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About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2019)
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL MARIJUANA BUSINESS NOVEMBER 2019 • 7 Coastal Growers continues growing potent pot through ‘super hybrids’ By LUKE WHITTAKER Coast River Business Journal ILWACO — As the fall days grow shorter and cooler, it’s an endless sum- mer under an electronic sky at Coastal Growers, one of two licensed marijuana growers in Ilwaco. “Business has picked up and we’re bringing on a few new strains called ‘Ice Cream Dream’ and ‘Gorilla Zkit- tlez’,” said owner Marty Junge stand- ing between rows of mature marijuana plants. “The ‘Zkittlez’ is a fun, multi-col- ored strain that tastes fruity. It’s a cross with ‘Gorilla Glue.’” As a tier-1, the smallest of Washing- ton’s categorized growers, Junge is able to experiment with more strain variet- ies than bigger, less flexible operations. As a result, Junge has continued to produce some of the most potent pot in Washington, routinely churning out a crop that tests in excess of 30% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana. “They’re ‘super hybrids’, mostly indica,” Junge said, describing his lat- est crop of ‘Jillybean.’ “It’s just like cars or horses — they just get better. The breeders are doing their job and breeding the best with the best and con- tinuously coming out with something better.” The high THC numbers have been consistent with one strain in particular. “A lot of these super hybrids are a ‘Girl Scout Cookie’ (GSC) variant,” Junge said. “One is called ‘Gelato #33’ and the other is ‘Ice Cream Dream.’ It’s like GSC, but instead of a caramel taste, it tastes like vanilla ice cream.” Small farm seeks room to grow The desire for small-batch craft can- nabis has allowed Junge to expand sales from local stores in Ilwaco to as far as Tonasket and Twisp, more than 350 miles away in northern Washington. LUKE WHITTAKER Coastal Growers owner Marty Junge stands between rows of mature marijuana plants at his grow facility in Ilwaco on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Junge has added two new strains including ‘Gorilla Zkittlez’ and ‘Ice Cream Dream’. “I would like to be in more shops,” Junge continued, adding that the mar- ket for potent indoor cannabis will con- tinue to mature in Washington as more outdoor marijuana is converted into concentrate and isn’t directly compet- ing as a bargain alternative to top-shelf flower. “There’s less fluctuation now,” Junge said. “It used to be when the outdoor crop came in the prices would fall, but not anymore. It’s partly because outdoor growers have realized people prefer indoor pot.” Despite the demand for craft canna- bis, Junge feels that the limit on can- opy size has been the primary reason so many Pacific County small growers have folded in the past few years. “The craft tier-1 marijuana produc- ers, the ones who produce a premium product, are having difficulty making a living off of the allotted 2,000-square- feet of canopy. They’re thinking about increasing the tier-1 canopy to 4,000-square feet. If that works, they’ll increase it 8,000, which would be cool. And it would also mean I need another building. Doubling the canopy would be a dramatic increase in my revenue,” Junge said. Junge said he’s currently “pretty close” to his maximum allotted canopy in the former barn that he’s retrofitted into a modern marijuana farm. “But if I was allowed more I could plan for more and expand my grow, which is what I would like to do.”