Marijuana Business Magazine March 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | March 2020 112 QuestionoftheMonth | Planning for Spring Planting How do you spend the winter preparing for spring planting? E ach month we survey a group of marijuana industry executives and ask them an important industry question. We welcome your suggestions for topics. Email us at magazine@mjbizdaily.com . For outdoor growers, it’s almost time to put seeds and/or seedlings in the ground. But getting to this point takes preparation, so we asked outdoor cultivators: How do you spend the winter preparing for spring? By Omar Sacirbey Lauren Fortier Outdoor Cultivation Manager, Theory Wellness, Stoneham, Massachusetts We spend our winter season reading over records from the past growing season, selecting varieties and phenotypes that were the best performers in regard to potency, yield and pest resistance. We use this data to select varieties to run again and then take the winter months to strategically add to our catalog of new varieties. Using the previous year’s knowledge of pest pressures, we selectively choose companion plants and beneficial biodiversity to add in the form of annual and perennial herbs, flowers and vegetables as a large part of our cultural integrated pest management practice. At the start of this new year, we are amending our soil beds and getting ready to germinate for an early spring in our greenhouses. Kris Jacobson Director of Cultivation Operations, Hawaiian Ethos, Kailua Kona, Hawaii In Hawaii, we can grow sun-grown cannabis year-round, with winter being our prime growing season. At Hawaiian Ethos, we put a lot of energy into profiling our genetic library, determining which cultivars do best in the long season (summer = longer, hotter days) versus the short season (winter = shorter, colder days) and how genetic expression varies for each cultivar harvest to harvest, season to season. It takes many crop cycles to gather information, and knowing when to start a cultivar is key to having a successful grow here in Hawaii. We prepare year-round and are constantly in the process of pheno-hunting, growing out moms, cutting clones and vegging plants before sending them to flower with our natural light cycle. Having more than one growing season gives a unique seasonality to our process and finished products. It’s a great opportunity to work with the elements and abundance of light that Hawaii provides. Joe Frey Chief Operating Officer, Western States Hemp Co., Fallon, Nevada Western States Hemp utilizes regenerative agricultural practices, so planning began before the last harvest even occurred. As soon as last year’s hemp crop was removed, we spread compost based on our nutrient-management plan, then very lightly tilled the surface to accelerate decay of organic matter remaining in the field. Hemp breaks down beautifully. We then planted a cover crop that will place nitrogen into the soil and protect our hemp from weeds in the growing season. Winters are also spent analyzing and creating new genetics based on markets, movements to government regulations and the individual climate where they will be grown. Right now, we are spending most of our time focused on ramping up our cloning operations to be able to provide millions of hemp plants for the 2020 season. Cedar Grey CEO, Siskiyou Sungrown, Grants Pass, Oregon Over the winter, we prepare for the coming season in many ways. We process, grade and weigh last season’s crop before potency analysis. With this data and our field notes recording resistance to weather extremes, insect damage and fungal infection, we design our planting plan. We then cre- ate our breeding plan and cross specific genetics to create feminized seed. The field was turned and planted with cover crop in the fall, so it’s put to bed until spring. We build compost from field and farm waste materials, perform infrastructure repairs, analyze the previous season for areas of improvement, plan the coming season and begin to source and gather materials.