You’re sitting down to dinner at a restaurant about ten minutes from where you work, finally relaxing after a tough day. You’ve set your environmental alerts on your plants; you have that peace of mind that the technology promised and you know that if anything goes wrong you’ll get notified immediately. As you’re looking at the menu, you receive an alert telling you that the temperature in one of your 2,000 square foot grow rooms has gone out of the safe range. Your mind starts to race, “It’s week seven, I’ve got 500 plants one week away from harvest, that’s 200 pounds of cannabis worth about $150,000-$200,000. Oh my God, what am I going to do?”
You’re doing all this at the dinner table and even though you’re not in a state of panic, you are extremely concerned. You need to figure out what’s going on. You check the graphing and see that over the past hour your humidity dropped and your temperature is gradually going up. Within the past ten minutes, the temperature has gone to 90 degrees. Your numbers tell you that the temperature in the room with $200,000 of cannabis is going up about five degrees every three minutes.
Monitoring a large grow room can be a stressful task.
“I see this trend and can’t figure it out,” the grower relates. “Normally, the HVAC kicks on and I’d begin to see a downward trend on the graphs. I pre-set my trigger for 90 degrees. But, I’m not seeing that. What I AM seeing is the temperature gradually and consistently getting warmer without the bounce-back that I would expect once the HVAC trigger was hit. All I know is I better find out what’s causing all this and I better find out fast or my entire crop is gone.”
You go through the rest of the checklist from LUNA and you see that the lights are still on. Now, you’re starting to sweat because if the temperature in that room hits 130 and stays there for more than twenty minutes, you’re losing your entire crop. You have to walk in your boss’s office the next day and explain why, after all the time and money you put in over the past seven weeks, not only is all that money gone but so is the $200,000 he is counting on to pay salaries, expenses, and bank loans.
This is something you’ve been working on for seven straight weeks and if you don’t make the right decision, really quickly, when that room hits 130 degrees here’s what happens.
“My equipment starts to fail,” our grower continues. “The crop literally burns as the oils dry up and the crop is worthless. At 130 degrees, my grow lights essentially start to melt. All you can think of is that temperature going up five degrees every three minutes and you’re ten minutes from your facility. I need to leave that restaurant right now, immediately, because even if I get there in ten minutes the temperature is going to be almost 120 degrees while I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what’s wrong.”
You run out to your car and you speed back to the facility. The grow room is now 125 degrees, you have maybe three or four minutes left to figure things out before you flush $200,000 down the drain. The first thing you do is turn off the grow lights because that’s your primary source of heat. Then, you check your HVAC panel and you realize it malfunctioned and shorted out. There’s the problem.
The real toll is the human cost. Once this happens, no grower ever wants to leave and go home or even go to dinner. It’s a horrible toll. It’s the hidden cost we don’t talk about. The grower opens up with his own personal experience.“This system allows the grower to step back and still feel confident because you’re not leaving your facility to another person,”
“You think about the burden on the person that you bring in to replace you while you’re out of town and then you think about the burden on you if something goes wrong again. And you decide, it’s not worth it. The anxiety, the fear that it will happen again, it’s not worth it. So, you don’t go. I didn’t even see my sister’s new baby for eight months.”
Your desire to see your family, your desire to have a normal life; all of that goes out the window because of your desire to be successful in your job. It outweighs everything.
This is every grower. It’s why many farmers never leave their property. It just becomes a normal way of living. You just repeat it so much that you don’t even think about it. Why go on vacation if your stress level is higher than it is if you’re home. You’re constantly worried about your farm or your facility. The only way to escape it is to not go away at all.
“This system allows the grower to step back and still feel confident because you’re not leaving your facility to another person,” he tells us. “You don’t realize how stressful a lifestyle you live is until you step back and look at it. Or, if you have an alert system that allows you to pull back. That’s when you realize how difficult your life is. Otherwise, it just seems normal.”
As AI technology expands its footprint into agriculture, there will be more tools to help mediate situations like this; more tools to give you a more normal life. It’s one of the reasons we got into the business in the first place.
