Modern cannabis cultivators need to incorporate AI technology to stay competitive. Here’s why.
The beauty of cannabis cultivation is in its complexity. Small adjustments to the growing environment can mean big payoffs come harvest time. It’s a space for calculated creativity to get ideal yields under specific growing conditions. However, tweaking the process until it’s perfect means a lot of record-keeping, calculating, and analyzing. These meticulous details are nearly impossible to analyze without introducing automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into the grow room. In fact, using AI in cannabis cultivation can prove to be invaluable.
Modern cannabis cultivators need to incorporate technology to stay competitive. Arguably, the industry as a whole has reached a point where automation is the only way forward. Most growers are already so far advanced in their cultivation practices that using AI for a grow is the best way to plan for the future and pivot when necessary.
Grow room whiteboards and Excel spreadsheets are increasingly tools of the past. Without cloud-based, AI-driven platforms such as FolioGrow, there is no way to accomplish the analysis and precision needed to succeed in the industry.
Here are three reasons why it’s time to bring automated real-time grow analytics into your operation:
1. Calculate decisions based on metrics, not guesswork
First, you need to be making decisions based on facts. Do you know your cost per pound, down to the penny? Do you understand the numbers behind your portfolio’s least profitable strain compared to your most profitable? Crunching the numbers is integral to get a competitive edge. However, the level of calculated decision making is no longer attainable by anyone but a mathematician. This is particularly true for large-scale operations.
What’s the benefit of bringing an intelligent horticulture productivity platform into your grow room? It can automatically translate the tsunami of information and sales statistics into actionable numbers. The technology shows cultivators in real-time how small tweaks to grow room conditions impacted the yield and potency at harvest. Using artificial intelligence in cannabis cultivation allows you to see exactly how profitable each product is.
Tech platforms like FolioGrow allow you to dig into historical data to make smart decisions for your business. Then you don’t have to rely on “guesstimates.” You can see exactly how valuable each strain is, as well as how productive each employee is. It paints a clear picture of what is working in your business and what needs improvement.
2. Plan for the future with A/B testing
Secondly, A/B testing can be critical to help you accurately plan for the future. An Excel spreadsheet, however, is only as good as the person working with it. Thousands of data points are logged into a spreadsheet about a new strain or cultivation technique. But they are only valuable for future projections if you know how to analyze them.
This is why a built-in A/B testing solution is so important. It removes much of the mathematical analysis, facilitating smart business decisions. Comparing the yield, potency, and costs of one strain against another, or what happens if you change one environmental input, is crucial. When you use AI in cannabis cultivation, it is easy to conduct A/B testing.
As a grower, this information reveals how minor adjustments to nutrients, light spectrum, CO2 level, temperature, or any number of other variables can affect production. Without intelligent analysis that AI can provide for your grow, it makes your future decisions—from strain selection to cultivation practices—guesses at best.
3. If you want commercial growth, automation is the way
Thirdly, the largest commercial cultivation facilities today are structured around a fully-automated setup. You need to do the same to achieve commercial growth.
The entire grow room operates not from manual adjustments but a control panel or, sometimes, a mobile phone. Many of the biggest names in cannabis are working to introduce robotics into the grow room. This makes cannabis one of the most technologically advanced crops grown today.
In fact, commercial cannabis production needs technology to produce consistent and predictable yields. Smaller growers who have the time and passion to care for every single plant can still produce a great product in their smaller operation. However, the passionate cannabis project isn’t as scalable or profitable.
In conclusion, the only way to capture your operation’s full picture is to introduce technology and use AI in cannabis cultivation. Measure, analyze, and improve based on hard numbers. Do away with guesswork and gut reactions. Choose a platform that automatically works with your operation’s minute details. This will improve revenues and provide accurate forecasts. It’s an easy way for all commercial growers to incorporate smart tech and automation into their operation, no matter their company’s size.
