Harvesting Indoor Hydroponic Cannabis
It is harvest day at one of the indoor grows.
When it comes time to harvest, the grower said that the hydroponic water is flushed and replenished with new water. The new water does not get nutrients added. The purpose is to strip those nutrients from the roots and that encourages the plant to do it's final push. This lasts about 2 days and could require more than one flush which is often dependent on the plant strain. During that time, the PPM meter is monitored. PPM is "Parts Per Million" and the PPM meter is used to measure the concentration of solubles in the water. The PPM meter will allow the grower to see if the minerals are removed from the hydroponic circulation.
This particular strain is a fast growing, but sensitive. It also doesn't typically produce large buds. It is difficult to tell from the pictures because the room has green lights, but the buds are purple in color.
Here is a larger picture. In the back of the room, there is a temporary net to hang the cannabis to dry. Normally, the grower doesn't dry the cannabis in the grow room. Instead, they would be starting the next crop and drying in another room. This property doesn't have the additional climate controlled space for the drying. It is a considerable amount of work to harvest, and the first day of harvest processed 4 of the 12 plants.
Here is closer picture of the drying process. This was taken after 1 day of drying.
Here is a picture from the other side. Now that one row has been harvested, you can see the hydroponic system which would normally be obscured by the foliage.
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Very interesting, I wonder how much more cannabis can be grown per hectare with a hydroponics system as opposed to more conventional techniques? Also might be a viable way of integrating with with other food crops in a small amount of space.
I don't know how much more. I know hydroponic system like this doesn't come cheap. The entire environment is controlled. The air is filtered, temperature controlled, and humidity controlled. The light intensity and light cycles are controlled. The nutrients are controlled. Air is pumped into the roots to keep them healthy. The water temperature is controlled. Even the CO2 levels in the room are controlled. In fact, the room is so tightly controlled, that no mites or pests get into the room.
It is all about quality rather than quantity. The market these days is flooded with cannabis, but to sell the product, it must be the highest quality.
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