As Europe swooned under record-breaking heat this summer, the cannabis industry also found itself in a rather existential hot seat.
The complete meltdown at CannTrust has yet to reach a conclusion. Yes, a few jobs have been lost. However, a greater question is in the room as criminal investigatory and financial regulatory agencies on both sides of the US-Canada border (plus in Europe) are getting involved.
As events have shown, there is a great, big, green elephant in the room that is now commanding attention. Beyond CannTrust, how widespread were these problematic practices? And who so far has watched, participated, if not profited, and so far, said nothing?
Who, What, Where?
The first name in the room? Canopy Growth.
Why the immediate association? Bruce Linton, according to news reports, was fired as CEO by his board the same day, July 3, 2019, that CannTrust received its first cease and desist notice from Health Canada.
Further, there is a remarkable similarity in not only problematic practices, but timing between the two companies. This may also indicate that Canopy’s board believed that Linton’s behaviour was uncomfortably close to executive misdeeds at CannTrust. Not to mention, this was not the first scandal that Linton had been anywhere close to around acquisition time. See the Mettrum pesticide debacle, that also broke right around the time Canopy purchased the company in late 2016 as well as the purchase of MedCann GmbH in Germany.
Reorg also appears to be underway in Europe as well. As of August, Paul Steckler has been brought in as “Managing Director Europe” and is now based in Frankfurt. Given the company’s history of “co-ceo’ing” Linton out the door, is more change to come?
What Went Down At Canopy?
Last year, Canopy announced its listing on the NYSE in May. To put this in context, this was two months after the first German cultivation bid went down to legal challenge. By August 15, 2018 with a new bid in the offing, the company had closed the second of its multi-billion dollar investments from Constellation.
Bruce Linton, former CEO of Canopy Growth Photo: Youtube, TSX
Yet by late October, after Bruce Linton skipped a public markets conference in Frankfurt where many of the leading Canadian cannabis company execs showed up to lobby Jens Spahn (the health minister of Germany) about the bid if not matters relating to the Deutsche Börse, there were two ugly rumours afoot.
Video showing dead plants at Canopy’s BC facility surfaced. Worse, according to the chatter online at least, this was the second “crop failure” at the facility in British Columbia. Even more apparently damning? This all occurred during the same time period that the second round of lawsuits against the reconstituted German cultivation bid surfaced.
Canopy in turn issued a statement that this destruction was not caused by company incompetence but rather a delay in licensing procedures from Health Canada. Despite lingering questions of course, about why a company would even start cultivation in an unlicensed space, not once but apparently twice. And further, what was the real impact of the destruction on the company’s bottom line?
Seen within the context of other events, it certainly poses an interesting question, particularly, in hindsight.
Canopy, which made the finals in the first German cultivation bid, was dropped in the second round – and further, apparently right as the news hit about the BC facility. Further, no matter the real reason behind the same, Canopy clearly had an issue with accounting for crops right as Canadian recreational reform was coming online and right as the second German cultivation bid was delayed by further legal action last fall.
Has Nobody Seen This Coming?
In this case, the answer is that many people have seen the writing on the wall for some time. At least in Germany, the response in general has been caution. To put this in true international perspective, these events occurred against a backdrop of the first increase in product over the border with Holland via a first-of-its kind agreement between the German health ministry and Dutch authorities. Followed just before the CannTrust scandal hit, with the announcement that the amount would be raised a second time.
German health authorities, at least, seem doubtful that Canadian companies can provide enough regulated product. Even by import. The Deutsche Börse has put the entire public Canadian and American cannabis sector under special watch since last summer.
Common Territories
By the turn of 2019, Canopy had announced its expansion into the UK (after entering the Danish market itself early last year) and New York state.
Yet less than two weeks later, Canopy announced not new cultivation facilities in Europe, but plans to buy Bionorica, the established German manufacturer of dronabinol – the widely despised (at least by those who have only this option) synthetic that is in fact, prescribed to two thirds of Germany’s roughly 50,000 cannabis patients.
By August 2019, right after the Canopy Acreage deal was approved by shareholders, Canopy announced it had lost just over $1 billion in the last three months.
