Legal cannabis must be accounted for down to the plant. When it’s tested for pesticides and other contaminants, the State of California can trace the plant all the way back to a specific location on the farm. This is great for consumer protection and for eliminating the black market. Cannabis grown legally is followed from seed to sale (or in most cases clone to sale). Each plant gets a bar code that’s entered in METRC, the track and trace software. It’s a gargantuan undertaking for farms and a necessary one for transparency in the new market. Whitney Collie, the compliance supervisor at Coastal Blooms in Carpinteria Valley, explains how it all works.

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN METRC AT COASTAL BLOOMS …

I work with our inventory admin supervisor and on the ground METRC team to make sure all plants are tagged (and tagged correctly), all transports are properly executed and everything in the greenhouse is accurately reflected in the METRC system.

IN A NUTSHELL, WHAT IS METRC OR “TRACK AND TRACE” AND WHAT DOES IT ACCOMPLISH?

METRC is the application programing interface, or API, hired by the state of California to track all cannabis and cannabis products from the time they are clones (or seeds) until the final product that goes home with the customer. What does it accomplish? Besides headaches, METRC tracks plants from immature or veg state, through the flowering phase, harvest, processing and packaging, through testing and onto retail sale. It creates the ability to see exactly what harvest batch a finished product came from, which gives the state the ability to do a recall if needed. Like with melons or lettuce, if a recall is required the state would be able to locate all the products that came from a batch that had an issue.

HOW MANY PLANTS ARE TAGGED WITH BAR CODES AND GROWING AT ANY GIVEN TIME AT YOUR FARM?

Thousands! All our plants in flowering stage are tagged with individual bar codes and all our plants in veg stage are tagged in batches of 100 plants or less (and each batch has one bar code).

WHAT QUANTITY IS IN A ‘BATCH’ OF HARVESTED CANNABIS?

A harvested batch is cannabis harvested at one time in one license that is all the same strain. So a batch can have as little as one plant in it or as many as 4,000. (4,000 is the maximum amount of plant tags one license can have on hand at a time.)

HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT A BATCH REMAINS CONNECTED TO CERTAIN PLANTS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING TAGS AT HARVEST?

When plants are immature they are grouped in batches of 100 or less, when they are transported to our flowering licenses, each plant receives an individual plant tag. We have several systems in place to ensure the correct batches are moved to the correct licenses and that the correct individual flower tags are assigned to each batch. When the plants are harvested they no longer have individual plant UID tags and instead become one harvest batch. Through METRC we can see which immature batches the individual flowering plants came from and the plant IDs went into which harvest batch.

WHEN THE PRODUCT IS SENT THROUGH A DISTRIBUTOR FOR TESTING, CAN A TESTING LAB TRACE IT BACK TO A SINGLE PLANT OR GROUP OF PLANTS?

Because the individual plants that make up a harvest get grouped into a single package or batch the lab cannot trace results back to a single plant but it can see which batch the product came from and which plants went into that batch.

HOW DOES THE STATE ENFORCE METRC

The state does inspections, sometimes with notice and sometimes without, to ensure cultivators are in compliance with everything including track and trace.

Lucas Hathaway’s family came to Carpinteria long before legal cannabis. Both sides, the Romeros and Hathaways, have been in Carpinteria Valley for over 100 years. At age 29, Lucas’ job title is Lead Cultivator at Cresco California. He’s counted as one of the more than 900 employees who call a Carpinteria Valley cannabis farm their job site. We took him away from his busy schedule of nurturing plants to learn a little about who he is and what he does.

Other than a cannabis farm, what’s your favorite Carpinteria place?  Jelly Bowl beach

What’s one thing about cannabis farming you recently learned?
METRC, the track and trace program for the state. It’s tricky to bar code every plant and upload all the info to the software. It’s heavy lifting but we’re up to the task.

Tell us something about you that’s unrelated to cannabis: I’m 5th generation Carpinterian.  Both sides of my family Romero and Hathaway have been in the area for 100+ years.  

How did you steer your career path to cannabis farming? From any early age, my grandparents instilled a love for farming and ranching.  The dynamic industry has kept me hooked for ten years now.  

