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Clean, Mean, Growing Machine Growing Coma Kush In Vancouver

Season 1 Episode 4

In this episode of Growing Exposed, we return with garden tour guide Jason Wilcox of the Cannabis in Canada Society into the cleanest facility we’ve seen yet.  Located near the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia, this licensed medical facility  has come up with very creative methods of keeping their weed in check.  If you consider yourself a cannabis connoisseur and are looking for something that’ll make you very relaxed (and by relaxed we mean knocking your socks clean off and putting you straight to bed) the coma kush this facility is growing is definitely worth a try. 

vancouverpano

First things first, though. When growing any plant, light is crucial above all else. How are you supposed to grow plants without the right lighting situation? This facility is using old but gold techniques to ensure they’ve got their light right and under control. Running thirty-six 600 Watt Metal Halide Hortilux bulbs, with one High Pressure Sodium lamp thrown into the mix, they’re giving their plants the perfect cross spectrum lighting that makes them thrive in the vegetative stage.

Having lamps horizontal and vertical seems strange, but there is a solid reason for it. Vertically placed lights allow the terminal buds to get enough light, while top-down lighting allows more light to spread across the top canopy. Ensuring your plants have even light distribution means more uniform maturation of your bud at the end of the bloom stage.

Genetics is also very important when considering medical quality cannabis. Without uniform genetics, you can’t have quality medicine. If you see an even wall of green, that means the genetics are uniform and stable, and genetic stability matters to any grower, whether you’re growing medicine or plants to share with friends. Growing uneven indicates different strains or that the plants are being grown from seed, which is indicative of unstable genetics. If you want a product that kicks some serious ass, you want to be sure that those genetics carry through each and every plant in your grow room.

Hps Lights

But what about the inner workings of the system and setup? A clean facility with sectioned off rooms, professionally wired ballasts and the best nutrient systems and additives available, growing has never been more sophisticated.

Looking at the reservoir, this grower is running a sophisticated line of nutrients: Green Planet Nutrients 4-Part Hydro Fuel base nutrient system, and additives such as Massive Bloom Formulation, Liquid W-8, Pro-Cal, and finishing off with Finisher, these plants have the best spectrum of macro and micronutrients available to them in order to grow big beautiful buds.

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Even though it’s called a feed-to-waste system, this grower doesn’t waste. Water is recycled once a day, filling up a full reservoir with entirely recaptured water. Everywhere we look in this facility, it’s built for top efficiency and minimal waste. Hats off to this grower for reducing their carbon footprint!

It’s pretty obvious by now that this grower has been in the business for a long time, and if something works perfectly, why change it? This facility has thirty 1000 Watt old school core and coil ballasts running optimally 24/7. Having these ballasts running 24 hours, 7 days a week might sound like a hazard, but with all the wiring done professionally by an electrician, the hazard is minimal and the wires are properly organized for optimal efficiency. If you’re going to wire up a bunch of ballasts, you do it right the first time!

Being in the grow room all day every day can definitely take its toll on your body, particularly your eyes. Over time, you can actually go blind from constant and unprotected exposure. Imagine looking directly at the sun, now imagine doing that all the time, all day every day. That’s what working in a grow room is like on your retinas. You may not notice it right away, but eventually you’ll wish you invested in some speciality eyewear. Thankfully, Method Seven Grow Room optics have you and your eyes “covered”.

James is cool

We visit James from Method Seven at their headquarters in Santa Cruz, California. The company began in 2012 designing optics specifically for use under the high-intensity yellow light of HPS lamps. Eventually, they branched off making speciality lenses for other lighting situations, such as LED and MH bulbs, and even make eyewear for solar polarization for outdoor growers and aviation. With eleven different minerals blended into the glass, these made-in-Germany lenses protect your vision from the high intensity light and heat of your chosen lighting situation while also colour-correcting your world so you can see your plants in true colour.

Your typical Ray Bans just don’t cut it when it comes to protecting your eyes. These amazing lenses cover UVA, UVB and UVC light, also blocking out infrared light and dangerous and damaging low-spectrum blue light so your eyes remain cool and clear and unstrained as you work one on one with your plants. If you’re going to be a serious grower, that means you’re going to spend a lot of time in the grow room. Having the right tool for the job, you’ll thank yourself in the future.

Now, if you’re a grower, you want to know the inner workings that make this grow efficient. As cannabis is being legalized and recognized as a legitimate medicine, the cleanliness of grow operations is becoming more and more important as cannabis needs to meet food-grade standards. David Robinson, veteran grower and author of the Grower’s Handbook, tells us why this facility is functioning optimally:

“In lab tests, we’re finding high bacterial counts in a lot of plant material,” explains David. “So, it’s going to be crucial in the future to raise our level of stands in grow room operations and practices so we can have the cleanest and highest quality medicine possible. These gardeners are a fantastic example of that golden path.”

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The fact they have plants suspended over the floor on benches so the floors can be truly clean, and the use of volleyball nets to keep the plants in check is a brilliant use of creativity. Taking workings from other industries and applying them to the grow room to minimize daily labour is also very clever. To have the best medicine, though, you need to know when to harvest. But when is it time to harvest? Jason Wilcox gives us some tips on when to tell those colas are ripe and ready.

HidinWeed

“At this point, I’d go in and look at the trichomes and see whether it’s milky and how much amber is on them so I can determine whether it’s my time to harvest.” Explains Wilcox.

You may also wonder, at the end of your flowering cycle: “Why are my leaves changing colour?” Don’t panic. You know in Autumn, when the trees turn colourful and pretty? This process, called ‘Autumning off’, is basically the same. The plant has spent all its energy growing those sticky buds and is now pulling nitrogen and chlorophyll from its leaves to finish off ripening its flowers. You’ll also notice your pistils (the little hairs that cover your buds) are either standing up or laying down. White pistils that are standing up indicate the bud is not entirely ripe yet, and if you see your pistils are changing colour and starting to fall down, it’s time to harvest.

From growing tips and lighting tricks, down to grow room optics and volleyball netting, this episode of Growing Exposed has covered many bases.

As cannabis is becoming more widely accepted as legitimate medicine, cleanliness in the grow room and meeting food-grade standards is becoming a standard throughout the Canadian cannabis cultivation industry. This particular grower is a prime example of that golden standard and paves the way for more grow operations to follow the same path.

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