Join us as SunMed’s Jake Van Wingerden takes Green Point’s Tony Toskov through their cannabis processing procedures from plant cutting to processing flower. SunMed’s mission is to mass produce high quality cannabis for consumers at lower prices than craft grown flower. The Van Wingerden family has been working in greenhouses for multiple generations to grow petunias, marigolds, and geraniums and he has been able to translate this into large scale cannabis production. Watch the full video here!

Mother Room

In the Mother room, Sunmed keeps over 100 different strains that can cycle in and out of production. This living library of cannabis provides 20 cuttings per plant to ensure the crop retains its desired properties.The lifespan of the mother plant is four months. The mother will then be replaced with one of their daughters. It takes 9 months from growing a mother plant to harvesting flower to sell.

Greenhouse

For a cutting to root, the ideal conditions of humidity and temperature must be maintained for 2-3 weeks. Every week, Sunmed sticks a thousand to two thousand cuttings in custom root maker pots where the cannabis will grow till harvest. At this stage, the plant grows like a “weed” and is ready to be harvested after 10 weeks.

Pruning

As the plant matures it is pruned to create a canopy of flower and leaves while exposing the central stems. This increases airflow to prevent diseases and increase the leaves surface area. Around 7 weeks, the plant stops growing to focus all its energy into developing the flowering buds.For a cannabis plant to flower, the Greenhouse will cycle through 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness to mimic the fall flowering season.

For every three plants, there will be one pound of usable material. 30% will be grade A buds that are sold as whole flower. The rest of the material will be grinded for pre rolls while shaf and trim will be oil.

Each plant is given a metric tag with an unique number that is tracked through packaging and selling. This helps ensure each plant is tracked while following state cannabis laws. 

To protect the cannabis plants without using pesticides, the greenhouse is populated with carnivorous insects such as ladybugs that will eat any herbivorous insects looking to eat the plant. An annual room sterilization also prevents diseases and insects from destroying crops.

Finishing Room

In the final week before harvesting, the plants are moved to a finishing room where they receive pure water and are housed at cooler temperatures. This preserves the unique ratio of terpenes in each strain

New Strains

It takes a year to introduce a new strain into production. Each strain is grown in a small batch to ensure it meets SunMeds standards and consumer demand of THC and terpene content. There are multiple aspects that will meet growing needs such as bud density. 

SunMed Products at Green Point Wellness

Budtenders at our Laurel and Linthicum locations are ready to help you find the perfect SunMed strain. We can even help you apply for a medical card!