All are viable ways to starting a cannabis crop. Here's how to weigh options carefully.

In the ornamental and produce industries, we refer to genetic starting material as “young plants.” This includes seed, clone, and tissue culture. Each type of young plant has its purpose and place for use. For plants with seed lines that contain high heterozygosity (lots of genetic variability) or do not produce seed at all, clonal production is the only way to produce a consistent crop. For plants which are homozygous with consistent genetics, seed is an easy, inexpensive choice. Tissue culture is a method of reproducing plants clonally in sterile culture. In cannabis production, all three options are commonly used, all for different reasons.

Seed is a great choice for cannabis propagation. Seeds are readily available, inexpensive, and come with a low risk of carrying pest or disease. That said, for most cannabis growers, plants grown from seed are not consistent enough to grow vegetatively and flower. Consumers expect consistency in product, so variation is avoided.

Starting from seed usually means cannabis growers must go through a “pheno-hunt” prior to incorporating the seed into commercial production. A pheno-hunt is a technique of germinating seedlings, taking matched clones from each seedling, flowering each seedling and then choosing the phenotype with the most desirable traits, from chemical composition to pest and disease resistance and physical attributes. From here, the seedling becomes a clonal plant, which can then go into commercial production or into tissue culture. This is a great process to find a unique phenotype for an operation but can take a significant amount of time to determine the right selection.

Seed can carry diseases such as Fusarium spp. and tobacco mosaic virus internally and on the coat, so it’s important to surface sterilize them to prevent spread.

Also important to remember is that cannabis is monoecious (male and female flowers grow on separate plants). This means if regular seed (non-feminized) is purchased for cannabinoid production, about half of those seeds will be male and useless (unless the grower is conducting breeding work). To save time and space, seedlings can be genetically tested when leaves are about the size of a quarter. Depending on volume, this can cost $5 to $15 per test but can save a lot of wasted space in the long run.

The other option is to buy feminized seed. These yield self-pollinating plants produce all female seed, but many times true males or hermaphrodites will appear. This is a risk, as males or hermaphrodites could spread pollen in the room, pollinating female flowers and forcing those plants to direct energy to seed production instead of cannabinoid production.

Many cannabis growers start their crops from clones. Clones provide a true replication of the desired phenotype and yield a consistent crop. Compared to many other plant species, cannabis is easy and fast to propagate.

Clones originate from internally pheno-hunted seed or are bought from a cannabis nursery. Many growers do not have space to conduct a scaled pheno-hunt, so buying from a nursery can be a fast way to incorporate a phenotype that has already undergone a rigorous selection process. This saves time, space and money. Ordinarily, pheno-hunting can take at least three months to select a specific phenotype and ramp up numbers for production. If clones are bought, they can be incorporated into production after quarantining. Additionally, the flowering space required to pheno-hunt could equate to lost revenue if the seed lineage produces poor quality flower or males/hermaphrodites.

There is risk of bringing in diseases or pests on clones. Always ask the nursery about their integrated pest management (IPM) protocols and how often they send in their stock for pathogen testing. Having a quarantine area for new incoming genetics also is crucial. Plant health issues, especially those caused by insects, that may not be immediately obvious could manifest during the quarantine period and before infecting the crop.

Broken down, these are the stages of micropropagation:

Stage I - Establishment: Explant (plant tissue) disinfecting and stabilization

Stage II - Multiplication: Shoot multiplication

Stage III - Root formation: In vitro (in sterile culture) or ex vitro (outside of sterile culture) root formation

Stage IV - Acclimatization: Transfer and acclimation to greenhouse/indoor environment

The origins of plant tissue culture can be traced to Austrian botanist Gottlieb Haberlandt, who studied tissue culture at the beginning of the 20th century. The 1940s to 1960s were an exciting time in understanding plant behavior and technique in cell culture, but it was not until the 1990s that it truly found a place in commercial horticulture. Tissue culture provided a way for commercialization of certain plant species, such as orchids, that otherwise could not occur. Tissue culture of the root tips at that time was the only way to produce a virus-free plant.

