OBJECTIVE

The primary goal was to assess the effectiveness of Squid Juice, a novel squid hydrolysate-based product, as a fertilizer/supplement in the cultivation of Cannabis sativa ‘White Shark’ within a controlled indoor agricultural setting. The study aimed to establish the commercial viability of Squid Juice by evaluating its impact on plant growth, yield, and chemical profiles including cannabinoid and terpene content.

CHALLENGE

Seaborn Organics faces a pivotal challenge in establishing the commercial viability of their Squid Juice product. While the product promises a sustainable and organic nutrient solution, its efficacy remains largely unproven in commercial cannabis production. Demonstrating the product’s effectiveness on cannabis growth, yield, and quality can provide tangible evidence to potential customers. Seaborn Organics currently does not have access to an indoor controlled environment to perform reliable growth trials to gain knowledge on their product’s efficacy on cannabis plant growth.

SOLUTION

The Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation Centre (HESIC) team at Niagara College executed a trial growing the cannabis cultivar ‘White Shark’ with several treatments using Seaborn Organics’ Squid Juice at full strength rate, combined with differing water-soluble fertilizer rates in two different commercially available grow media, peat/perlite and coco coir. These were compared against a standard peat/perlite and coco coir media that was solely fertilized using either Seaborn Organics or a traditional water-soluble cannabis fertility program. The trial evaluated the effects of this novel product on the growth, yield, cannabinoid and terpene content of the plants.