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How Nectar got into the Cannabis Industry

How Nectar got into the Cannabis Industry

In 2010, Sean moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work with a successful entrepreneur and learn the hacks of the business world. He and his friend then launched an online fitness program that “failed miserably.”

The rebound from his first business was Nectar, an affordable, stylish lifestyle and specialty sunglasses brand. As Sean said, “I just remember being in the shower and my dad had called me and was like, ‘What are you doing down there?’ I was like, ‘I got an idea. It’s for sunglasses.’ And I just remember being in the shower looking down, just staring and thinking, ‘This better fucking work.’ I was broke and really had failed in my mind. And I’m competitive enough to want to redeem myself full throttle.”

The inspiration for the line was based on the surfing, skating, snowboarding and all things “outside lifestyle.” The goal was to create a product that he was passionate about and could really get behind. As he describes it, “With Nectar, we promote the sweet life: go do what you love. And that’s why we offer a low price point, so people can not be afraid to wear their glasses to the beach or to the river. And they should be an asset to your adventure and your outfit, and not a burden.”

After killing it for three years, but observing the competition in the sunglasses market, Sean said,  “we were looking for new channels to reach out and grow out products.” He got in touch with a local celebrity glass blower in Virginia who inspired them to make a line of glasses for glass blowers. As they expanded their specialty line, Sean saw the cannabis industry expanding and knew he wanted to be involved. He also identified a gap in the market for glasses for growers. “We wanted to find a price point that made sense for people who got sticky fingers half the time..these things might get destroyed over the course of a year.”

About a month ago, after many prototypes, testing Nectar launched their real edition HPS version glasses for high pressure sodium lighting. This was shortly followed by their LED version with the wrapped frame, designed to block as much of the light as possible.

Connect with Nectar Sunglasses: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

This podcast is brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.

This podcast is brought to you by Denver NORML. Denver NORMLis an organization that advocates for the rights of every marijuana consumer in Mile High City, while also creating long lasting partnerships with local businesses that share our values: A deep love for the community, the Cannabis plant and a commitment to educate our audiences.

This podcast is also brought to you by Growers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.

Pioneering the Legal Cannabis Industry

Pioneering the Legal Cannabis Industry

In 2008, Greg Gamet was a landscaper with dreams to grow medical cannabis and $1500 to start do it. He went to Cultivate Colorado to buy a grow tent, a 3×3 tray and “something to grow hydro.” He talked to his wife and said, “I want to grow my own medical cannabis in the basement.” Of course, you need your wife’s blessing to do anything. Greg is one of the guys that believes anyone can do what he did – because he did with next to nothing. He then went from cutting to growing grass to getting one of the first legal cannabis cultivation licenses in the country. Today, Greg owns DANK Dispensary, Kush Bottles, Cannascore, and Denver Consulting Group.

Connect with Greg Gamet: Facebook | Instagram 
Connect with Kush Bottles: Facebook | Instagram
Connect with DANK Dispensary: Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Cannascore: Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Denver Consulting Group: Facebook | Instagram

This podcast is brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.

This podcast is brought to you by Denver NORML. Denver NORMLis an organization that advocates for the rights of every marijuana consumer in Mile High City, while also creating long lasting partnerships with local businesses that share our values: A deep love for the community, the Cannabis plant and a commitment to educate our audiences.

This podcast is also brought to you by Growers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.

How To Create a Simple, Sustainable Grow

How To Create a Simple, Sustainable Grow

Read

Joel Payne is a co-owner of Earl’s Dispensary in Leadville, Colorado. One of the things that Joel has become known for is being a grower who focuses on growing high quality weed, organic, do-it-yourself on a large commercial scale. He’s the master of creating incredibly sustainable and scale-able grows. Joel has the unique perspective of growing cannabis in the climate that comes with being in Colorado’s highest incorporated city. He’s truly one of the growers that doesn’t ever use fertilizers and not using sprays during flower. He stands up for growing organically, sustainably and keeping everything cost effective. Joel believes that no amount of schooling can make up for the experience of growing natural plants. His goal is to bring the greenhouse basement vibe to commercial growing.