Tissue culture is becoming more widely used in the cannabis industry. (Home kits are even sold at hydroponics shops.) However, before implementing this technology in a cultivation operation, it is imperative to understand the science. The industry is weeding out the businesses looking to take advantage of customers with false product claims. But there is still misleading information out there of which growers and businesses considering purchasing tissue cultured plants for their facility, refining their genetics, or looking for a genetic banking option need to be aware.

Tissue culture is the culture of plant cells (tissues or organs) in an aseptic (sterile) and environmentally controlled vessel. Light is provided for photosynthesis, and the plants also are provided with carbohydrates (sugars). Within the umbrella definition of tissue culture is micropropagation (MP). Micropropagation is the tissue culture technique of vegetative plant multiplication. Put simply, micropropagation can be thought of as sterile cloning in a small, controlled vessel.

So why would someone go to this length when cloning cannabis can be so easy? Because having clean plants is imperative! Pesticide use in cannabis is highly regulated, so choices for control are minimal. The ability to start with a clean slate will save time, money, prevent loss, and yield higher quality product. This is a great way for breeders to move their germplasm repository out of the growing facility and “bank” plants in a safe, secure, and sterile area, which can be used later. There are many other benefits to MP, especially for growers who do not have an in-house laboratory.

There are four stages to micropropagation (see sidebar above). In Stage I, the growing points are harvested as explants to disinfect and stabilize. The first step is surface sterilization, which, in-house, is usually done by an explant dip into a bleach or alcohol mixture. This eliminates insects and surface pathogens.

One tissue cultured sample can cost five to 10 times more than seed, so growers must be certain they are getting what they pay for. A proper tissue culture facility should be screening for eight or more viruses and viroids, and a list of well over 10 fungi and bacteria in Stage I. If proper screening is not done within Stage I, the service is no more valuable than an in-house dip.

To ensure MP is more valuable than an in-house dip, it’s important for growers to ask labs: What are the steps used to ensure any systemic pathogen is removed? Some tissue culture companies prefer to use antibiotics and fungicides to ensure a clean explant, but potential drawbacks to this procedure include chemical resistance, lingering pesticide in the plant material, and pollution from excess chemical use in the laboratory. Other labs will grow and transfer plant material to new vessels until the pathogen no longer expresses itself on the medium. The latter option can take longer, for obvious reasons.

Regardless of the cleaning method, the cutting is not 100% guaranteed to be clean until the plantlet is sent to a pathology clinic and screened. Growers should ask the laboratory not only if it screens, but again for how many pathogens. If it only can provide two or three, with one of those being botrytis, growers should dig deeper to find out why. If the lab claims it cannot screen in-house, growers can suggest a pathology clinic the lab can work with to guarantee clean material.

One pathogen that is commonly present and should be screened for is Fusarium spp. This fungal disease is a silent killer that only shows itself in the highest of stress conditions and usually late into flower. Traditionally, the symptoms were associated with poor growing techniques or improper fertilization, but now, with testing, growers can manage this disease properly.

Understanding the stage and type of plant growers are receiving back from the laboratory also is important to know when making a tissue culture lab selection. Just because a company is marketing MP liners does not mean the liner itself was in tissue culture; the liner could be a clone from a plant that was in tissue culture months ago. Many companies will produce mother stock from such MP plants that are used for a clonal propagation program. This can be a great practice, especially when in-house stock is exchanged at regular intervals. That said, once a plant enters a greenhouse, it is no longer sterile. Without proper IPM, this once-clean plant can become infected, making the MP step useless.

Labs that provide Stage III plants have two plant options they can deliver: plants that have been rooted within or outside the sterile container. In most cases, both scenarios are safe, yet growers should still ask for details. For example, if roots are established outside the sterile container in a greenhouse under mist, this could be a source of new disease inoculation.