Or, to put this in perspective, 20% of the total investment from Constellation about one year ago.
What Happened At CannTrust And How Do Events Line Up?
The current scandal is not the first at CannTrust either. In November 2017, CannTrust was warned by Health Canada for changing its process for creating cannabis oil without submitting the required paperwork. By March of last year however, the company was able to successfully list on the Toronto stock exchange.
Peter Aceto arrived at CannTrust as the new CEO on October 1 last year along with new board member John Kaken at the end of the month. Several days later the company also announced that it too, like other major cannabis companies including Canopy, was talking to “beverage companies.” It was around this time that illegal growing at CannTrust apparently commenced. Six weeks later, the company announces its intent to also list on the NYSE. Two days later, both the CEO and chair of the board were notified of the grow and chose not to stop it.
Apparently, their decision was even unchanged after the video and resulting online outrage about the same over the destroyed crops at the Canopy facility in BC surfaced online.
On May 10, just over a week after the Bioronica purchase in Germany, the first inklings of a scandal began to hit CannTrust in Canada. A whisteblower inside the company quit after sending a mass email to all employees about his concerns. Four days later, the company announced the successful completion of their next round of financing, and further that they had raised 25.5 million more than they hoped.
Six weeks later, on June 14, Health Canada received its warning about discrepancies at CannTrust. The question is, why did it take so long?
Where Does This Get Interesting?
The strange thing about the comparisons between CannTrust and Canopy, beyond similarities of specific events and failings, is of course their timing. That also seems to have been apparent at least to board members at Canopy – if not a cause for alarm amongst shareholders themselves. One week after Health Canada received its complaint about CannTrust, shareholders voted to approve the Canopy-Acreage merger, on June 21.
Yet eight days after that, as Health Canada issued an order to cease distribution to CannTrust, the Canopy board fired Bruce Linton.
One week after that, the Danish recipient of CannTrust’s product, also announced that they were halting distribution in Europe. By the end of August, Danish authorities were raising alarms about yet another problem – namely that they do not trust CannTrust’s assurances about delivery of pesticide-free product.
Is this coincidence or something else?
If like Danish authorities did in late August 2019, calling for a systematic overhaul of their own budding cannabis ecosystem (where both Canadian companies operate), the patterns and similarities here may prove more than that. Sit tight for at least a fall of more questions, if not investigations.
Beyond one giant cannabis conspiracy theory, in other words, the problems, behaviour and response of top executives at some of the largest companies in the business appear to be generating widespread calls – from not only regulators, but from whistle blowers and management from within the industry itself – for some serious, regulatory and even internal company overhauls. Internationally.
And further on a fairly existential basis.
EDITOR’S NOTE: CIJ reached out to Canopy Growth’s European HQ for comment by email. None was returned.
Correction: This article has been updated to show that the Danish recipient of Canntrust’s product announced they were halting distribution one week after Bruce Linton’s firing, not one day.
In the burgeoning cannabis market, grow facilities are facing more and more competition every day. New indoor cultivation enterprises are often being set up in formerly vacant industrial buildings and commercial spaces, while in other cases, companies are planning and constructing new grow facilities from the ground up. For all these establishments, continually lowering production costs while supplying the highest possible quality in ever-increasing yields is the way forward.
Whether in existing or new structures, concrete floors are ubiquitous throughout the majority of cannabis growing facilities. With the right treatment, these indoor concrete traffic surfaces can greatly contribute to a company achieving its operational objectives. Alternatively, insufficiently protected concrete floors can create annoying and costly barriers to accomplishing company goals.
Challenges in Cannabis Grow Facility Construction
As with any emergent industry, mainstream acceptance and market growth is bringing regulation to cannabis cultivation. Local governments are paying more attention to how cannabis growing facilities are constructed and operated. In addition to the standard business matters of building safety, employee working conditions and tax contributions, elected officials are increasingly under pressure from constituents to analyze the overall effect of grow facilities on their communities at large.
