Risky Surprise for Cannabis Growers When Sterile Is Not Really Sterile

Did you know the inert, sterile growing media that cannabis cultivators use isn’t really sterile at all? That’s what a scientist from a big growing media brand said during a panel on the future of substrate at Indoor Ag-Con in Las Vegas this week.

Interestingly, the scientist’s company makes a variety of peat-based blends – all inert media – and he said the sterile media his company is shipping isn’t really sterile. That’s a risky surprise for controlled environment growers!

Top 2 Reasons Sterile Isn’t Sterile

There are two primary reasons why the inert “sterile” media that cannabis cultivators use isn’t really sterile at all, and both are related to biology.

Reason #1: Peat and Coco Come from Outdoors

It’s not necessarily true that straight peat and coco don’t have some biology in them. Both come from outdoors, which means they’re always laced with some degree of biology.

They’re also susceptible to host biology at any time. Unfortunately, some of that biology could be bad, which leads us to Reason #2.

Reason #2: Good Biology vs. Bad Biology

Even for a sterile media that is brought into a controlled facility, something could get into the media later making it unsterile.

Inert media that is 100% sterile doesn’t include any biology at all, which means it lacks both good and bad biology. This is extremely important. If plants can’t access good biology, then there is an excellent chance that bad biology will get in.

Plants need good biology to act as an immune system against the bad biology!

Solution to the Sterile is Not Sterile Problem

For controlled environment growers, it’s critical to understand how important good biology is to keep bad biology out. In other words, don’t be afraid of biology – just bad biology.

Clean Biology

With that in mind, choose growing media that includes good biology which is 100% clean!

For example, at bio365, we us an indoor, clean culture process with no compost. We culture our biology in a positive air-pressured, HEPA-filtered, controlled, and sealed factory within our factory. We culture our biology like food makers make yogurt or sourdough.

Wide Spectrum Biology

Single microbes can’t help create an immune system for a plant because they generally only deliver one thing to the plant – and they don’t do it as well as nature does.

All bio365 growing media includes a wide spectrum of biology species – millions of beneficial microbes that work as a complex interwoven web of biology needed by the plant through biomimicry. Single microbes simply cannot do what biomass can do.

Key Takeaways for Cannabis Growers

Bottom-line, inert coco- and peat-blended growing media products that are marketed as “sterile” are not really sterile because coco and peat come from the outdoors, and the media has no good biology to protect plants from bad biology.

If a plant comes under threat, it needs an immune system to protect it. Single microbes can’t do it, but bio365 soil, with millions of microbes, helps plants take up fertilizer and gives plants the immune systems they need to combat anything far better than if you start with “sterile” media.

To learn more about good vs. bad biology, biomimicry, biomass, and how you can use bio365 growing media to grow healthier plants in controlled environments, contact us and talk to a soil expert!