Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
From an in-house closet grow dedicated to one patient, then a garage and now a three-room Seaside workshop, cannabis grower Eric Saucedo stands at the forefront of the local market.
A longtime marijuana cultivator, he and his two partners recently transferred their grow operation in an effort to make the business more official, secure and professional.
His end goal is to provide a first-rate product to the local area and around the state. “We’re hoping to set ourselves apart with our quality and our variety,” he said.
A Seaside resident, Saucedo, 32, began growing medical marijuana several years ago. “As soon as I flowered the first plant, my interest just kept growing,” he said. He quickly developed a knack for it, confirmed when he entered some of his strains in state competitions and won first place for his “The White” strain.
That sense of accomplishment, knowing he could create a quality product, drove him “to keep going and keep getting a little bit bigger and a little bit better,” he said.
Early this year, for logistical and security purposes, he and his partners transferred their operation to its own space. Break-ins posed not only a constant threat but actually occurred a few times at Saucedo’s residence. Additionally, the partners were gearing up for an anticipated merge of the medical and recreational cannabis industries and the accompanying rules and regulations.
He considers his operation still relatively small; he and his partners have other jobs for income. All of their profit from growing cannabis has been spent on startup costs and to prepare their facility to meet the structural and security regulations it will have to when they are required to get state and city licenses in the coming months.
The Growing Process
Saucedo’s workshop has three rooms for flowering. The cultivation process starts with cloning. The growers take a cut from an established plant they have identified and acquired from a quality source.
It takes about 14 days for the cuts to root, and then they can be transported to a 5-inch pot. In about a week, the plants move to a 1- or 2-gallon pot, and then a 25-gallon pot. Saucedo uses a coco coir fiber for his potting mix.
Once the plants have moved to the large pots, they are given two or three weeks to vegetate. Growers have to fabricate an artificial light cycle that mimics and expedites the natural cycle cannabis plants are exposed to outdoors. Once the plants are ready to flower, they are exposed to light only 12 hours a day instead of 24, which will trigger that effect.
Saucedo tries to keep the ratio at one plant per light so “we can stay within the legal limit and grow optimal-sized plants.” Growers are restricted to six plants per patient.
“We try to get the plants as big as possible,” he said. “One pound a light is our goal.”
Any extra is just a bonus, he added. That means each month, they harvest about 4 to 6 pounds per room.
The whole process — from cloning to having the product ready for use — takes about three to four months. In addition to the light, growers also control humidity levels and temperature, which should be 45 to 50 percent and between 70 and 80 degrees, respectively.
When it comes to choosing nutrients for the plants, some growers opt for synthetic materials and others for organic products. Saucedo and his partners start with a synthetic feeding method known as Lucas Formula and incorporate proteins by adding in different organic materials.
Who Gets The Product
Saucedo is licensed to grow medical marijuana for himself and three patients, and his partners are, as well. Growers may legally produce marijuana for no more than four patients concurrently, as per state law. Growers may possess up to six mature plants and up to 24 ounces of usable marijuana for each patient for whom marijuana is being produced and up to 18 marijuana seedlings or starts for each patient.
Saucedo carries his own patient card, as well as grow cards for each of his patients. Any excess he has after providing the product to his patients at little or no cost, he is able to sell to dispensaries. Selling to dispensaries is often what subsidizes a grower’s operation.
If a grower is selling to a dispensary, a product sample of 2 grams must first be tested at a specialty lab, which can take one day or more, depending on how much the grower is willing to pay for expediency. The labs, which are designated solely for testing marijuana, do a potency analysis and check for mold and mildew.
Where growers will see more oversight in the coming months from the state and local levels is regarding their facilities. The city of Seaside is considering legislation that would require growers to obtain a business license and a license to have a grow operation. If the ordinance passes, grow sites would be subject to inspections from the city’s building official and fire department.
The ordinance would restrict grow sites to the city’s industrial zones, which wouldn’t affect Saucedo’s operation as it already is located in an industrial zone. However, he said, “it’s not really leaving the market very wide open.”
A couple of months ago, he asked the city to consider allowing operations in some commercial zones, as long as they met other regulations. The city has not discussed that option at a City Council meeting since starting the process to pass the proposed marijuana grow operation ordinance.
An Awkward Time For Growers
The Oregon Health Authority reported in April there were 439 growers and 370 growsites in the county. There were 674 registered medical marijuana patients in Clatsop County as of July. The legalization of recreational marijuana with the passage of Measure 91 last year has created a changing legal environment for growers.
