
[AUDIO only] Office Hours LIVE Ep 136: Designing Future-Proof Facilities, Climate, Airflow, and Data Tips
AROYA Office HoursShow Notes
In this week’s episode, host Cian and resident expert Jason are joined by Anders Peterson, Director of Horticulture at PIPP Horticulture. If you’ve ever marveled at wall-to-wall multi-tier canopies in a grow room, chances are PIPP had a hand in it—and Anders has been at the center of that evolution. Anders kicks things off by sharing his journey, from his early days in the Bay Area working with Prop 215 growers and running his own facilities, to his transition into high-tech vertical cultivation design across the globe. Together, the trio explore the state of the cannabis industry both domestically and internationally, comparing trends and best practices from the U.S. to Europe and beyond. The discussion covers the major factors driving multi-tier adoption, pitfalls to avoid, and how state-of-the-art climate control and data-driven solutions can maximize your yield. Anders and Jason don’t just talk tech—they share candid war stories from their hundreds of facility visits, and why stepping out of your comfort zone is key to next-level growing. Whether you’re curious about airflow best practices, the importance of robust crop registration, or the future of facility design, this episode is jam-packed with tips you can take straight to your grow operation. Tune in for a masterclass in modern cultivation—and stick around for insider anecdotes, practical advice, and a look at what’s brewing for 2025 and beyond! 00:00 Cultivation Insights with Anders 05:17 From Gardener to Global Grower 08:34 European Cultivation Strategies Insights 11:20 Diverse Global Preferences 17:18 Vertical Farming: Location and Market Viability 18:28 Strategic Real Estate for Expansion 22:19 Mechanical System Challenges in Facilities 25:36 Efficient Ductwork Designs for HVAC 31:45 Optimizing Climate Through Rack Design 35:09 Optimizing Airflow for Growth 37:53 "Plant Empowerment: Greenhouse Challenges" 41:30 Optimal Sensor Placement & Data Strategy 45:25 Streamlining Plant Growth Process 48:19 Climate Control: Key to Growth Transition 53:24 Optimal Airflow for Plant Growth 54:15 "Importance of Sub Canopy Lighting" 57:56 Cultivation Questions? Contact Us! We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday cultivation knowledge straight to your feed 📲 Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@AROYA 📲 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aroya.io/ Thank you for tuning into AROYA OFFICE HOURS! 📲Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/aroya-office-hours-live/id1692385343 📲If you love this show, please leave us a THUMBS UP and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: 📲Jason van Leuven, https://www.instagram.com/_van_lovin_/ 📲Cian Sullivan, https://www.instagram.com/hightechhorticulture/ ‘Office Hours’ is an AROYA by Addium Inc. Podcast // Produced by Chris Ripley, https://www.instagram.com/_mrripleyc_ About the Show We dive into the world of cultivation with live, unfiltered discussions. Each episode features seasoned experts addressing your most pressing cultivation questions, offering insights gleaned from decades of hands-on experience. Whether you're a seasoned grower or just starting out, tune in to elevate your cultivation knowledge and skills, straight from the source. Engage with us live and get the answers you need to succeed in the ever-evolving industry.
More from AROYA Office Hours
How do you grow consistent, top-shelf cannabis across eight state markets at once? Cian Sullivan and Jason Van Leuven sit down with Sequoia Anderson and Kenny Keith of Clout Kings, a multi-state cannabis cultivation brand running roughly one facility per state across eight states. They get into the systems behind consistency at scale: why shared monitoring is non-negotiable for multi-state quality control, how to write SOPs general enough to deploy anywhere while still hitting target results, the cooling and dehumidification red flags they look for before taking on a facility, and the bud rot risk that shows up when you pack more plants into a retrofitted room. Plus managing a 60-plus cultivar library through the candy wave, the tradeoffs of tissue culture vs live mothers, and why putting a dollar figure on retention and downtime is the operator's best tool for getting buy-in. A practical listen whether you run one room or many.
