When dealing with something like cannabis or marijuana, it is important to understand the proper air ventilation needs—not only for yourself but to ensure your product is not harmed, and, by default, your profits.
Cannabis plants perform a gas exchange while growing—ensuring the air is properly ventilated and certain elements are filtered, like the heat from lamps, ensures climate control is effective and your plants continue to grow strong. Things like mold are becoming an increasing problem in grow houses and mainly because many grow houses are being moved indoors and growing at a much quicker pace than previous years.
Prolonged exposure to mold can cause scar tissue to form in the lungs, asthma attaches and bacterial infections. Other side effects include headaches and sinus pain. Studies have found mold spore counts between 10 and 500 times the normal amount in grow houses—a huge risk for this industry and one that growers need to be taking precautions for.
In addition to product quality and health risks, odor control has become a focus of this new forming industry as well and many states that have legalized grow houses are now passing or looking to pass legislation on the issue.
Common air filtration systems for cannabis houses include an air extractor and an interior fan to move the air around the growing space. While the industry is newer than others, the solutions that have been provided to machine shops, woodworking shops, body shops and other industries that need to worry about particle and fume control are extremely valuable to the cannabis industry—and Industrial Maid is here to help.
Cannabis, as part of its nature, produced compounds that play a huge role in its effectiveness. The struggle being this process produces aromas and odors of all kinds. This has led to restrictions on how shop owners handle odors, especially if the grow house resides in an urban area or neighborhood. In some cases growers are restricted from releasing any odors outdoors, which causes complications and requires creative solutions for the growers since ventilation is the optimal way growers handle heat and humidity. If grow houses get too hot or humid, the risk for molds and pests increases tremendously.
This means a proper and cost-effective odor-control method with sufficient cooling and air circulation is quickly becoming a focus for most growers.
Carbon air filters have been a popular solution for growers, but filters must be change regularly, and depending on the size of the grow house, the amount of carbon air filters needed can quickly become extremely high. The number of units needed combined with the continuous maintenance can make this an expensive solution for medium to large grow houses.
Industrial air filters are making their way into this market due to the flexibility of solution and the lower daily maintenance required to keep them running correctly. And, the complexity of industrial air filters allows for control of air quality, odor and small and large particle collection.
Sealed greenhouses are an effective way to contain gases, fumes and particles in an enclosed area to meet regulations on releasing fumes to the outside world. However, the containment of these chemicals causes a higher risk to the growers due to long-term exposure. Many growers who go this route also use a type of air ventilation system within the greenhouse.
Odor Neutralizers are similar to home or car air fresheners in that they mask the odor as opposed to eliminating it. However, there are gel products entering the market that can absorb the odors but they cannot be used in the grow room as the plants will absorb the smell of the product—so they require adjacent rooms to the grow house to capture the odors outside the greenhouse but before they escape to the outside.
Ozone generators have been used by growers but are extremely dangerous due to the toxicity to the plant and the growers. Some still use this approach but in small quantities and secure an air filtration system to ensure the gases don’t get too high. There is a higher amount of risk with this solution than others, but it is still an option some growers choose to undertake.
Whatever solution you choose as a grower, the important thing to note is air filtration and ventilation is a critical step in the process. If you’re considering the best solution for your grow house, reach out to us, we would love to help.
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