Genetic banking via tissue culture is an option to store and preserve germplasm for long periods of time for clonal plants. There are many reasons a grower may want to enter genetics into in vitro banking. Square footage in a permitted grow facility is expensive, and vegetative space can be limited. This method allows growers to store genetics they may wish to breed or simply reintroduce into commercial rotation later. This also allows a company to hold on to valuable genetics without needing space for a mother plant.

Genetic banking also can serve as clean stock back up. For example, imagine a grower’s three top-selling genetics that are always in rotation suddenly become diseased and must be destroyed. If there are already clean plants in MP, that grower is a step ahead. On the flip side, if that grower waits to undergo MP until they realize their plants are diseased, getting a plant to a point of reintroduction can take upwards of six months if there is low disease pressure. Also, note that reintroducing an MP plant from long-term banking can take a couple months.

In cannabis, everything starts from seed, but it is up to each grower to decide the best business decision for what happens after that seed has popped.

Allison Justice, Ph.D. owns and operates The Hemp Mine, a South Carolina-based, vertically integrated hemp company.

Coupled with friendly service, a solid return policy will build trust with your patients and consumers, and keep them coming back.

Our adult-use industry is still less than five years old. That means everyone working in cannabis is a pioneer—we are all new to this. We are all defining what the cannabis industry is all about.

As a whole, I believe those of us who have chosen to work in the cannabis industry have done an exceptional job. Together, we have shaped an industry founded on the pillars of compliance, product quality and customer service. It’s the third pillar that I want to address here.

Various facets are involved in customer service. They include being nice to people, as well as having a fair, or even more than fair, return policy. And because our industry is so new, it is about education.

There is a huge educational process that is involved in what we do—the truly savvy consumers are few and far between. On a daily basis, we have customers come through the door with limited information about cannabis, including all of the various products we now have to offer, from flower to concentrates to edibles and more. We have a responsibility to be on the front lines so that our customers’ first, second or even third time walking through the door isn’t a terrifying, intimidating experience. As we aim for this industry to grow, these inexperienced cannabis consumers are our industry’s next loyal customers.

So, what can all of us do to ensure that we are making cannabis loyalists out of these newbies, whether it’s the professional woman in her 30s or the retirees in their 60s or 70s? What can we do to engage these new customers?

First, let’s be honest. We don’t want that first-time user to “overdo it” and have a horrifying experience only to never return again. Let’s make sure that our operating procedures include having someone at the front door to greet everyone because sometimes it’s intimidating to ask even the more basic questions such as, “How many milligrams is the right amount?” or “What’s the difference between smoking a joint and a vape?” If we want to build our industry into new markets, it’s crucial we are there introducing ourselves to everyone who comes through our doors and putting them at ease.

The next facet of customer service is the return policy. Nordstrom’s return policy is legendary. It accepts all returns at any time, and in that policy, it has built a reputation for excellent customer service that is synonymous with the company. None of us love returns, but what do we love? Great reputations and loyal customers. There’s no easier way to establish loyalty than simply saying “yes” when it comes to returns.

At The Green Solution (TGS), we have developed a “no-questions-asked” policy, allowing any customer to return any product for any reason. Our return policy is a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, which allows consumers to return any product that they are unsatisfied with, at any use level, for any reason. To facilitate a return, the customer is asked to bring the product to the store location where it was purchased, per state regulations. The customer must also have a copy of the receipt or have a loyalty account that may be used to look up the transaction. One of our retail associates will complete the return and issue a store credit, which customers may use at any TGS location statewide, per regulations.

Integrating that policy into our procedures has proven to be extremely successful. For one, it’s easy. It’s difficult to say ‘no.’ Saying ‘no’ causes our customers anxiety, our employees anxiety—it’s so much easier for everyone to just say ‘yes.’ The added benefit is with our employees—employee morale is much higher when they’re on the front lines with happy customers who know the employees are empowered to resolve any issues quickly and efficiently.

