Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast

Our guest today is Jeff Lowenfels. I wanted to get Jeff, our very first podcast guest and old friend, back on the show. Jeff is the author of the popular Teaming series, Teaming with Microbes, Teaming with Nutrients, Teaming with Fungi, and now his new book “Teaming with Bacteria," which he joins us today to discuss. He also has a book called DIY Autoflowering Cannabis which we discussed in an earlier interview. In this episode, we discuss the importance of bacteria in relation to plant growth and the rhizophagy cycle.Jeff is an extremely respected and popular national garden writer. He is the former president of the Garden Writers of America,Jeff has been a good friend now for over a decade and is a wonderful advocate for organic gardening, compost teas, and the microbes in our soil. Thanks for coming on the show Jeff! https://www.jefflowenfels.com/books-by-jeff-lownfels/https://www.amazon.com/DIY-Autoflowering-Cannabis-Easy-Homegrown/dp/0865719160

My guests this week are two awesome cannabis researchers, Paul Cockson and Patrick Veazie. Paul has been on the podcast before on episode 59 talking about his paper on cannabis deficiencies. Be sure to check out that episode if you haven’t already and also this is a good one to go to the podcast page at kisorganics.com, just click on the learn tab then podcast. I will have links to all the papers so you can follow along as well as a link to their new website that shares all their research in one central location, it’s a great resource.Paul has been working in the hemp world as a researcher since 2018, and in plant science research since 2016. He has a background in horticulture, agroecology, and floriculture from his time at NC State. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD at the University of Kentucky working with industrial hemp. Paul's primary research focuses on rhizosphere management and brings strengths in plant mineral fertility, plant hormones and growth regulators, substrate research, general diagnostics, and greenhouse and growth chamber expertise. In addition to a strong greenhouse background, Paul is also literate in field level agronomic processes. Paul's passion is for mentorship and sharing the research process with undergraduate students. When not doing research, Paul and his dog (Groot) can be found hiking in local, state, and national parks.Patrick Veazie has been working in the hemp world as a researcher since 2019, and as a plant science researcher since 2018. He has a background in horticulture and floriculture from his time as an undergraduate researcher at NC State. Currently, he is pursuing his M.S. at North Carolina State and is focusing on greenhouse substrates for Cannabis and other floriculture crops. Patrick's primary research focuses on plant mineral fertility, substrate research, and general diagnostics.Was super excited to talk to them about some of their latest published research on cannabis and hemp. Now on to the show!

My guest this week is Dr Daniela Vergara. She is an evolutionary biologist, data analyst, educator, scientific writer, and public speaker. In addition to her multiple publications, she founded and directs a non-profit organization, the Agricultural Genomics Foundation (AGF; AgriculturalGenomics.org). AGF aims to make hemp and cannabinoid science available to a broad public. Dr. Vergara recently joined the Harvest New York Extension Team from Cornell University as an ‘Emerging Crop Specialist’ to help hemp farmers with their crop. Dr. Vergara’s scientific publications include the comparison of the cannabinoids by the federally produced Cannabis to that produced by the private market. These results were featured in news platforms such as The Atlantic, Science, and FiveThirtyEight. Recently, she published a comparison between the genome of these federally produced varieties to the genome of the varieties found in the private markets.Some of her other scientific publications are a compilation of the existing genomic tools available for Cannabis research that was featured in Science, and the maternally inherited genomes (chloroplast and mitochondria). Vergara has authored these publications along with collaborators from the private sector in the Cannabis industry as well as academics from several institutions worldwide. Through AGF, Vergara educates the public about science, data analysis, statistics, evolutionary biology, and genomics.Now on to the show!https://www.kisorganics.com/blogs/podcast/episode-102-cannabis-genetics-and-terpene-expression-with-dr-daniela-vergara

My guest this week is Dr. Monique McHenry. Dr. McHenry is a botanist with a background in plant diversity and evolution. She is the director of the University of Vermont Cannabis Science and Medicine and Plant Biology Certificate programs, director of the Medical Cannabis Center for Research and Education, and co-director of the cannabis pharmacology course at the University of Vermont Medical School. She is also Co-Founder of the CASE Institute, a plant-based pharmaceutical research enterprise. Dr. McHenry completed her Bachelors and Master’s of Science at the University of Colorado and her Ph.D. at the University of Vermont. Now on to the show! https://www.kisorganics.com/blogs/podcast/episode-101-plant-stress-and-cannabinoid-relationships-with-dr-monique-mchenry

This episode is a bit different.  I didn't know what to do for our 100th episode and my friend Suzanne, who you all know as the Bug Lady, convinced me to let her flip the tables and interview me to share a bit more about myself, how this podcast came to be, and some of what I've learned from the many amazing guest I've had the privilege of interviewing over the past 4 years. https://www.kisorganics.com/blogs/podcast/episode-100-origins-podcast-suzanne-wainwright-evans-interviews-tad-hussey    

