Published on 14/11/2023
Welcome back to our Cultivation for Compounds (CfC) consortium article series! For the November release, we interviewed Cannabis-Drying.com. One of the consortium’s partners, with a focus on the post-harvest aspect of the consortium. Before we begin, for our new readers, the CfC is a four-year research and representation program dedicated to cannabis cultivation and education. This article is the seventh of this series.
Representing Cannabis-Drying.com is Nick Abbingh, one of its managing partners. Nick’s journey with the company began three and a half years ago at a Dutch drying company. A sister company of Cannabis-Drying.com, which was founded almost 50 years ago. The company specialises in drying seeds, flower bulbs, onions, garlic, and more worldwide. “In 2017 the company was introduced into the cannabis market for the first time. When a client, a former flower bulb breeder, came to us and said that he is starting a cannabis farm in California. However, he is not a fan of the current way cannabis is dried in the sector, and asked us to design a new system for him. We studied and designed an extensive system for this purpose. A system that could dry around 3,000 kilograms of cannabis a week. This system still had its limitations and restrictions, so we kept working on it and improving it, which is how Cannabis-Drying.com was created. Offering high-quality systems for both recreational and medicinal cannabis growers”.
A conditioning unit of a drying cabinet, by Drying-Cannabis.com
Offering two different types of systems, a hang drying system suitable for recreational or GMP growers, and a GMP tray drying system primarily designed for medical growers. Cannabis-Drying.com has clients in Europe and is currently developing the market in South Africa. Nick shared with us his opinion about the different ways to dry cannabis for the medicinal market. “I believe tray drying is the best practice for medical crops because it gives you more control, that is also the way we dry the produce of the CfC. Nevertheless, it also has some downsides, three to be exact. The first one is that not all cultivars like to be wet trimmed. A way to make this problem smaller is by a ‘hybrid’ drying method. In this method, you forage for the flowers, then dry them, and then dry-trim the flowers. The second downside is the occurrence of flat spots on the product, which is not a significant issue for the medical market, but it is for the recreational market.
Nevertheless, if the tray is filled with bucked flowers instead of wet-trimmed flowers, this problem will be reduced, because the leaves would act as a ‘cushion’ for the flowers. The third downside is that if you try drying, you have to process a lot of products while they are still ‘wet’. That means a lot of labour is needed in one day, which is not the case with hang drying. For instance, for a farm that usually operates with 15 employees. When using tray drying, around 40 people will be needed on the harvest days, which can be, of course, very tricky”. Having such an open, honest, and reflective discussion shows that the team at Cannabis-Drying.com is aware of the industry’s struggles. Cannabis-Drying.com is seeking the best available solution for each client. Promising them the best tailor-made drying solution for their unique company and facility.
A conditioning unit for a larger drying system, by Drying-Cannabis.com
The drying step in the post-harvest stage of cannabis cultivation is a crucial one, as it can significantly impact the quality of the final product. Therefore, Cannabis-Drying.com is responsible for ensuring that the drying conditions, such as temperature, humidity, airflow, and duration, are best suited for the cultivated cultivars in the CfC research. “By now, we have reached the ideal drying conditions for the CfC varieties”, Nick said. “Usually, it takes some time to define the very best, suitable, and individual conditions for the cultivated varieties. It can be done using a moisture analyser, which is what we did at CfC. Using this device, one can measure the amount of moisture a product still retains after a specified period. Based on this information, we will determine if the conditions need to be adjusted and for how long we should continue drying to ensure the highest quality. Once you do it a few times, the perfect drying cycle for your produce can be identified.”
A tray with cannabis flower products at drying, CfC 2023, by Drying-Cannabis.com
We asked Nick what role the CfC consortium plays for Cannabis-Drying.com. Since, their solutions are involved after the plants are harvested. “The offer to join the CfC came from Vertify. Even though we do not test any products during the cultivation cycles. We were more than happy for the opportunity to join the team for several reasons, marketing being a priority.” Nick explained, “We placed a drying cabinet at the facility where the drying cycle, once defined, should be repeated without any changes with every cultivation cycle. Otherwise, the main research results can be influenced, which is, of course, not desirable. So, we are making use of the rest of the marketing and educational benefits of CfC. Such as the great pavilion at the World Horti Centre. Along with the opportunity to show clients or business partners our installation at a European operating facility growing cannabis”.
We concluded our conversation by discussing the future. Inquiring about the key impacts Nick believes CfC will have on its partners and the industry at the end of the 4-year research period. “I believe that by the time we conclude CfC, and possibly even earlier. The research and marketing impacts of this consortium will create an information as well as supplier base for any investor or grower that wants to grow medicinal cannabis on a larger scale worldwide. I hope we can demonstrate to the industry the results of the time and money invested in generating the most up-to-date information and high-quality research. Which is valuable in improving our products and services and excelling in the cannabis sphere. Moreover, I am content with the business relationships that we formed via the CfC. Knowing the strongest players in the horticultural industry came together to work on something mutual we all believe in and see the future opportunities. Which should give growers the feeling of security and trust in each partner’s abilities and knowledge.”
