Is your cannabis grow room or dispensary located near a residential community? Well, you’ve probably received your fair share of dirty looks from neighbors and local leaders due to one reason. The constant pungent smell coming from your place. Well, Blooming Air is here to help you learn how to manage odors in your marijuana business.
1. 10 proven odor tips you can start applying today
1. Use activated carbon scrubbers
One reason why odors linger around is due to the molecules present inside confined spaces. Which, in this case, is an indoor grow room with more than 20 plants. You can enhance your exhaust’s performance by installing carbon scrubbers.
If you own a typical air purifier at home, then you’ve seen a few activated carbon filter meshes. A carbon scrubber uses the same method to eliminate strong odors coming from flowering plants. You can rely on a new one for at least four months before purchasing a replacement.
2. Regulate the temperature and humidity in your storage rooms
Odors tend to grow stronger as temperature rises inside confined spaces. That’s because heat makes airborne molecules more fluid. You’ll notice that smells tend to reach longer ranges during hot afternoons. So, how does one manage this problem?
Make sure your HVAC system is in good condition. Keep your humidity below 65% to prevent mold from surviving in your curing room. As long as you keep your temperature within the recommended zone, you won’t experience that unpleasant ammonia stench.
3. Get some odor absorption gels
Odor absorption gels complement your exhaust system because they eliminate odors escaping through openings in your ceilings or walls. These gels are better than purchasing cans of air fresheners due to one important reason. Brands such as Ona gel are designed specifically for marijuana odors.
So, how do they work? You just place them outside your growing space and open the container. The gel emits a strong aroma that overpowers bud smells.
4. Maintain excellent ventilation at all times
When you look at how large-scale commercial growers set up their indoor grow rooms, you’ll notice several fans hanging over plants. These fans serve two purposes. First, they help in temperature regulation, especially during summer. Doing this increases the chances of survival for newly germinated plants or recently transplanted clones.
When you increase the number of fans in your grow room, you improve your ventilation. Why is this important? Because it pushes air saturated with odors to your exhaust vents at a high rate. Increasing your air cycles prevents saturation.
5. Seal open spaces
Are your neighbors still complaining about odors yet you own a couple of carbon air purifiers in your grow room? Well, the problem might be your ceilings or walls. A few inches gaping in your ceiling boards is enough to alert neighbors that there’s a ganja farmer nearby.
The only solution is getting a certified constructor to inspect your grow and storage rooms. Then, get the best materials to seal the cracks and open spaces where marijuana flavors are likely to slip through. Doing this also prevents humidity from flowing in and ruining your plants.
6. Check your vents for leaks
First-time growers tend to overlook vents when setting up their rooms. Some of the smells that don’t flow inside your exhaust end up in your home’s ventilation system. The problem with this situation is that you can’t feel it when it’s blowing away from your establishment.
After harvesting your crop, make sure you check you do a thorough inspection on your vents. Especially after a rainy or winter season when humidity stays high. Get a mold inspection kit so that you get the relevant treatment for your situation.
7. Use discreet decarboxylation when making edibles
Diversity in business helps you to beat local competition. That’s why most dispensaries bake and manufacture a variety of edibles. However, decarboxylation produces strong smells that linger for several hours. How does a cannabis entrepreneur beat this challenge?
You can decarboxylate several ounces of buds or trim at once without emitting a hint of THC by using mason jars. This method is actually safe because the temperature is conducive enough for the glass. Alternatively, you can buy large Pyrex baking dishes and keep your buds sealed airtight when heating them.
8. Grow more pungent strains further from residents
As a marijuana grower, you already know that cannabis indica and Sativa strains produce hundreds of unique terpenes. However, some strains produce a high number of terps and that’s why it’s almost impossible to manage the strong skunky smells during the flowering stage.
In this case, you might have to get another facility located in a sparsely populated area. Doing this will enable you to focus on maximizing your yield without constantly receiving threats from angry neighbors who are anti-pot.
9. Avoid overcrowding your plants
One reason why medical marijuana cards are in high demand in California is that you get the permission to grow several plants. However, some people tend to get caught up with the excitement of growing pot legally and overcrowd their cultivation rooms. This brings about several odor problems.
First, when plants are placed in such proximity, it brings about moisture accumulation. The moisture from leaves tends to accumulate at one point and this promotes mold growth. It’s also hard to maintain effective ventilation when you have plants covering wall to wall.
10. Be realistic
One reason why some newbie growers constantly rub their neighbors the wrong way is getting caught up with greed. This actually leads to overcrowding plants in a confined space. That’s why one ends up with high growing expenses, unmanageable odors, and poor yields.
Avoid giving in to the temptation of planting more plants than your room can accommodate. If you’re feeling really ambitious, just hire a bigger facility. In fact, it’s easier to manage odors in a larger grow room because you can get a commercial air purification system to clean your air at a faster rate.
2. Avoid these five costly mistakes
1. Using ozone generators
Ozone generators eliminate odors by producing millions of negatively charged ions at a high rate. When these ions encounter unwanted molecules, they disintegrate them into hydrogen. The biggest advantage is that ozone generators don’t burden you with maintenance costs. However, there’s a huge limitation that should draw your concern.
If you switch on a generator for just one minute, you’ll notice a strong odor. Spending more than five minutes causes a dry throat and some people even suffer headaches. Buying an ozone generator might affect your staff’s performance due to these health issues. The high amount of ozone ions also affects plants because they end up absorbed through the leaves.
2. Growing aromatic plants inside your grow room
When you scroll through various growers threads on popular cannabis sites, you’ll come across hundreds of suggestions. Some people will tell you to grow aromatic plants such as lavender in your grow room to mask the smells. Is this a realistic solution?
No, it’s not. Despite maintaining a conspicuous lavender smell, it cannot overpower the strong marijuana smell coming from more than 20 plants. Plus, it requires a lot of space which can increase your overhead costs unnecessarily. However, you can use it as an alternative to Ona gel.
3. Using aromatherapy dehumidifiers inside curing rooms
Aromatherapy dehumidifiers convert essential oil mixed with water into a continuous mist that covers up a variety of odors. Is it safe to use it inside your cultivation room? Certainly not because it presents two problems which directly affect your yield.
The mist increases humidity levels inside your room. If you already had trouble with controlling mold, the ammonia and musty smells will increase significantly. Plus, the essential oils also affect the terpenes on your developing buds. This might affect your sales because customers want consistency in their buds.
4. Refusing to run your air purification system 24-hours a day
As a first time cultivator, you probably felt alarmed at the high cost of setting up an indoor grow. A decent set of LED lights costs more than $5,000 then you also need a water system. Plus, one also has to constantly monitor for any signs of pest infestation.
Should you try to save costs by running your purifier only when the business is open? No. It’s advisable to keep your fans and exhaust system activated all day. This actually prevents odor accumulation at night. Plants still remain active while we’re asleep and you need to take care of the smells while you’re away.
5. Using clogged carbon scrubbers
It’s advisable to change your carbon scrubbers after every three months. However, it’s easy to forget this routine when your unit lacks a reminder. So, the best alternative is setting a replacement appointment on your phone.
Get started today!
The best thing about these tips is that they offer you long-term solutions. Doing this enables you to focus on enhancing your products’ quality while still operating within legal cannabis business regulations. If you’re in a position to secure financing, relocate to a larger facility that’s in an isolated area.