Overall market prices for marijuana have seen a decline in recent years, particularly for black market growers, Saucedo said. They used to get about $3,000 to $4,000 per pound depending on the variety. Now, the price ranges from about $1,600 to $2,400 per pound, which means some growers, who have been growing for a decade or so, are experiencing profit loss.
“Before about a year and a half ago, legal growers weren’t allowed to make profit, only recoup for costs associated for growing but not charge for time or labor,” he said.
While the lower prices may be good for patients and dispensaries, “a small guy may just get pushed out and the profit-margins may not be high enough for up-and-comers,” when it comes to growers, Saucedo said.
“The solid craftsmen will rise to the top,” he said.
Large-scale operations producing high-quality product also should make it, he said.
Consumers have to educate themselves on what counts toward quality for marijuana and decide what they are willing to accept.
“The marketplace will determine what’s good and what’s bad — what’s an acceptable end product,” Saucedo said. “It’s just like beer. You could get a Coors or go to Fort George Brewery. A lot more time and love will go into one and the others are mass-produced.”
Saucedo is trying to cultivate quality varieties of cannabis that will thrive in the product’s new market environment. As a landscaper, he is around plants all day so he is able to identify and treat any problems his marijuana plants might have. Almost any growing question he has can be answered by a quick Internet search.
“There shouldn’t be much of a learning curve for growers if they seek out the information,” he said.
Saucedo sells his product in leaf or smokable form, but there are many other different niches in the industry, among them concentrates, oils, medibles, marijuana-infused items and other products.
“There are many positions in this industry we haven’t figured out yet,” he said.
Saucedo said he hopes to see his business grow to the point it can be his sole occupation and he can provide employment for others. “We’d like to, if the state allows it, have a real breeding program and come out with our own varieties,” he said, adding, “we would like to put a strain throughout the world that represents Seaside, Oregon.”
‘The marketplace will determine what’s good and what’s bad — what’s an acceptable end product. It’s just like beer. You could get a Coors or go to Fort George Brewery. A lot more time and love will go into one and the others are mass-produced.’
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The ever-changing cannabis industry: A grower’s perspective - Local News - The Daily Astorian
Author: Katherine Lacaze
Contact: Email The Daily Astorian
Photo Credit: LaRoach
Website: The Daily Astorian
A longtime marijuana cultivator, he and his two partners recently transferred their grow operation in an effort to make the business more official, secure and professional.
His end goal is to provide a first-rate product to the local area and around the state. “We’re hoping to set ourselves apart with our quality and our variety,” he said.
A Seaside resident, Saucedo, 32, began growing medical marijuana several years ago. “As soon as I flowered the first plant, my interest just kept growing,” he said. He quickly developed a knack for it, confirmed when he entered some of his strains in state competitions and won first place for his “The White” strain.
That sense of accomplishment, knowing he could create a quality product, drove him “to keep going and keep getting a little bit bigger and a little bit better,” he said.
Early this year, for logistical and security purposes, he and his partners transferred their operation to its own space. Break-ins posed not only a constant threat but actually occurred a few times at Saucedo’s residence. Additionally, the partners were gearing up for an anticipated merge of the medical and recreational cannabis industries and the accompanying rules and regulations.
He considers his operation still relatively small; he and his partners have other jobs for income. All of their profit from growing cannabis has been spent on startup costs and to prepare their facility to meet the structural and security regulations it will have to when they are required to get state and city licenses in the coming months.
The Growing Process
Saucedo’s workshop has three rooms for flowering. The cultivation process starts with cloning. The growers take a cut from an established plant they have identified and acquired from a quality source.
It takes about 14 days for the cuts to root, and then they can be transported to a 5-inch pot. In about a week, the plants move to a 1- or 2-gallon pot, and then a 25-gallon pot. Saucedo uses a coco coir fiber for his potting mix.
Once the plants have moved to the large pots, they are given two or three weeks to vegetate. Growers have to fabricate an artificial light cycle that mimics and expedites the natural cycle cannabis plants are exposed to outdoors. Once the plants are ready to flower, they are exposed to light only 12 hours a day instead of 24, which will trigger that effect.
Saucedo tries to keep the ratio at one plant per light so “we can stay within the legal limit and grow optimal-sized plants.” Growers are restricted to six plants per patient.
“We try to get the plants as big as possible,” he said. “One pound a light is our goal.”
Any extra is just a bonus, he added. That means each month, they harvest about 4 to 6 pounds per room.
