Lume Cannabis Company produced nearly 200,000 marijuana plants this year between an indoor grow facility in Evart and an outdoor grow area near Tawas.
This equates to approximately 40,000 pounds of usable material that has been harvested for medical and recreational products.
“We have a license for 28,000 plants for our indoor facility, and we do five and a half rounds every year, so at plant level we sit down to about 150,000 plants a year that we harvest every year in our indoor facilities, ”said Kevin Kuethe, production supervisor. “Add about 20,000 to that for our exterior and that would be a specific number of plants for this year; 150,000 plants will produce approximately 40,000 pounds of usable material which would include seeds, buds and extractables.
“I know we had our biggest selling day last Black Friday,” he added. “We had people from all over in all of our stores.”
This is the first harvest of outdoor cultivation, which is mainly used for oil production, Kuethe said.
“A great thing about growing outdoors in Michigan is that we use the soil and sun provided by mother nature, especially to produce oils,” he said. “It was the idea of using cultivation outdoors. We use so much oil for baked goods and edibles, and it costs less to grow it outdoors. We will continue to use outdoor cultivation for this purpose. “
Kuethe said harvesting outdoors is much more labor intensive and takes longer due to the size of the plants.
“Each license for adult use is for 2,000 plants, so to get the most out of those plants you want them to be as big as possible for your outdoor harvest,” he said. “In Michigan, we have a fairly short season and only get one good harvest per life cycle. A lot of people had a very good harvest this year because of the length of the summer. It stayed warm quite late and we hope we can match that again this year. “
The new harvest of outdoor plants will begin in the coming months and there are plans to increase the number of plants grown, he said. The plants will be planted in greenhouses and other indoor facilities and then transplanted to the outdoor grow area around June. The harvest usually takes place around October.
In contrast, the indoor grow facility is a year-round production and regularly produces around 150,000 plants each year, which bloom on a nine-week cycle, he said.
“We patented our growth process and our mechanical infrastructure that we built,” Kuethe said. “We hydroponically grow indoors, which means we give the plant the exact amount of nutrients it needs every day. We can provide that perfect environment and maximize the genetic potential of the plant to produce high quality flowers.
“Each plant, including the vegetative and rooting process, takes between three and four months for the plant’s life cycle,” he said. “It’s an annual plant, so it will die at the end of its cycle and we’ll start a new one.”
Kuethe said the difference between plants grown indoors and those grown outdoors would likely not be detectable by the casual user, but “a knowledgeable user can tell the difference.”
“The outdoors isn’t perfect every day, and that’s what we provide with growing indoors – the perfect environment every day,” he said. “When you have outdoor plants, they’re a bit rougher because they have a lot of wind and rain that can affect it. This way the seasoned cannabis user can sometimes tell visually and after consumption. “
Although they are continually working with new genetic strains, Kuethe said, they always try to keep customer favorites available.
“We have over 100 strains in our genetic bank,” he said. “We have created a lot of new varieties and grown new seeds, but we always try to keep our top six varieties in stock. Any remaining space we have in the facility, we plant new genetics and see how the market likes them.
“Jenny Kush is our best-selling variety,” he continued. “It’s really cutting edge genetics – odor and flavor, even aesthetically. It is a beautiful strain.
Other bestsellers include GMO Cookies, Uncle Bruce, Blueberry Crumble, and Bloodstar – the sativa strain, he said.
Lume recently expanded the indoor grow facility in Evart, adding an additional 16,000 plants, for a total of 28,000. The facility manufactures products for several Lume dispensaries, including the Evart and Big Rapids retail stores.
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