On September 25, 2025, the GMP Collective presented their 24th installment of the webinar series When Things Go Wrong.
This episode, titled, “Croptober: Crucial Best Practices for Harvest Season,” featured guest speakers Alex Cass, Manager of Plant Sciences at Native Roots, and Nelson Oldham Associate Director of Post Harvest at Native Roots, and was moderated by Bethany Moore, Director of Content Strategy and Market Growth at the GMP Collective.
The first topic addressed was the ideal drying and curing process for cannabis, including key factors that cultivators should focus on to avoid issues. Nelson Oldham described the two processes and the overlaps between them. For the drying process, he noted the importance of starting with clean flower, environmental controls, temperature and humidity, standard operating processes, testing the buds for level of dryness, and measuring the level of moisture and water activity. For the curing process, he noted the continuing importance of environmental controls and temperature and humidity, plus how to avoid the proliferation of microbes and molds. Alex Cass elaborated on how to handle fungi and bacteria and how to prevent degradation or loss of cannabinoids and terpenes, or other aromatic compounds.
“As a grower, we all have a bunch of cheesy sayings when it comes to drying and curing, Nelson stated. “One of my favorite sayings is, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’ and if you're being diligent with your setup, if you're being diligent with scouting and ensuring that you're not putting unhealthy plants into your drying space, you'll be setting yourself up for success.”
Next, Oldham discussed mistakes seen the curing process and how to avoid them. He described the results seen between several different types of containers for storage or curing, burping containers during curing, and steps to ensure quality control. Cass noted the role of packaging. To provide a real-life example of what do when things go wrong, Oldham described the steps taken during a recent power outage at their facility to ensure the quality of the plants and products.
Cass described how the harvest season will impact the supply chain in the cannabis industry. He explained how processing facilities and areas can become hard to find in October due to bottlenecks, how schedules help stagger harvest and production, and some of the challenges and solutions outdoor facilities might face. He also explained which environmental factors—including water activity, temperature, and proper handlings and storage—are crucial to mitigating contamination risk of the final product. He also elaborated on steps employees can take to reduce contamination risk, including protective equipment and workflow movement. Oldham expanded on this by explaining standard operating procedures and employee training.
One of the questions from attendees focused on products being labeled as irradiated, remediated, or decontaminated, and specifically, should consumers know that that product has been treated in such a way? Cass explained the importance of protecting and educating the consumer, especially when combating misinformation. “I think that we should get as much information to the consumer as possible, but I think that we should also look at ways that we can educate the consumer, because, in my opinion, irradiation is a value add. I think that it increases the quality of our product. I think it increases our shelf life and safety for the consumer, and it is no small cost to our organization.”
Watch the full recording of this episode here.
