Minnesota Cultivation Will Take an Ecosystem

A cultivation facility can have great lights and still struggle.

It can have a sophisticated irrigation system and still struggle.

It can have experienced growers and still run into problems if the building surrounding those plants was not designed correctly.

That is one reason we wanted cultivation to be such a major part of Cannabis & Community in Duluth.

The plant experiences everything at once.

Lighting.

Irrigation.

Nutrition.

HVAC.

Dehumidification.

Racking.

Environmental controls.

Facility design.

And ultimately, the people making decisions about all of it.

NorthStar Cultivation Supply helped Canna Connect bring several of those perspectives together in Duluth.

Before the deeper conversations began, I sat down with NorthStar owner Nolan Russell.

Bringing Experience Back to Minnesota

Nolan spent roughly ten years working in Colorado cannabis.

For about seven of those years, he served as a cultivation manager with The Green Solution.

He describes that experience as where he “cut his teeth.”

Nolan worked with a large cultivation team and says they produced some of the best flower in Colorado during that period.

But one part of his answer stood out.

He credited the team.

That same philosophy is visible in what NorthStar is building in Minnesota.

The Ecosystem Around the Cultivator

NorthStar distributes products to cultivators throughout Minnesota, but Nolan’s role extends beyond simply moving equipment.

The company has developed relationships with people who specialize in different parts of commercial cultivation.

At Duluth, that included Artemis Engineering & Procurement, Fluence LED, Rhythm Cultivation Solutions & Services, Athena Ag, Pipp Horticulture, Twin Cities Mechanical and others.

Each one solves a different part of the puzzle.

Together, they begin to show what it actually takes to build and operate a cultivation facility.

More Conversations Are Coming

Our conversation with Nolan is short by design.

It is an introduction.

Over the coming weeks, The Canna Connect Show will go deeper with several of the people Nolan and NorthStar helped bring to Duluth.

We will talk lighting.

Crop steering.

Irrigation.

Facility design.

Engineering.

Nutrients.

And the decisions Minnesota cultivators are making right now that may shape their businesses for years.

Watch our conversation with Nolan Russell and follow The Canna Connect Show as we continue the cultivation series from Duluth.