room operators who get it right are going to have the highest gram per square foot-week output with the most consistent product. But, there is a lot of hard science to professionally grow inside. They are also going to be the producers with the best chance of capturing the high-end value in the market. The grow room operator who figures out the whole vertical market is going put their kids through any Ivy league college they want.

GN Member: Growers value VPD, but they do not focus well on the control of vapor pressure in the grow space, typically controlling it indirectly. Thank for your answer.

Ethan: I don’t necessary think industry specific solutions are the answer. We know how to heat and cool large office buildings. And in the USA we do it very well. For example, Honeywell’s environmental solutions are major greenhouse players in Europe for HVAC controls. They cost pennies on the dollar for industry-specific solutions. [The difference is that] Honeywell uses a different sensor density [in] greenhouses than in the people world. They also use a much higher-quality humidity sensor than we see anywhere. The Missouri Botanical Garden retooled its entire People and Greenhouse spaces using Honeywell as a vendor.

Until equipment manufactures give me something unique, why pay a premium? I remember when the first pH pens came on the market. They were expensive. Then we learned that it was cheaper to just throw them out every quarter and buy a new one. I purchased one of the very first computer-based environmental controls systems, [which cost me] about $20k in capital investment to control 16 points. Today I can do the exact same thing with a Raspberry Pi for under $200 and some guy [who] has written a program open source that will monitor and control 1024 points. Why would I spend $20k for a $1k solution?

The bigger question is why are the environmental control manufactures not giving me what I want?

GN Member: Ethan, Some time when you have time, I would like to discuss why I think the suppliers are not providing what is needed.

Ethan: The biggest thing is that suppliers are not listening to growers. The second thing is growers don’t want white papers. They want hard science when making mission critical decisions. The professionals are hardcore floriculturists. They are trying to figure out fact from fantasy.

What producer issues are not being addressed appropriately?

GN Member: Ethan, many great topics…

Can you tell us, in your opinion, what grower/producer issues are not being addressed as they should be? What needs to be pushed to the front of the line?

Ethan: The serious producers, both big and small, need to take sanitation and post-harvest handling more seriously. If you can’t eat off the floor of your post-harvest room, there is a problem. With products like Oxine wt we have a chance to treat cannabis just like any other horticultural crop from a food handling standpoint. Sanitation [has] always [been] a big issue. Cannabis is just going to be harder.

[We also] have the ability to keep our drip lines clean [with the right products]! I don’t have to have a full-time person cleaning drip emitters. Look at a company like Netafim -- they make great products, but there is still a labor [requirement] on the grower side. Oxine would have kept my drip lines clean. We ran 4.5 acres of drip lines all custom-designed and about 80% from Netafim.

We [also] have serious post-harvest problems, which we shouldn’t. We just aren’t leveraging what food science people already know. [For example], how many grows use freeze dryers as part of their harvest operations? It solves lots of the problems we have. Plus, there is a freeze dryer for every size grower -- it’s not just for the big guys. I used a commercial freeze dryer for cannabis in the early 1980’s, [and] it gives you a perfect bud. Exactly the way you want it.

We also have people smoking TOBACCO in our operations. I don’t have any problem with tobacco use, it is a [personal] choice. But, TMV in tobacco products is a real threat in growing operations, and we know TMV affect cannabis. Hemp also has a virus that I am surprised that we don’t see in the cannabis we grow [called] Hemp Stunt Virus.

Where do you see the future of the cannabis industry in 5 years?

GNS: Where do you see the future of the cannabis industry in 5 years?

Ethan: Let me put on my fortune-telling hat!

  • The market will have big Wallymart and Home Despot growers and a number of smaller boutique growers.
  • The boutique growers who figure out branding and vertical marketing are going to be filthy-rich.
  • The genetics people who can give us reliable seeds are going to win that segment.
  • Vegetative propagation is only going to be viable for a tiny group of boutique growers.

The biggest question is what hemp production going to do the cannabis market? Hemp is going to be commodity-priced by fiber quality.

Cannabis as a recreational product has some challenges. We don’t have a good language to talk about cultivars on the production side, nor do we have a good language to talk about the consumer side. On the consumer side, we need to define a language that does not mention any fruit flavors or candy flavors. We should [be able to] describe the sweetness of purple kushes as having a pernod-like flavor with a hint of Angostura Bitters

GNS: I think we can agree that the future is bright for cannabis! As much as I love the idea about naming conventions, I suspect we are a long way from such professional nomenclature!

Ethan: We can dictate the nomenclature as an industry and [choose to] talk in those terms. We should take the wine approach to talking about flavors. I don’t have a clue how we talk about the effects. The flavors is a real and present danger to us as an industry and we need to take the lead. I don’t ever want to see a variety called cotton candy!

The future is very bright. And it is a young-enough industry that the growers of today are going to be the big players of the next generation of growers. Our generation has to teach the next generation what it is to be a good grower. But we also need to document our history, the way the old floriculturists did. Read Geo Ball, or Atlas Burpees or Nelson Coon’s books.

Nelson Coon noted in 1925 that most bad mites glow under black light, I have seen this with my own eyes, in both two-spotted mites and russet mites. Predator mites don’t glow though!

What are your thoughts on osmocote?

GN Member: What do you think about Osmocote?

Ethan: I would think your Cal-Mag feed would be a better choice than Osmocote I like Osmocote, but you have to wait. I use it in my house plants.

You [should] have a feed in your inventory that is the ratio of 1:1:1:1, plus traces. N:P:K:Ca plus traces. I would use this in your soiless mix of choice. Feed CLF at 200 PPM up until two weeks before flowering. If they are hungry up [the mix] to 300ppm. Two weeks before flowering, switch to a bloom booster that has a ratio of 1:3:2:1 plus micros. Do this through flower induction. 200 ppm. Then switch back to your regular feed 1:1:1:1 tapped your feed during flower. Finish the last two weeks with clear water. This should give you the highest THC and the best color.

Also warm roots, cool tops, especially post-flower induction. This will give you the best plants.

Low pH is something I am going to have to try. I see advantages and disadvantages.

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About the Author

Hunter Wilson is a community builder with Growers Network. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 2011 with a Masters in Teaching and in 2007 with a Bachelors in Biology.