The cannabis industry represents a very interesting combination of growing knowledge and engineering skills. Indeed, cannabis facilities are usually very high-tech, as a consequence of the many regulations which growers have to comply with. Therefore, all the processes are required to be utterly fine-tuned and efficient, in order to consistently produce high-quality yields at sustainable operational costs. And this is exactly how GrowEX has been since its inception. “We are a group of engineers and growers,” Chris Treville with GrowEX explains. “From this perspective, we have approached indoor cultivation that way, which means a collaboration of thinking in terms of how technology can be mixed in with growing.”
Chris Treville
Merging technology and growing
With regards to the technology part, Chris points out that the company counts different engineers with different skillsets. “Mechanical and software engineers, for instance. And these people collaborate with growers. Specifically, we targeted our efforts to the cannabis crop, but we are also planning to move on to other types of crops as well.” GrowEX focused on cannabis only initially because they wanted to understand this crop and how it behaves. “For instance, we wanted to better understand what the best growing conditions are, what the obstacles are. We did that from a sq.ft. standpoint, which also includes cubic air space.” This is because GrowEX looks at the design from a capital and operational expense perspective. “The question we answer is: how do we make this plant the most efficient in terms of productivity and profitability?”
This is also one of the main reasons why GrowEX added two master growers to its team. “We circulated through one of the territories with the most experience in cannabis,” Chris says. “That is, Colorado. This state was the one that had the most amount of time to develop people with a commercial scale skillset. When we visited these master growers’ facility, we were truly impressed.”
“It was a very unique grow. I could see immediately the difference with other growers, either indoor or greenhouse. A substantial number of growers, indeed, are not particularly efficient: there is a lot of wasted energy, mainly utilized for temperature and humidity control. But mainly, what I have seen in many cannabis operations is a hugely inefficient labor organization.”
Gas tight
Thus, by combining their engineering and growing knowledge, GrowEX came up with an indoor facility concept that addresses all the most common issues that growers encounter, and added a few personal touches. “The facilities we design are gas tight,” Chris explains. “Think of it as a sort of bubble. Imagine a sphere where there is no leak of air, and any air that circulates is completely filtered and thoroughly controlled. This allows for a perfect temperature and humidity control, other than giving huge peace of mind when it comes to crop protection.”
According to Chris, the gas tight room makes it particularly difficult for pathogens to get in. “The chances of pests entering our facilities are really slim,” he says. “However, pathogens can find a way to get into the grow room, especially through humans. That is why we have developed an algorithm that basically suffocates the insect and kill it within 24 hours, through a composition of different gases. We do not introduce any new gases, just CO2, oxygen and nitrogen, in different concentrations.” The algorithm reacts very quickly to the presence of pathogens as these enter a sort of ‘survival mode’, as they feel their life is on the edge. “When they feel stress, they try to save their kind by laying a lot of eggs, and these hatch very quickly. So, the algorithm needs to kill the adults and the eggs, which it can achieve within 24 hours. The plant then is able to recover within three days. And this is exactly where the gas tight environment is particularly beneficial, as it allows for better precision control.”
Lighting and labor management
Another important attribute of GrowEX facility is the lighting. “Lighting is probably one of the most important technology related choices to make in an indoor grow,” Chris points out. “Most growers are using HPS lighting which offers good performance on yields based on 1000 watts per 16 square feet of canopy, but selecting LED or laser lights are better as the yields are still there at a fraction of the energy cost. In addition the LED or laser lights allow the canopy to be much closer to the light source which allows more canopy per square foot print. All very important topics in order to achieve more yield per square foot print and thus lowering operational cost.
GrowEX facilities have a vertical system layout which is very efficient for employees to work with. “The idea is that we wanted to position plants in a much more convenient method, so that employees don’t have to travel far to get to them, or bend down to reach them,” he explains. “In this way, you can have two employees that are able to cover a lot of canopy at once: access to the plant is key, you don’t want to skip any plants. Additionally, in terms of labor management, there is quite a lot of automation in our facilities, with regards to trimming, irrigation and lighting.” The next step for GrowEX is to reduce most of the human interactions within grow rooms. “The next version of our facilities will also include AI and robotic arms: so that the AI would spot immediately what needs attention and the robot arm can intervene right away.”
Environmental sustainability: the next challenge of the industry
In a more mature market and industry that is heading toward consolidation surrounded by a constellation of craft producers, Chris believes that the next big issue to address is environmental sustainability. “There is going to be a lot of attention towards energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. A number of growers didn’t really think of this when they jumped into this industry, as they were too hyped to grow legally. However, this same thing is going to happen in less mature markets than the US and Canada. They too will have to go through the same learning curve. At the same time, their learning curve will be quicker, thanks to the path that was traced by others.”
For more information:
GrowEX
1-888-494-2987
[email protected]
growex.com