Canadian Cultivation Carousal – AutoPot Hit Lift 2020

Start as you mean to go on. Who the hell wants to ease into the year when you can get an electrifying bolt of pure cultivation inspiration early-doors?! An all-encompassing hit of expo goodness that whets out the cobwebs, blows your whistle, tickles a new leaf and turns over your fancy. We’re talking about Lift&Co Vancouver. Such is the magnitude of Canadian cultivation, such are the lessons to be learnt from this febrile testing ground, and such is the business to be done that to miss out on Lift might seriously imperil one’s horti fortunes.

Understandable then that Lift 2020 had our International Sales Manager bounding out of his New Year’s trap like a wide-eyed greyhound chasing the cultivation expo fluffy bunny – like he didn’t get enough cuddly toys for Christmas. Like hell he didn’t! Loud jackets, muzzles, working the circuit; that’s just what Dave Gulliver does. Off he went to represent us, aloft to Lift and Canada.

It was our great privilege to be showcased at Lift by GreenPlanet Wholesale, who have been busy creating a home-from-home for AutoPot in the Great White North. More than that, they’ve been helping us understand how best to serve one of the world’s foremost marketplaces for legal cannabis cultivation.

Dave joined GreenPlanet in the AutoPot enclave of their Grow Zone. Featuring “the hottest products from the Cultivation Sector of the industry” the Grow Zone formed a base for the “knowledge and equipment required to produce killer yields”. Was The Grow Zone the perfect spot “whether you are a full scale LP, Medical Grower, Micro-Cultivator or just starting off growing at home”? Yes, it was, thanks for asking.

As if Dave’s company in the Grow Zone wasn’t bubbly enough he was joined by the effervescent Mark from BubbleGen. Why the combo? Well, like most right-thinking creatures Dave likes his circulation efficient, quiet, powerful and without the need for supplementary pumpage. If you subscribe to this outlook then BubbleGen’s twin jet hydroponic bubble generator might just have something to offer you and your nutrient tank. The crowds at Lift were certainly intrigued.

Going up? Not without Montel you’re not. Thankfully, the mobile vertical storage maestros were with us at Lift too, helping visitors experience just how much growing space they can bring into play, 100% accessibly! For the crowd’s greater pleasure we prepared an exquisite demo display ft. Montel’s GrowCart and AutoPot, here in the easy2Propagate style.

Dave had an absolute ball and graded the show ‘great’. As befits, we had the biggest plot at GreenPlanet and the Montel GreenCart unit went (up and) down very well indeed with Licensed Producers. Ideal for racking are the AutoPot Tray Systems with which GreenPlanet are on an absolute charge. They have a 3000 pot order pending for Auto8’s in July, heading to a highly-esteemed, existing AutoPot customer. That’s 375 Auto8s and no mistaking. Alongside great numbers we had great anecdotes. Loads of people stopped by the booth to say they were using AutoPots and were now extending out their systems such was their love for the tech. Across waves, mountains and plains the renown of the AutoPot Summer Social doth soar and so it was in Vancouver. We were practically awash with interest from industry figures and acquired some very exciting new Exhibitors, booking their booths right there on the spot, more news of which anon.

Understanding and responding to the demands of end users was central to the message at Lift this year. With reports that legal cannabis supply is exceeding demand, at least in some sectors of the Canadian marketplace, the need to get the right product has, perhaps, never been more pressing. There was much talk of the relevance and application of consumer data in anticipating trends in demand. This anticipation might apply just as easily to producers as processors and dispensaries. Anything concerning producers is of prime interest and importance to us as manufacturers. Hence we took a great many insights away from the show in terms of what producers are seeking in future systems innovations.

As for the current range, at Lift we found growers drawn to the responsiveness, flexibility and economy inherent to our systems. Responsiveness and the capacity to switch between strains stress-free comes courtesy of Plant Controlled Irrigation. In AutoPot the AQUAvalve mechanism inside each pot and tray module is activated by the plant itself. The valve opens to supply nutrient solution to a 20mm depth and then closes. Once the plant has exhausted that supply the valve reopens to repeat the cycle. Because the plant, regardless of the variety or strain, draws exactly what it needs, exactly when it needs it, there’s no need to fret over the recalibration of pumps, timers or computers between grows in order to suit strain requirements.

Flexibility? AutoPot allows you to increase the system size or decrease the system size at zero detriment to the system as a whole. This is because the modules operate entirely independently of one another, serving each plant’s needs to best effect. Scale up, scale down as demand dictates. Fewer, bigger plants or more smaller plants in the same space with a minimum of fuss. 

In times of high supply and fluctuating demand economical growing is essential. The message from producers we spoke to at Lift this year was clear; they cannot afford to be left with crippling overheads in an uncertain marketplace. They don’t want to be inhibited by a sense of ‘do or die’ every time they switch on for a new grow. With no need for power and zero waste, AutoPots allow producers to minimise exposure to costs. Low overheads enable producers to explore further in terms of plant diversity, techniques and system size. This selling point, as much as anything, generated a great deal of visitor interest at the show.

Mere mortals would have sought recreation after the exertions of Lift. Perchance a Whistler skidoo safari? No such earthly pleasures for Dave, he’s too humble. Sprinting from the expo hall he leapt into his vehicle and tore off onto the road in the service of AutoPot’s Canadian flock. Guided by the expert rep team at GreenPlanet, Dave got to cock a snoot at a host of licensed growing facilities and stores. Read all about it here.

Selected images used with kind permission GreenPlanet Wholesale copyright 2020