The world of cannabis cultivation has undergone vast shifts over the past decade, moving more and more to controlled greenhouses and large indoor facilities. These grow facilities are highly regulated, equipped with advanced climate control systems and dedicated post-harvest rooms.
In this new world, precision and control are paramount at every stage of the process. Today's cannabis growers leverage advanced technologies and techniques to consistently produce the highest-quality cannabis buds possible.
One such grower, Elad Spiegel, former head of cultivation and breeding at Oregon's Golden Leaf Holdings, emphasizes the importance of reliable climate control: "Our DryGair dehumidification system is the focal point in our cultivation environment designs. We leverage its dehumidification, high-capacity air distribution, and heating and cooling capabilities to create the ideal conditions for our plants," says Spiegel.
When It Comes to Humidity Control, Precision Is Key
Cannabis production often requires greater versatility and precision than other crops due to its high mold susceptibility, such as bud rot and powdery mildew, as well as the tight regulations surrounding the crop. It's also due to the difference between growing stages and the different types of growing facilities.
For Chad Esch, master grower at GMP-EU certified producer SafriCanna, humidity control has been transformative: "We've been able to significantly reduce the number of molds in our grow. Overall, we've seen amazing improvements to our product quality and yield. At the end of the day, we extract a lot more flower than we used to."
Accurate Data & Precise Equipment Are Key
Whether growing indoors or in a closed greenhouse, it's crucial to follow the plants' development stages and adapt your climate control protocol accordingly. This requires two main elements.
First is data. Monitoring critical parameters, such as relative humidity, in real time, allows growers to react immediately when necessary. However, reacting can only get you so far. Professional growers prefer to rely on performance and climate data collected and analyzed over time in order to build optimal protocols.
The second part is having the right equipment that can handle versatile conditions, such as large humidity spikes and temperature dips, with high precision. Spiegel highlights the importance of this: "It provides us with the assurance that the conditions necessary for diseases such as powdery mildew are under control. Outbreaks are now seen as a rare local event. Professionalism means consistency, and that can't exist with the mindset of patchwork problem-solving."
From Plantling to Bud
One of the reasons cannabis growing facilities are so well controlled is the various production stages. Plants develop quickly from seedlings or small clones into large plants with dense buds and thick foliage, often in a crowded space. This means the dehumidification capacity and airflow needs change dramatically over just a few weeks.
Esch emphasizes the need for efficiency in this process: "Prior to using DryGair for dehumidification, we spent a lot of money and energy reducing humidity by heating and ventilating. Now, we've been able to reduce our energy costs by about 50%. We don't have to use the heating system as often as we used to, and we're ventilating the room a lot less during the evening."
Post-harvest is also a challenge when it comes to humidity. When a large amount of wet bud is placed together in a closed environment, humidity immediately spikes, requiring high-capacity moisture extraction.
This is especially true during the first day or two of drying. Mold is still very much a threat at this point, and many growers struggle with post-harvest yield losses due to this. Proper humidity control also ensures good terpene preservation and all-around higher-quality buds.
Top Growers Rely on Advanced Dehumidification
While there are many dehumidifier brands, Chad Esch selected DryGair: "I've worked with different dehumidifiers in the past, ranging from top-of-the-line brands to the bottom of the line. We've experienced issues in our other room with other dehumidifiers that create too much heat and consume too much energy."
By integrating cutting-edge dehumidification systems, these growers have successfully enhanced yield, improved efficiency, and significantly reduced mold-related losses.
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