High consumption of energy for grow room lights and high water usage are just part of the equation. The temperature and humidity needs of a grow facility can be similar to that of an indoor swimming pool environment. While warmth and moisture are ideal for cannabis growth, they also provide the ideal conditions for the growth and proliferation of fungi and other undesirable microorganisms. Therefore, to help preserve plant health in the moist indoor climate, fumigation often comes into play.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) enrichment of grow room air, a common practice proven to increase crop yields, presents another set of safety and health considerations in dense urban environments.
Adding to these challenges, many cannabis grow facilities are producing plants destined for either pharmacological or nutritional use. This in itself demands scrutiny by regulators for the sake of the consuming public.
As a result, grow room managers and owners must stay informed about the evolution of the industry in terms of local and federal agency regulations concerning their facilities, their overall operation and their products.
Bare Concrete Floors in Grow Rooms
As a foundational construction material, concrete continues to lead the way in commercial and industrial construction. Despite the many advantages of concrete floors, when left unprotected they can present significant challenges specific to cannabis grow rooms.
Untreated, bare concrete is naturally porous, easily absorbing liquids and environmental moisture. Substances found in grow rooms, such as fertilizers, fungicides and other chemicals, can leach through the porous concrete floor slab into the soil and ground water. Whether organic or synthetic, concentrations of such substances can be highly detrimental to the surrounding environment.
Whether in an existing or newly constructed facility, it is not uncommon for the under-slab vapor barrier to be compromised during construction. When this occurs, moisture from the soil beneath the floor slab can enter the concrete and move osmotically upward, creating a phenomenon known as Moisture Vapor Transmission (MVT). The resulting moisture and moisture vapor tends to become ever more alkaline as it rises upward through the concrete slab. MVT can result in blistering, bubbles and other damage to floor coverings.
The warm temperatures, regular watering of plants and high relative humidity maintained within many grow rooms can contribute to a weakening of the structural integrity of unprotected grow room slabs.
Within the confined space of a grow room, the warm, moist air invites microbe proliferation. Food and pharmaceutical plants are high on the priority list when it comes to facility hygiene levels, as demanded by code.
Public health guidelines for cannabis cultivation facilities in various parts of the country are increasingly mirroring those of food processing. Typical requirements include having smooth, durable, non-absorbent floor surfaces that are easily cleaned and in good repair, possessing proper floor slope towards a sanitary floor drain, with no puddling, as well as an integral floor-to-wall cove base. These directives cannot be met with bare concrete alone.
Optimal Grow Room Flooring Performance
In some locations, cannabis growing facilities are already subject to strict building codes and regulations. This will no doubt be spreading to other regions in the near future. For example, the Public Health Agency of Los Angeles County publishes construction guidelines to ensure cannabis facility floors meet standards mirroring the food processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries, where sanitation, facility hygiene and safety are paramount. In these types of facilities, bare, unprotected concrete floor slabs are not allowed as a general rule, due to the material’s innate porosity and absorbency.
Flooring in grow rooms, like in their food and pharma industry counterparts, should optimally:
Provide a monolithic and virtually seamless surface to help eliminate crevices, grout lines and other dark, damp locations where soil and pathogens tend to hide
Be impervious and non-porous, providing a surface that can isolate toxic materials on the surface for proper clean-up where needed
Enable correction or improvement of the floor slope for proper drainage, with no low spots to help avoid puddling
Be installed with integral floor-to-wall cove options for easier wash-down and sanitizing
Have the strength and thermal shock resistance, plus the tenacious bond, to undergo steam-cleaning and/or hot power washing, where needed
Enable seamless, continuous surface installation over concrete curbs and containment areas
Offer antimicrobial options for highly sensitive locations
Demonstrate high compressive strength and impact resistance for durability under heavy loads
Display excellent abrasion resistance, allowing the system to perform under grueling daily wear-and-tear
Present customizable slip-resistance options that can be balanced with easy clean-ability
Facilitate the use of floor safety markings, such as color-coded traffic and work area designations
Be formulated with low odor, low-VOC chemistries that meet all EPA and similar regulations
Be able to contribute LEED Green Building Credits, where desired
Include options for refurbishing old or damaged concrete surfaces to allow reuse of existing facility resources, as opposed to having to be demolished, thus unnecessarily contributing to landfill waste
Withstand and perform in continually damp grow room conditions, without degrading
Be compliant with FDA, USDA, EPA, ADA, OSHA, as well as local regulations and/or guidelines
Include MVT mitigating solutions where Moisture Vapor Transmission site issues are present
Provide waterproofing underlayment options for multi-story facilities
Demonstrate excellent resistance to a broad range of chemicals, fertilizers and extreme pH substances
Finding an affordable floor system with all the above features may seem like a tall order. Luckily, innovative manufacturers now offer cannabis facility flooring that meets sanitation, regulatory compliancy, durability and budgetary needs of growers.
