How We Harvest and Process Hemp Plants at Veritas Farms
Welcome to Where Science and Passion Meet
Growing is a passion, and growing high-quality plants is the result of meticulous attention to detail, and profound farming savvy – not too different from crafting fine wine.
At Veritas | Farms, our entire process is driven by perfectionism, fueled by relentless care, and aimed at improving the lives of our customers, and it all starts in the dirt.
It’s all About our Mothers
Our farm can grow approximately 200,000 plants, and that’s just what we grow outdoors. Indoors, we host 13,000 square feet of climate-controlled greenhouses.
However, the numbers are meaningless if the crop isn’t grown with mindful precision.
Seeds are more likely to produce genetic mutations than clones.
While those mutations can be useful for cultivating new strains, when your cannabis product is full-spectrum hemp oil, knowing what a plant’s going to produce is crucial.
“Mothers” are hemp plants with a genetic makeup cultivated to produce a specific ratio of phytocannabinoids.
Just like apples (due to genetic variations, Fuji seeds can’t be expected to produce Fuji apples), the best way to know what’s going to grow is to clip and plant a sprig from a mother – that’s a clone.
Each clone is allowed to root for 7 to 14 days before being transferred to a larger pot for growing. Next is the vegetative stage.
Controlling the lighting allows the plants to grow to an optimized state before “turning them on.”
It’s all About our Mothers
Trichomes – the resin and hair-like follicles – contain phytocannabinoids. The flowers of the cannabis plant produce the greatest density of these crystal-like secretions. If the plants aren’t turned on, then there are no flowers.
Inviting the plants to flower is a matter of controlling the light. Cannabis plants tend to remain in the vegetative state during Summer-like lighting – 18-24 hours per day. Turning the plants on typically involves shifting the lighting cycle to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark, similar to Autumn.
A Special Type of Harvest
Carefully monitoring the color of the trichomes on the plant’s flowers and leaves determines when the plants are ready.
Around harvest time, trichomes turn from clear to more of a milky white, and then to amber.
The desired ratio of compounds dictates whether to harvest at the end of the milky white stage.
For most of our products, we don’t harvest until the dry weight levels of delta- 9 tetrahydrocannabinol – the psychoactive compound in marijuana – drops down below .3 percent. However, that’s only the beginning.
The curing process is extremely important. The trichome rich leaves and flowers are stripped from the plant and then dried to a moisture level of 4 percent. At that point, they’re optimized for the grinding process; then it’s off to our on-site 10,000 square foot extraction and processing facility.
The Hemp Extraction Process
Our hemp extraction process adheres to strict, natural protocols, and the most effective method known to science. Cold ethanol extraction is the best way to pull all the active compounds from the cellulose material, resulting in the purest of full-spectrum hemp oils.
From there, the oils are further refined via chromatography to remove all remaining traces of ethanol.
The Effectiveness of our Process
It’s impossible to know the effectiveness of our process without testing the result. Our full-spectrum hemp oil extracts are sent off to third-party testing facilities, so we know exactly what we’re providing to our customers.
We also post Certificate of Analysis on our website to show exactly what is in our full-spectrum hemp oils.
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