Growlink Smart Farm Blog

Recent Posts by Marcus Baldinger

 

Sealed Greenhouses: Worth The Investment?

Many modern farmers are turning to sealed greenhouses over traditional ventilated greenhouses. Heavy ventilation is required daily to combat overheating in your typical traditional greenhouse. When growing in this type of greenhouse, the goal is often to try to exchange the entire air volume inside the greenhouse every minute through the use of enormous exhaust fans. In greenhouses that provide supplemental CO2, exhaust fans continually exhaust warm, CO2-rich, and odorous air. Apart from increasing the risk of pests and pathogens, many territories prohibit exhausting untreated, odorous air outside. By keeping the conditioned air inside, sealed greenhouses can provide a solution to these problems.

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Understanding DLI (Daily Light Integral)

DLI is equally as important indoors as it is in an outdoor/greenhouse environment and should be utilized when trying to optimize your grow efficiency and overall plant health. DLI stands for ‘Daily Light Integral’ and is defined as a measure of usable light your plant receives over the course of a day. Too high of DLI will not only cause unwanted light stress/burn but it is also a waste of electricity for which you are paying. DLI numbers that are too low will limit your plant’s growth potential which can translate directly to reduced yield and plant vigor. In either scenario, not measuring your DLI and tailoring your light intensity/schedule will end up costing you. Before we dive into how to accurately measure DLI, lets cover the basics on lighting.

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What Are Terpenes And How Do They Work?

Terpenes are organic compounds responsible for the fragrance, taste, and pigment of plants and trees throughout the world. More than 50,000 unique terpenes have been identified to date, with over 140 in cannabis alone! These terpenes found in different concentrations, or terpene profiles, are the primary reason that aromas and effects observed in cannabis vary widely from one phenotype to the next.

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Drying and Curing Cannabis

Curing is the final process of producing high-quality cannabis. Often overlooked, it is vital to ensuring
your cannabis reaches its maximum potency and highest terpene content while offering the smoothest consumption experience possible.

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End of Harvest Flushing

Until a few years ago, flushing with pH'd water for the final weeks of flower was considered mandatory if you wanted smooth, flavorful cannabis that always burns white. As of recently, that sentiment is on the fence, with growers substituting this prolonged deprivation of nutrients for a more refined post-harvest curing process to achieve the same results. There have been several studies done on this matter which support modern changes.

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Dialing In Consistent Results with Cannabis Fertigation

The US cannabis industry has become one of the fastest growing markets, with an overall increase in sales of 29.9 billion USD from 2015-2022. This growth has sparked interest from other markets, allowing for an increase in innovation from a technical standpoint and overall cultivation techniques used to grow high-quality, consistently high-yield produce.  One practice starting to get implemented more commonly in the sector is fertigation. Cannabis fertigation offers tremendous benefits regarding dosing management, resource optimization, and, most importantly, consistency. Let's dive in deeper to learn more about how your cannabis farm can benefit from this new era of agricultural technology.

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Crop Steering - 4 Phases of Irrigation

Crop steering manipulates a plant's environment and root zone to influence metabolic/hormonal changes that inspire vigorous growth and greater yields. This is achieved by dialing in environmental conditions throughout different growth stages and managing irrigation events to mimic natural stressors the plant would encounter in nature. Let's focus on the irrigation strategy commonly employed when attempting to crop steer. 

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Plant Nutrients Explained

While most nutrient manufacturers already go through the legwork of mixing properly balanced nutrient blends for your plants, it is important to understand what’s inside them and how they help your plants. Apart from carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, which are sourced from air and water, cannabis requires properly balanced ratios of macronutrients and micronutrients to perform optimally. 

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Dry Back Percentages Explained

We are often asked, “What dry back percentage should I shoot for?” Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all solution to this question. Let’s go over dry backs in a bit more detail to help you understand what they are, common target percentages, and when to adjust them.

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Irrigation Basics: Initial Setup

Picture this; you’ve built out your indoor grow room or vertical farm  to perfection and loaded in multiple different genetics that you’ve been dying to get your hands on. After a few weeks, you notice that most of your plants are doing great except for one finicky cultivar. It just doesn’t seem to be drinking the same amount as all the others. Because your whole room was designed to feed all at once using a single valve, it’s getting overwatered daily. 

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