Down to the Roots: Cannabis Cultivation with Vinnie Clause of Mother Earth Wellness

Filmed onsite at Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Cannabis Science and Technology interviewed Vinnie Clause, Director of Cultivation. During Cannabis Science Conference Fall 2023, Mother Earth Wellness hosted the Canna Boot Camp, which gave attendees a one-of-a-kind look into a vertically integrated cannabis facility, including the cultivation operations. Here, Clause shares what he finds most fascinating and challenging about cannabis cultivation, advice for cultivators, where he would like to see cultivation in the future, a fun fact, and more!

Read an excerpt from the interview here:

What do you find most fascinating about cannabis cultivation?

Vinnie Clause: Watching different strains develop and seeing different genetic expressions through the process called pheno-hunting, which is germinating seeds and then running each seed through its own group of tests in order to find out which one is the most commercially viable, both for medicinal purposes and recreational.

Do you have advice for a beginner cultivator?

Clause: I do: work hard. A lot of times I'll see people right out, fresh green into a new business. I think just knowing that there's going to be a lot of hard physical labor involved and understanding that that is not going to change, and it doesn't get different. It doesn't change from the time you're a grow technician to when you become Director of Cultivation; it's all the same. I still scrub trays, I still vacuum, and clean toilets if I have to. Really, discovering a work ethic I think is probably the best piece of advice I can give somebody.

How would you like to see cannabis cultivation progress within the next five to 10 years?

Clause: I would like to see its progress scientifically. I think the more that we can test things and get actual data on not just how to grow but also on the plant itself and the medicinal benefits of it—there's a lot of avenues that haven’t been explored yet. It’s pretty exciting to see now it's becoming more accepted and it's becoming more integrated into everybody's life. So I would hope to see in the future that we continue to do that research, but also stay on the path of craft cultivation and leaving it to people who care about delivering a product to a consumer who is using it for medicinal benefits. Not turning this into Big Pharma, not turning this into “big box store,” I think that would be the ideal future. Keeping it small but continuing the research and implementing the research into the small business model.