Vs Outdoor? Indoor all day. What is the one "soulful" element of small-scale cra growing that you’ve fought the hardest to pre- serve now that you’re managing a larger facility? Blake: Cra Quality at scale. I have always been an advocate for organic, sustainable and regen- erative practices. Over the years I have composted, fermented, built my own soils and beds. is has evolved to creating an organic, water soluble fertilizer and soil products, Earthcra Biosystems. Our Inner Circle brand is our living soil, cra -organic cannabis brand. Drew: Quality rst! is is the hard- est part about cultivation at scale. THC does not determine quality or experience. ere's a lot of quality ower that tests high but I believe consumers are overlooking very high quality genetics because of the THC %. With cra farming you have the ability to build trust with local consumers. THC was never a
perfect world), why – feel free to take to the soapbox for a minute. Blake: Personally, I am all for No Till living beds, Sungrown in greenhouses. I enjoy the process of growing in the ground or in beds under the sun. I also like collecting native plants around the farm to ferment to feed the plants as close to a closed system as possible. I really like to see the true expressions of the plant that the sun promotes, as well as the quality of the ower and hash it produces. Drew: I think this is one of the best questions in cannabis. My growing experience has allowed me to use many dierent types of mediums, nutrients, and locations. I can’t say that one is better than the other. ey all have their pros and cons and it really depends on your preference and goals as a grower. Be clear with your goals and intentions. I’ve come to the conclusion for myself that having the highest quality with the lowest cost is what it takes to thrive in the industry. For our specialty ower, Inner Circle, we run a soil mix and Earthcra organics through irrigation and get great results. I have noticed a dierence in a variety of strains that do respond better to salts than organics and some that respond better to organics than salts. If the plants don’t care we don’t! Indoor
thing, it was all about the experience! What is your growing “philosophy,” ... or rules that you live by? Blake: Always learn from the plant. e industry and the technology we have is continuing to change. Learning to adapt and become more ecient while tending to the needs of the plant is the goal. Yes, there are certain metrics that we strive to hit; i.e., high- est testing/yielding/best-selling; but most of all, what genetics and styles work best for us. We are growing the best quality as we can for the consumers, but ultimately, we are growing something that we can be proud of. Drew: We work for the plants! If they don’t care we don’t care. No need to get caught up in the brands or hype. Care for the plant and your people and they will care for you. If you could force every consumer to look at one speci c data point on a lab result besides THC, what would it be and why? Blake: e terpene pro le, I understand the hype of Total THC, but I truly believe a lower THC testing and higher terpene pro le strain can produce a much more enjoyable experience. We have consistently hit 40+ % total in our Inner Circle organic ower room,
16 MAY/JUNE 2026
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