Growing hemp commercially can be incredibly lucrative if you’ve got the right resources and equipment. If you’re interested in starting a commercial cannabis operation, we’ve put together a helpful guide that breaks down the growing and harvesting equipment you’ll need.
Equipment & Tools You Need for Cannabis Growing
Before we get to the harvesting equipment, there’s also a lot of growing equipment and tools you’ll need as a commercial grower for your hemp operation.
Indoor Lighting
Sufficient light and UV rays are essential to healthy and well-producing crops. So, if you’re growing indoors, proper lighting is crucial. Not everyone has to grow hemp indoors, but indoor growing is much easier as it gives cultivators greater control over the conditions.
There are typically two lighting options for indoor growers: LED grow lights and high-pressure sodium grow lights. Both have specific advantages, and growers use both styles, so the choice comes down to your preference and the specific strain of hemp you want to grow.
Proper Ventilation
Another critical aspect of growing healthy hemp is the airflow. Quality airflow can be difficult indoors, which is why a proper ventilation system is vital to well-producing cannabis.
An open ventilation system with carbon exhaust filters helps to control the odors in the growing operation and keeps the airflow consistent and strong. Sufficient airflow means healthier cannabis and less risk of mold growth or fungus infestations in the crops. (Plus, your neighbors and workers will appreciate you reducing the odors from the plants!)
Consistent Temperature Control
Along with proper ventilation, cannabis growers also need a high-quality HVAC system to help with the temperature control of their operation. When growing cannabis indoors, the temperature is crucial to the crop’s health—too hot or cold, and the hemp can wither and die.
The ideal temperature for the crop depends on what stage it’s in and the strain of hemp. Ensure your HVAC system is well-equipped to handle the task of consistently controlling the temperature around cannabis for months.
Humidity Control
Along with the temperature, hemp also prefers a certain humidity level that changes throughout its growth stages. If you want to grow healthy and high-yielding cannabis indoors, you’ll need an adequate humidity system that you can adjust as your crops grow.
The desired humidity for cannabis can vary wildly throughout its growth—from as much as 70 percent as seedlings to as dry as 30 percent while flowering, depending on the strain. A high-quality humidity control system can differentiate between quality cannabis and low-producing yields.
TDS & pH Measuring Equipment
While your plants are growing, you want to be sure that they’re absorbing the correct amount of vital nutrients they need to thrive. The best way to determine the health of your plants besides their outward appearance is with a pH and TDS test.
TDS and pH measuring equipment are crucial to understanding your plants’ health and whether the nutrients you provide work. If not, you can adjust to hit the sweet spot of pH and TDS for your hemp to ensure a happy and healthy plant.
Trimming & Pruning Tools
A commercial cannabis operation also requires some simple tools for trimming and pruning. Pruning is an important part of growing healthy plants as it eliminates the weaker branches and buds. Then, only the strongest leaves will remain, and the plant can focus its nutrients on the most promising buds.
Pruning the leaves also provides better airflow for the plant and gives it more direct light. Some of the most important pieces of equipment in a hemp-growing operation are heavy-duty gloves to protect you and your workers’ hands and some simple trimmers.
Magnifying Instruments
Along with pruning tools, magnifying instruments are simple tools that can be vital to the health of your cannabis. One of the key aspects of growing cannabis is knowing when to harvest, and the best method for judging a hemp plant’s maturity is by carefully examining the trichomes.
Trichomes are the small hairs on the hemp’s buds that start out translucent but then turn a milky white and golden amber as they age. Magnifying equipment and instruments or even just a jeweler’s loupe can be some of the most vital tools for growers.
Equipment for Cannabis Harvesting
After spending months growing cannabis, it’s finally time to harvest it. The harvesting process for commercial cannabis can create a bottleneck as so much work needs to be done quickly. Our cannabis harvesting equipment, from bud buckers to bud sorters, can increase the efficiency and output of your operation while reducing the time and labor needed.
Bud Bucker
Bucking the flower is one of the first parts of the cannabis harvesting process. Bucking is when you remove the buds from the branches and stems by hand or with a bud bucking machine.
With a bud bucking machine, an operator takes the cut stems and inserts them into one of the various holes on the bucker, which uses rollers to pull in the branch and pluck the buds from the stem quickly and safely. A bud bucking machine makes bucking much easier and can save hours of labor.
Bud Trimmer
Next is the bud trimmer, one of the most valuable pieces of hemp trimming equipment an operation can own. You must trim the freshly bucked hemp buds of unwanted leaves.
Trimming the buds typically takes a delicate hand, which is why many growers don’t like to use machines that can harm the hemp. But our bud trimming machine uses state-of-the-art technology to remove unwanted debris from the hemp without harming the buds.
Bud Sorter
Lastly, commercial growers must sort the freshly bucked and trimmed hemp buds into sizes. Sorting is another task that can be tedious and time-consuming to do by hand, but a bud sorter can do it in a fraction of the time.
Our bud sorter doesn’t use vibrating or moving parts like other machines, which can end up damaging the precious buds you’ve just spent months growing. The Easy Trim bud sorter ensures that the hemp remains in pristine condition as it’s sorted into popcorn, small, medium, and large sizes.
We hope our guide has helped you learn more about the intricacies of commercial cannabis harvesting and the equipment it requires! If you have any other questions about commercial cannabis equipment, don’t hesitate to contact our knowledgeable staff at Easy Trim!