What makes Carpinteria a good place to grow cannabis?  In my mind there is not a better place to grow anything than Carpinteria. The moderate climate, the south facing coast, the infrastructure and a beautiful community to live in.  It’s got it all!

Air quality is something cannabis farmers think about a lot. Some neighbors love the floral scent of cannabis. Some consider it a nuisance and would describe it as “skunky.” Whatever the case may be, Santa Barbara County has strict regulations for cannabis odors. CARP Growers has used a 3-pronged approach to combat odors: odor abatement, research and monitoring.

Each member of CARP Growers has vapor-phase odor control. That means a thin vapor curtain of essential oils is emitted around greenhouses. These essential oils have terpenes, just like cannabis, and are formulated to interact with cannabis terpenes and neutralize them. We fight terpenes with terpenes to create neutral scents.

Fixing Odor Issues with Vapor-Phase Odor Control

The local dialogue about odor issues has been one that farmers have taken very seriously. Neighbors spoke out back in 2016 when cannabis odors in Carpinteria Valley were pervasive. Most importantly, our local school district asked for changes. Local farmers looked far and wide for the best solutions and made necessary changes.

There’s still work to do, but at CARP farms where greenhouses use vapor-phase odor control by Byers-Scientific (see video on Byers at our Inside Look page), odors have been effectively eliminated.

A study conducted by SCS Engineers found the Byers vapor-phase system to be 98 percent effective. Air samples were taken at three distances outside greenhouse operating the vapor-phase system. The samples were then tested by odor experts at a third-party laboratory. Odors were found to be well below levels that typically reach the threshold of a public nuisance. Also noteworthy, analysis found that carbon filtration is less effective because carbon filters wear down quickly and lose efficacy.

What’s a Volatile Organic Compound?

Those opposed to cannabis cultivation feared that cannabis produced Volatile Organic Compounds, and these VOCs impacted the environment. First a word on VOCs. They are everywhere: in fennel, pine and lemon trees; in the ocean and in bad breath and body odor. Biogenic VOCs, those produced naturally, are not harmful. Some VOCs, like those in paints and petroleum, are harmful and the EPA regulates them. You see warning labels on solvents about VOCs.

To ease worries that plant VOCs cause issues, we asked Dr. William Vizuete, a nationally known atmospheric molecular chemist, what impacts cannabis farming could have in Santa Barbara County.

Dr. Vizuete explained that in some instances, an abundance of biogenic VOCs can mix with NOx pollutants and form ozone. However, the amount of acres of cannabis grown locally produces negligible amounts of VOCs. In Santa Barbara County, there are about 39,042 tons of Biogenic VOCs emitted into the air by plants each year. Cannabis adds 50 tons annually, bringing the overall number to 39,092. In the big picture, that’s not a huge change.

The other component needed to create pollution from Biogenic VOCs is NOx. Dr. Vizuetes analysis found that NOx is not present at levels in Santa Barbara to create ozone pollution. We’re glad the study is out there, because discussion about VOCs and NOx can be intimidating.

Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District also researched the topic and found really good news. Santa Barbara County has the lowest levels of ambient NOx it has had in 40 years. For the first time in 40 years, the county has not had to issue air quality warnings due to high levels of NOx.

The finding is unrelated to cannabis farming. That is to say, cannabis farming has not cleared the air of NOx, but with such low levels, there is nothing to worry about from VOCs related to cannabis or other plants like lemon and pine trees, which produce far greater volumes of VOCs.

Nasal Ranger Data Collection

CARP Growers research assistant Sydney Pahle conducts odor testing two times per week all around Carpinteria Valley. She uses a device called a Nasal Ranger that compares odors near cannabis farms to carbon-filtered ambient air. This allows us to continually monitor odors and make adjustments as necessary.

3-pronged solution

As an association of responsible farmers, CARP Growers has used a 3-pronged approach to combating odor issues. We’ve implemented vapor-phase odor control that works safely and effectively. We’ve used scientific data and research to determine that cannabis farming does not create air pollution. And we stay on top of odor complaints while proactively monitoring odor. That way, our members can hold each other accountable and make sure we can all breathe easily, especially our neighbors.

