"We've become far more efficient with water and fertilizers"

On the Greek mainland, you'll find Curity Pharma: a young company dedicated to producing medicinal cannabis. After its founding in 2019, the team began its first certified productions this year. From the very first batch, they started working with Growficient. Evangelos Papaioannou, Head of Cultivation at Curity Pharma, shares his experience with the collaboration.

Evangelos has been professionally involved in cannabis cultivation since 2018. For the first few years, he worked as a grower in the CBD sector. When Greece legalized the production of medicinal cannabis, Evangelos joined Curity Pharma. Their facility in Larisa is the first hybrid cultivation site for medicinal cannabis in the country, combining indoor infrastructure with greenhouse production. The greenhouses make up the main growing area, covering 4,000 square meters.

A year ago, Evangelos travelled to the Netherlands for a work visit. He explains: "While I was there, I visited Innexo. In several of their trials, I noticed Growficient's sensors. They immediately caught my attention. I spoke with Dominique and asked him about his experience. He showed me the graphs and explained how he uses Growficient. It all sounded very promising."

© Curity Pharma

Once back in Greece, Evangelos decided to reach out to Growficient. He continues: "At that time, we were just about to begin our first registered cannabis batches. It was therefore crucial to gain a deep understanding of what was happening in the substrate. That marked the beginning of what has now become a seven-month-long collaboration."

Crop steering
Because Curity Pharma is still in its startup phase, the first months were all about learning. Evangelos says: "Growing in greenhouses comes with many challenges, so simply having a clear overview of water content, EC, dryback, and temperature already makes a huge difference. Tom and the rest of the Growficient team have helped us tremendously. We have regular meetings to review the data, and we can always reach out with questions. We've already gained a lot of new insights from those conversations."

Water management, in particular, has been an eye-opener. He continues: "We talk a lot about crop steering and how irrigation plays a role in that. During each stage of growth, the plants require something different. Thanks to the sensor data and Tom's guidance, we understand the plants much better now. Even within this short period, we've already become far more efficient with water and fertilizers, which means less unnecessary runoff and a significant reduction in resource waste."

24/7 visibility
The Growboard has quickly become one of the most frequently used tools within Curity Pharma. Evangelos explains: "It's a very intuitive and well-structured platform. I use it 24/7 and check the dashboard every few hours. Even outside working hours, I often log in via my laptop or phone to see how the plants are doing. Plants don't stop working, so being able to check in remotely is essential."

The feature he relies on most are the thresholds. He adds: "Consistency is extremely important for us. Under Greek legislation, cannabinoid content may deviate no more than 10% from the specification. That means we have to stay on top of things throughout the entire cycle. Growficient's alerts make this much easier. I've set various thresholds myself. When a value drops below that threshold, I automatically receive a notification. That allows me to take immediate action if something is wrong. For me, this is one of the best features Growficient offers."

Support from the team
Beyond the sensors themselves, Evangelos has also experienced the collaboration with Growficient as a true added value. He explains: "The entire Growficient team, and especially Tom, is incredibly professional and supportive. They've helped us understand the system and taught us how to use it effectively. The discussions we've had around crop steering were very valuable to me. And reviewing irrigation graphs and diagrams together has been super insightful."

Although Curity Pharma has only been working with Growficient for a relatively short time, they are pleased with the improvements they've already been able to make. Evangelos concludes: "Consistency is essential for us, and the insights from Growficient help us maintain control and continuously improve our process. I can't imagine working without the sensors and the team's support anymore. I would recommend Growficient to any medicinal cannabis cultivator without hesitation."

Curity Pharma
E: [email protected]
https://curitypharma.com/