A Craft Growers search for better yields

Introduction

Over the last year, the TUMI Genomics team has been able to partner with several cultivators in southern California. This case study is about one of these growers that we will call Green Valley Farms or GVF (real names were changed per request to protect privacy). GVF operates a combined 4,000 square feet of indoor growing space. The cultivation team have been craft growers for a combined 30 years. Starting in early 2022, the team began noticing lower yields and reduced flower quality. Thinking they were dealing with suboptimal growing conditions they began exploring alternatives for the nutrition, irrigation, and atmosphere in the grow rooms, but results were disappointing. We spoke with Tim, one of the Cultivators at GVF. Tim initially became aware of hop latent viroid through a nursery, which advised him to test with TUMI Genomics. When samples came back positive, they removed the sick plants from the grow rooms and yields started increasing.

“Now we know what to look for”

Tim’s fascination with cannabis cultivation

Tim didn't anticipate becoming so captivated with the cannabis cultivation process when his brother asked him to join him at Green Valley Farms. The founders had called him because of his business acumen and 35 years of management expertise in the restaurant industry, where he oversaw operations in multiple states for large companies. Once he began working with cannabis, Tim was hooked,

“Understanding the plant and how it grows and thrives, made me fall in love with it”.

The GVF team had been working at a 7 acre outdoor facility for the previous four years, but when the markets crashed in 2021, they opted to keep growing their indoor business.

Discovering hop latent viroid

The cultivation team at Green Valley Farms had some bad runs in early 2022, with yields reduced by about 30%. They started looking for the culprit behind the poor runs, but couldn't identify the cause. Nutrition, air quality, and irrigation were among the initial concerns, but improvements in these areas did not result in significant yield increases.

Tim first learned about hop latent viroid while visiting a nursery in Southern California. To ensure a clean product, the nursery tested all of their plants for HLVd, and after hearing Tim speak about his cultivation rooms, they recommended he seek pathogen testing at TUMI Genomics.

The initial results for GVF showed a range of 20% to 25% positivity. Once the sick plants were removed, yields began to improve quickly. Tim now believes,

“Anybody that doesn't include testing for viroids in their plants is hurting themselves”. 

Vetting different testing laboratories

Tim, as a seasoned business operator, now includes pathogen testing in his operating budget. He has also gone out of his way to find the best service on the market. He began by vetting 12 HLVd testing laboratories, narrowing the list down to four that had the right reputation and price. For two months, the GVF team worked in tandem with the four different labs to test sick plants. Through testing and retesting, it became clear that other labs were not detecting HLVd, whereas TUMI Genomics was very accurate.

“We did our homework, TUMI Genomics was more accurate”

TUMI Genomics gave Tim the confidence to engage in regular testing by providing clear SOPs and educational publications, as well as a simple collection process with vials. Simply put by Tim,

“We like your process”. 

Green Valley Farms consistently tests their mother stock to ensure clean plants and quality flower.

A partnership with TUMI Genomics

Tim chose to start testing with TUMI Genomics over other options because of the precision of the results. However,  it was the responsiveness of the customer service and the partnership he felt from the scientific team at TUMI Genomics that convinced him to stay. He trusts the people on the TUMI Genomics team, which in Tim’s experience is hard to come by;

“Lots of flaky people in the cannabis business”.

A proactive approach for pathogen prevention

Green Valley Farms' cultivation is managed using information systems that track plant growth and health. To stay ahead of the market, they look at quantitative and qualitative indicators such as grams per plant, bag appeal, and distributor feedback. The emphasis on data enabled them to detect yield reductions up to 20% very early. Adding regular pathogen testing as an additional cultivation datapoint, has enabled them to stay ahead of hop latent viroid, saving GVF’s tens of thousands of dollars. As Tim puts it:

“Our testing budget is nothing compared to what we lose when plants have Hop Latent. The 10-20% yield loss over 1000 plants per run can literally be a million dollar issue”. 

The comprehensive plan that the GVF team has put forward in the cultivation operation has a three pronged approach: Pest management, Irrigation, and HLVd testing. By controlling these variables, productivity at Green Valley Farms is thriving.