By Sydney Pahle, Research Assistant

Sofia Van Wingerden has deep roots in local agriculture. She’s a third generation Carpinteria greenhouse farmer, but to fully trace her family’s farming history, you have to rewind all the way to the 1600s in Holland. Whether growing flowers, tomatoes or cannabis, the Van Wingerdens are at the forefront of Dutch farming techniques that allow efficient use of space to farm ag products for markets near and far. 

In this interview, Sof spills on what it takes to convert from flower farming to cannabis farming. She has been a leader in the Carpinteria cannabis farming space since 2015. The rules and regulations for the new crop are tighter, leading to cleaner, more modernized practices — think efficiency in irrigation and biological pest controls. As a horticulturist and business woman, she has her finger on the pulse of inputs and climate control needed to keep her plants happy and healthy in the competitive world of cannabis farming.

Q. How long has it been since your greenhouse (GH) switched over from growing flowers? Did the transition require purchasing a large amount of new equipment or technology?

A. We switched over completely about three years ago. Our infrastructure was ready-made for the conversion, so we did not have to buy a lot of new equipment in the greenhouse as our system already lent itself well to cannabis farming. We did have to install black-out curtains and cleanse our entire greenhouse environment from top to bottom to remediate historical pesticide use. We also installed an effective odor abatement system.

Q. What do blackout curtains do? 

A. The blackout system controls the amount of light our crop is exposed to, thereby controlling growth patterns. In later phases of the growth cycle, we block out sunlight to induce flowering. When the plants are babies through teenagers, we want the plant to grow (and not flower), so we use energy-efficient LED lights to trick the plant into believing its summertime. They need about 16 hours of light per day to grow and not flower during what we call “veg.” That’s when the blackout curtains are used to prevent light from escaping the greenhouse.

Q. Why did you have to clean up the GH? 

A. We had to clean our GH & pipes because we used to spray pesticides during the many years we grew flowers. Chemicals found within these sprays can hang around for years if you do not take appropriate steps to remediate the environment. This new crop must test within 1 Part Per Billion in order to be released to consumers, so we keep it very clean now. It’s really a way to modernize agricultural practices to 2019 standards that protect both the environment and consumers.

Q.  Cannabis plants are grown hydroponically in a growing medium. Can you explain best irrigation practices?

A. We use a closed loop system that’s designed for efficiency. We first have to cleanse our water through Reverse Osmosis, because the plants are picky too. We mix our water with some naturally occurring fertilizers and feed the plants through drip lines to ensure all plants get watered evenly.

Our property is set on a gentle slope that allows gravity to send any water the plant has not used into our catchment system and into our recycling tank. The unused ‘dirty water’ will be re-injected through the RO system and recirculated. We have a lot of piping in our greenhouse.

Q. How much water ends up being used per plant? 

A. Weather conditions dictate the needs of plants, so we are constantly monitoring the climate inside the greenhouse for a variety of reasons. On a humid or rainy day the plant will receive fewer irrigations, and on a hot and dry day we will give them more. Each irrigation is about 180 milliliters of water per plant. There is anywhere from 3 to 7 irrigations a day, so with an average of 5 irrigations, it is about 900 milliliters of water per plant, per day. The excess water that the plant does not use (30-40%), drips out the bottom of the pot and is reused. 

Q. How do you feed the plants all the nutrients they need to be healthy?

A. We rely on both fertilizer and an optimal growing medium to promote healthy plant growth. We rely on the medium specifically to house and promote growth from the roots. We’ve tried a few different mediums, like a chunky coco, a thick peat moss and a 50/50 of each. I think it really depends on the grower and what their goal is — how long do they want to keep their plant in a pot for?  What kind of water retention are they looking for? Right now we have a nice blend of coco and peat moss and we really like the healthy root structure we are seeing. We experiment and test regularly to determine fertilizer mix balancing. 

Q. How effectively do biological controls work to prevent mites, aphids, gnats (the bad bugs) from damaging your crop? 

A. They are very effective. We apply our beneficial insects proactively and spot treat for any clusters that have developed. Our insect vendors have great advice and can supply us with specific insects on an as-needed basis. You definitely have to apply them strategically and keep a close eye on the plants during all stages of growth to make sure there’s a balance of good bugs and bad bugs. That way the plants don’t get damaged and the good bugs are present to go about their work of slaying the bad bugs. 