Resinous Flooring Value for Cannabis Facilities
Choosing the right floor solutions for a given cultivation facility may be one of the most important decisions an owner or manager makes. Since floors are present throughout the structure, poor selection and compromised protection of concrete slabs can end up wreaking havoc with profits and yields over time.
Few facilities can afford the inconvenience and expense of an otherwise unnecessary floor repair or replacement. Having to suddenly move cumbersome plant beds and heavy pots in order to give workers access to the floor area can be headache. In addition, the unscheduled downtime and overall juggling of resources that invariably must take place make a strong case for investing in optimal grow room flooring from the start.
An excellent long-term value, professional-grade resinous floor systems present cannabis growers with a unique set of solutions for cultivation rooms. Not only does this type of flooring offer all the desirable features listed above, but also furnish a host of added benefits to grow room operations, including:
Very High Gloss Finish
Highly reflective floor surfaces enable light entering the space from overhead to bounce back upward, exposing the underside of leaves to the light and potentially increasing yields
Exceptionally high gloss floor finishes in light colors help make the most of your existing lighting sources, significantly increasing room illumination
Achieving greater illumination without adding fixtures helps reduce energy consumption and associated costs
Virtually Seamless Surface
Fluid-applied resin-based flooring provides an impermeable, monolithic surface that is exceptionally easy to clean and maintain
The virtually seamless finish of resinous coated floors greatly reduces the number of locations for soil, pathogens and microbes to gather
Resinous floors, by incorporating integral cove bases to eliminate ninety degree angles, correcting floor slope to eliminate puddling, and allowing for a virtually seamless surface, provide an optimally sanitary flooring solution
Outstanding Moisture Tolerance
Designed specifically for use in wet industrial environments, cementitious urethane flooring is a top choice for humid grow rooms
Also called “urethane mortar”, this type of floor can help mitigate certain undesirable site conditions, such as Moisture Vapor Transmission (MVT)
Chemical, Acid and Alkali Resistance
Whether organic or synthetic, many soil enhancers and substances used to eradicate undesirable fungi and pests can damage concrete and shorten the usable life of foundational slabs
Protecting concrete slabs with monolithic, non-absorbent and appropriately chemical resistant coating systems allows concrete to perform as designed, for as long as intended
A proper barrier coating on the floor allows spilled or sprayed substances to be properly cleaned up and disposed of, rather than allowing the liquids to seep through the porous slab, and into the surrounding natural environment
Added Safety
Resinous coating systems’ slip-resistance is completely customizable at the time of installation, enabling growers to request more traction in pedestrian walkways and less slip-resistance under raised beds.
Epoxy, urethane and polyaspartic resinous flooring systems accommodate the installation of safety and line markings, as well as varying colors to delineate specific work areas
The antimicrobial flooring options available from some manufacturers offer further hygiene support in highly sensitive facilities
Today’s industrial resinous floor coatings from reputable suppliers are very low to zero V.O.C. and compliant with EPA and other environmental regulations
Resinous coating systems provide ideal value to informed growers who require durable, reliable and long-lasting high performance flooring for their facilities.
Support from the Ground Up
From incredible medical advances to high tensile fiber in construction materials, the expanding cannabis industry is bringing exciting opportunities to many areas of the economy. As more and more growers enter the market, so increases the pressure to compete.
