From the Ground Up: BioSoil Farm Spotlight

Growing the biggest and best marijuana is a delicate artwork that requires experts in each phase. Chad Currin, President of BioSoil Farm is the expert in creating all natural soil amendments needed to boost the productivity and quality of a cannabis crop. He wanted to share some of his insights and techniques on growing cannabis with you. Read on to learn more about worm farming, soil microbes, nutracycling, and the overall cannabis growing process.

What is your name and title?

Chad Currin, President, BioSoil Farm, Inc

Tell us about yourself.  

A long time worm farmer, I created BioSoil Farm to harness the power of specialized microbes in specialized worms to deliver both added quantity and quality to crop yields.

How / Why did you get into the fertilizer industry?

I started as a worm farmer, specializing in worm castings.  We soon learned that to grow organic cannabis we needed more than just powerful microbes, so we created an entire line or organic, recycled plant nutrients to maximize the effectiveness of all crops, especially demanding crops like cannabis.

Why is the type of fertilizer used for growing cannabis so important?

I could write a book on this topic alone… first people are using it medically and it shouldn’t be contaminated with petrochemicals, acids and salts in traditional synthetic and many organic fertilizers.  Second, nutrients and micronutrients play a big role in quality and quantity of crop yields.  We developed a system specifically about growing yield and quality of the cannabis flowers/buds.

How are your fertilizers different than others?

Our products are different than synthetics and organics.  We started by examining the grow operation and the crop – in this case cannabis – and created a special system for the specialized needs of growing high-quality cannabis is an indoor or outdoor grow.  We are specifically different than other organics which often take a long time to work so that our nutrients would be made available over the 16 weeks of an average grow cycle. Ours are made using nutracycling or plant nutrient recycling.  We also use “low dose” nutrients so smaller amounts of nitrogen, potassium and phosphates need to be used to get the same results.  This leads to less nutrient waste and a greater availability of those nutrients in the system.

Can you tell us more about how your new food waste recycling and nutracycling operation works?

We “nutracycle” on many levels.  40% of all the potassium in a banana is in the peel which everyone discards.  We collect banana peels from smoothie shops and extract all the water soluble potassium and brew it into our Naked Nutes.  We then add the spent banana peels to food waste collected from places like the Regional Food Banks to make our Re-Peat or a peat moss replacement used in our soil-based products.  Waste food in…brand new plant nutrients out…with NO WASTE.  Once we collect the food waste all over it is processed into plant nutrients with no leftover waste.

Does your composting technique perform better than others? If so, how?

Yes.  Food waste left to landfills off-gases both CO2 and Methane, both of which are greenhouse gases and bad for the atmosphere.  Traditional composting off-gases co2.  It’s better than landfilling it, plus it is recycled, but it still produces lots of co2.  Our system sequesters that co2 into the nutrients.  When our microbes eat the nutrients, they excrete plant ready nutrients right into the root of the plant and the off-gas co2 goes directly into the base of the plant providing the plant with needed co2 which it converts to oxygen (o2) and the carbon is then sequestered in the plant.  Our technique is better because it produces a higher quality finished product, sequesters carbon and provides the plant with needed co2.

What advice would you give a novice grower?

We designed our system to be easy to use, based on all recycled ingredients, to be natural and organic and to grow the best quality/quantity buds.  If you want to use an easy system that can’t ever hurt your plants or you, give us a try.

Can your fertilizer be used in soil-less systems as well as soil grown operations?

We have a soil-less solution, but we believe the best way to grow the best cannabis is in soil.

What is the biggest challenges in making fertilizers for the cannabis industry?

Cannabis is a VERY demanding plant and its nutritional needs are even greater under certain lighting conditions.  These plants need lots of nutrients but it needs to be done in a way that can’t or doesn’t hurt the plant, the quality or the yield.  We love challenges and creating the perfect system was tons of fun.

Do you enjoy using cannabis? If so, what is your favorite strain?

When we are in cannabis legal states, I enjoy cannabis VERY MUCH and I have yet to meet a strain I don’t like! I like organic cannabis that has been grown for high quality standards.  I have a very good sense of smell and taste and I want cannabis that delivers great smell, great flavor and of course great quality THC/CBD’s.

Where is the BioSoil Farms located? Where can people find your products?

We are working on our distribution network, getting carried by distributors and into hydroponic and grow shops.  Now, the easiest way is to buy online at www.biosoil.farm or call 518-344-4920

What do you believe the future of marijuana holds?

IT’S HUGE!  I believe that with testing we will learn about all the benefits of THC and CBD and be able to scientifically differentiate between cannabis fact and cannabis fiction.

What are you working on next?

Hydroponics, Hemp for CBD and Hemp Oil

Thanks for sharing your insight with us, Chad!