As we kick-off registration for the 2023 National Cannabis Championship, we’re checking in with past and current judges to get their thoughts on the best cultivation practices. 

Carmin Ruggiero is a prolific home grower and an NCC Judge. On top of being a passionate cultivator he is the COO of Capitol Hemp and runs a cannabis consulting firm.

We caught up with Carmin recently to get his thoughts on clean cultivation practices:

NCF: Why is it important to cultivate cannabis using safe and clean practices?

CR: Simply put? To ensure the utmost safety for the end user. Cannabis must always be clean of residuals that could cause adverse side effects leading to both temporary of long term damage. These concerns are heightened when dealing with medical patients, who may have compromised biological systems. In addition, it’s better for the grower, the land and nature as whole. As the old saying goes "no need to panic when it’s all organic!'

NCF: What does it mean to cultivate cannabis with the goal of safe consumption? 

CR: Safe consumption means ensuring the best quality of water and materials go into your process. It means keeping plastic and chemicals as far away from your plants as humanly possible, and never compromising your standards to raise profits. I always ask myself this simple question with every choice I make:  "Would I be proud and free of guilt to letting my grandmothers-grandmother use this product?"

NCF: What are the top three practices cultivators should avoid?

CR: 1) Don’t cut corners by learning from YouTube/SnapChat/TikTok growers. Most of the tips are terrible and just regurgitating bad information. READ! DO THE WORK. Trial and error are your best friend. 

2) Stop looking for quick solutions to complicated problems. If you don't have 2-3hrs a day (minimum) to commit to your grow it will never get better. Growing quality cannabis is a skill that takes time to achieve. 3) For the love of the many gods, stop using tap water and even more so, stop over-watering!

NCF: Heard!! What are the top three tips cultivators can incorporate in their  garden to ensure their practices will produce a safe product?

CR:1) Everyone has that Aunt/Mentor in their family that would always tell you “Cleanliness is godliness.” Well, there you go. Keep your grow, equipment and anything associated with your grow, sterilized and clean. Your grow room should always look like and operating room as far as cleanliness is concerned. Do the work! 2) Wear gloves, ALWAYS! You can transfer all kinds of viruses, funguses, yeast and mold to your plants. YES! Thats right, you can literally give your plants e coli. 3) Have grow room shoes and “scrubs”. The only way bugs and pests get into your grow is if you bring them in. Make sure you sterilize any new items you bring into your grow, too. The grow store or the shipping company can bring contaminants into your grow. Keep that room safe at all times and your life will be a lot easier. Do the little bit of work now or a lot of work later.

NCF: What are some resources that cannabis cultivators can use to continue learning about safe practices? 

CR: Join a grow club or find other growers in your immediate area and SHARE INFO AND IDEAS!!! We need to ensure everyone is successful. These are plenty of good books and great lectures available online. The first book any grower should read is called "What A Plant Knows" You'll understand plants as a whole, a lot better. 

NCF: Anything else we need to know? 

CR: As a Cannabis cultivator, you either are or you are not. There really isn’t any in-between. If this is what you really want to do, then you have to go ALL in. There will be a lot of sacrifices that will need to be made along the way, but the reward dwarfs the sacrifice.

Warning: If you do actually decide to go “all in,” you may find yourself finally finding that “thing” you’ve always been looking for ;)