By choosing light reflective, seamless and moisture tolerant resinous flooring that meets regulatory guidelines for grow rooms, managers can help reduce their overhead costs on multiple fronts — and get a jump on the competition.
No matter the size of your cannabis greenhouse operation, keeping your plants alive and healthy requires the best possible growing environment. This means greenhouse managers and personnel must frequently monitor the status of environmental conditions and equipment. The sooner someone discovers extreme temperature fluctuations, rising humidity or equipment failure, the more inventory you can save.
Cloud-based remote monitoring system in protective enclosure
That’s why integrating a remote monitoring system into your greenhouse operation can save you time, money and anxiety. Monitoring systems that use cloud-based technology let you see real-time status of all monitored conditions and receive alerts right on your mobile device.
Installing a monitoring system and sensors can be easier than you might think. Here are answers to ten questions to ask before installing a cloud-based monitoring system:
What is required to use a remote monitoring system?
Most remote monitoring systems require an internet or WiFi connection and access to an electrical outlet. Programming is done through a website, so it’s easiest to use a computer for the initial setup. If you don’t have an internet connection at your location, you’ll want to choose a cellular system. Make sure that there’s sufficient signal strength at your site, and check the signal quality in the area before purchasing a cellular device.
2. How do we determine what kind of monitoring system and sensors we need?
A reputable manufacturer will have a well-trained support team that can assess your needs even without a site visit to determine which products are best for your application. If you feel you need them to check out your greenhouse operation,many companies can set up a video conference or FaceTime chat to substitute for being on site.
You will want to provide details about the scope and purpose of your cannabis growing operation. Important factors to discuss include:
Skeletal structure of the greenhouse (metal, plastic, wood, etc.) and the covering material (glass or plastic).
Floor space square footage and height of each of your greenhouses.
Number of greenhouse structures in your operation.
Outdoor climate to determine if you rely more on heating or air conditioning and the level of humidity control needed.
Space dedicated to phases of growth (cloning and propagation, vegetative, flowering) and the microclimates needed for each.
Types of lighting, ventilation and irrigation systems.
Level of technological automation versus manual operation in place.
The monitoring system representative will then determine the type of system that would best serve your operation, the number of base units you will need and the types of sensors required.
Temperature display provides quick view of sensor data
The representative should also be able to provide tips on the placement of the sensors you’re purchasing. For example, to ensure thorough air temperature coverage, place sensors throughout the greenhouse, next to the thermostat controlling the room temperature and in the center of the greenhouse out of direct sunlight.
Note that there shouldn’t be a cost for a demo, consultation or assistance throughout the sales process. Be sure to ask if there are any fees or licenses to keep using the monitoring equipment after you purchase it.
3. Are sensors included with the monitoring system?
In most cases, sensors are sold separately. The sensors you select depend upon the conditions you want to monitor and how many you can connect to your base unit. Certainly, temperature is critical, but there are many other factors to deal with as well, such as humidity, CO2, soil moisture, water pH, power and equipment failure, ventilation and physical security.
For example, humidity has a direct impact on the photosynthesis and transpiration of plants. High humidity can also cause disease and promote the growth of harmful mold, algae and mildew. Sensors can detect changes in humidity levels.
Water pH sensor
Like any other plant, cannabis needs CO2 to thrive, so it’s a good idea to include a CO2 sensor that will signal to the monitoring device when readings go out of the preset range. There are even sensors that you can place in the soil to measure moisture content to help prevent over- or underwatering, budget water usage costs, promote growth and increase crop yield and quality.
Of course, all the critical systems in your growing facility—from water pumps to irrigation lines to louvers—rely on electrical power. A power outage monitoring sensor detects power failure. It can also monitor equipment for conditions that predict if a problem is looming, such as power fluctuations that occur at specific times.
Ventilation systems not only help control temperature, they also provide fresh air that is critical to plant health. Automated systems include features like vented roofs, side vents and forced fans. Sensors placed on all these systems will send personnel an alert if they stop running or operate outside of preset parameters.