My guest this week is Steven Arthurs. Steven graduated from the Imperial College London with a Masters of Science in Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management. He also received a Diploma in Applied Entomology and went to get a PhD in Insect Pathology. He did his Post Doctoral work at Texas A and M researched biological pest control for thrips on ornamental plants and investigated insect/virus interactions while conducting greenhouse trials to evaluate new insecticides. From there he worked as a research entomologist with the USDA for 5 years before becoming an Assistant Professor in Entomology at the University of Florida. He is currently a research associate with Texas A & M University and also a Technical Sales Specialist with Biobee USA, a leading provider of biologically based integrated pest management. Biobee is the world’s leading producer of persimilis, the most effective natural predator of spider mites.  I’m very excited to announce that in conjunction with this podcast release, KIS Organics has partnered with BioBee to offer their wide array of beneficial insects through our website and will be shipping direct from insectary so as to ensure optimal viability of insects upon arrival. In today’s podcast we discuss the many pests we see in cannabis and what some good management options are utilizing beneficial predatory insects. Now on to the show!

Dr. Zellner received her Doctorate from the University of Toledo in 2012 where she trained in molecular and cellular biology, focusing on the role of silicon in plant defense responses.  Upon graduation, she pursued a four-year postdoctoral position with the USDA-ARS, where she continued studying the role of silicon in alleviating both abiotic and biotic stress in tomato and tobacco.  Her current studies are to design standard methods for quantifying the uptake of silicon from fertilizer material in addition to identifying uptake mechanisms for silicon in model species and testing for similar pathways in other crops.

Dr. Russo is a board-certified neurologist, psychopharmacology researcher, and author. He is the Founder and CEO of credo-science.com.   He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (Psychology), and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, before residencies in Pediatrics in Phoenix, Arizona and in Child and Adult Neurology at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was a clinical neurologist in Missoula, Montana for 20 years in a practice with a strong chronic pain component. In 1995, he pursued a 3-month sabbatical doing ethnobotanical research with the Machiguenga people in Parque Nacional del Manu, Peru. He has held faculty appointments in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Montana, in Medicine at the University of Washington, and as visiting professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University. He has also published numerous book chapters, and over fifty articles in neurology, pain management, cannabis, and ethnobotany. His research interests have included correlations of historical uses of cannabis to modern pharmacological mechanisms, phytopharmaceutical treatment of migraine and chronic pain, herbal synergy and phytocannabinoid/terpenoid, serotonergic and vanilloid interactions. He has consulted or lectured on these topics in 39 US states and Canadian provinces and 39 countries.

My guest this week is Michael Wilson. Mike is the owner and head cultivator of Maine Craft Cannabis, a cannabis cultivation company licensed under Maine’s medical cannabis program.  Maine Craft Cannabis grows organically in living soil beds, and I met Mike when he reached out 2018 regarding consulting and dialing in the program in his facility. We’ve stayed in touch ever since, sharing ideas and test results as we continue to learn. Before joining the cannabis industry, Mike had a career in Mechanical engineering designing industrial centrifuges and x-ray machines. If you want to learn more, you can check out Maine Craft Cannabis at MaineCraftCannabis.com or on Instagram @Maine_Craft_Cannabis  https://www.kisorganics.com/blogs/podcast/episode-96-managing-soil-fertility-indoors-with-mike-wilson

My podcast this week is a bit unique in that we will be discussing how to diagnose deficiencies in cannabis and how to use a dichotomous key. We have a new document available on our website that has the dichotomous key we reference in the podcast as well as images showing the deficiencies related to each mineral we discuss. So if you wanted to follow along to the podcast with visuals you can check it out on our website or at anytime as a free guide.   My guest this week is Brandon Hudson. Brandon is a second generation cannabis cultivator with over 35 years of direct experience with this amazing plant. Growing up in East Tennessee, with The Great Smoky Mountains for a backyard, Brandon can't remember a time that he didn't love the outdoors. His parents grew row crops and were advocates of the 1970s Back To The Land movement. Building on fundamentals learned as a child Brandon has applied a controlled approach to cannabis cultivation starting his first plants his freshman year of college in 1986. He currently works for KIS Organics providing growers with everything from customer support to assistance with nutrients and soil tests. A well rounded and passionate organic grower, Brandon's real passion is in soil chemistry. Most recently, Brandon was the Director of Cultivation and one of four founding members of a minority-owned hemp flower farm in South Carolina.  He provided SOPs and oversight for all aspects of cultivation from propagation to harvest and cure, including daily operation of a large nursery facility. In this role Brandon also performed several federally funded hemp trials for HBCUs as well as research projects for nutrient producers. He also worked with a group to develop sterile gels for propagation. Anyone who has met Brandon knows he is rarely as happy as when he is talking plants with other passionate growers. He is a proud dad and husband who spends his free time outdoors with his veggie gardens and chickens. Now on to the show! https://www.kisorganics.com/blogs/news/episode-95-diagnosing-deficiencies-in-cannabis-with-brandon-hudson