Canndescent​ cultivates ultra-premium cannabis​ flower for the adult-use market and closed 2017 as California’s 1-selling flower brand. In 2016, Canndescent became the first cultivator in the world to abandon traditional strain names, implementing a more shoppable strain architecture of Calm, Cruise, Create, Connect and Charge.

The company produces over 10,000 pounds of cannabis each year and is often described as the inventor of luxury cannabis. Nate arrives at the 28,000 sq ft Canndescent facility in Desert Hot Springs California  to find out about their process for growing ultra-premium cannabis indoors. What’s their recipe for excellence? Nate is about to find out!

Interview with Rick Fisher, COO:

Nate sits down with Rick to talk about the facility and the role of a cannabis COO and the decision to operate a pesticide-free grow. Rick also talks about the top of the line flower they grow and the intuitive moves that keep the Canndescent product line growing.

Genetics and Propagation:

VP of Agronomy, Dan McClure, takes Nate through the Canndescent philosophy and shows off their 500 mother plants. Nate also learns about the tissue culture process being developed at Canndescent and how it can help assure plant health. They go on to look at the propagation strategy at Canndescent featuring Grodan rockwool.

Vegetation:

Nate meets up with Jeff Homolya, cultivation manager at Canndescent. Jeff teaches Nate about the feeding regimen, controlling light intensity, and their Agrotek master controller. Jeff also shows off their new Sun System grow lights.

Flower:

Jeff and Nate check out one of the flower rooms at Canndescent. Jeff discusses how the 800 sq ft room is the ideal size for capturing data. Nate checks out the DE HPS Gavitas in the room and learns how they keep their environment ideal with their HVAC and Quest dehumidifiers. Jeff also talks about how they keep the facility clean and the automated controls that help save on manpower and operate more efficiently.

Curing:

Jeff brings Nate into the cure room to learn about the Canndescent process. It’s a whole plant hang and a lot of monitoring to keep the buds healthy before they get to the consumer.

Trimming:

Paige Biggs, Forecast Analysis for Canndescent, talks to Nate about how they manage product volume for sale. Nate learns about the ownership stake trimmers have in the company and look at some amazing equipment from Harvest More and STM Canna.

Next Nate meets up with production team lead, Kayla Adkins, and learns about the pre-roll department. John from STM Canna stops by to show off the RocketBox pre-roll filler and teaches Nate why a good grind is necessary for a great pre-roll. And Phat Panda gets a shout out!

Packaging:

Kavien Martin, VP of Operations, takes Nate on a tour of the packaging area. Kavien talks to Nate about the importance of great packaging and branding.

Next, Nate meets up with Processing Department Supervisor, CJ Minor, and learns more about the processing and packaging at Canndescent. CJ shows off the new multi-weigher in the facility and explains how the facility uses Boveda to keep the cannabis fresh and delicious.

Processing:

Lab manager, Allen Larson, teaches Nate about the extraction process at Canndescent. Nate learns about their focus for optimizing vape pens and keeping a clean product and lab. Allen talks about the Green Mill Supercritical machine that helps them create some of the best vape products. Learn why they like CO2 extraction and how great separation reduces processing time.

Nate visits “Lynda’s Lair” and talks to lab tech Lynda Pham about how they fill their 6000 vape carts a day. Nate learns about the 710 Shark automated filling machine and their work with the company to optimize their process.

Last stop in processing is to talk with packaging team lead, Victoria Soliz, about pressing 100 vape cartridges at a time.

Dispensary:

It’s time to sample some of that Canndescent goodness and Nate pays a visit to Green Leaf dispensary manager, Elisha Parana, to learn more about the Canndescent line and how a high price tag doesn’t disway their customers. Nate also learns more about how Canndescent brands all their products by effect rather than strain.