To monitor the physical security of your greenhouses, you can add sensors to entrance doors, windows, supply rooms and equipment sheds. During off hours, when no staff is on duty, you can remain vigilant and be alerted to any unauthorized entry into your facility.
4. Do monitoring systems only work with the manufacturer’s sensors?
Not necessarily. For example, certain monitoring units can connect with most 4-20mA sensors and transmitters regardless of the brand. When selecting sensors, you might have a choice between ones that are designed by the manufacturer to work specifically with the monitoring system or universal components made by a third party. If the components aren’t made by the system manufacturer, you’ll want to find out if they have been tested with the monitor you are choosing and if you need to work with another vendor to purchase the parts.
A humidity sensor mounted in a weatherproof enclosure
5. Is a monitoring system easy to set up, or do we need to hire an electrician?
Many monitoring systems are quick and easy to install, and users can often set them up without hiring an outside expert. Look for one that requires only a few simple physical installation steps. For example:
Mount the device to the wall or somewhere secure;
Plug it into an electrical outlet and an internet connection;
Connect the sensors.
You connect the sensors to the base unit’s terminal strip using wire, which is included with many sensors. The range of many wired sensors can be extended up to 2,000 feet away from the base unit by adding wire that can be easily purchased at any home store. It’s a good idea to hire an electrician if you need to run wires through walls or ceilings.
Usually, once you plug in the device and connect the sensors, you then create an account on the manufacturer’s designated website and begin using your device. There should be no fee to create an account and use the site.
If the manufacturer doesn’t offer installation services, ask if they can recommend a local representative in your area who can set up your system. If not, make sure they provide free technical support via phone or email to walk you through the installation and answer any questions you might have about programming and daily usage.
6. Is there a monthly fee to access all the functionality of a monitoring device?
Many web- or cloud-based systems provide free functionality with some limitations. You might have to purchase a premium subscription to unlock features such as text messaging, phone call alerts and unlimited data logging access.
7. Should we get a system that is wired or wireless? Will we need to have a phone line, cable, internet or something else?
Wireless can mean two different things as it relates to monitoring: how the system communicates its data to the outside world and how the sensors communicate with the system.
The most popular systems require an internet or WiFi connection, but if that’s not an option, cellular- and phone-based systems are available.
A hardwired monitoring system connects the sensors to the base device with wires. A wireless system uses built-in radio transmitters to communicate with the base unit. Some monitoring systems can accommodate a combination of hardwired and wireless sensors.
8. Can one system monitor several sensor inputs around the clock?
Once the monitoring system is installed and programmed, it will constantly read the information from the sensors 24/7. Cloud-based systems have data logging capabilities and store limitless amounts of information that you can view from any internet-connected device via a website or app.
If the system detects any sensor readings outside of the preset range, it will send an alarm to all designated personnel. The number of sensors a base unit can monitor varies. Make sure to evaluate your needs and to select one that can accommodate your present situation and future growth.
When a monitoring system identifies a change in status, it immediately sends alerts to people on your contact list. If you don’t want all your personnel to receive notifications at the same time, some devices can be programmed to send alerts in a tiered fashion or on a schedule. Multiple communications methods like phone, email and text provide extra assurance that you’ll get the alert. It’s a good idea to check the number of people the system can reach and if the system automatically cycles through the contact list until someone responds. Some systems allow for flexible scheduling, so that off-duty personnel don’t receive alerts.
9. Do monitoring systems have a back-up power system that will ensure the alarming function still works if the power goes out or if someone disconnects the power?
The safest choice is a cloud-based system that comes with a built-in battery backup that will last for hours in the event of a power failure. Cloud-based units constantly communicate a signal to the cloud to validate its online status. If the communication link is interrupted—for example by a power outage or an employee accidently switching off the unit—the system generates an alarm indicating that the internet connection is lost or that there is a cellular communications problem. Users are alerted about the disruption through phone, text or email. All data collected during this time will be stored in the device and will be uploaded to the cloud when the internet connection is restored.
If you opt for a cloud-based monitoring system, make sure the infrastructure used to create the cloud platform is monitored 24/7 by the manufacturer’s team. Ask if they have multiple backups across the country to ensure the system is never down.