The guy who brought Dosatron into commercial cannabis is finally on the show — and he's not holding back. Chris Lungardin has spent 25 years in horticulture and 13+ at Dosatron USA, walking more commercial cannabis facilities than almost anyone in the industry. In this episode of AROYA Office Hours, Chris joins host and applied technology expert Jason Van Luven for a no-fluff breakdown of how fertigation equipment actually performs inside real grow rooms — and where most operators get it wrong. You'll learn why direct injection isn't always the right call for precision irrigation, how batch tanks changed the game for centralized nutrient delivery, and what happens to your EC and pH when your Dosatron sits idle overnight. Chris also covers the evolution of the "nutrient delivery system" concept he pioneered, how to think about water treatment and sanitation inline, and the honest tradeoffs between water-powered dosing and electronic injection systems for operations at scale. If your grow is making decisions about fertigation strategy — whether you're running Dosatrons today, evaluating a centralized system, or just trying to understand what's causing inconsistency room to room — this conversation is required listening. Share this episode with your head grower or cultivation director. And if you're not already following AROYA Office Hours, subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode.
This week on AROYA Office Hours, we sit down with Rory Isaaks — Global Director of Cultivation at Advanced Nutrients — for his first appearance on the show. With over 15 years at Advanced Nutrients and a cultivation career that spans British Columbia, Central Europe, and beyond, Rory brings a rare depth of real-world knowledge to the conversation. We dig into some of the most common questions growers face when dialing in their nutrient programs: Why does pH drift throughout a run cycle, and how does the pH Perfect line address it? How do you think about EC stacking and nutrient efficacy across different growing environments? When does it make sense to add amendments like Big Bud, Voodoo Juice, or Bud Factor X — and when is simpler better? Rory and the team also get into what separates good growers from great ones: the importance of bespoke feed programs over generic charts, how to troubleshoot nutrient lockout and runoff issues, and why the first thing Rory looks for when walking into any new facility is the imperfections. Whether you're running a dialed-in indoor operation or a lower-tech greenhouse, this episode is packed with practical insight to help you get more out of your nutrient line.
For years, you've been running two screens to crop steer — AROYA on one, your controller on the other — manually translating substrate data into irrigation decisions. That era is ending.
In Episode 150 of AROYA Office Hours, AROYA's Director of Applied Technology Jason Van Leeuwen joins host Cian for a deep dive into two of AROYA's newest cannabis cultivation sensors: the Drip Drain Station and the AROYA pH Sensor. The AROYA Drip Drain Station gives cannabis growers real-time visibility into irrigation shot volume, runoff volume, EC, and temperature — data that was previously only available by manually checking catch cups. The team walks through live client data showing how the station's Daily Feed Integral (DFI) metric helps growers pinpoint exactly when field capacity is reached, optimize P1 and P2 irrigation schedules, reduce nutrient waste, and eliminate the guesswork that comes with manual monitoring at scale. The Drip Drain Station is also the foundational technology for AROYA's upcoming intelligent automated irrigation programs. The episode also introduces AROYA's brand-new pH sensor — the first always-on, continuous pH monitoring sensor in the AROYA ecosystem. Compatible with the Drip Drain Station or deployable as a standalone batch tank kit, the sensor delivers 24/7 time series pH data directly inside the AROYA platform alongside EC and volumetric water content readings. Growers no longer need to rely on manual handheld pH pens or sporadic snapshot readings. The sensor runs on a five-year battery, requires calibration only once a month, and can alert cultivators to pH drift, doser malfunctions, and nutrient imbalances — even remotely. Whether you're a commercial cannabis cultivator looking to automate your irrigation strategy, reduce labor costs, or gain deeper insight into your root zone health, this episode covers how AROYA's cannabis sensors are transforming cultivation data from a manual chore into a continuous, reliable data stream.