We have also found that whenever there are excessive constraints on a return policy, there are immediately two negative effects: one, your customer is already upset that a product didn’t meet their expectations; and two, this negative experience and laborious solution only leads customers to damage your company’s reputation in the market. This is especially harmful within the cannabis industry, where there are limited marketing channels available and where industry knowledge is important to the success of your company.

We work with numerous local vendors and want them to be held to the same standards that we hold ourselves to, outlining in their contracts that all returned products are marked as that vendor’s responsibility. This sets a high standard for our vendors to deliver their best products, and we track each company on an internal scorecard to be evaluated quarterly on performance. If specific companies are not meeting our standards, they are put on probation. If they continue to perform inadequately, they are removed from our stores.

While we don’t require customers to share why they are returning a product, we do ask for feedback on what they didn’t like about the product being returned. This feedback is aggregated and directed to the quality control rep within the product department responsible for missing that customer’s expectations, which, in turn, is used to evaluate possible product improvements.

Have we encountered people who have taken advantage of our policy? Absolutely—but those numbers are few, and the positive outcomes from our policy far outweigh any associated costs or negatives. Fortunately, we have not encountered any serial returners thus far.

One recent example of how our return policy turned into a loyal customer was with an elderly woman who came into one of our stores looking for products to provide pain relief from multiple physical ailments. She was on a budget and didn’t have the means to purchase a variety of products to determine what worked best for her. So, she used our return policy to try two different topical options. Eventually, she found that our Heal Line Nerve Salve provided a great deal of relief to her ailments and she has become a repeat customer.

Finally, let’s talk about friendliness. It has been shown that employees who work for companies that inspire friendliness are more satisfied with their jobs. What do business owners love? Low costs, low turnover and high productivity. So, why not make that part of your operation, and do so at every level? Our standard at The Green Solution is to be friendly to everyone. Our customers, our co-workers, our managers and subordinates. That mood is contagious, and it makes your customers want to spend their time at your dispensary.

How many times have you gone out to dinner and had the experience tarnished because the hostess was rude? We are building this industry from the ground up—and we want everyone to say, whether they’re going to your competition or to you, that buying cannabis is always a pleasant experience.

Even though this industry is new, we also know it’s a competitive business. If you want that edge—and let’s be honest, we all do—customer service is key. We all work hard to make sure that person is walking through our doors, and once they have, what can we do to keep them? It all comes down to customer service, and as the pioneers, as the people shaping what it means to be in the cannabis industry, let’s do it right.

Brad Speidell is the chief dispensing officer for The Green Solution.

Part III of a three-part series from longtime CBT columnist Kenneth Morrow: Things can quickly go awry in a delicate, tightly controlled environment. Closely monitor and address these issues with your crops, inputs and facility.

Indoor cannabis producers have equipment that gives them incredible power: They can create and control their own suns (aka lighting systems), have a plethora of automation tools available to cut down on manual labor, and can fine-tune their temperature, humidity and other environmental conditions to whatever best suits their crops.

With great power, however, comes great responsibility. Without proper due diligence and constant monitoring, one small slip up can lead to cultivators “bombing” an entire flowering room to cut losses on a pest-infected or damaged crop. A bigger mistake can lead to facility contamination and losing even more work.

Here are three common problems that can afflict an indoor cannabis facility and tips on how to troubleshoot them so growers can avoid losing their crop, and their shirt.

(Editor’s Note: This is part 3 in a three-part series. Read part 1 on troubleshooting greenhouse problems here and part 2 on addressing outdoor issues here.)

An indoor grower’s HVAC system is one of the most valuable assets to the operation. Without a properly calibrated HVAC system, there is no way a grower can maintain an optimal environment for cannabis cultivation. Luckily (relatively speaking), a faulty HVAC component can typically be easy to spot, as its effects on room temperature and humidity should not take long to manifest. Significantly warmer or colder rooms compared to set ranges, condensation on walls, or rooms that leave growers with dry throats because humidity is too low are all signs that the HVAC system needs servicing.