Q. Which beneficial insects are used the most here?

A. We use Swirskii, Hypoaspis, Feltiella, Eretmocerus, and Aphidius. We also use just a little bit of pollen as food for Hypoaspis mites. They eat the pollen and grow stronger and sometimes create their own colony, and that’s good! There are strict rules in California for what bugs can be introduced to an environment, so our experts have to stick to the list.

Q. What are the benefits of using biocontrols? 

A. There are so many benefits! We’re not using pesticides, so that’s the biggest one. Pesticides are a great “kill all” which is convenient, but I think we’re all aware of the cons to using pesticides in ag. Using beneficials is a bit more work and you have to do more ‘bad bug hunting’ but like I said, sometimes they will develop their own colony and continue to replicate on their own.

Q. What climate conditions are needed inside a cannabis greenhouse? Fairly warm, right? 

A. We keep our greenhouse between 20 and 22 degrees celsius, which is the ideal temperature. Humidity should remain around 70 percent.

Q. How do you control the temperature?

A. We use an automated climate control system. Basically we just set the parameters and the sensors send the commands. If the sun is out and the greenhouse reaches 24 degrees, then the sensors send a command to open the windows for air exchange, and the greenhouse will begin to cool down. If it is too cold, the vents will stay closed and the boiler will turn on. The boiler sends hot water through a completely enclosed system of pipes. There is also a CO2 system that works with the boiler, which is really great. It recycles the CO2 created from the boiler and sends it out to help grow a more robust crop.

Q. How many stages are there for the plants in your greenhouse?

A. We have four stages. There is clone growing, hardening, veg, and flowering. The cloning begins from a cutting off of a veg plant. ‘Hardening’ is the stage between cloning and entering the GH environment; the plants adjust to leaving the highly controlled climate of the clone dome and get ready to move to the greenhouse, where they will experience sunlight and nighttime. This stage also promotes more root growth, so when are plants are ready to grow in the GH, they are growing from a strong foundation.

Q. Is there a specific number of weeks when harvesting occurs?

A. This depends on the grower and their method. We currently harvest more frequently from smaller plants. Some prefer harvesting from larger plants at different times of the year. We have tried various methods and find that each has its advantages. 

Q. Is everything harvested by hand?

A. Yes. We have a harvest team that goes through and cuts the plants at the base of the stalks, weighs them and send them to dry. 

Q. What is the purpose of weighing everything?

A. For State tracking and for our own internal use. It’s pretty cool, once you start tracking everything, how much data you can glean and learn from at all stages. 

Q. Do you have any goals to improve the sustainability of your greenhouse, or do you feel you have done most of what you can?

A. I think there is always room for improvement and efficiency. Fortunately, Holland does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to R&D in Ag Technology – so we make sure to stay in close contact with the Horticuluralists and Engineers out there. 

Efficiency is always a win-win situation. The more water we can save, the better it is for the environment and the better it is for our costs. The more we can promote ecosystems for the predatory insects, the fewer bugs we will need to buy. The more efficient we can get with our nutrients and soil, the less fertilizer we have to add in. The better our structures are, the better the ecosystem for our plants. Plants are very similar to humans. We just want a warm environment, with plenty of hydration and some good food!

Legal cannabis is safe for consumers and environmentally sustainable

By Sydney Pahle, Research Assistant

Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of buying organic foods in order to avoid personal and environmental harm. Yet when it comes to sourcing cannabis, some will turn a blind eye. Nobody knows what synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are used in black market cannabis. Cannabis grown responsibly and under California law is tested for pesticides to protect both consumers and the environment. The environmental harm that comes from supporting this illegal market should be openly explored, especially when legal alternatives are now a viable option.

The federal prohibition of cannabis, via the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 and the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, did little to stop American use of the plant. Instead, it provided the perfect conditions for a wildly irresponsible and unregulated market. It is true that legal cannabis cultivation is now booming in several individual states after recent medical and recreational legalization of the plant. However, the federal designation of cannabis as a Schedule I drug means that the American black market still exists, and countless illegal grows still remain in operation. Illegal growers design their operations with secrecy in mind at all times. Hence, they spend little energy prioritizing environmental preservation and consumer safety.