10. What should we expect if we need technical support or repairs to the system?
Purchase your system from a reputable manufacturer that provides a warranty and offers full repair services in the event the product stops working as it should. Also, research to make sure their tech support team is knowledgeable and willing to walk you through any questions you have about your monitoring system. Often, support specialists can diagnose and correct unit setup and programming issues over the phone.
It helps to record your observations regarding the problem, so the tech team can look for trends and circumstances concerning the issue and better diagnose the problem. Ideally, the manufacturer can provide loaner units if your problem requires mailing the device to their facility for repair.
Walking into one of the grow rooms on Adam Jacques’ farm outside of Eugene, Oregon, you will find dozens of cannabis plants and a whiteboard on the wall with the note “Do it for Frank” across the top. This is a reminder of why Jacques and his team are growing medical marijuana: To help people.
Above some notes is their daily inspiration: “Do it for Frank”
Frank Leeds, one of Jacques’ cannabis patients, lost his battle with cancer in early January.
A view of the grow room where they have 48 plants in flowering..
Jacques was working with Frank for the past five years to develop “Frank’s Gift,” a high-cannabidiol (CBD) strain with a slew of potential medical benefits. Deeply saddened by the loss of his patient and close friend, Jacques continues to run his grow operation, Grower’s Guild Gardens, where he and his wife, Debra, work to get high-quality, safe medicine to their patients.
Adam Jacques looking over his plants in their vegetative stage.
On their farm, strain testing is currently underway for the upcoming changes in the recreational program in Oregon. “With the way the medical laws are now, I have 48 plants for my patients, including multiple high-CBD genetics, and any excess flower will be sold to recreational dispensaries to cover our overhead costs,” says Jacques. When the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) grants them their recreational grow license, he will take some of those trial strains to an outdoor crop estimated to be in the thousands of plants on his 42-acre farm.
Presenting at the Dispensary Next Conference a few weeks ago, Jacques said to a crowded room of industry professionals: “The biggest reward is helping people.” Jacques and his team’s work exemplifies the good that smaller grow operations can do for the industry.
This plant is roughly four weeks from harvest, currently in the flowering stage.
Jacques’ recent work has taken him to help Leni Young, a four-year-old girl originally from Alabama who suffers from debilitating seizures. Her parents became medical refugees when she was not selected for an Alabama study involving cannabis oil. As a result, the Young’s took their daughter to Eugene, where with the help of Jacques and his team, they could get her customized cannabis oil with high doses of CBD and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THC-A) that could help treat her seizures.
Left to right: Wayne Young with his daughter, Leni Young, and son, Thomas Young, alongside Debra Jacques.
The cannabis oil that Jacques created has brought Young’s seizures down from multiple occurring every day to just one every six weeks. “One-strain solutions like ‘Charlotte’s Web’ are no longer the answer for treating medical conditions,” says Jacques. “We create something custom designed for individual patients, and it is working.” CBD and THC-A, the main active ingredients in Leni’s medicine, are two of the non-psychoactive compounds in cannabis believed to have extraordinary medical benefits.
Jacques inspecting some of the different strains they are testing for the recreational program.
Less than three weeks ago, a bill was introduced to the Alabama legislature that would decriminalize the possession of and allow patients to get high-CBD oil. The bill is called “Leni’s Law.”
Jacques’ goal in the long term is to get clinical trials with peer-reviewed studies to connect the dots between his patients, cannabis and evidence-based medicine. “I am working with a laboratory in Arizona and a doctor from Israel to perform a peer-reviewed study,” he adds. “Getting peer-reviewed will allow me to provide legitimate scientific evidence for my claims and get the knowledge into the hands of my patients.”
Looking into the immediate future, Jacques is wary of different regulations coming to Oregon. “Once you go recreational with your business, you lose the ability to provide any sort of a medical recommendation,” says Jacques. “I do not want to see the recreational program and the desire for profits push out our ability to help patients.”
Jacques and his team represent the idea that embodies the cannabis legalization movement, which is to help people get the medicine they need. “The money is not really important any more,” says Jacques.
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