Connect with Joel Payne: Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Earl’s Leadville: Facebook | Instagram

This podcast is brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.

This podcast is brought to you by Denver NORML. Denver NORMLis an organization that advocates for the rights of every marijuana consumer in Mile High City, while also creating long lasting partnerships with local businesses that share our values: A deep love for the community, the Cannabis plant and a commitment to educate our audiences.

This podcast is also brought to you by Growers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.

 

The Evolution of Cannabis Cultivation

The Evolution of Cannabis Cultivation

On this episode of The Real Dirt with Chip Baker, I’ve got not one, but two cannabis cultivation pioneers. Call it a dynamic duo. Today I’m here with Dave Malone, founder of Green Dot Labs and Doug Marvin, head of Research & Development at Botanicare.

Green Dot Labs is a Colorado based extraction lab that focuses on acquiring exclusive genetics that cannot be found elsewhere. Their lab was custom built for making cannabis extracts and nothing else. These guys aren’t messing around. Botanicare based in Chandler, Arizona is one of the leading nutrient hydroponic equipment manufacturers in the indoor horticultural industry. Doug works specifically in the Commercial Business Development side of Botanicare in Research and Development.

Although the cannabis producers and equipment suppliers are on different sides of the food chain, we all have so much experience in the industry that we’re able to discuss the evolution of it all.  Listen in as we discuss the where to get quality seeds and genetics, how to create new strains and how to start an ancillary cannabis business from scratch.

Itunes | Stitcher | Soundcloud

Connect with Dave Malone: Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Green Dot Labs: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Connect with Doug Marvin: Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Botanicare: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

This podcast is brought to you by Cutting Edge Solutions. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing John, the founder of Cutting Edge Solutions for over 25 years. He’s an expert horticulturalist and a great guy all around. I truly stand behind his products as a grower and as a wholesaler and retailer.  As a grower, you know when a nutrient line has been developed from extensive research at real farms throughout Northern California.

This podcast is also brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.

This podcast is also brought to you by Growers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.

Show Notes

  • Dave discusses one of the most desired strains on the market – the Triangle Mince from the Wedding Cake Pheno strain (01:02)
  • The difference between the way extraction labs see cannabis versus farmers (01:35)
  • Dave, Doug & Chip discuss the evolution and development of the “best” strains in Colorado (03:39)
  • The difficulty of getting good genetics in the regulated market (07:44)
  • Why Green Dot Labs was lucky to get into the market early (08:53)
  • Green Dot’s new state of the art recreational cultivation facility with a professional photography area (09:42)
  • Dave discusses the complexity and modernization of cannabis photography (11:09)
  • The importance of the trichromes place in extraction and where these strains originally came from (13:53)
  • How Botanicare became the most major cannabis nutrient company on the market (19:30)
  • The significance of using Botanicare’s Pure Blend on your cannabis flower (21:32)
  • The purchase out of Botanicare by Hawthorne Hydroponics, a subsidiary of Scott’s Miracle Grow (25:17)
  • The mutually beneficial relationship between Green Dot Labs & Botanicare (26:00)
  • Chip brings up the issue of “full disclosure” on the horticultural side of the cannabis industry (28:48)
  • Chip talks about the quest for knowledge that cannabis industry pioneers exhibit (32:23)
  • Dave’s favorite strain (that he would take to a deserted island) (34:00)
  • Why it’s important to preserve great cannabis genetics (36:22)
  • The six strains that rule all cannabis genetics (37:37)
  • Chip’s belief that humans have an instinct for intoxication (38:47)
  • How Dave started Green Dot Labs on a shoe string budget (45:28)
  • The early system of “open blasting” extraction explained by Dave and why they developed the “closed loop system” (46:48)
  • The overhead of labor and economy of scale of growing weed (55:28)
  • Why growing has become a volume game in the current saturated market (57:30)
  • Why the future revolution is in indoor farming (59:09)
  • Doug talks about if by this time next year, you can’t run your entire grow on your iPhone you’ve missed the bus (1:02:00)
  • Dave discusses why 1000 grams of OG Kush is not the same value as 1000 grams of Blue Dream from an extraction perspective (1:09:15)
  • Why separating the terpenes from the cannabinoids is the true essence of the plant from the extraction process (1:16:30)
How To Grow 3 Pounds of Weed Per Light

