Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast · Tad Hussey

Episode 135: Running One Of The Largest Living Soil Facilities in the US with Adam Arnold

·1 hr 29 min·2 clips

Tad Hussey sits down with Adam Arnold of Collective Elevation in Bozeman. Adam has spent about 20 years growing cannabis and roughly a decade building out the greenhouse operation he now runs. The facility is large, and the episode presents it as one of the largest living-soil cannabis greenhouse facilities in the country. From there, the conversation keeps coming back to what that scale changes in practice. Adam explains how Montana climate shapes the building and the day-to-day decisions inside it. Wet walls come up early, along with why they matter so much in a hot, dry environment. He breaks down the cooling effect plainly. He also compares wet walls with misters and shade curtains, and he is direct about which combinations feel less ideal to him. The episode keeps circling back to humidity and VPD because the whole system is really about managing plant stress, not just hitting a temperature number. Adam points out that living soil gives him more room to work when roots get hot. He says hydroponic plants would not be nearly as forgiving under the same conditions. Raised beds connected to the ground also get attention. He treats them as another way to keep roots cooler and help the plants get through summer extremes. The greenhouse details stay specific. There is discussion of hoop houses without wet walls, and Adam is careful not to flatten every structure into the same thing. He also talks through the part of the year when keeping ideal VPD becomes nearly impossible. July and August are the hardest stretch. That honesty gives the episode its shape, because the discussion never drifts into hype. It stays with the real compromises of running a large, soil-based cannabis facility in a place with sharp heat and dryness.

As heard by us

Large-scale living-soil greenhouse cannabis, explained through climate control and root-zone tradeoffs.

The episode follows Adam Arnold as he walks Tad Hussey through what it takes to run one of the largest living-soil cannabis greenhouse facilities in the country, and it stays close to the real work: heat, humidity, and VPD.

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Why you'd press play

You want a practical look at how a Montana greenhouse stays cool, humid enough, and productive with living soil.

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