All HVAC systems must be regularly serviced—at least quarterly—and maintained to operate efficiently. Many systems come with periodic servicing that is covered either by the manufacturer or an independent contractor (growers should consider asking HVAC suppliers about their warranty and servicing policies when shopping for systems). During scheduled visits, independent contractors will perform a systems check on the HVAC unit. Growers with engineering backgrounds or with an engineer on staff can forgo these visits and calibrate their own equipment. Otherwise, it’s best to leave the fine-tuning to independent contractors and service experts.

Thermostats also should be calibrated periodically. Signs of defective thermostats can include: elevated temperatures during the wintertime, cooling or heating staying active for too long, and/or cooling or heating not kicking on fast enough. Verifying that the thermostats are functioning properly can be done prior to the winter/summer seasons to ensure efficient operation. Growers should make sure their contractor or engineer verifies the differential (the point at which the system kicks in or turns off) is properly set.

It doesn’t take long for a contaminant to proliferate in a tightly controlled environment because, as it turns out, the ideal climate for cannabis happens to be the ideal climate for many of the plant’s afflictions.

In most facilities, there are four main potential sources of contamination:

Each contamination source requires a different approach after the pest and/or disease outbreak has been addressed or contained. Besides regular maintenance of their ventilation systems, growers in wildfire-prone areas where smoke and ash can fill the air at certain times of the year should strongly consider incorporating a HEPA filtration system to clean the incoming air from all pests, molds, diseases and other contaminants. Considering the 2020 West Coast wildfires were the worst in recorded history, and data shows that they’ve been getting progressively worse over the past decade, it stands to reason that more fires will happen in the future.

If HEPA filtration is not possible, growers also can purchase a multi-stage, pre-filtration system to prevent ash and smoke from contaminating the HVAC equipment and smoke from entering the cultivation rooms. To ensure best results, the multi-stage system should be custom designed in collaboration with the system manufacturer.

Contaminations can sometimes come from staff members and visitors not properly adhering to sanitation protocols. All visitors should be required to wear Tyvek suits (or another covering over their normal clothes) and either wear shoe coverings or step into a disinfecting cleaning solution to clean the bottom of their shoes. Pharmaceutical-grade facilities also should create a barrier with a clean room equipped with air blowers that can decontaminate visitors and personnel each time they walk into the facility. Cultivation staff should be scouting for pests and diseases within the crop, not be a vector for introducing them.

All cultivation inputs that are being introduced into the facility, including soil, should be quarantined away from the rest of the production areas to ensure that pests aren’t being brought in by an unwitting soil shipment. The same applies to any and all new genetics and clones, even those from trusted breeders and seed producers.

If all the climate systems are confirmed to be functioning properly and there are no pest and disease vectors, yet the crop is still struggling, or worse, dying, growers must look at their nutrient delivery system.

As stated in the two previous articles in this series, it is very important to be proactive when it comes to maintaining and servicing watering and fertigation systems. Broken filters, drippers and pipes, as well as leaks can all cause major problems for a grower if left unchecked, from imbalanced nutrient delivery to water-borne infections.

Growers can potentially spot a leak or a busted pipe by looking at how the plants are performing in different areas of the room. For example, if plants near the room’s entrance (and thus at the front of the fertigation line) are healthy but start to wilt after the first dozen, then growers can look to see if there are any blockages or leaks causing the nutrient solution to not be delivered to those yellowing plants.

In the case of a blockage, growers can thoroughly clean and disinfect both the inside and outside of irrigation systems using a 10:1 water-to-hydrogen peroxide solution. Pre-mixed cleaning products also offer similar results in a ready-made solution.

Yellowing plants also can be a sign of nutrient deficiency, lockout and/or an antagonistic effect. Nutrient lockout can be avoided simply by monitoring runoff water and determining how much of each element the crops are taking up. If plants are yellowing and the pH is outside of normal ranges, antagonistic effects might be preventing the plant from accessing important nutrients. A thorough flush of the crop and subsequent nutrient adjustment should address the issue within five days.

