Grower Profile: Cannabis King Gardens
Location: Bellingham
Upcoming Strains:
Grapefruit
Moonwalker
Blueberry
Strawberry Cough
Hindu Kush
When you think of the growers that supply shops like 2020 Solutions, what comes to mind? Giant, far away farms pumping out Blue Dream by the ton? Those places exist, to be sure. But some of the highest-quality, connoisseur-grade herb you can get is grown right here in Bellingham by humble, family-focused entrepreneurs.
Take Cannabis King Gardens, for example. They’re a three-person operation in Bellingham that focuses on small batches and impeccable quality. From seed to package, every step of the way is taken with the connoisseur in mind.
Last Saturday, I met the owner of Cannabis King Gardens, Aaron, and his girlfriend and partner, Jackie, for a tour. From the outside it’s an inconspicuous warehouse. But when the door opens, you’re hit with a dank blast of humidity and the warm buzz of grow lights and fans.
They greeted me with smiles, introduced me to their assistant, Mike, who was filling a water bucket, and then gave me the low-down on growing weed—Cannabis King-style.
Where’d they get their start?
Aaron started in medical marijuana, making Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) for his father, who had been battling life-threatening cancer. To the doctors’ astonishment, Aaron’s dad beat his cancer, and they announced him cured.
Inspired by his dad’s recovery, Aaron formed a compassionate medical collective with another grower and they used their combined plant limit to help patients in need.
When recreational started, Aaron’s family pitched in to help finance Cannabis King Gardens. He set up shop in an old mechanic’s garage and began cultivating exquisite buds—with the knowledge, care, and attention he’d learned growing for patients.
“I still look at it as medicine,” he says. “Anything you take to make yourself feel better—give yourself a tune-up—is medicine.”
In the grow room
The back of the building, where there once stood large, industrial auto lifts, is now a long hall of grow rooms. Jackie opens one of the doors, and bright, hot light pours out. The air is overwhelmingly pungent with skunk, citrus, and berry. Row after row of bright, towering plants sport bulging, crystally colas.
“What are we looking at?” I ask.
Jackie answers, “That’s Hindu Kush, over there is Grapefruit, Blueberry, and there’s some Moonwalk in here too.”
Lights
1,000 watt, double-ended, Gavita grow lights hang from the ceiling and cycle through a 12-on, 12-off cycle, mimicking natural sunlight. “They’re the newest technology,” says Aaron. “They’re way more intense.”
“And more efficient, too,” says Jackie.
Aaron shows me the master computer on the wall that controls the lights in each room. “When this room’s waking up, that room’s going to sleep. And when that room’s waking up, that other room’s going to sleep.”
Soil
As for soil, technically, they don’t use any. Aaron scoops up a clump of ‘coco’ and holds it out for me to feel. It looks like dirt, but feels like shredded coconut fibers.
“What’s coco?” I ask.
“Shredded coconut fibers,” he says. Coco—or ‘coco coir’—is a new hydroponic growing medium popular with high-end growers. It’s environmentally friendly. It can be re-used. It’s great for the roots because it retains both moisture and oxygen. And it’s a natural insect repellant. All in all, it’s offers the grower the best of both hydroponic and traditional soil gardening.
THC Content of Upcoming Strains
Test results are in for these recent harvests:
Moonwalk: 25–26% THC
Strawberry Cough: 27–28% THC
Blackberry: 21–22% THC
And they’re still waiting on test results for their latest Grapefruit harvest. (I’m sure it passed with flying colors!)
What’s on the horizon for Cannabis King Gardens?
The front half of the old mechanic’s shop is still open space, and here Aaron plans to expand his grow into a larger area. He calls it his ‘master veg room,’ which will allow them to harvest every two weeks.
They also have a ‘cold-cure’ room in the works, which will keep the product at a constant 65 degrees and 50–60 percent humidity. “That way, your weed doesn’t dry from heat. It only dries from humidity—by how dry the air is,” Aaron says.
Ultimately, Aaron would like to see Cannabis King Gardens branch out into processing and making oil, because, as he says, that’s his real love.
Aaron, Jackie, and Mike, of Cannabis King Gardens are growers in every sense of the word. Check out their strains in the 2020 Solutions Menu and see if the inspiration shines through!
