How did you come to grow cannabis professionally?
I started helping friends out under the ACMPR—just a hobbyist level of growing—but I really found a passion for it. I enjoyed learning about it and was watching video blogs and following famous growers online. I really fell in love with it. Then I wanted a change in what I was doing for a living and came into Sundial as a grow tech just as they started really growing their operation.
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During that early expansion, what kind of people were coming in with you to become growers?
Honestly, it was the most diverse group of people I have ever come across. For the entry-level positions anyone who wanted to come in could. There were a lot of people with construction backgrounds, some from healthcare. We had people just out of high school and some in their 60s. There were people from greenhouses where they were growing cucumbers or tomatoes. Some people came because the oil field was down. We had black market guys and people with degrees. And a lot of people came in very dedicated and career focused.

Brad Huhnold

OPERATIONS MANAGER FOR CULTIVATION (Sundial)

Brad was a hobbyist grower before legalization, but went all-in once a viable career path opened up. After following that path for three years, he manages cultivation, dabbles in genetics, and helps with research and development at Sundial.

brad huhnold

OPERATIONS MANAGER FOR CULTIVATION (Sundial)

How did you come to grow cannabis professionally?
I started helping friends out under the ACMPR—just a hobbyist level of growing—but I really found a passion for it. I enjoyed learning about it and was watching video blogs and following famous growers online. I really fell in love with it. Then I wanted a change in what I was doing for a living and came into Sundial as a grow tech just as they started really growing their operation.
‍
‍
During that early expansion, what kind of people were coming in with you to become growers?
Honestly, it was the most diverse group of people I have ever come across. For the entry-level positions anyone who wanted to come in could. There were a lot of people with construction backgrounds, some from healthcare. We had people just out of high school and some in their 60s. There were people from greenhouses where they were growing cucumbers or tomatoes. Some people came because the oil field was down. We had black market guys and people with degrees. And a lot of people came in very dedicated and career focused.

How have you and that team grown and changed?
Yeah, it's really been quite the process. It's all happened faster than I could have anticipated, for sure. I’ve learned a ton from everyone that had come before me— previous master growers and previous directors, all these people had a ton of experience. They had all their own styles and I’ve been like a sponge. I’ve learned as much as I can from everyone. Now we really grow with a combination of all those styles. It's not mine or his or hers, it’s our style.
‍
What is your approach to working with the plants?
The philosophy I try and stick to is to keep things simple. Growing at scale is very, very difficult. Until now, it’s really never been done before. There are so many variables in play all the time and it’s easy to change a lot of things at once. We have about 50 flowering rooms going on any given day. There's a lot happening there and you can get lost in thinking about it all. For me, simplicity works. We take our time, we make small tweaks and we make sure we’re drawing the right conclusions. We evolve our processes slowly, because consistency is what matters most. You need consistency in your crops so you can not just get good results, but repeatable results.
‍
Has your relationship with cannabis changed since entering the industry?
I grew up smoking weed and all my friends smoked weed, but we were kind of quiet smokers. We went to the lake every day and we long-boarded and we smoked weed. It was just who we were. Now it’s a bit difficult to answer, because it’s sort of become my whole life. In a good way! I’ve been all-in on this since I started. It’s captivated me. I used to play football and that was my passion and now it’s this—this is the thing I’m obsessed with. I’m here every day and when I’m not here I’m thinking about what we can do better, I’m researching ways to get better results, I’m learning about growing procedures and I’m learning about terpenes. It’s really become my life.
‍
What cultivar are you proud of?
From a cultivation standpoint, I really like our Platinum Cookies. It’s a very tall, stretchy strain with a really nice bud structure, and we got really great potency out of it. So to me, it checks all the boxes. It’s also a really nice smoke. That’s one I’m really excited about right now.

growing at scale is very, very difficult.

Until now, it’s really never been done before.

How have you and that team grown and changed?Yeah, it's really been quite the process. It's all happened faster than I could have anticipated, for sure. I’ve learned a ton from everyone that had come before me— previous master growers and previous directors, all these people had a ton of experience. They had all their own styles and I’ve been like a sponge. I’ve learned as much as I can from everyone. Now we really grow with a combination of all those styles. It's not mine or his or hers, it’s our style.
‍
‍
What is your approach to working with the plants?The philosophy I try and stick to is to keep things simple. Growing at scale is very, very difficult. Until now, it’s really never been done before. There are so many variables in play all the time and it’s easy to change a lot of things at once. We have about 50 flowering rooms going on any given day. There's a lot happening there and you can get lost in thinking about it all. For me, simplicity works. We take our time, we make small tweaks and we make sure we’re drawing the right conclusions. We evolve our processes slowly, because consistency is what matters most. You need consistency in your crops so you can not just get good results, but repeatable results.
‍
Has your relationship with cannabis changed since entering the industry?I grew up smoking weed and all my friends smoked weed, but we were kind of quiet smokers. We went to the lake every day and we long-boarded and we smoked weed. It was just who we were. Now it’s a bit difficult to answer, because it’s sort of become my whole life. In a good way! I’ve been all-in on this since I started. It’s captivated me. I used to play football and that was my passion and now it’s this—this is the thing I’m obsessed with. I’m here every day and when I’m not here I’m thinking about what we can do better, I’m researching ways to get better results, I’m learning about growing procedures and I’m learning about terpenes. It’s really become my life.

‍What cultivar are you proud of?From a cultivation standpoint, I really like our Platinum Cookies. It’s a very tall, stretchy strain with a really nice bud structure, and we got really great potency out of it. So to me, it checks all the boxes. It’s also a really nice smoke. That’s one I’m really excited about right now.
‍

growing at scale is very, very difficult.

Until now, it’s really never been done before.

growing at scale is very, very difficult.

Until now, it’s really
never been done before.

‍Has your relationship with cannabis changed since entering the industry?I grew up smoking weed and all my friends smoked weed, but we were kind of quiet smokers. We went to the lake every day and we long-boarded and we smoked weed. It was just who we were. Now it’s a bit difficult to answer, because it’s sort of become my whole life. In a good way! I’ve been all-in on this since I started. It’s captivated me. I used to play football and that was my passion and now it’s this—this is the thing I’m obsessed with. I’m here every day and when I’m not here I’m thinking about what we can do better, I’m researching ways to get better results, I’m learning about growing procedures and I’m learning about terpenes. It’s really become my life.

‍What cultivar are you proud of?From a cultivation standpoint, I really like our Platinum Cookies. It’s a very tall, stretchy strain with a really nice bud structure, and we got really great potency out of it. So to me, it checks all the boxes. It’s also a really nice smoke. That’s one I’m really excited about right now.
‍

Issue 01: January 2021

issue 02: june 2021

Brad Huhnold

brad huhnold