Sneak peek at this season's outdoor cannabis crops | GreenState

cannabis farmers

Sneak peek at this season’s outdoor cannabis crops

August 12, 2024

outdoor cannabis crops in the back of a truck on a farm

Growing cannabis is not hard, but cultivating award-winning sun-grown bud using regenerative methods is. The skills to do the latter are often passed down from generation to generation in ideal weather locales like the Emerald Triangle.

While this is one of the more well-known places to grow great weed, it is not the only one. There are pockets of perfect locales up the North American West Coast, upstate New York, and other areas in the U.S.

GreenState checked in with some sun-grown farmers to see how the season is going if there are any new animal friends or pests, and what cultivars are showing out right now.

outdoor cannabis crops — Photo provided by Belushi’s Farm

Arcanna Flowers

Arcanna Flowers is a sustainably-driven family farm in Mendocino, Calif. The family has put roots down in the cannabis cultivation community there for generations.

“I guess top of mind is the intense heat pressure that we had a couple weeks ago. It really did do a number on a lot of things in the garden. Since temperature on top of soil that doesn’t have mulch on top of it can reach super high temperatures! Another Farmer told me they measured the top of their soil with a point in shoot thermometer at 168° during the hottest day! The plants are definitely feeling that heat,” said Chiah Rodriques, co-founder and operations director of Arcanna Flowers.

“We were seeing a lot of leaf burn on vegetables, brand new baby starts of zucchini or a cucumber, making everything a little bit behind in production. We know that when plants get stressed out, whether it be cannabis or vegetables or herbs or flowers, it takes them a while to recuperate, and sometimes they don’t ever recuperate.”

“Cucumber beetles and other pests like cannabis aphids have also been super bad, the pest pressure increases when temps increase. We are doing more mulching and having to water more than usual to keep ahead of problems.”

Stone Road Farms

Stone Road Farms is another California cannabis operation focused on sustainable practices. The water is sourced from an artesian well, much of their land is left wild, and they use mixed light to craft delicious varieties.

“The farm is doing amazing this year! Luckily only got a few smoky days. It’s been very warm this year but we installed a new sprinkler system that turns our greenhouses into a tropical rainforest. The plants are happy, and the outdoor plants are already about 7.5-8ft tall,” Lex Corwin, founder of Stone Road Farms shared.

“We are running genetics from Conception tissue culture this year and some strains from Purple City Genetics as well. Our spring run yielded well despite the high temps and is being put into jars now. We are on track for a record yield this year with the 120 additional outdoor plants we added this spring.”

Sonoma Hills Farm

Sonoma Hills Farm is a California craft cannabis cultivator that embodies the farm-to-table lifestyle. Plants are cultivated in the rich Sonoma County terroir that has long fueled the famous wine country.

“This year has been exceptional for outdoor farming at Sonoma Hills Farm,” said Joyce Cenali, chief operations officer at Sonoma Hills Farm, “We’ve had an ideal pattern of rain and sun throughout the winter, following last year’s heavy rains, which resulted in a lush cover crop and thriving plants. Our Pink Jesus and Cherry Cheesecake strains are benefiting greatly from these conditions, showing strong, vibrant growth. The balance of moisture and sunlight has set the stage for some of the best plants we’ve seen, with robust phenotypes emerging this season. The team is excited and fully engaged in nurturing what promises to be a standout harvest.”

“The garden is more vibrant than ever the years of work building the soil have really paid off. The cover crop, a mix of oats, barley, favas, peas and vetch, have woven into a lush green tapestry, blanketing the soil with life. It wasn’t just any cover crop; it was 5 feet tall, the product of years of careful cultivation, really an organic gardener’s dream. The soil beneath it, dark and crumbly, had taken on the rich texture of worm castings, so fertile it felt almost alive to the touch. The weather had been kind—steady rains in the winter followed by a mild spring, with enough sun to warm the earth but not too hot. The usual pressures—pests, drought, even the gophers—have all faded this season, as if nature itself had decided to give the garden a break. We had a bumper crop of little green frogs that were the early season heroes, eating all the pests before they even were seen. The plants responded in kind, thriving in the gentle conditions.”

“As the season has unfolded, there have been more pressures, the cucumber beetles, the cabbage looper worms and, of course, the gophers, have shown up due to the rest of California drying up and everything is looking for a meal. We did have a significant heat wave, but that happened during the growth period for the plants so it was a real help for the crop!”

“We are excited about several new strains we have curated this year, Mazar Dogz from Biovortex, Orange Cream Pop from Humboldt Seed Company as well as our signature house strains Cherry Cheesecake and Pink Jesus. We have many other strains from breeders we cannot wait to taste this year too! At this stage, we are keeping up with our compost teas, pest management and cleaning the excess material off of the plants, also known as the down low. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a long warm fall and no early rains so we can bring Sonoma Hills Farm 2024’s crop to a dispensary near you in late fall!”

