The Growing Revolution - Smart PotCast – Details, episodes & analysis

Nichole, who goes by PurpleLungz on TikTok and Instagram, was our guest for Episode 76 of The Growing Revolution. She's in the now, legal home growing state of Virginia, where he's been chronicling her cannabis growing journey online, and garnering a lot of views in the process. She has been growing in Smart Pot containers for almost the whole time and noticed a big difference after starting her journey using plastic pots from Walmart.

We talked about where she learned her growing knowledge from and her some of her secrets of success as to how to do well on social media. She's not full time as a content creator, but she's getting close to the point where she could be if she wanted to.

This was a very fun interview to conduct and it's not hard to believe that she has so many followers online because she has a great personality. We've always enjoyed viewing her posts, and we greatly appreciate her being a Smart Pot grower.

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For more information on Smart Pots, head to smartpots.com

To follow PurpleLungz, click this link: PurpleLungz (@purplelungz2) | TikTok

For Episode 75 of The Growing Revolution Smart PotCast, we got to speak with Danny Murr-Sloat, co-founder of AlpinStash, a Colorado based genetics provider, and consultancy service for the cannabis industry.

Danny's career in cannabis started as a major turnaround point in his life, which up until that point was stuck in an upside down world of using opiates to try and manage the chronic stomach pain that he started experiencing after High School. Doctors couldn't really understand the problem and instead of treating the issue, they just masked the symptoms by prescribing ever increasing amounts of opiate pain killers. At one point, Danny explains that he was taking 3X the lethal dose of fentanyl, but his tolerance to that drug left him feeling like he was a productive member of society.

In 2009 his Dad suggested that he obtain a medical marijuana recommendation as a treatment option to deal with his condition. He was reluctant to try, but after the urging by a friend, he purchased some flower from a local dispensary and immediately felt relief.

This started him down the path of learning about the cultivation of cannabis where he worked for a local hydroponic equipment retailer, working for a cannabis cultivation operation, then taking that knowledge and launching AlpinStash in 2014, growing flower for the newly recreational market.

Eventually, Danny pivoted and took his knowledge and started providing consulting and genetics services. Through this, he was hired by SNDL, a large cannabis licenses producer in Canada, first as a consultant, and eventually as their Director of Production where he was in charge of a 400K sq ft growing operation. It was a large upshift from what he was used to, but he quickly learned the ropes there and increased their yields significantly, while implementing an IPM program that drastically cut their losses to disease and pests.

Danny has been a long-time user of Smart Pot containers and loves how they keep the roots from spiraling, where he notes in our conversation that Smart Pots help to produce more root "tips," which is where most of the nutrient uptake happens.

Danny, and his wife Kristen have a great relationship and have built a great legacy in cannabis.

For more information on Danny and obtaining his services, please go to alpinstash.com and for more information on Smart Pots, head to smartpots.com.

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This latest episode of The Growing Revolution, was a real treat to record. Our guest, Ryan Cook is a former Army Serviceman who enlisted at 17, served in 2 stints in Iraq before being medically discharged. He is born and raised in the mountains of West Virginia which is also where he currently resides.

Seeking a new passion after his service in the Army, he turned to homesteading, and especially gardening. His quest, was to become a state record holder in as many categories as possible. On his first season, he smashed a world record but then because of technicalities was not awarded his Guiness World Record Title.

This didn't deter the self described "Grumpy Old Vet", but only made his passion stronger. He has been forging partnerships with garden product companies like Smart Pot and others to make this dream a reality, and we support him 100%. His passion for God, Family and Country are pretty obvious and hopefully that rubs off on some of y'all who listen to this episode. His own channel can be found on YouTube by searching "Heavenly Hills Homestead" Definitely give him a follow.

We greatly appreciate Ryan for his service to his country, and now to the gardening community. This was a fun episode to record, and we hope that you enjoy listening!

More great episodes are coming weekly. Please subscribe so that you don't miss out.

In the latest installment of The Growing Revolution, we sat down with Michael Fiore of Smith's Gardentown, which is the premier independent garden center of Wichita Falls, Texas.

Smith's Gardentown is a multi-generational family business and the torch is currently being passed from Michael's Mother to him. They focus a ton on classes and education, workshops and other ways to get potential customers in the door. Michael has been very prolific on social media platforms and if you aren't following them, you should. He's putting out new content continually, but if you are into plants, you will find yourself watching every one. He's super knowledgeable about plants, but he admitted to us that he does have a dedicated social media manager that helps him to plan, film and stay on schedule.

It's refreshing to see the next generation of garden center owners take the reigns and put their mark on their family businesses. After hearing this interview, you'll agree that Smith's Gardentown will be around for generations to come.

The video version of this interview can be found on the Smart Pots YouTube account. Please subscribe for more great interviews coming soon!

We are back with Season 3 of The Growing Revolution and our guest is a huge fan of Smart Pot growing containers, Trevor Johnson, of Alldredge Gardens in Midland, Texas. Trevor is the lead grower for this nursery, which is an oasis of green, in West Texas.

