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.”