Cannabis Tech!

Home growers have always been a tech savvy bunch of people; embracing new technology to improve all aspects of their grow. Whether it's the latest greenhouse lighting trickery, automated environmental controllers or nutrient nanotechnology, we're pretty open to trying something new that'll make life easier and - hopefully - improve our yields.

Home growers have always been a tech savvy bunch of people; embracing new technology to improve all aspects of their grow. Whether it’s the latest greenhouse lighting trickery, automated environmental controllers or nutrient nanotechnology, we’re pretty open to trying something new that’ll make life easier and – hopefully – improve our yields.

It’s no surprise that some of the most interesting apps have been developed over-the-pond in that hotbed of growing and technology; California.

Hydro Nerds is a text based service that provides you with a direct line to professional growers in California 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The premise is simple, you download the app to your smart phone and the easy-to-use interface allows you to ask the Nerds questions via text message. The service is completely free to use and is operated by a friendly group of experienced growers.

We got in touch with a few friends stateside and asked them to give the service a go, the feedback was great! They tested the Nerds on a variety of subjects from ventilation to nutrient management and the responses were detailed and came back within a few minutes. The fact that the service is completely free makes it an absolute winner, the app is financed via banner advertising which is non-intrusive and doesn’t spoil the experience at all. 

The downside? It only works in the U.S…. for now. 

Think of it as a modern day Tamagotchi for growers!

24 hours of game time passes in 30 minutes of real time. So it takes a couple of hours to germinate your seeds, half a day to get through the veg period and a couple of days to flower your plants. Just like in real life, you have to keep a close eye on your plants to ensure they don’t succumb to nutrient deficiencies, disease or pest outbreaks. We really enjoyed the competitive element to the game, as you start off as a one-light grower and work your way up to big warehouses! 

So, you’ve got your room dialled in and nutrient programme all lined up, courtesy of the Hydro Nerds, and have completed your test grow on Weed Farmer. But what strain are you going to grow? 

Well at the start of the year U.S based Leafly (leafly.com) introduced a new mobile app that enables users to access all of Leafly’s website features through an interface designed specifically for iOS and Android devices.

Download Leafly to your smart phone and you have a comprehensive strain database at your fingertips. It allows users to filter strain searches by multiple attributes at once, including effects, medical uses, flavour profiles and more – helping medical cannabis patients zero in on the perfect strain for their condition, or the cannabis connoisseur explore new strains to experience.

Leafly’s website and mobile app have been described as the “Yelp of cannabis” (that’s the Yellow Pages to our UK readers). Through Leafly, users have access to more than 57,000 reviews of over 650 strains of cannabis, as well as 36,000 reviews of cannabis dispensaries in the U.S. and Canada, Israel, The Netherlands, Spain and Belgium. Leafly’s website and app generates an enormous 2.3 million visits every month.

 Speaking to Leafly founder, Cy Scott, he explained to Soft Secrets the motivation behind producing the app, “the new app is all about making Leafly easier to use and enabling users to take advantage of Leafly’s functionality.  We’ve put a lot of thought into how to distil the full website experience into a mobile format and are proud of the result.  Leafly’s website is a remarkable tool, but the way the new app puts cannabis information at people’s fingertips is unmatched.”

 As well as the strain database, the app also gives users access to Leafly’s “Learn” section that includes news and culture content as well as a knowledge centre that helps educate new cannabis consumers through FAQs, how-to guides, and terminology glossaries. This is ideal for growers of all experience levels; from the newbie who is unsure of what strain to start with, right through to the experienced gardener hunting for something a little obscure to grow.  

 “Leafly is already a leading mobile resource for cannabis consumers,” explained Scott. “Our previous app had a 4.5-star App Store rating. That’s better than Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja! On top of that base, we’ve built a new app that is a huge step forward, both in design and functionality – I can’t wait to hear what our users have to say about it.”

 In 2011 – just one year after its launch – Leafly was acquired by Privateer Holdings, the first private equity fund focused on investments in the legal cannabis industry. The scene is BIG business in the States!

 “Leafly is where the cannabis industry is headed,” said Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer Holdings. “Fifty-eight percent of Americans are in favour of full cannabis legalisation and eight out of ten are in favour of legalised medical cannabis. Cannabis is going mainstream and the future is less about pot leaves and Cheech and Chong and more about companies like Leafly that provide quality, professional service to a variety of customers.”

 The Hydro Nerds app and Leafly’s mobile app is available for free download through Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Weed Farmer costs a few quid, but is a great way to waste a bit of time and is surprisingly realistic. 

Happy browsing!