If the fertigation system seems fine upon thorough inspection, verify whether the plants are too close to the lighting system. High-pressure sodium (HPS) and metal-halide (MH) systems generate a lot of heat when the lights are on and can cause yellowing and burning if the plants are too close to the light source. Likewise, while light-emitting diodes (LEDs) don’t generate as much heat as HPS or MH systems, placing plants too close to the fixture can cause “bleaching,” where the tips of the plants turn white from being so close to the intense light source.

Murphy’s Law tells us that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. By being vigilant and proactive about problems whenever possible, growers can eliminate, or at least minimize, any and all potentials for disaster.

Kenneth Morrow is an author, consultant and owner of Trichome Technologies. Facebook: TrichomeTechnologies Instagram: Trichome Technologies k.trichometechnologies@gmail.com

Evaluate product selection, market demand and operation requirements to choose the right systems for your company.

As a business owner, operator, and consultant, I have purchased, used, and recommended several extraction instruments including butane, CO2, ethanol and solventless. The type of extraction you plan to perform is just one aspect of selecting the right equipment for your facility. Here are some key considerations to note when evaluating a new extraction or distillation machine:

We tend to focus on the most expensive, primary unit for the lab, but manufacturing is a process with multiple systems and people working together. Understanding this is key to prevent bottlenecks and inefficiencies. We tend to dismiss the downtime required for cleaning, loading, unloading and repairs. For example, do not project a 24/7 productivity, because you will fall short. Furthermore, make sure that the units you select have the necessary safety ratings to avoid licensing approval delays from building and fire departments (for more info on extraction equipment safety, see the Cannabis Business Times story "Buyers Beware"). Good consultants and engineers will be able to help with this.

The level of expertise required to run a machine efficiently and effectively varies greatly. Hiring qualified talent with technical knowledge (preferably science degrees) and experience operating the machines you are purchasing will help you avoid a lengthy learning curve and mistakes that will likely end up costing you more money and time. For example, one machine I evaluated for a client could not be left unattended for more than 15 minutes. Understanding the number of people required to operate the instrument is important to running an efficient operation. Good recruiters can be a worthy investment to find the right people for your company.

Rudy Ellenbogen is the founder and CEO of Whole Grow, where he works with select clients to develop their business strategy, design and operations based on his successful industry track record.

Cannabis cultivation information for growers, from breeders.

Raspberry Boogie can achieve more than 1 gram per watt indoors and also performs well outdoors.

Indoors, Raspberry Boogie finishes in a quick 58 days. She will finish by the end of September outdoors in northern climates from Washington to Maine.

Raspberry Boogie grows well under light-emitting diode (LED) and high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting when the plants’ branches are trained open to allow high intensity light to penetrate the canopy and maximize yields.

When growing under LED lighting, Raspberry Boogie can handle temperatures of up to 82°F. However, when using HID lighting, it is recommended to keep room temperatures below 78°F to preserve the aromatic profile.

Raspberry Boogie produces a high amount of bud sites that fill in. Frequent, even watering is highly recommended (one to two liters per day if a coco medium is used).

Keeping relative humidity at less than 55% is recommended to avoid mold and mildew.

Raspberry Boogie likes to eat! Don’t be afraid to feed her well with a special emphasis on silica and calcium/magnesium. Aim for an EC level of 1.5 to 2.0 depending of growth stage, with the 2.0 figure being the target in flowering.

Raspberry Boogie has high amounts of THC-A ranging between 25% and 30%.

Raspberry Boogie has distinctive aromas of rich, raspberry scents with citrus notes.

Air circulation is an important aspect when growing Raspberry Boogie, as tight flower colas make plants susceptible to powdery mildew.

Raspberry Boogie is our best-selling strain and is being grown commercially and recreationally across the globe. A feminized version of Raspberry Boogie will be released in spring 2021.

Cannabis Business Times’ interactive legislative map is another tool to help cultivators quickly navigate state cannabis laws and find news relevant to their markets. View More