Excessive amounts of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers are frequently found on abandoned and trespassed grow sites on public and private lands. The substances utilized work quickly to combat diseases and deter predators, enhance bud growth, and increase THC levels. An illegal cultivation site with 7,000 plants and 5 acres will commonly contain 20 pounds of rat poison, 30 bags of fertilizer, as well as various hormones, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. (Mallery 28) 

The operations are large scale monocultures, which means they can be easily wiped out by a single disease if proper precautions are not taken. Cannabis plants are susceptible to mites, aphids, gnats, mold, mildew, as well as rats and deer. (Johnson 157) To combat this, laborers hand spray the plants with pesticides, and are exposed to high levels of toxicants for long periods of time while doing so. (Mallery 30) Officers who encounter these pesticides on grow sites are often not trained with proper removal, and either risk exposing themselves to toxicants if they attempt to remove them. (Klose 4) Absence of product screening in the black market means that consumers are unknowingly ingesting harmful substances. Chemical residue, mold, and mildew can be present on the cannabis buds when they are consumed, which can be fatal if used regularly. (Johnson 157) The various pesticides used haven’t been studied for reactions during combustion and inhalation, and no one is sure what the human health consequences of this will be. (Johnson 13) There are effective organic pesticides available, but they generally aren’t used in the black market.

Most pesticides concentrate themselves into the tissues of our flora and fauna through a process called bioaccumulation. In local food webs, they concentrate within each predator, and end up poisoning populations of critical species. 

Many of the pesticides used are banned in the USA, the EU and Canada, or have been approved only for ornamental plants, such as rose bushes. (Bauer 9) DDT is commonly used to combat mites, is a carcinogen that affects the nervous system, reproductive system and the liver. It has been illegal since 1973 in the USA, after Rachel Carson’s 1963 expose Silent Spring brought the pesticide’s health hazards to the public’s attention. (Mallery 29)

Pesticides move through our watersheds during rain, wind, sun, erosion and all other weathering events. They runoff into our streams, evaporate into our air, precipitate down in our rain, and soak into our soil and water table. This means, of course, that the pesticides end up in our water supply without us knowing. The use of illegal pesticides creates gaps in statewide water quality data, because the presence of the correct pesticides aren’t being tested for. (Gianotti 130) Further, the toxicants burn with our wildfires, degrading air quality and releasing dangerous substances to the will of the wind. (Klose 4) 

Similarly, excess fertilizer runs off into local waters, and through a process called eutrophication, robs streams, rivers, lakes and oceans of the oxygen they need to support their ecosystems. 

California is a hotspot for plant and animal biodiversity, and the Los Padres National Forest alone holds 23 animals and 4 plants that are considered threatened or endangered. (Klose 4) Many populations are reducing to dangerous levels, and pesticide use in illegal cannabis farming is doing no favors for our wildlife. Prohibition has historically made field research on cannabis difficult, but hopefully that can be remedied soon. Further research and funding for proper environmental reclamation of grow sites and their consequences will be beneficial. 

Bauer, Scott. “Illegal Marijuana Grow Sites on National Forest System Lands of Southern California.” SERCAL, vol. 28, no. 4, 2018.

Gianotti, Anne G. Short, et al. “The Quasi-Legal Challenge: Assessing and Governing the Environmental Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation in the North Coastal Basin of California.” Land Use Policy, vol. 61, 2017, pp. 126–134., doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.11.016.

Johnson, Nick. Grass Roots: a History of Cannabis in the American West. Oregon State University Press, 2017.

Klose, Kristie. “Illegal Marijuana Grow Sites on National Forest System Lands of Southern California.” SERCAL, vol. 28, no. 4, 2018.

Mallery, Mark. “Marijuana National Forest: Encroachment on California Public Lands for Cannabis Cultivation.” Berkeley Undergraduate Journal, 1 Jan. 2011, escholarship.org/uc/item/7r10t66s.