How To Grow 3 Pounds of Weed Per Light

Josh Haupt’s story is one of humor, hard work and humility. When he was 22, he had an epileptic seizure and his six medically licensed marijuana plants were confiscated by the police. The following Monday morning, he received a dreaded phone call from the DA. She left a voicemail saying he should pick up his plants so they don’t die. When he went to the station, he watched as a trail of cops helped him carry his cannabis plants to his truck. Today, Josh is growing 6,000 plants. He authored the book Three A Light, started Success Nutrients. Josh has been a grower for over 15 years and has become one of the most well-known cannabis cultivators around because of his unique growing methods and his massive yields.

Itunes | Stitcher | Soundcloud

Connect with Josh Haupt: Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Three A Light: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Connect with Success Nutrients: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

This podcast is brought to you by Cutting Edge Solutions. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing John, the founder of Cutting Edge Solutions for over 25 years. He’s an expert horticulturalist and a great guy all around. I truly stand behind his products as a grower and as a wholesaler and retailer.  As a grower, you know when a nutrient line has been developed from extensive research at real farms throughout Northern California.

This podcast is also brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.

This podcast is also brought to you by Growers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.

Show Notes

  • Josh describes why he is first and foremost a family man and where he came from (02:00)
  • Of his six entrepreneurial endeavors, one of Josh’s services is consulting big investors on where to put their money to make the biggest return (02:50)
  • Josh describes the process for authoring the book, “Three a Light,” which tells growers how to achieve three pounds per light (03:00)
  • Chip asks Josh about his commercial grow experience, where he came from, how he got into it (04:07)
  • Josh discusses his two grow facilities in Denver and Aurora that cumulatively produce 1100 pounds of cannabis per month (04:50)
  • Josh describes his successful plan for wholesale commercial growing and how he started to grow “shit tons of weed.” (07:30)
  • Josh tells you why he thinks the world needs more weed (08:02)
  • Why Josh always focuses on quality and wants to be the “grey goose” of weed (08:52)
  • What Josh and Chip mean by the “white collar” or “pink shirt people” (10:00)
  • Chip identifies the biggest problem with the private cannabis industry in the past (11:12)
  • Why the consistency of canopy size in Josh’s grow is the deal breaker (12:52)
  • What Chip thinks are the top most frequent mistakes people make in their grow rooms (14:13)
  • How Josh yield 100 grams of boutique cannabis per square foot in his grow (15:23)
  • Josh challenges listeners to the “Burkle” strain challenge (16:48)
  • The method for figuring out how to know what strains will grow best using Josh’s method (17:19)
  • Why weed isn’t all about the THC level according to Chip & Josh (20:00)
  • Why Josh thinks reinvesting cannabis tax revenue into the community is so crucial (22:04)
  • Chip tells you what his favorite strain of all time is and why (23:39)
  • Josh tells you about why and how he started Success Nutrients and why his formula guarantees quality and quantity (24:27)
  • The origins of the Chem Dawg strain (30:00)
  • For the first time publicly, Josh announces the development of his new growing app that will change the lives of home growers forever (32:43)
  • Josh reveals his growing efficiencies, tips, tactics and methodologies that he has brought to the industry (36:37)
  • Josh discusses the “circle of life” growing tactic and invites you to take a tour of his facility where he’ll walk you through every single cycle of their growth (41:32)
  • Chip & Josh dissect the “linguistic culture” that has emerged within the cannabis industry (45:39)
  • Josh reveals the top three problems he encountered when building his company over the past 18 months (48:16)
  • The bottom line about what makes this all worthwhile for Josh is not actually the bottom line at all (52:36)
  • The best weed story of all time – Josh tells you how he watched police officers carefully return his plants to him after nearly being arrested (53:35
The First International Hemp Marketplace

