May 2019 - 34

PRODUCTION
Also you want to be able to
efficiently move through your
harvest. You want a perpetual
harvest, where you have a
separate space for clones and
mothers, and then separate veg
and flower rooms. By doing that
you can cycle through and achieve
a perpetual harvest.
MS: Growers need to set up a
perpetual growth scenario, like
Will is talking about. Every two
weeks you want to be harvesting,
while simultaneously taking
cuttings and starting the process
over again. You really don't
want to try and cram the entire
workload into a couple weeks
where you're harvesting thousands
of plants and need extra labor.
With a perpetual cycle, you're also
providing products to customers on
a consistent basis.
With greenhouses, we see a lot
of light deprivation systems. Would
you suggest that to growers?
MS: Yes. An automated blackout
greenhouse can increase
profitability by not only creating a
year-round grow space, but with
the built-in automation, grows
can also reduce labor costs. It's a
win-win.
WK: If you're just producing
Where do you
starts for field production, probably
not, but everybody else can benefit
from an automated light dep.
greenhouse. If you use a blackout
system in a greenhouse, you'll be
able to control the photo period and
get more turns a year. Therefore,
profits are increased. Additionally,
blackout systems can be helpful if
you're in a populated area that has
light pollution laws.
Anything else you want to
add to help growers set up their
cannabis op?
WK: Growers need to know the
If you want your business to perform better,
grow stronger, and be positioned for whatever
the future brings, there's no better place to
belong than AmericanHort.
For more than 220 years, we've been the green industry's leading association, answering
your questions, representing you in government, and connecting you with other
horticultural professionals at our annual trade show, Cultivate.
Join us today, and see how
we're better together.
area and town they'll be dealing
with. I see a lot of growers that just
try to buy the cheapest land they
can find and then they figure they'll
deal with the town later. They need
to make sure the town is open to the
idea of growing cannabis and the
methods the grow will be using. Talk
to the town first, because they're
going to be a much larger headache
then than the additional cost for
purchasing land ever would be.
MS: I'm a big fan of adequate
circulation and ventilation, because
operations can maximize the crop's
growth rate and metabolism by
controlling those factors. Growers
should definitely take that into
consideration. That's how growers
get those massive yields. They're
really dialing in their environment
to support the growth processes
that's going on inside these
cannabis plants.
Christopher Machnich is a digital
marketing manager for GrowSpan
Greenhouse Structures (www.
GrowSpan.com). He is a cannabis
industry enthusiast that loves reading
and providing content for the many
industry publications.
AmericanHort.org/Join
34 MAY 2019 GPNMAG.COM
go to grow?
http://www.GrowSpan.com http://www.AmericanHort.org/Join http://www.GPNMAG.COM
May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2019
