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There are always going to be people who want to sniff the cork, know what kind of wood the guitar was made with and how many milligrams of THC is in the flower. Extremophiles exist in every ecosystem. A select few that have a need to work the edges. The places where the majority of organisms don’t go - thermal vents on the bottom of the sea, super arid deserts, the dark corners of the internet and New Jersey.
What they are not is the great mass of people who just pop and pour, go to Guitar Center and partake of gummies or cannabis beverages without knowing the fine details of those products. The majority of people are looking for good enough products. Something that doesn’t break the bank… or just break.
Cannabis is getting ready to turn the page. The hardcore subculture will always exist. There are still people who distill their own moonshine but most folks go to the corner store for their bottle. It may not be as potent, but you can drink it all night and the label looks nice. Why would the evolution of weed be any different?
Once cannabis products are allowed on mainstream store shelves the focus on extreme potency will blow away. Grown ups will treat weed like that after dinner glass of wine. For a few that might be Chateau Cheval Blanc, but for most of us, it will be whatever is on sale at the corner store.
Pound Sand
This week I had the pleasure of catching up with Brad Hull, principal engineer of Integrated Water Process. Seven years ago, Brad and I met while he walked one of the facilities I oversaw. He recommended some improvements in the design of our cultivation water process and irrigation systems. At the time, the recommendations from some young guy from the Midwest seemed a bit, let’s say, offensive given the reality that we were leading the nascent cannabis industry. As we mutually reflected on that experience in our conversation, I shared that he had ultimately been right, and he was apologetic about the brash nature of his recommendations.
During our conversation, I asked Brad what he has been seeing out there in the field and the common challenges operators have been facing.
A lot of things can go wrong in a cultivation facility, but if plants don’t get water, it's game over. We have been working with operators big and small to help people simplify their water management by incorporating water-related design planning into the building design from day one.Water infrastructure needs to be considered carefully and collectively. For instance, are you ever going to collect condensate water? Do you intend to recirculate the runoff? If so, how do these issues affect water quality, budgets, and schedule? What is the capability of your cultivation team? Do you have a preventative maintenance plan? There has been some hesitation in paying for these things up front so we set them up with phased plans to be able to incrementally invest in improvements to their water infrastructure without having to bomb everything and start over. The reality is that the ROI from preventing even a single crop loss seems well worth it
I always joke that the job of a cultivator is fundamentally simple. It’s just figuring out how to best deliver light, air, water and nutrients to a plant. That may be grossly simplifying the job, but on some level I do think this is still the case. Focus on the fundamentals (i.e. water),surround yourself with trusted people, and your life becomes much easier
OTHER NEWS
If you want to know where the action is, just follow the money. People may not be investing as much in cannabis but when they do the money is largely going to New York, California and Florida. California may be a little of a surprise, but the sheer size of the state and its historic importance to cannabis makes sense. New York is still a mess but it is the land where brands are made. Eventually the winners there will gain a larger foothold throughout the US.
“There is a moment in each day that Satan cannot find”
Thanks for reading,
d