The First International Hemp Marketplace

For Adrian Zelski, cannabis is a spiritual guide. It has helped him overcome alcoholism, excel as the front man of a successful band and land a successful career in the emerging hemp industry. Adrian is probably most commonly known for being the front man for the Athens, Georgia based band, Dubconscious. But, in addition to being a talented musician and cannabis connoisseur, Adrian is the Director of Operations for the brand new International Hemp Exchange aka iHEMPx. iHEMPx is based in Boulder, Colorado and is kind of a big deal for many reasons. It’s one of the first online portals that connects buyers and sellers of all things hemp. Think Etsy or Ebay, but with hemp. IHEMPx has both a retail and wholesale component and is growing quickly in popularity and with the media. But many people don’t fully understand the difference between hemp and cannabis that gets you high. Find out if the hemp industry is as lucrative as you think it is and what the future of hemp has in store on this episode of The Real Dirt with Chip Baker.

Itunes | Stitcher | Soundcloud

Connect with Adrian Zelski: Facebook | New Earth Muziq | Facebook New Earth Muziq | Instagram
Connect with iHEMPX: Facebook | Instagram

This podcast is brought to you by Cutting Edge Solutions. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing John, the founder of Cutting Edge Solutions for over 25 years. He’s an expert horticulturalist and a great guy all around. I truly stand behind his products as a grower and as a wholesaler and retailer.  As a grower, you know when a nutrient line has been developed from extensive research at real farms throughout Northern California.

This podcast is also brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.

This podcast is also brought to you by Growers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.

Show Notes

  • Adrian describes what the International Hemp Exchange is (02:00)
  • Adrian & Chip discuss the difference between marijuana & hemp. (02:50)
  • How the War on Drugs changed how industrial hemp was perceived by the public (04:36)
  • The complexities and multiple uses of hemp (05:32)
  • The federal regulations on hemp CBD & THC (06:17)
  • The benefits of full spectrum cannabinoid use (08:43)
  • How international hemp exchange works (10:00)
  • The difference between distillate & isolate CBD (11:41)
  • Colorado’s place in producing CBD (14:10)
  • The differences between industrial hemp & CBD hemp (14:56)
  • Piloting the growth of industrial hemp seeds in the US (16:18)
  • Different techniques for industrial hemp & CBD hemp growing (16:48)
  • On the importance of documenting hemp growing techniques, consumption, uses, etc. (19:23)
  • How The Emperor Wears No Clothes changed Chip Baker’s life (20:15)
  • What kind of money can be made from hemp – the hemp marketplace isn’t stable yet (22:33)
  • What Adrian does at IHempX (24:00)
  • Why Adrian thinks growing tons of flower is the golden ticket (25:20)
  • Chip & Adrian’s opinion about the recent DEA initiative about making CBD a Schedule 1 drug  (27:11)
  • Why “Hemp is beyond reproach” is one of Adrian’s favorite things to say (29:31)
  • How Adrian’s events give a platform to music & cannabis companies (31:18)
  • Why Adrian thinks The Cannabist saved The Denver Post (33:01)
  • 420 events in Denver for 2017 – what’s 420 On the Block? An expo meets a concert, meets a party, meets a cannabus scene. (34:02)
  • If you’re getting into hemp, you’ve got to attend the NoCo Hemp Expo – biggest hemp expo in the country on March 31st & April 1st (38:30)
  • Listen to Adrian’s weed story (39:49)