Cannabis Micropropagation in Saginaw, MI

Cannabis micropropagation is becoming increasingly popular across the United States as more and more states legalize marijuana. With the development of new cannabis laws and regulations comes many exciting changes in this industry, including perfecting cannabis micropropagation in Saginaw, MI, and across legalized states throughout the country.

In this article we will explore the different kinds of cannabis licenses in Michigan, and whether it’s preferable to grow cannabis indoors or outdoors. We will also discuss what micropropagation is and discuss its benefits and drawbacks, so you can see if it’s the right propagation method for you. Read on if you’re interested in cannabis cultivation in the Great Lake State!

As you may have guessed, there are regulations around who is legally able to grow cannabis in Michigan. Current laws state that you must have a license to grow cannabis that corresponds with the number of plants you plan to grow, whether you’re interested in growing for the medical marijuana market or the recreational one.

Licenses for adult-use marijuana can be broken into three different classes. These are as follows:

·      Class A: 500 cannabis plants

·      Class B: 1,000 cannabis plants

·      Class C: 1,500 cannabis plants

Rules and regulations for medical marijuana are distinct from those for recreational marijuana. Licenses for these groups are broken into the following classes:

·      Class A: 100 cannabis plants

·      Class B: 500 cannabis plants

·      Class C: 2,000 cannabis plants

Fortunately for the cannabis cultivator in Michigan state, Class C licenses can be “stacked” to the extent that a person is legally allowed to grow up to 10,000 plants. However, if a grower wishes to exceed this number, they must apply for an Excess Marijuana Grower License, which requires that some plants are allotted to the medical marijuana market and others are allotted to the recreational market.

Ah, the age-old question: whether to cultivate your cannabis plants indoors or outdoors! In this section, we will detail some of the key reasons horticulturists choose to propagate their cannabis outside, and why others opt to grow inside.

There are several key benefits to growing your cannabis “au naturale,” or exposed to the elements. Here are our top three:

1.     Room for expanding your business: Because of the inherent space limitations associated with growing your cannabis inside under grow lights, there is more room for growth should you choose to plant outside. Outdoor cannabis plants can grow as large as you like, with the ability to produce even more flower than their smaller indoor counterparts.

2.     Natural resources are free: It’s hard to say for sure just how much money you would save by allowing the natural rainfall and solar energy to power your cannabis plants, but you can at least rule out the expense of grow lights, utility bills, and dehumidifiers.

3.     Lower carbon footprint: If you’re interested in going carbon neutral or carbon negative with your business (or the associated tax breaks and benefits), then you may want to plant your cannabis outdoors. This not only lowers your costs of energy consumption and water production for your plants but also removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while producing oxygen at the same time.

While there are industry-leading folks who swear by growing cannabis outdoors, there are also many cannabis producers who favor indoor growing operations as well. Here are some of the key reasons people choose to grow their cannabis inside rather than outside:

1.     Multiple harvests throughout the year: Because you are not at the mercy of the elements as you would be with an outdoor cannabis growing operation, indoor horticulturists can con their plants into thinking it’s time to produce flower more than once per year. While indoor plants may be smaller than their outdoor relatives, they can produce much more flower per year thanks to perpetual harvests throughout.

2.     Discretion: Not to mention the privacy you will enjoy from growing your cannabis indoors, you will also be able to keep your product under security measures that may be tighter than those you would be able to implement if you choose to grow your marijuana outside.

3.     More control over the growing conditions: Because growing your marijuana indoors allows you to control factors like lighting, nutrient availability, access to water, and pathogens, you will be better able to control the final outcome of the cannabis product. This allows horticulturists to fine-tune the quality of their product and ensure that customers can expect the same quality every time they purchase their cannabis.

There are several ways to propagate cannabis—from forming calluses on mother plants to tissue propagation, sometimes known as micropropagation. Micropropagation is a means of plant cultivation that takes small samples of plant tissue from a mother plant and grows them in controlled conditions within a laboratory.

Micropropagation is a relatively easy way of propagating plants, which is why it is so popular amongst horticulturists and cannabis growers. There are several benefits to micropropagation as well as several drawbacks to consider when it comes to growing cannabis for commercial or medical purposes.

The benefits of propagating your cannabis through plant tissue micropropagation are many, and they include:

1.     Reducing your crop’s interaction with pathogens: Keeping your cannabis in a sterile environment helps ensure that your plants are free from fungus, bacteria, and other unwanted pathogens during their lifecycle. This can also help the horticulturist to produce generation after generation of disease-free plants.

2.     Easier intentional propagation: By utilizing micropropagation methods, horticulturists can easily select for plants with desirable traits and further propagate those plants. This eliminates the need for old-fashioned breeding practices and allows the horticulturist to easily propagate plants with characteristics they would like to replicate.

3.     Conserving rare plants/holding genetic information: Between propagations, a horticulturist may choose to store their plant tissue cultures at a low temperature for long-term storage. This requires applying cryoprotective compounds to the sample before freezing to ensure they will not be damaged by the process.

4.     Shorter time until maturation: Micropropagation can speed up the maturation process of your cannabis plants by up to 10 times—much faster than the years it can sometimes take to bring a plant up to speed using traditional breeding methods.

While there are many benefits to propagating your plant tissue cultures in the controlled environment necessary for micropropagation, there are several downsides to this horticultural practice as well. Downsides of micropropagation include:

1.     Initial expense: Because micropropagation requires special equipment to control sterility, temperature, and humidity as well as tools like scalpels, tweezers, and culture containers, there is a significant initial expense associated with beginning a micropropagation growing operation—beginning at around $4,500.

2.     Maintaining a sterile atmosphere: Aside from the hassle necessary to maintain a sterile atmosphere, keeping your grow environment free from pathogens takes resources. This added expense is a key factor in whether or not your precious tissue culture samples become contaminated.

3.     Can’t guarantee perfect results: Because of how much labor is involved in propagating plants in this way, there is plenty of room for human error. This means that sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, samples will not come true to type as they mature and you may have plant waste.

The cannabis industry is one of increasing possibility, but it requires adherence to relevant local laws and regulations. By correctly licensing your grow operation, horticulturists are able to focus less on the red tape and more on producing a quality product. If you are interested in cannabis micropropagation in Saginaw, MI, you may be looking for information on plant tissue culture cultivation. Want to see the course material from industry-leading cannabis educators like Shoots N’ Roots? Contact us today for more information!