Hydrolife Magazine June/July 2016 (CAN Edition)

grow
Producer
Profile:
Broken
COAST
Cannabis
From humble beginnings, Vancouver Island’s
Broken Coast Cannabis has emerged as one of the
west coast’s best-known licensed medicinal cannabis
producers. Head grower Kevin Anderson discusses
the challenges Broken Coast has overcome and the
approach it has taken to be successful.
How did you get into growing?
I’ve always been an avid plant
lover. I quit my job after a couple
of years as an electronics engineer
to study arboriculture so I could
work with trees. I also love growing
fruit trees and vegetables and
live in a home that is overcrowded
with houseplants. Growing cannabis
is just an extension of my
love of plants but I like that I also
get to use my more technical side
as we have a fairly sophisticated
growing space.
How did you discover the products
you use in your growroom?
Reading books, browsing the Internet
and magazines like Hydrolife,
coupled with lots of trial and error.
The key is to start simple, create
the perfect environment, then look
at how you’re growing the plants
and perfect your particular system.
Start with a low feed and increase
the strength until the plants are
just right. Pay attention to how they
look through each stage of growth,
slightly underfeeding the plants
is usually better than over feeding
them, so dialing upwards and not
downwards is better in my opinion.
What kinds of equipment do you find make
the most difference in the garden?
No one piece of equipment alone is
key as all factors in your garden work
together. Your garden will only be as
strong as its weakest link. That said,
achieving a perfect environment is
probably the first place to start. Start
by sealing up the room, removing
the in and out air vents. This method
of growing uses an air conditioner
to cool the room while pure CO 2 is
supplied at the optimal level for the
plants to grow. This achieves a higher
level of control and accuracy over the
temperature and humidity of the room,
coupled with the addition of elevated
levels of CO 2. Growing in a sealed
environment also helps keep the
growroom sterile and free from pests.
This is beneficial in a medical system
where regulations are strict and the
product must pass vigorous testing for
pesticides, bacteria and mould.
So I would say an air conditioner, dehumidifier
and CO 2 controller are the
most important pieces of equipment in
the garden as they allow you to grow
in a perfectly controlled environment.
Once you have a perfect environment,
how you grow your plants can be low
tech, with some pots of coco or peat
18
grow. heal. live. enjoy.
myhydrolife.ca