When it comes to cultivating cannabis, John Sockwell doesn't mince words: it's all about staying clean. As Director of Cultivation at Good Chemistry in Massachusetts, Sockwell leads a team that treats sanitation less like a chore and more like a doctrine, as he shows in this video tour.
One harvest a month
Good Chemistry is a vertically integrated company with operations in Colorado and in Massachusetts. With only six gardeners on-site and 30 people in production, the operation moves like a well-oiled machine - harvesting every four weeks thanks to staggered flowering rooms, rockwool substrate, and careful environmental control.
Every room in the facility is equipped with Fluence Razer 4 LEDs and a Cultiva Systems HVAC setup - two units per flower room, because redundancy is key. The lighting is dimmable by row, letting growers adapt to the needs of different strains. And strain variety is a big deal here: 40 rotating cultivars per month keep consumers from getting bored, while the company's breeder keeps the genetics pipeline fresh and compelling.
Nursery operations are tight. Around 2,000 clones are grown per cycle, with only the best mothers making it to flower. Beneficial insects and 25(b) products help manage pests early in flower, followed by beneficials alone - a hands-off IPM approach underpinned by obsessive cleanliness and team discipline around cross-contamination.
Yield-wise, they're pulling in 15,000–18,000 pounds wet weight per cycle, translating to about 200–250 pounds dry, depending on strain.
Pre-rolls are increasingly dominating the market, and Good Chemistry is fully on board. Their Green Vault packager system, requiring two to three operators. Infused pre-rolls are also prepped in-house, and they've just added a second dab dispenser to the mix.
But for Sockwell, the real payoff isn't the tech or even the numbers, it's the rhythm of the harvest. "The best part," he says, "is that we get to see the fruit of our labor every month."
For more information:
Good Chemistry Nursery
goodchem.org