Modern growing technology allows anyone to try their hand at cannabis cultivation. Some good soil, high-quality organic nutrients, and supplemental lighting are all you need to set up a home grow. It’s a fun experience, and we hope everyone will be allowed to try it at some point. Although hobby farming is enjoyable, we need cannabis producers who can grow at a larger scale to fill the shelves of dispensaries and supply extractors (like us!) with premier cannabis for our concentrates and vape pens. For us, that means working with sungrown cannabis growers.
At URSA, we praise the farmers that dedicate their lives to the success of their crops, and we don’t mean people who light up warehouses with full automation and synthetic everything. We’re talking about small-batch craft cultivation at its finest in the heart of Humboldt County. You see, for us, an extract is only as good as the starting material, and our job is to preserve the plant’s integrity from the moment it’s in our hands.
That’s why we believe that full-term, sungrown cannabis is the superior choice for making extracts. And for smoking herb, but hey, we’re in the business of dabbable products and vape cartridges. To produce our terpene-filled, full-spectrum products, only the best weed will do. Here’s what it means to cultivate sungrown cannabis.
What Does it Mean to Be Fully Sun-Grown?
It’s all in the name. Sun grown. Sungrown. Sun-grown cannabis. These plants are nourished by that bright, golden orb in the sky. There is no supplemental lighting from LEDs, HIDs, fluorescents, induction, or plasma lighting of any kind. Only the warmth of the hot sun from the moment it rises until it sets beyond the horizon.
Not only that, but sungrown cannabis exists in the full beauty of the outdoors, free from greenhouse plastic and hoop houses. It’s simply exposed to the elements, vulnerable to the weather, and taking up as much space as these glorious plants need to reach their full potential. It’s precisely the way nature intended. Sungrown cannabis is strong and hearty, having endured wind and rain that might batter a weaker plant species.
But no, not cannabis. Cannabis grown until the light of the sun produces the fullest, fattest buds with incredibly rich terpene profiles that are high in cannabinoid content. Caring for these plants takes dedication, attention to detail, and respect for the natural terroir of the region.
What Does it Mean to Grow Cannabis Full-Term?
Full term and sungrown almost always go hand in hand. Consider an indoor cannabis crop. The grower controls everything it takes to grow a plant. Humidity, lighting, temperature, airflow, and other elements are easily managed with timers and devices meant to simulate perfect growing conditions. One of the reasons why people grow indoors is because of the control over the light cycle.
Cannabis plants have a natural life cycle taking them from seed to sprout and then a longer vegetative period. During this time, the plant is growing strong stalks and stems to support the upcoming bud development. Then, they begin to flower. What causes a plant to flower? Shorter days.
As the summer winds down, the days begin to shorten, and the plants receive less light in a 24-hour cycle. This signals to the plant that it’s time to hurry up and do what nature intended – grow buds! So, during the flowering stage, bud growth takes preference over leaf or root development, and the plant focuses all of its energy on this one final task.
When growing indoors, it’s easy to trick cannabis into thinking fall is coming and it’s time to finish up. This is why a grower can have multiple harvests a year, but outdoor growers have only one. Therefore, growing full-term means allowing cannabis to do exactly what it knows how to do without interfering or rushing it along.
Some strains finish in September, others take until November. Many a grower has begrudgingly spent Thanksgiving trimming for those extra-late bloomers! But we guarantee those buds were the cream of the crop.
Benefits of Sun-Grown Cannabis
Aside from allowing nature to do its thing, what other benefits can you expect from sungrown cannabis? Plenty. Both as a consumer and as a cultivator. For our team of extractors and scientists, it’s the only cannabis we want to work with. Here’s why.
Lesser Carbon Footprint
Sungrown cannabis is softer on the environment in all aspects. If the growers work with the native soil, this is as close to organic as possible. So long as they do not use fossil-fuel-heavy synthetic fertilizers. Aside from that, there is no energy consumption for lights, fans, dehumidifiers, or any other things indoor growers absolutely need to succeed.
In fact, there’s no electricity use at all. With the space of the great outdoors, overcrowding is rarely an issue, so sungrown cannabis has much less mold and mildew. In addition, many full sun growers are keenly aware of permaculture techniques that nourish and enrich the native soil instead of depleting it, so sungrown farming is a regenerative practice.
Higher Quality Cannabis
As the breeze comes through and rain pours on the tender shoots, the plants respond in strength. The stalks are hardier, and the roots are well-established. Nearing harvest, cannabis resembles a tree more than a plant due to its stature. This allows them to truly focus on bud growth and trichome development.
Contrary to a popular misconception, outdoor cannabis produces more robust terpene and cannabinoid profiles than indoor. There has been speculation that the outdoor elements damage the trichomes, resulting in weaker buds. However, this is simply not true. There is nothing that can replicate the sun. No matter how high-tech the grow lighting may be, the sun will beat it every time. And the sun inspires photosynthesis to create precious trichomes.
All this to say that the end product will taste and smell incredible and offer an unrivaled high from the entourage effect.
Cost Advantages
Of course, the biggest cost savings is the lack of electricity consumption. Indoor growers see staggering monthly power bills to keep the lights and other equipment running 24 hours a day. It’s incredibly wasteful and can add to the production costs significantly.
Growing in native soil saves plenty of capital, and using organic nutrients and fertilizers will also spare a buck, especially when you mix your own recipes. Yet, perhaps the biggest cost savings comes with the greenhouse supplies. Especially when you look at the cost of some of the fancier models available today. This is a huge expense that a grower can easily avoid by growing full-term, sungrown cannabis.
Craft Cannabis at its Finest
If you are committed to supporting sungrown cannabis farmers like we are, rest assured that our entire product line is dedicated to this mission. Every time you buy an URSA cartridge or concentrate, know that the plants lived a natural life cycle under the shining California sun in Humboldt County.
Together, we can continue to uphold the values of small batch, craft cannabis growers and change how the industry operates one sungrown crop at a time.
