When I first got into commercial cannabis cultivation it was during the peak time of prop 215. Growing high grade at scale was tricky back then because of the federal minimum of 5 years on gardens with over 99 plants. The key was to take advantage of the local/state ordinances and work within those parameters. This mindset birthed the large plant gardens that were prominent in Northern California, as most local medical ‘laws’ pertained to plant count, not dried flower. So back then while you may have been allowed just a few dozen plants, the goal was to maximize the yield of each one, squeezing as much product off a harvest as possible.

While this thinking still lingers slightly in our industry, most commercial operations these days operate with large plant populations, and short grow cycles. Growing large plants, is tedious, time consuming, and can be risky if one encounters pest/pathogen pressure. Small plants in containers on forced flowering cycles stay young, healthy, and are much easier to maintain, train, harvest, process etc. 

While the typical cultivation site might look a bit different today than it did back then, they both have the same desired goal, to create as much of the highest grade marijuana possible without compromising quality. 

The foundation of this goal, a goal in which we all as commercial cultivators should strive for in my opinion, is what I refer to as the ‘4 Pillars’ of a successful grow cycle. These are:

• Cultivator
• Genetics
• Environment
• Inputs

Let’s dive into these and understand the importance of each.

The Cultivator—

It isn’t the number of years someone had been growing that makes them a good cultivator, it is being able to listen to what a plant needs and doesn’t need and then respond accordingly. Can you just ‘set it and forget it’ and still yield a lot of product? Sure! That’s easy. But the best gardens are tended to at various levels by cultivators with intention. Knowing the movements your are going to do and want to do, as well as the movements you will make now or never or in the future, these are the insights that set growers apart from each other, and in turn their crops as well.

The Genetics—

The most important and one of the simplest keys to a successful crop is the genetics of the plants you are growing. As cultivators you probably have an idea of the market you are growing for and therefore what type(s) of flower you will cultivate. But are you growing from seed or clone? What is the source of your genetic material? Does it come from clean sources? These questions and many more should be at the forefront of every grower’s mind when dealing with genetic selections for their gardens, as the answers will have profound impacts on the overall quality of the crop. No matter what type of flower you are trying to cultivate, it is imperative to understand the source and quality of the DNA you are introducing into your garden, and it will have a direct correlation to that garden’s success. This is the cornerstone pillar in which all others should be built around.

The Environment—

Plants thrive in very specific conditions. The recent explosion in indoor and greenhouse commercial cultivation has shown that environmental settings are key to optimal plant growth. Understanding the cause and effect of your environment will set you up for smooth sailing on the journey through a grow. You can ruin everything, or have everything be perfect, simply within the environmental world of your grow. Therefore it is crucial to set your area before introducing plants, and to always monitor, note, and log changes you may detect. Controlling mother nature is never perfect and far from easy, but the closer to perfection you can achieve the greater the quality of your grow will be. 

The Inputs—

This is extremely varied depending on your cultivation practices. However, there are some key points that carry across the board. No matter how you grow, the quality of the products and items (feed, soil, soilless medium, water, compost, casting, IPM, lights, whatever!) you use to grow will make a huge impact on the quality of the flower you harvest. Going with chicken manure? Use the best. Salt based fertilizer? Use quality ingredients. Loading the greenhouse with HID fixtures? You want quality bulbs! It isn’t the most expensive products that help us grow the best herb, it’s the highest quality products. They may cost a bit more, they may cost a bit less. The key is to do a lot of research,  it also helps to find out what works well for others in similar situations to you. I also highly recommend research and development spaces to test and sample various products and approaches. 

No matter what type of grow you have, build these pillars and you will have an unbreakable foundation for your cultivation operations.