For the past 29 years, Lane Forest Products has provided Oregonians the organic materials needed to help create those spectacular landscapes and gardens Oregon is known for. And once recreational use of cannabis became legal in the state, Lane Forest Products came up with a high-end soil to help create spectacular weed.
The soil is called Cambium Harvest, and it soon became the company’s flagship product, according to Assistant Manager Dustin McCluskey.
“We probably got into the periphery of the cannabis market in 2015,” McCluskey says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if half of all the soil blends in southern Oregon have Lane Forest compost in them.”
McCluskey explains the ins and outs of cannabis growth on a tour of the facility. At first glance, all you notice are huge mounds of dirt, but after McCluskey describes all the ingredients that make up the soil, it becomes clear how much brain power goes into making the perfect blend.
Almost all of the cannabis soil blends have some sort of compost component, and McCluskey says that Lane Forest Products has some of the most sought after compost in the state. In fact, that’s how the forest products company was first exposed to the cannabis growing market — by providing compost to people who have their own recipes for cannabis soil.
McCluskey says that any high-end cannabis potting soil is made up of the same five or six ingredients in different ratios to create the perfect bend. First you have compost of some sort, and McCluskey swears that Lane Forest Products’ compost is untouchable compared to others. Then you use peat moss to help with moisture and a spongy material called coir pith, which conditions the soil. Bark dust is the water-holding agent, and then either volcanic pumice or perlite give air to the soil and help with drainage. Once cannabis growers have all of those ingredients, they add in nutrients that do the rest of the job.
“We just picked a very effective, somewhat fancy, nutrient package that works really well, and we’ve tested it and fine-tuned it, and it stacks up really well with the top-end soils,” McCluskey says of Cambium Harvest. “But we’re big industrial producers, so we can basically make a top-end soil that’s more of a medium price range. You’re getting the full bang for a much better dollar.”
Customers who buy Cambium Harvest can get it in Indoor Grow, Outdoor Grow or Super Grow. McCluskey explains that it really just depends on the grower’s budge and experience.
Indoor Grow is a soilless mix that is really good for liquid feeding, which is when liquid fertilizers are watered into the plant. Growers are able to pump way more nutrients into cannabis than with other plants. Cannabis growers are limited to the number of plants they can have, and by heavily liquid feeding, they are able to get maximum yield per plant. Indoor Grow is light and fluffy, which McCluskey says allows the roots to grow, and it maintains a certain amount of moisture, but not too much. When experienced growers come] looking for a soilless mix to heavily liquid feed, McCluskey recommends this soil.
Outdoor Grow is like a soil that growers would plant vegetables in. It’s a heavier mix for raised beds outdoors, where the customer would just plant the seed and let the fertilizers and mix do their work.
“If you wanted to grow really good cannabis for a very reasonable amount of money, the Outdoor Grow is great,” McCluskey says.
He sends everyone in between to Super Grow, which works indoors or outdoors, liquid feeding or no liquid feeding. Growers can add their own ingredients to it or take it as it is.
“The Super Grow has really taken off; you just can’t go wrong with it,” McCluskey says.
Lane Forest Products is doing growing trials in its greenhouse, stacking its soil up against the leading soils in the market. McCluskey says the company does not have a permit to grow cannabis there, but they share their mixes with professional growers who try them out and give feedback.
According to McCluskey, Lane Forest composts about 100,000 tons of material each year. It is a local retailer here, but also a wholesaler and an industrial producer as well.
“We have three phenomenal composts that really set us apart,” McCluskey says. “We sell it by the bag, we deliver it by the yard, we’ll sell it by the entire truckload. We sell this stuff all over the state.”
To order Cambium Harvest or any other Lane Forest Product, go to LaneForest.com.
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