Innovator Spotlight:
Flora & Flame
Oakland, CA
Innovator Spotlight:
Flora & Flame is Oakland’s largest indoor, all-organic, vertical cannabis farm, specializing in boutique-quality flower and unique pathogen resistant and viroid-free genetics. With multiple tiers spanning the 45-foot-tall, custom-built facility, Flora & Flame is taking cannabis to new heights with boutique quality that can only be described as breathtakingly beautiful–complex, vibrant, and scintillating.
Such splendor is not possible with shortcuts, but Flora & Flame prefers the scenic route. Every piece of technology—from PIPP racking to living soil to spectrum-specific Fluence LEDs—has a targeted purpose, and each procedure works towards the goal of producing the finest looking, best tasting, and most healing all-natural cannabis in the world. By believing in the plant as actual medicine, Flora & Flame is not only unlocking the full potential of cannabis, but also is providing a blueprint for others to grow.
Project Overview
| Cultivator Name: | Flora & Flame |
| Location: | Oakland, CA |
| Crop: | Cannabis |
| Fluence Fixture: | SPYDR 2x/2p and RAZR M |
| Type of Facility: | Indoor |
| Results: | 50% increased yield Enhanced trichome coverage and terpenes Improved cycle times by 20%+ |
Challenges
Overproduction, saturation, and consolidation in the market
Dealing with city permits, approvals, and regulations
Testing and trialing 8 different LED companies
ChallengesHigh Hopes, Hoops and Hurdles
To cultivate California’s finest boutique-quality cannabis, Flora & Flame needed a purpose-built facility that could support the city’s largest indoor all-organic vertical farm. Of course, dealing with the city, acquiring permits, getting departmental approval, and then constructing the facility were highly complex matters, but the nightmare of building in California soon turned from a big dream to a bigger success. During this years-long process, Chris Castle buried himself in research and learned everything he could about running a state-of-the-art indoor facility and leading a world-class team. His passion for sustainability and organic medicine included the implementation of living soil; to this end, the accretion of living soil over time—particularly the nutrients and microorganisms that develop a symbiotic culture with plant roots–promises greater returns with each new cycle.
With the cost of property and construction in a high-density urban environment, the only feasible option was a multi-tier facility using PIPP’s mobile vertical racking system. HPS was never on the table. After trying 7-8 different LED companies, Flora & Flame found that “Fluence stood above the rest.” Today, the facility is using SPYDR 2x, 2p, and RAZR Modular to fit their various rooms and achieve specific goals. What is more, Fluence helped Flora & Flame receive a $100,000 rebate following a lengthy process with PG&E, with those funds going back to Flora & Flame.
ResultsPurpose, Potency, and Pulchritude
Flora & Flame carefully selected Fluence as its lighting source and support network following a lengthy trial of well-known brands. After installing Fluence LEDs, the cultivation team recorded a dramatic 50% yield increase (from an average of 100 pounds of usable material to 157 pounds of usable material in the same size room). Furthermore, Flora & Flame reported a huge increase of quality in the trichome coverage of the buds and overall terpene percentage, which is averaging 2.5%. Cycle times have been finishing at 65-66 days (compared to the upper average of 84-day cycles), while Fluence LEDs have reduced the veg time by a full week.
Flora & Flame is quickly gaining a reputation for producing California’s finest cannabis. With mindful practices that range from sustainable cultivation to ocean-recycled glass and lids, patients can rest assured that they are getting the best medicine—responsibly sourced and grown with love and passion. Flora & Flame is proving the potential of the cannabis plant as powerful medicine.
50% increase of yield
Enhanced trichome coverage and terpenes
Improved cycle times by 20%+
