We recently interviewed Michael Perlman, co-founder and CEO of Pearl Pharma, a family-owned cannabis company operating state of the art indoor gardens in California.
Michael’s cultivation experience dates back to 1998, when he and his co-founders fell in love with growing cannabis and wanted to provide medical patients with the highest quality flower available in the Prop 215 market.
We connected with Michael to learn about his background, experiences and pearls of wisdom learned over decades of growing. We’re glad that we did…
How’d you get into growing cannabis?
Michael: Through friends, I sold cannabis for several growers before growing myself. I have farming in my blood, most of my family still lives in Kansas where they manage several thousand acres. The indoor process was intriguing, I offered my time for free. I enjoyed working with plants and learning. My first major role was cloning, still probably my favorite part. Then I helped with room and system designs and construction. That was my real starting point. I built my own 3 light room at home when i was 17.
What do you love most about growing?
Michael: Creating something from nothing. Add light and nutrients, get crop, in this instance flowers 🙂 Growing is very technical, it’s all in the fine print and I think we all learn something new daily. Indoor farming is fast paced and always something to do, it’s never boring.
What’s your favorite strain to grow and why?
Michael: Sin Mint. It is a beautiful plant, the leaves are a perfectly shaped representation of the “Indica” variety and she makes a solid structure for big flowers. Flush at the end of the cycle is my favorite time. Of all strains we’ve produced it gives the autumn effect better than any other. We typically get lime green, purple, red, light yellow all mixed together. Finally she yields well, has a great cookie flavor and always tests high 20’s to low 30’s percent.
Tell me about your genetics – how do you select what strains to grow?
Michael: We prefer to hunt and select our own unique genetics. The SinMint and Double Cup are both in-house cuts. I think they pick themselves for you when you grow them. Grow techniques are different from grower to grower and strains received from others may or may not work as well for the next grow.
Tell me about your grow room setup?
Michael: We currently run DE HID fixtures for most of our production however we have recently set up a LED room that has shown very promising results. We run a hybrid nutritional program, salts formulated in house, fortified with organic inputs. Medium we get from a berry/cut flower vendor. Otherwise we keep it pretty simple, top feed, almost no runoff.
What’s one thing you can’t live with out in the grow room?
Michael: Humidity.
2020 goals for your grow?
Michael: In 2020, our goal is to master LED. 2021 goal is to open phase one NorCal, a 720 LED fixture facility.
To learn more about Pearl Pharma visit their website and follow them on Instagram.
