Horticulture veteran Laust Dam is launching Cultivation Coaches together with his expert partners Sebastian Dam and Taylor Carr. "I've worked in greenhouses forever and have gained substantial knowledge that can benefit every kind of grower," says Laust. He was indeed the COO of Medisun, a Canadian LP that had made the headlines with its innovative approach to growing cannabis at scale. "We have the knowledge and know people with knowledge, and we want to share that with growers globally." Laust takes care of pointing out that they are not 'just' consultants. Rather, they'll be acting like real coaches. "We are not much like the typical consultants that come and tell growers to do this and that. Rather, we are going to show them how to do it while they do it. Practically put, we are going to play with the tools and the facility that a grower has. We are a teaching company; we want to go out and teach growers globally." Cultivation Coaches is committed to providing unbiased and independent guidance to growers, ensuring that growers receive recommendations tailored to their unique needs and goals.
Next to Laust, there are Sebastian and Taylor. Sebastian has worked with Medisun under Laust's guidance and moved onto growing and consulting globally in cannabis over the past 2 years since then. On the other hand, there's Taylor Carr, who climbed the ladder at Entourage Health to eventually lead them as cultivation manager and master grower. He then set his sights on Europe in 2020, helping guide companies to EU-GMP licensing in Demark, including Valoes Pharma A/S. "I have overseen the expansion of multiple cultivation facilities from indoor, greenhouse, and outdoor, all with great success. We are now looking to lead some of the largest cultivation facilities in Europe to even more success".
Taylor Points out that while they are very focused on cannabis given the vast experience, they all have, Laust brings in a more crop-agnostic knowledge that "gives us the synergy to help any kind of grower, anywhere in the world."
It's all about the right strategy
Having a lot of experience and knowledge on their side, Cultivation Coaches are very much aware of what's ailing growers the most. "IPM is one of the major struggles," says Sebastian. "Especially when you see the different regulations growers need to comply with across the globe. It's crucial to be very proactive with biologicals and implement a sound preventative program. Bluntly put, a grower must know what to use and when." Laust adds that it all comes down also to implementing the right strategies on climate, plant density, irrigation, and so on. "The point is to have a healthy plant, which greatly helps with IPM." Hop Latent Viroid is one of the most challenging pathogens growers are currently facing, and Taylor has seen that firsthand. "As a consultant and grower, I have seen this disease many times," he says. ". The HoLV is a viroid, so if you have a healthy plant, it will not give many visual symptoms. On the other hand, if you don't have the right strategies and the plant is weak, you may lose it quickly."
And while IPM is certainly the number one challenge, there's another one that many growers have been facing. "Without a doubt, one of the most challenging things is to find a balance between caring for each plant and managing a big-scale cultivation," says Taylor. "Bluntly put, we see too many growers who have trouble with the big picture, when growing at large scale. it's crucial to look at plants at a batch level, rather than at a plant level." Laust of course very much agrees with that sentiment, especially because that's his approach at Medisun. "I have 250,000 plants in my garden. Being large-scale is what really makes the difference because you cannot nurse every single plant. In fact, you must treat them the same and strive for uniformity. This comes only if you have the right strategy," Laust says. To do that, Laust points out that it's crucial to know your genetics, how they react, and how they grow together. That might result in growing some in a different room or using a different nutrition. "That's also something that can happen on the entirety of one batch of plants.
You may have two genetics that may grow together if the cultivation strategy is properly tweaked. Again, it all comes down to knowing your facility and your genetics."
It all starts from genetics
Genetics is indeed one of the trending topics in the industry, currently. "Certainly, pushed by the potential represented by F-1 hybrid seeds," says Sebastian. "There's always the chance of outsourcing propagated plants, but I'd personally give up some cultivation space to set up a propagation room and have my own mothers, and constantly filling my rooms and fulfilling my orders." Taylor too, believes a propagation room is not really a waste of space. "The propagation room has the lowest cost per square meter. To have a guaranteed crop whenever you need it is a huge benefit. Plus, when outsourcing starting material it means shipping consistent clones, which adds a large amount of risk when we talk about IPM. You need to be extremely certain that the outsourced clones come from a trusted operator and are pest and disease-free. If it were up to me, I'd utilize an external propagation facility to hold genetics for backup/ cleanup."
Shipping clones seems indeed to be the biggest hassle of outsourcing propagated plants. "There are a lot of regulatory hurdles to go through to eventually import cuttings," says Laust. "Eventually, we'll get to a point where outsourcing clones, even from F-1 hybrids, will be the normality. Admittedly, sacrificing even a little cultivation space is ultimately a waste. However, I believe one day we'll get where traditional horticulture is nowadays and maximize the available cultivation space."
All in all, Laust, Taylor, and Sebastian – the Cultivation Coaches, are very much aware of how to help growers to be successful. "The company has just launched, but we are already planning on adding more services and crop consultants to be fully crop agnostic," says Taylor. "We know where we are heading, and when we take off, we'll be more than ready."
"Our expertise extends far beyond borders, and we are ready to assist growers worldwide in achieving their goals," says Sebastian.
For more information:
Cultivation Coaches
Tel.: +45 50 19 72 63
[email protected]
cultivationcoaches.com