Local Cultivator Sees Through High-Priced Cannabis Supplies

Licensed marijuana dispensary VP warns that the legal marijuana industry takes advantage of new growers.

“When the licensed marijuana dispensary OutCo hired Allison Justice as its VP of Cultivation three months ago, she was shocked by the El Cajon-based lab’s use of a high-priced fertilizer. At the time, Outco Labs was using fertilizers from Heavy 16, an established, cannabis-centric hydroponics company based in Long Beach. Justice, who has a Ph.D. in ornamental horticulture from Clemson University, asked about the product’s ingredients and whether it contained the 16 essential nutrients for plant growth. Outco didn’t know, and when she contacted Heavy 16, they wouldn’t tell her.

“They said that of course all the essential nutrients were there, but they also had like 40 different ingredients that supposedly are cannabis-specific,” she said. “Their secret.” 

Dissatisfied, Justice sent a sample of the fertilizer to an outside lab, Quality Analytical Laboratories, to check that the essential nutrients were there and there weren’t chemicals that would retract her harvest’s organic classification. While all 16 nutrients were present, she also noticed that the nutrient levels were similar to fertilizers that aren’t designated for marijuana growth.”

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