Cannabis growers can lessen their environmental effect by using less water, fewer extra nutrients, and less trash by maintaining good soil.
Using what is frequently referred to as “living soil” is one popular strategy for achieving these objectives.
A planting medium, typically compost, that is alive with microorganisms, such as worms and their castings, protozoa, good bacteria, amoebas, kelp extract, and even glacial rock dust, is referred to as living soil.
That contrasts with the typical method of growing cannabis, which involves soaking soil or other grow media in synthetic fertilizers before discarding them once the plants have grown.
Cannabis cultivated in living soil can also produce strong plants that use less pesticide and fungicide to protect themselves from disease and predators.
fiscally savvy
According to proponents of living soil, cannabis can be grown with equivalent yields with fewer resources and at a lower cost.
According to Tom Moylan, director of cultivation for Culta, a marijuana business with headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, that operates an outdoor grow, “Living soil is considerably cheaper in the long term.”
The initial cost of constructing that soil with organic inputs may be higher than the initial cost of using alternative grow media. But according to Moylan, Culta will begin saving money by the second year.
According to Moylan, Culta required 20 tons of dirt to begin its grow operation. Those 20 tons would have needed to be renewed each year if the company hadn’t been employing living soil.
The fact that we add the soil and mix the nutrients the first year and then place it in the raised beds means that a living-soil raised bed has a significant benefit, according to Moylan.
The production facility for Culta is located in Cambridge, Maryland, which is close to the ocean. Moylan wants to replicate that area’s ecosystem, which includes the raised growing beds’ sandy soil base.
Culta applies cover crops, like as clover, to the soil to aerate it and lessen soil erosion. Clover also replenishes the nitrogen in the soil, removing the need to synthetically add it.
According to Moylan, this kind of farming thrives through periods of drought and intense heat because the soil naturally holds moisture.
Every grow season, if not every few months, Culta sends batches of soil to be evaluated by a soil expert and a cannabis lab to make sure the plants are getting the right quantity of nutrients.
Spare not
In addition to the cost benefits, living soil can significantly reduce the number of trips to the landfill and the amount of water used overall.
Director of growing operations at Hava Gardens, a cannabis business in western Colorado that runs a greenhouse cultivation facility, Brie Kralick, says her business prevents the waste of tens of thousands of pounds of soil annually.
She stated that the annual savings from not purchasing new soil amounted to about $80,000.
Cannabis plants don’t need to be flushed at the conclusion of their flowering cycle, which means they don’t need to be heavily irrigated to flush away the flavor synthetic fertilizers leave in the plant. This is another way living soil lowers waste.
Additionally, Hava Gardens makes an effort to recycle its wastewater for on-site landscaping and has plans to do so for a herb garden that will grow the ingredients for the compost tea that is frequently made by living-soil cultivation operations.
There are undoubtedly additional uses for that water, according to Kralick.
Hava Gardens, like Culta, modifies its soil additives in response to information it receives after sending soil samples to a lab.
Kralick frequently assesses nutrient concentrations, including those of potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
A grower can send a sample out for as low as $50, but the cost increases if more information is needed.
Kralick advises growers to think about sending in tissue samples in addition to soil tests, since this will provide a grower with more quick input on how plants are doing.
You’ll be able to decide more wisely, she replied. We constantly strive to maximize yield.
Kralick advises reading books about organic growing techniques by Jeff Lowenfels, the author of the “Teaming With…” series, for gardeners who are new to using living soil.
lengthy game
It takes time and effort to develop good soil, but if done properly, the growing medium will only get better with time.
Brian Malin, the founder and CEO of Vital Grown, a cannabis flower business with headquarters in Ukiah, California, claimed as much.
Make long-term judgments rather than hasty ones, he advised. “A lot of folks notice a steady improvement over time.”
Better yields result from these enhancements, which also include higher floral terpene and cannabinoid concentrations as well as higher biomass resin concentrations sold to extractors.
Synthetic fertilizers might result in a little larger production, but you risk losing terpenes and cannabinoids in the process.
