“We continue to breed towards ‘the unicorns’: the perfect cannabis cultivars”

"Cannabis growers are always looking for the perfect cultivar, which
we call 'the unicorn.' The perfect cultivar has strong vigor, natural pest and pathogen resistance, high potency, and terpenes, and is easy to grow," says Brian Bain, Founder, and CEO of Mother Labs. The Canadian company is the largest full-service cannabis nursery and supplier in North America. "Providing variety with unique effects when consumed is also incredibly important. We are always searching for characteristics and products that are not yet currently on the market."



"Moreover, we want to ensure that the right data sets are available for clients, giving the grower confidence that the genetic is going to perform," Brian adds. "Overall, all genetics we release have an immense amount of work behind them. We breed everything in-house, only select the genetics that tick all of our boxes, and ensure that the right data sets are there. We want to make sure that our genetics have all of the traits that the growers are looking for to be successful, but also the traits the market is looking for."



Challenges in genetics 
Brian explains that there are many challenges in the industry when it comes to cannabis genetics. Therefore, in addition to supplying growers with data-driven genetics, Mother Labs offers a variety of services, such as genetic storage (cryo preservation), cleaning up contaminated genetics, and phenotyping services.



"When growers are sourcing genetics, there can be issues with pathogens and viruses. Genetics can be dirty and mismanaged, resulting in major issues for growers. Genetic fraud is also something we come across quite a bit. There is a lot of confusion in the market with a lot of renaming, which is why every genetic we provide is cryo-preserved, and we have those back-ups forever. Also, if there is ever any genetic or data loss due to environmental disasters, facility issues, or issues with the producer, we can always resupply. Kind of like an insurance policy," Brian says. 



International focus
And it's not just the domestic Canadian market that Mother Labs supplies. They also play a much larger role in the international genetic space. "We work with groups in Israel, Germany, Scotland, South Africa, the U.S., and Australia. We can tell that there is an international demand for high-quality Canadian genetics. We have a lot of experience getting our products to international customers and having them arrive in immaculate shape." Still, working with newly emerging markets can be challenging, Brian says. "There's a lot of politics involved, and each country comes with its own set of challenges. Navigating the regulations and different quarantine times can make our job a bit more difficult sometimes. However, we have developed tissue culture media and special hormone blends for shipping and storage, ensuring that our products make it through safely."

For more information:
Mother Labs
www.motherlabs.ca