Ridgeline Farms

High above Southern Humboldt, Calif., family-owned and operated Ridgeline Farms grows some of the most coveted flower in California using mixed light. Three generations help tend to the land of LANTZ.

“As we reached the half point in our season, we have harvested our first round. The weather has been very interesting this season. We went from cool mornings and average day temperatures into a 14-day extreme heat wave that kind of changed the growth cycle of some of my plants. The ones that were a week or so ahead and only had a few weeks to finish finished really quickly with the heat. The greenhouse that was 10 days behind liked the heat and swelled very big. I did have some new growth on the top from extreme heat,” said Jason Gellman, owner and operator of Ridgeline Farms.

“I feel like with the high temperatures there was an abundance of cucumber beetles that love to eat the leaves. I know multiple people that got their gardens heavily destroyed by grasshoppers. Worse than I have ever heard of. He chewed all the leafs off the plants and when they were gone, they chewed on the Stocks. I was lucky enough not to have that problem.”

“Overall round one was decent. I have been trying out many new strains that I am very excited about. Whitethorn Rose x LANTZ (Ridgeline Rose) came out pretty amazing and I did all fresh frozen, which will be a treat for anybody who gets their hands on it. Also, the Double OG Chem x LANTZ, Ridgeline Rebel. I had multiple phenos and they all came out spectacular. I have multiple phenos of Grape Gas x LANTZ. One of those phenos is going into a collaboration with Woody Harrelson x Berner.”

“I’ve started farming with a whole different vision and purpose. The market is so horrible and the value of weed is so low that I’ve been focusing or my attention on creating and looking for new strains. Doing lots of collaborations with people that I feel like have the same intent as me. I really look forward to seeing what all these new strains do on round two.”

Savage Farms

Award-winning Savage Farms is a legacy farm located in Southern Humboldt who are more hash and extract focused than other brands.

“It’s turning out to be a pretty good first crop, my quality is always good but size can be affected by cold spring. I run about 10 percent of the farm with my own genetics trying to find a good hash strain. I had Arcata House of Extracts do my Rose Zkittles and it turned out nice. Other strains I grew were Gelonade, Grape Gas, Cheetah Piss, Super Boof. We’re organic, living soil, off-grid, collecting rainwater, with 15 awards,” said Jerry Savage, founder of Savage Farms.

Belushi’s Farm

Unlike other farms here, Belushi’s Farm sits along the Rogue River in Oregon. The cultivation is owned by actor and celebrity Jim Belushi, and known as one of the celebrity cannabis owners who puts in work cultivating their product.

“Overall, I’d say this is a good year. The weather has cooperated for the most part. The smoke and fires around us, compared to the last 10 years, are noticeably less,” Anthony Anaya, director of cultivation at Belushi’s Farm, shared. “Also, the farmers that kept at it through those hard years are noticing an uptick in price per pound. The plants look fantastic. Our Rogue soil is constantly building over the years with added beneficial fungi, bacterias and organic amendments. Our soil is thriving and it really shows with our flower.”

“This year we introduced Belushi’s Farm’s very first Fresh Frozen Rosin. It’s our first real leap into the Oregon hash market. We’re also ramping up our infused preroll lines.”

“This year we saw a lot of spring rains, which helped with fire season. But the greener the grass, the more common pests like thrips and aphids thrive. Our IPM includes glassing for hours each day, constantly maintaining healthy plants from moms to clones and using our organic OMRI listed sprays only during vegetative state. Clean mothers equal clean clones which produce the most amazing flower.”

“Recently our Lemon Cheesecake Thai is getting a lot of attention. It’s a super sativa with a lot of flavor—not too high in THC and really makes you want to be active. Black Ice is our newest heavy indica at around 25% THC. Of course we stick to fan favorites like Cherry Pie, Captain Jack and Lemon Melons.”

Summer is for cannabis farmers

Mixed light and outdoor farmers are tackling similar issues while enjoying the season. It is a hot one, but many who have previously struggled with fire danger and smoke are so far evading that issue. Although that is not the case everywhere, prayers are up for farms that have struggled with wildfire this summer. New phenotypes like Ridgeline Rose will be hitting the market soon. The farmers also shared their fan favorites for the year, Arcanna is about to pull down a banger run of Papaya, and Grape Gas got a few shouts.

The mid-summer check-in is a hopeful one. Our favorite farmers are hard at work creating another magical batch of terpene-rich, sun-grown flower for consumers to enjoy as the days shorten and the season turns to fall.

Cara Wietstock Cara Wietstock is senior content producer of GreenState.com and has been working in the cannabis space since 2011. She has covered the cannabis business beat for Ganjapreneur and The Spokesman Review. You can find her living in Bellingham, Washington with her husband, son, and a small zoo of pets.