Seeds of Change: The Next Chapter in Cannabis Cultivation
By Borna Zlamalik, SVP of R&D and Innovation
As we celebrate Canada Day, a day that’s become synonymous with cannabis culture, it's the perfect time to explore the cutting-edge innovations reshaping cannabis cultivation. At Organigram, I truly feel we’re at the forefront of these changes, and in recent years have made huge steps toward enhancing the quality, efficiency, and sustainability of our products.
Today, I want to share insights into our shift from cloning to seed-based cultivation, the benefits of F1 Hybrid seeds, and our innovative practices setting new industry standards.
Shift from Cloning to Seed-Based Cultivation
Cannabis cultivation has traditionally relied on cloning. However, as the industry matures, cloning's inefficiencies and resource demands have become evident.
Cloning demands significant resources and time, creating bottlenecks in the production cycle. As we move towards a more sophisticated and scalable industry, seed-based cultivation emerges as the future.
Seed-based cultivation, akin to high-throughput cultivation of tomatoes or other vegetables, offers increased vigor and uniformity. Stabilizing cannabis seeds for consistent results has been challenging, but F1 Hybrid seeds represent a breakthrough.
Benefits of F1 Hybrid Seeds
F1 Hybrid seeds revolutionize cannabis cultivation by increasing speed to market, as they significantly reduce the time from planting to harvest. The healthy and vigorous seedlings develop quickly allowing us to shave significant time off from the vegetative stage and in turn produce more turns annually.
These seeds streamline cultivation processes with a 55% reduction in labour hours per cycle while producing healthy, vigorous and robust flower. They ensure 100% consistency across grow cycles and facilities, which is crucial for building global cannabis brands.
Additionally, F1 seeds lock in and protect our cultivars, safeguarding our genetic innovations. These seeds offer greater resistance to diseases like powdery mildew and Hop Latent Viroid (HPLV), resulting in healthier plants and larger, more aromatic buds.
You can see from the image below how clones versus seeds develop over time, highlighting the robust health and superior growth of plants cultivated from seeds.
Innovative Practices at Organigram
At Organigram, we’ve embraced these advancements wholeheartedly. Our commitment to innovation is evident in several key practices. We’ve transitioned our facilities to LED lighting, resulting in annual electricity savings of over $1.5 million while doubling the light intensity available to our plants. This change has not only improved our environmental footprint but also enhanced plant growth and yield.
As we surpass our 3200th commercial harvest in our 10th year, our extensive grow database, containing over 100 million flower data points, allows us to optimize environmental conditions for each grow cycle. This data-driven approach has enabled us to achieve unprecedented yields—averaging 170+ grams per plant, with some plants reaching over 220 grams of dry flower per harvest.
Through disciplined breeding and selection, we’ve also been able to boost the potency on our plants from 18-19% THC just a few years ago, to consistently high 20s and low 30s – maximizing what great quality, high yielding flower can achieve at scale. Additionally, our terpene values now regularly fall in the 2-3% range, compared to the sub-1% traditionally achieved.
Future of Cannabis Cultivation
The future of cannabis cultivation is promising. Traditional breeding and genetic markers for early trait selection will continue to enhance quality and yield. Hyper-modified environmental conditions will further enhance quality and yield parameters, and seed-based cultivation, with its superior economics and consistency, will enable the creation of true global cannabis brands. When we can grow the same tried, true and tested Limelight internationally that we grow in Moncton – we know we have succeeded.
At Organigram, we believe an innovation mindset applied to every stage of cultivation strategy will transform the cannabis industry. This approach ensures long-term viability and consumer satisfaction, driving the quality that consumers demand.
Happy Canada Day!