7 Cannabis Facility Maintenance Best Practices

Sustaining a cannabis cultivation operation means creating the right conditions for the plants to grow. These conditions need to not only mimic those found in the natural world, they must offer an optimal environment in which cannabis will flourish. Cutting-edge cannabis facilities achieve this through strategic automation and efficient maintenance. 

Growers must take a proactive approach to cannabis facility maintenance to consistently deliver ideal grow conditions. Investing in smart technology for maintaining commercial cannabis grows will reduce operational disruptions, increase yield, and maximize profits. 

Best Practices for Cannabis Facility Maintenance 

Automated systems driven by smart building platforms are quickly becoming essential for any large-scale cannabis enterprise. Implementing best practices for cannabis facility maintenance lets you make the most of these tools. 

1. Irrigation & Nutrients

Commercial cannabis growers greatly benefit from automated irrigation systems. Adding a mobile-first smart building platform to this system allows for remote management of automated irrigation equipment and early detection of suboptimal performance of fertigation. 

2. Water Quality

While generally not an automated process in a cannabis facility, careful management of water sources is essential for growing healthy plants and maximizing product. A number of software applications exist that monitor the quality and chemistry of water. 

3. Ventilation

Cannabis plants require sufficient air circulation. In much the same way as hospitals and pharmaceutical labs create positive and negative pressure environments, automated exhaust systems use smart motor controllers to pull fresh air in or push stale air out. Savvy growers also use smart monitoring tools to detect mechanical issues before they negatively impact the growing process. 

4. Lighting

Lighting systems are one of the most important considerations in cannabis facility maintenance. Lighting needs to be reactive and account for other variables that contribute to the cultivation environment. Younger plants may require less output and a different spectrum and understanding the metrics that gauge plant age and health is key to gauge the lighting system. Rather than use anecdotal measures like days or weeks, integra

5. Climate Control

Cannabis cultivation is an energy-intensive process, and climate control can account for half or more of the energy consumed by a cannabis facility. Careful monitoring, strategic automation, and preventive maintenance of climate control systems are crucial for reducing waste and minimizing costs. Advanced software also allows you to be prepared for future efficiency legislation.

6. Pest Management

Well-maintained automated controls prevent or reduce pests by controlling the conditions that lead to infestations. A smart building platform that continuously monitors historical and real-time environmental data plays a pivotal role in this. 

Identifying the presence of pests is essential and, as the industry matures, AI will likely also play a role in preventing infestations. While much of this is done manually today, with advancements in machine vision and machine learning algorithms, pest control can eventually become mostly automated. 

7. Air Quality

Smart air quality sensors benefit both plants and employees. For plants, they help prevent contamination, reduce stress, and control climate. They can also identify particulates and other contaminants that impact human health. Smart building platforms use this sensor data to adjust HVAC equipment and make data-driven recommendations for optimizing air quality. 

Smart Solutions for Cannabis Facilities

Buildings IOT understands the unique needs of the cannabis industry. Our intuitive and innovative solutions give you the tools you need to implement facility maintenance best practices. From system integration to smart building software, we give you control of all aspects of your operation to help your business flourish.

Buildings IOT offers state-of-the-art solutions for cannabis facility maintenance. Contact our team of experts to learn more about what we can do for you.