The whole process — from cloning to having the product ready for use — takes about three to four months. In addition to the light, growers also control humidity levels and temperature, which should be 45 to 50 percent and between 70 and 80 degrees, respectively.
When it comes to choosing nutrients for the plants, some growers opt for synthetic materials and others for organic products. Saucedo and his partners start with a synthetic feeding method known as Lucas Formula and incorporate proteins by adding in different organic materials.
Who Gets The Product
Saucedo is licensed to grow medical marijuana for himself and three patients, and his partners are, as well. Growers may legally produce marijuana for no more than four patients concurrently, as per state law. Growers may possess up to six mature plants and up to 24 ounces of usable marijuana for each patient for whom marijuana is being produced and up to 18 marijuana seedlings or starts for each patient.
Saucedo carries his own patient card, as well as grow cards for each of his patients. Any excess he has after providing the product to his patients at little or no cost, he is able to sell to dispensaries. Selling to dispensaries is often what subsidizes a grower’s operation.
If a grower is selling to a dispensary, a product sample of 2 grams must first be tested at a specialty lab, which can take one day or more, depending on how much the grower is willing to pay for expediency. The labs, which are designated solely for testing marijuana, do a potency analysis and check for mold and mildew.
Where growers will see more oversight in the coming months from the state and local levels is regarding their facilities. The city of Seaside is considering legislation that would require growers to obtain a business license and a license to have a grow operation. If the ordinance passes, grow sites would be subject to inspections from the city’s building official and fire department.
The ordinance would restrict grow sites to the city’s industrial zones, which wouldn’t affect Saucedo’s operation as it already is located in an industrial zone. However, he said, “it’s not really leaving the market very wide open.”
A couple of months ago, he asked the city to consider allowing operations in some commercial zones, as long as they met other regulations. The city has not discussed that option at a City Council meeting since starting the process to pass the proposed marijuana grow operation ordinance.
An Awkward Time For Growers
The Oregon Health Authority reported in April there were 439 growers and 370 growsites in the county. There were 674 registered medical marijuana patients in Clatsop County as of July. The legalization of recreational marijuana with the passage of Measure 91 last year has created a changing legal environment for growers.
Overall market prices for marijuana have seen a decline in recent years, particularly for black market growers, Saucedo said. They used to get about $3,000 to $4,000 per pound depending on the variety. Now, the price ranges from about $1,600 to $2,400 per pound, which means some growers, who have been growing for a decade or so, are experiencing profit loss.
“Before about a year and a half ago, legal growers weren’t allowed to make profit, only recoup for costs associated for growing but not charge for time or labor,” he said.
While the lower prices may be good for patients and dispensaries, “a small guy may just get pushed out and the profit-margins may not be high enough for up-and-comers,” when it comes to growers, Saucedo said.
“The solid craftsmen will rise to the top,” he said.
Large-scale operations producing high-quality product also should make it, he said.
Consumers have to educate themselves on what counts toward quality for marijuana and decide what they are willing to accept.
“The marketplace will determine what’s good and what’s bad — what’s an acceptable end product,” Saucedo said. “It’s just like beer. You could get a Coors or go to Fort George Brewery. A lot more time and love will go into one and the others are mass-produced.”
Saucedo is trying to cultivate quality varieties of cannabis that will thrive in the product’s new market environment. As a landscaper, he is around plants all day so he is able to identify and treat any problems his marijuana plants might have. Almost any growing question he has can be answered by a quick Internet search.
“There shouldn’t be much of a learning curve for growers if they seek out the information,” he said.
Saucedo sells his product in leaf or smokable form, but there are many other different niches in the industry, among them concentrates, oils, medibles, marijuana-infused items and other products.
“There are many positions in this industry we haven’t figured out yet,” he said.
Saucedo said he hopes to see his business grow to the point it can be his sole occupation and he can provide employment for others. “We’d like to, if the state allows it, have a real breeding program and come out with our own varieties,” he said, adding, “we would like to put a strain throughout the world that represents Seaside, Oregon.”
‘The marketplace will determine what’s good and what’s bad — what’s an acceptable end product. It’s just like beer. You could get a Coors or go to Fort George Brewery. A lot more time and love will go into one and the others are mass-produced.’
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The ever-changing cannabis industry: A grower’s perspective - Local News - The Daily Astorian
Author: Katherine Lacaze
Contact: Email The Daily Astorian
Photo Credit: LaRoach
Website: The Daily Astorian
