MJBizMag March 2021 - 50

Chris Ball keeps tabs on what is happening in each grow room at Ball Family Farms using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Courtesy Photo
" Having all that on an Excel sheet helps
us forecast how we're going to operate.
We can forecast how many hours (of
labor) we're going to need on said day if
we're de-leafing, if we're trimming, if we're
transplanting, if we're just watering, " Ball
said. " But we have to forecast it out for the
entire year to be as efficient as possible
throughout the year and not be wasting
money in labor costs, not run into an
issue where we're harvesting two or three
rooms on the same day. "
THE TETRIS METHOD
The planned-out schedule includes buffer
dates in case something goes wrong,
such as an air-conditioner malfunction
or lights blowing out. Otherwise, it
needs to be precise.
" You have to be very diligent and very
meticulous about that, because things
happen, " Ball said. To help coordination,
the Excel cells are all color-coordinated
according to rooms, strains, dates and
various tasks such as de-leafing and watering,
Ball said. He estimated there are
10 categories on that Excel sheet.
" It looks like Tetris, " he joked, referring
to the video game with colorful blocks.
" We have a full-time person paying
attention to this Excel sheet eight hours a
day, because things pop up or go wrong.
Or, we have to get a contractor in to fix
an AC unit, and we have to plan that
because some days a contractor may not
be able to enter the facility because they
might screw up the environment.
" Everything is on a schedule. Because
once we get going, a plant doesn't stop. "
KEEP TO THE CYCLE
To help keep the schedule, Ball Family
Farms follows a cycle where employees
are harvesting rooms every two weeks.
How many rooms you plant is
determined by how much drying
space you have, Ball said. At his grow,
employees plant one to two rooms
at a time because the drying room,
which is about 1,000 square feet, can
accommodate only two rooms worth of
cannabis at a time.
Ball develops his own genetics,
nurturing mother plants that stand
about 7 feet tall. He typically gets 100150
clones from one mother, he said,
and clips a mother plant about every
two weeks.
50 Marijuana Business Magazine | March 2021
Which strains are planted first and
most often depends on their popularity
and growing cycle length, Ball said.
For example, the Daniel LaRusso strain
takes 11 weeks to grow and is the most
popular, so that is planted to start the year,
giving Ball five harvests of that strain.
Some other strains might take only eight
weeks and therefore can be planted later
but still result in roughly six harvests.
" We typically like to (harvest) one
room every two weeks. Since we have
eight rooms, it works out pretty cool for
the month because it's an even number, "
Ball said. " So, four weeks in a month,
there's eight rooms, we go every two
weeks. And we're pretty golden. "
At the same time, when the different
grow cycles converge later in the
calendar year, Ball is ready thanks to the
Excel sheet.
" We can see that months ahead of
time, so we prepare for that, " Ball said.
Omar Sacirbey is a reporter for
Marijuana Business Magazine.
You can reach him at
omar.sacirbey@mjbizdaily.com.

MJBizMag March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBizMag March 2021