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Derek joins us today from his grow in Massachusetts, just a hop, skip and a jump away from my house. As the owner of Today’s Healthcare MA, he has a passion for growing cannabis the way it should be done since 2014. Starting in 2016 he started growing full time and then started helping others how to grow their own after doing a lot of self-education and sharing of knowledge. Derek’s current grow set up is 2 15x10 grow rooms and consists of all Fluence LED lighting, Quest dehumidifiers, 18k BTUs of cooling with his Daiken mini-split and averages 2-3 plants per light. He likes to stick to 2 to 4 strains per room and grows in Tupur Coco as he’s found the most success with that medium. What’s the one thing that Derek would advise in order to attain the healthiest plants? We’ve heard it before, but here’s another grower saying to focus on your ENVIRONMENT! Clean your rooms and being with your plants every day so you can learn how it grows and when things are going well or if they are not. He also suggests keeping notes or a grow journal so that you can ensure you keep good track of your inputs and results, which we’re huge fans of here at The Homegrown Helpers. I ask Derek to describe what a praying plant looks like, and essentially it’s plants that are reaching up towards the light asking for more of it. This happens because your environment is dialed in, and you’re concerned with VPD which is the balance of the humidity and temperature in your environment. What’s Derek’s tips for increasing yield? High-Stress Training. He believes that the plant should just grow through the veg stage, establish good roots and be a healthy, strong plant before manipulating it. Starting with day 1 of flower he starts a strong de-leaf and lollipop of the bottom third of all branches. He also ties all his vertical shoots to bamboo stakes to spread the plant out further and allow for deeper light penetration. This is an unusual approach, but it works well for Derek! Derek shares his unique grow tip of keeping the rooms hotter with higher humidity than most people might expect while still maintaining VPD. He likes to keep it at 80-82 degrees and 65-68% relative humidity. If you reference the VPD chart, this is almost in the perfect zone. His theory for this difference maker is that the root zone is cooler and the plant doesn’t seem to feed as much as necessary. What characteristics are critical for a grower to succeed. Derek thinks it comes down to the passion for the plant and the medicine that it can provide. If you are just growing for the money, then it’s unlikely that you will produce the best cannabis possible. It takes time and dedication to learn how the plant grows and create a routine to take care of your plants the way they need to be taken care of. We then talk about the impacts that not spending the proper amount of time can have on your plants and the overall health of your room. Tune in starting at 22 minutes for the full conversation and how we both think about it. Derek’s parting words of wisdom: Start with 1 strain and learn how it grows before adding in other varietals. Please take the time to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast if you liked what you heard! If you liked this interview, and want to hear more from this week's Homegrown Helper please head over to http://thehomegrownhelpers.com/bonus and download the rest of the show! If you liked the way Derek talked about growing cannabis, and want to learn more from him you can find Derek at @todayshealthcarema on IG. Are you ready to hire on Derek or another consultant to help you take your grow to the next level? Reach out to us here at rob@thehomegrownhelpers.com and we can ensure you get the best Homegrown Helper for your needs! We have growers all over the country with varying expertise and availability so let us take the work out of it for you, and reach out, we’ll make the best connection possible. Our growpass.com partners for this show are Harvest Mutual Seed Bank, Rooted Lyfe, and Atlas Plant Trainer. Harvest Mutual is our choice seed bank for top-quality genetics from the best breeders in the world. They provide rare novelty birdseed from the best players in the game, and their goal is to provide customer experience and tremendous value through their online store. Their founders have over 30 years of combined experience in the industry in all facets and are happy to help with any questions you have after purchase. Use code GROWCAST to get free shipping on all your see orders at https://harvestmutualseedbank.com/ or get 10% + free shipping as a member of mygrowpass.com. Also, 3 winners in our $5k giveaway will be getting a pack of birdseed from Harvest Mutual. Confused about how to use CBD? 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