Secrets to Growing Great Weed: Genetics, Cultivation, Operations, and Aeroponics?

In increasingly competitive markets, it is crucial to do whatever it takes to maximize profitability and survive in the face of significant headwinds. High selling prices plus high demand and low production costs result in an ideal profitability of the cannabis business. The difference between the two can make the difference between the life and death of your business.

As such, building quality cultivation facilities is critical to running a profitable cannabis business. Growers are looking for new support as they transition from traditional soil or media strategies to more effective growing methods.

One effective technique is aeroponics, which is excellent for growing any plant (including cannabis) in the air in a controlled environment, using less labor, nutrients, and water. Let’s dive deeper into setting up a successful aeroponics operation!

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Climate: environmental protection

We start with the environment. Photosynthesis involves much more than light, plants and moisture. Your goal should be to achieve more than just growing plants. You should want to grow highly profitable crops. That means you need to speed up photosynthesis to allow your plants to grow faster, bigger, and stronger than your competitors.

So it’s important to understand how much moisture your environment can pull from your plants as they break down carbon dioxide and release oxygen and water into the air around them. Therefore, it is necessary to be familiar with the vapor pressure deficit (VPD).

VPD is the amount of “drying power” available in the airflow around your plants. It also measures how much mineral can be taken up by the plant roots and converted into potency and size. We recommend that you have facilities in your grow rooms to keep your environment within 5% of your temperature and humidity specifications for the best results.

humidification/dehumidification

Cultivators often need to pay more attention to the importance of humidification/dehumidification. Because the grow starts at a very humid stage to encourage root development, the humidity in your flower rooms should be gradually reduced from almost 90% to a drier 50% at the end of the flush. You should understand that the critical variables for accelerating growth at all stages are Relative Humidity (RH) and its associated VPD. Therefore, proper humidification/dehumidification is required.

cooling

Temperature control may seem simple, but the heat given off by HPS lights, LED lights, or the sun will vary from room to room, over time, and with the proximity of the plant to the light source. Temperature sensors should be placed in all rooms to detect and activate temperature resources.

airflow

It would be best if you use fans with your cooling, heating, humidifying and dehumidifying systems to mix the air in the room. This will help break down the boundary layer on the leaf surface and allow for better transpiration. As previously mentioned, VPD is essential to growth success. We recommend flow rates of 0.5-1.5 metres/second to suit your genetics and flowering stage.

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Rich, beautiful scents and flavors are produced by good airflow and buds. Every facility must consider aroma management. If you live in a populated area, you have to deal with regulations and neighbors. The best way to achieve this is to reduce the air leaving a facility. It’s also the cheapest option.

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culture media

Since hydroponic and aeroponic systems do not require soil, water serves as the medium and transport system for nutrition. Start with fresh, clean water that contains “nothing.” Nothing in this situation indicates no pesticides, heavy metals, microbes or disease.

The first step is to test your water supply, whether well, above ground, or municipal. This gives you a rough estimate of how “empty” your water is. The water supply changes over time. It is therefore also an important input to assess the water quality with annual or semi-annual tests. Clean water is essential to the success of aeroponics and a great way to reduce production costs. With the right design and management, you can reuse and recycle more than 95% of the water you pump into your facility.

Ultraviolet light (UV)

Organic particles and bacteria can be removed from the water with UV light. The primary application of UV is the purification of water supplies. Nevertheless, it is also important for reclaimed water that you have kept from moisture in your cultivation rooms. A warning though; UV light must be handled with care. Exposure causes sunburn and eye damage, so use this resource with extreme caution.

reverse osmosis (RO)

RO is currently the standard technique for cleaning your incoming water. The process uses pressure filtration, where the water is forced through multiple meshes or filters that block or extract large particles, organics and metals. Typically this is 98% efficient. However, these systems require special attention and management as they contain filters that need to be changed regularly depending on the purity of your water supply and the type of material being screened.

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Dehumidification & Recovery (DEHU)

Trapping the moisture that is absorbed into the environment as plants grow is the most effective way to conserve water in a fast-grow aeroponic grow space. Although DEHU water is efficiently distilled (or particle-free), it may contain healthy bacteria or pathogens that are carried through the air or in the unit’s filters. In general, cleaning with UV light makes this water immediately recyclable in any fertigation system.

Oxygen Reduction Potential (ORP)

An oxidizer can be measured by ORP. Oxidizing treatments are a typical and inexpensive way to disinfect water during and before use in hydroponic systems. During operation, oxidants can be used to assess and manage the “cleanliness” of a nutrient water solution. There are several oxidizing agents, the most common being hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, ozone and chlorine dioxide.

Used fertigation water or “flush”

At the beginning of the flowering cycle, take the clean water and mix it with the exact nutrient salt flower mix before applying it to your plants. Your plants will use up some nutrients during the growth cycle from bloom to harvest. Because the salts and metals in the mix can be removed through the same reverse osmosis process that your spring water goes through, nutrient-rich “flush” water can also be circulated in the spring water supply.

Conclusion

When all of these issues are properly addressed, you can grow cannabis with the best quality and quantity of bud. This guarantees maximum yields for a cannabis grower looking to make a significant profit margin.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.