Christina Lake Cannabis Corp. is currently in the process of transferring over 45,000 plants from its onsite greenhouse facility to the field area for transplantation, allowing each plant to begin growing under natural sunlight as CLC prepares for the 2021 growing season. In a press release dated May 19, 2021 the Company provided an update regarding its current activities and milestones attained in Q2 2021, which included the migration of mature “clones” from the propagation room to the greenhouse, a key phase in the research and development (R&D) timeline for CLC’s proprietary cannabis strains.
After the Company’s Master Growers determined approximately 30,000 clones were suitable for further experimentation through outdoor cultivation, CLC’s team began migrating the clones onto the field for transplantation, along with approximately 15,000 seedlings of non-experimental strains which have already grown to between 1.5 feet (45 centimetres) and two feet (61 centimetres) in average height.
For the 2021 growing season, CLC has increased its total count of pots (many of which contain multiple plants) for commercial-scale growing by 15% from 22,500 pots in 2020 to approximately 26,000 25-gallon (95-litre) pots this year. Seven strains of cannabis will comprise the majority of the Company’s crop, with approximately 50 strains still in R&D to identify genetic formulations with benefits to include durability for outdoor growth and increased potency of tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”). In a press release dated December 18, 2020, the Company stated it had identified a market deficit with respect to the selection of cannabis strains specifically suited to outdoor growth. Given the sustained popularity of this cultivation method, the Company is continuing its R&D initiatives both for the purposes of growing its own plants as well as for potentially supplying seeds to other licensed producers that cultivate cannabis outdoors under natural sunlight.
Climate forecasts for the Christina Lake region of British Columbia for the months of June through October 2021 indicate very favourable conditions for outdoor cannabis cultivation. With a newly expanded operational team, the Company intends to carry out full-scale cultivation throughout the 2021 growing season alongside its R&D activities as well as around-the-clock extraction using the Company’s Vitalis R200 machine with the Cosolvent Injection System, in addition to initiatives to continue building the Company’s sales pipeline for dried cannabis, extracts (distillates, winterized oils, kief, etc.), and “prepared” consumer-ready goods which the Company may add to its offerings in the near future (e.g., pre-rolls).
Nicco Dehaan, Chief Operating Officer of Christina Lake Cannabis commented, “In terms of both cultivation and R&D, it is very exciting for us to be bringing tens of thousands of plants out to the field as the 2021 growing season begins. We have identified seven key cannabis strains that are ‘tried and true’ and will make up the bulk of our crop this year, though we also have over seven times as many experimental strains that have made their way through the R&D process to the point that they are now ready to begin growing outdoors. With a focus on cannabis extracts, maximizing our THC yield is a key consideration in our development of cannabis strains, some of which have shown potency of over 20% in our lab tests. Having recently nearly tripled our extraction capacity, we are keen to see how these increased THC levels could translate into a competitive advantage as we enter our second full year of operations as a fully integrated licensed producer whose activities go ‘from soil to oil’. We look forward to seeing how 2021 unfolds with respect to all areas of our business.”
About Christina Lake Cannabis Corp.
Christina Lake Cannabis Corp. is a licensed producer of cannabis under the Cannabis Act. It has secured a standard cultivation licence and corresponding processing/sales amendment from Health Canada (March 2020 and August 2020, respectively) as well as a research and development licence (early 2020). CLC’s facility consists of a 32-acre property, which includes over 950,000 square feet of outdoor grow space, offices, propagation and drying rooms, research facilities, and a facility dedicated to processing and extraction.