Hermetically Speaking by James Bridges HERBAGE MAGAZINE
Mankind is funny. It does things to itself for no reason other than to grow and learn from it. There’s one thing that has always been something that I strive to grow daily. Foundations. When I had the opportunity to sit and visit with another person on that same level of thought about foundations I believe we both witnessed something rise from that “foundation” as we talked. Fayetteville Arkansas is where Alex Ritter, owner and visionary of Hermetic Flower Company, did most of his growing up. He left town to join the Navy. Alex found himself wanting more from his life. He then decided to grow cannabis in Oregon and that is his Foundation. “We are very unique because we are not just any vertical grow,” Alex was excited to show us around. “We are an organic living soil vertical grow, which is extremely hard to do on multiple levels. Typically, if you do see it being done it's in pots. That plays well with Organics. You'll see a lot of that, but you'll never see a full-blown living soil with beds and a two-tier system. Difficult to do due to weight and environmental factors.” Alex took me to the catwalk areas over the actual flower rooms. “I am attempting to figure out the living soil vertical growth space so that I can kind of dial that in. I think that the future of farming in general is going to be the indoor vertical farming space.” When owning a grow or most every small business you are in a constant decision making model. You always have to keep the future in mind. One key is to set yourself apart. Alex has really been able to capture the uniqueness aspect. However there’s always that one decision that every dreamer/owner has to make. Sometimes it’s a gamble. For many, it’s a solid, logical, developed plan for a specific outcome and there is really no other question other than what or who is in your way. I believe the latter for Alex. “Look at it more as the wheels have already been invented,” Alex continued. “I just have to put it together in my industry. I borrow pieces from other Industries. For example, you see I have the duct sox going down the fabric. The duct sox is to help push my airflow in to get it spread so my canopy is getting moving. There's no pockets in there. I borrowed that by watching other growers kind of figure it out.” “I walked into Sam's Club here and I saw them working on this new duct system and I was like, that's a fabric duct! I watched how they put it on. I knew we could do this with cannabis. At that same time kiss Organics had recently had a podcast about the duct sox. I was like okay... that's synchronicity.” Alex looked at me with
watering eyes. “Another thing I borrowed is how we set up the HVAC system plumbing so that I can get air flow down to the bottom of my vertigo system. You have to be able to get cold air to these hot pockets. I went with a cat water system. It kind of hurts me but makes the efficiency better at the same time it hurts me because it traps all the hot air downstairs creating more hot pockets, but it helps my work efficiency because I'm able to get air. So I had to kind of account for those sorts of things.” Take a box of puzzle pieces and throw them on the table. Now grab a handful and burn them without looking at them. Then destroy the cheat sheets and the box. Now create something that is brilliant and make it look as if it were originally created for that brilliant something and there you will have my description of the process of the perfect piece of artistry. Alex and the Hermetic team are not far off from this scenario. Especially the “brilliant” part. Alex took a puff, “I wrestled in high school so, I'm all about my foundation having a strong foundation in the basics. When I look at cannabis genetic profiles everything is a hybrid now. Now I’m thinking of foundations in cannabis. That's going to be your land races.” I watched the geared shift into GO, “Most medicinal land races have been known to come from mountain ranges. Mountain ranges are probably going to be kind of cool and humid. I started more research about things. I reached into the Hermetic side of things. I try to mimic the Nepal mountain range because I feel like if it's a good heavy Indica they're going to come from Afghanistan or Nepal. I want to bring that genetic profile out. I want to manipulate the DNA to make it mimic as if it's at home but in our more advanced society.” “I grow organically because of the symbiotic nature that the soil has with the plant. Morally and ethically I'm against Hydro Growers. They can just use a synthetic base or soil is medium. There will never be a symbiotic connection of the microorganisms with the plant so you're always going to be missing something. When you are missing a puzzle piece and you're trying to fit the wrong piece in there, of course it's never going to fit. You're not feeding the plant, you're feeding the soil. The plant is more of a tool to tweak it a little bit. That's why some people chase their tail. They didn't start from the foundation of a soil. Maybe they didn't know exactly what to do and that's why they're having to go grab some soil-less medium.” “I chose hermetic because it's a spiritual foundation and it's a spiritual plant. I need to have both those foundations and any time in any business I've always found that if it doesn't succeed is because it doesn't have a strong foundation. In my mind I'm building something that's not just for me. It could be generational or has the potential to be generational so that foundation is necessary. I think this is and I want to make sure that other people have something to go off of. A standard. The Cannabis industry is so young in its legality that we don't have a