Trevor has been with Alldredge Gardens for a while, but for a short stint, he was an employee of High Caliper Growing (Smart Pot) where he was working with tree nursery customers. He's a self described, "nurseryman at heart" and he got the itch to move out of sales and back into growing. Since returning to Alldredge, Trevor has incorporated using Smart Pot containers into growing a number of ornamental flowers, tropical plants and trees.

Alldredge Gardens is a family owned, Independent Garden Center, and a well known business in town. They have had a restaurant which has now transitioned into a cafe, events and such where local artisans and crafters sell their wares. Midland isn't a place that most people go to visit, unless you are in the oil industry, but if you are in the area, and love plants, check them out!

We appreciate Trevor's time, and support of Smart Pot products. We are looking forward to many more interviews with our friends of the industry. Please give us a follow and subscribe to be notified of new content.

In this latest installment of The Growing Revolution, we spoke with Alex Luscombe who is one of the managers at Lukas Nursery & Butterfly Encounter in Oviedo, Florida. Their nursery is one of the top 100 independent garden centers in the USA based on total sales, and it takes a small army of around 40 people to get the job done.

Alex explains how the town of Oviedo itself, was founded by Paul Lukas and his family in the early 1900's as Slovakian immigrants. Later, Lukas Nursery was started by the Lukas family members with Paul Jr as President. They have had steady growth as Oviedo has grown as a suburb of Orlando. In the 2000's, they added a 4000 sq ft butterfly encounter where they have many species of butterfly and the plants that they love to eat and reproduce on. After being inspired by their visit, guests can purchase the same plants and even starter butterfly cocoons to start their own pollinator space.

Besides being a destination for school groups and families for tours, Lukas Nursery also has a Fall Festival event where they bring in food trucks, vendors, activities and games for all. Come Christmas time, tree sales profits are donated to local charities, so the Lukas family knows all about spreading karma, and giving back to the community. Alex explains that one of the benefits of working at Lukas Nursery is the family atmosphere. Everyone feels like they are an extended part of the Lukas family, which is still family run to this day.

Oviedo is North East of Orlando and Lukas Nursery is happy to see everyone, and familys can visit anytime before 3:30pm to see the butterflies. Groups are required to book in advance and we recommend calling early. Their wait can be up to 6 months!

We greatly appreciate Alex for making the time to speak with us. Please subscribe to our podcast, as we have more great episodes coming in the future.

In the latest installment of The Growing Revolution, we spoke with Charles Malki who is the founder of IV Organic, based in Southern California. He came onto our radar as we were browsing on Instagram and came across his page for IV Organic where he has a ton of information on trees, organic gardening and much more.

Like many of us, Charles had a love for plants from a young age, cultured by his mother and grandfather. His lifepath was leading him into medicine where he had an early interest in cardiology. He then decided to get his law degree and became a practicing attorney in Florida for around a decade. It was when he decided to move back to Southern California that he started IV Organic, and it's first product, the 3 in 1 Plant Guard, which is an organic substitute to the whitewashing that many tree growers will use to protect their trunks from disease, sunscald and pests.

Charles also is an author, and writes about how backyard gardening can save the world. His book provides easy to understand lessons on how to be more productive in the garden and live a healthier lifestyle.

IV Organic also has a couple of all purpose fertilizer products that focus on the six major macro elements needed for optimal plant health. Traditional ag fertilizers will only focus on NPK.

We greatly appreciate Charles joining us on the podcast, and for being a great advocate for the organic commercial grower, and homegrower.

In this week's episode of The Growing Revolution- Smart PotCast, we got to speak with Paul Meehan of Natchez Tree Company of Lamar, Mississippi. Paul has become a great customer of our Root Control Bags for his tree farm, and we wanted to learn about his history, how he got into the business in the first place, and how he's using our products.

Paul's nursery has only been running for 4 years, but he's already been selling through his inventory, which is a great accomplishment for a first generation tree farmer. He originally went to school for marketing, but after a few years of being successful doing sales in NYC, he had a longing to start a tree farm (who doesn't?) and thus started a long road of research. Paul called upon dozens of tree farmers to pick their brain about how to set up a tree farm and if he should even bother in the first place. The general answer was yes, you can do it, but you have to be smart.

One of Paul's biggest mentors is Eric Hall, who was a previous guest on our podcast. Eric got him onto the Monarch Auger system, which works hand-in-glove with our Root Control Bags. With Eric's consulting knowledge, the Natchez Tree Co was started and it's been an adventure in farming trees ever since. Within the last year or so, Paul's trees have reached a harvesting size so now he gets to add selling trees to his daily chores besides keeping them growing and planting up new ones.

If you are considering the tree nursery business, listen to this podcast, and feel free to reach out to Paul, and us at High Caliper Growing/ Smart Pot.

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This is the conclusion of our interview with Michael Melendrez of Soil Secrets in Los Lunas New Mexico.

We discuss humic and fulvic acids, labeling laws and practices, comparing mycorrhizal products on the market, his nursery Trees That Please, and much more. It is pretty obvious from this interview that not only does Michael know what he's talking about, but that he is passionate about it, and he really cares about healing our Earth, and healing our bodies from the foods that we generally eat.

Our world needs more people like Michael who knows what is wrong with how we are doing things and is actively working to make a change. His interview was very informative and entertaining to conduct, so we hope that you enjoy listening to it.

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