Russell Pace, Cannabis Horticultural Association

Russell Pace takes a few minutes away from documenting scientific facts about cannabis for his website chascience.com, the Cannabis Horticultural Association. Russell lives in Humboldt County, CA and has been a Humboldt grower for 13 years and growing his own cannabis for over 20 years. With a background in geology, he’s a natural scientist and loves tracking, testing, and proving out theories within his cannabis gardens. Currently, Russell only grows outdoor, in large raised beds with a mix of native and potting soil with natural inputs that he sources from his land. He likes to grow large plants, as is the customary practice in the cannabis heartland of America. He prefers to grow 6-foot square plants and likes to stay away from the super tall ones that require more effort to grow, support and manage. How do you improve overall plant health? Russell takes a scientific approach and encourages paying attention to the immune health of your plants. He suggests our society attempts to grow plants faster than their immune system can grow and continue to protect the plant. Tune in around 9 minutes to listen to the specifics that Russell references, and why this is important to the health of the plant. He also talks about signs that your plant might be growing too fast – hint…it’s too many nutrients like Nitrogen! How to increase the yield you receive off of each plant? Biostimulants is where Russell would like you to focus (14:00). Amino Acids, folic acids, seaweed extract, chitin to name a few, but any natural input to stimulate yield and terpene production. Having a strong root system and not overwatering are two other points that he brings up, in order for the roots to stretch and establish a good base. Russell gets further into the bio-stimulants around 15 minutes through 20 minutes, on a very scientific level. We encourage you to listen in to get it straight from the source. Russell’s unique grow tips and tricks come in around 24 minutes, and it’s about getting longer flowering varietals to finish faster. He says to let the soil dry out significantly with higher temperatures to encourage that plant to mature faster, but understand that you will see a decrease in yield, but it’s all about timing for this tip. What’s Russell’s thoughts on the character question? Willingness to learn and study the science, be patient with yourself as you continue to learn, Things are always changing with your plants, and yourself, and you need to be willing to change as the industry and access to knowledge is. Russell’s last bit of advice – work towards adding in beneficial insects into your environment. Manage your environment, and the insects will take care of the rest. These insects can help take care of most problems that arise. He talks about the minute pirate bug, and how prevalent it is in his garden because of the banker (companion) plants that he’s worked hard to establish. He and Matthew Gates @syncangel on Instagram and he are working on a banker plant project, including peppers that will attract predator mites into your garden. Understanding companion planting is really beneficial especially to an outdoor gardener, and chascience.com has a membership that details some of this if you are really into this type of thing. He suggests checking out Green Life Productions for commercial cannabis done right. If you liked the way Russell talked about growing cannabis, and want to learn more from him you can find Russell at @chascience on IG, https://www.chascience.com. If you are ready to hire on a consultant to help you take your grow to the next level, troubleshoot a problem, overhaul the grow or have some vacation coverage, please reach out to us here at [email protected] and we can ensure you get the best Homegrown Helper for your needs! Don’t forget, if you liked this interview, and want to hear more from this week's Homegrown Helper please head over to http://thehomegrownhelpers.com/bonus and download the rest of the show! This episode is brought to you by Mammoth Microbes. Mammoth has provided our new BLOOM members with samples of each of their products Mammoth P and BioControl. Mammoth Microbes aids cultivators in growing the healthiest, most productive crops possible, while minimizing impacts on the environment. They develop highly effective organic microbial biostimulants that are scientifically proven to increase plant growth and plant-derived biocontrol products that prevent and control pests naturally. They are giving away a pile of Mammoth products, including some sweet Mammoth swag to our 5 winners on October 1st! Also, Sohum Living Soils is giving 10% off using code GROWCAST10 at checkout and members receive 20% off when accessing the code through the membership portal. Sohum Soils was created to take the thinking out of growing. With all of the liquid fertilizer on the market, consumers can be afraid to try and be a chemist when mixing nutrients. No need for that with Sohum. Just add plain water. That's it! We have a great chart that shows you the proper size container to ensure you get enough food to the plant for a full flower cycle with just adding water. The soil is designed with beneficial bacteria and fungus as well as macro and micronutrients. Set it and forget it. It's that easy. Also, they are giving away 10 bags of soil, 2 to each winner of our $5k quarterly giveaway. Sign up at https://www.mygrowpass.com.