College as it relates to The Industry

[ThePhiloStoned]

I am very much interested in being involved in the newfound legal cannabis industry that America has stumbled upon, I also value a solid formal education on things to lend knowledge and credit to ones field of study/practice...with that being said, I was wondering what sort of college classes would be good to take for someone wanting to have a good knowledge of all the aspects of this industry...from the science of botany to the art of breeding, from the legal to the economic, socioreligiopolitcal implications, etc.

Cannabis colleges are cool and should be listed, but my focus is more on actual college classes...so list 'em all folks.

 

[stoned-trout]

horticulture classes in general..irrigation design,ipm, nursery management ,hell theres a shitload I took..yeehaw..once you learn the basics and the general rules the info carries over like any other plant..

 

[MrBelvedere]

Business 101

 

[stoned-trout]

we called it slangin it 101..it was learned on the street...yeehaw

 

[dannykarey]

Biotechnology, neurosciences, plant science/agriculture if ya want get serious (uni). College would be horticulture technician (which would encompass greenhouse worker, nursery technician etc..) at least in my local area anyway. Trades might be something to consider as well, HVAC, building design, Electrician etc..

I agree with your take on formal education, cheers and good luck with whatever you choose to do!!

Danny

 

[Daub Marley]

I am very much interested in being involved in the newfound legal cannabis industry that America has stumbled upon, I also value a solid formal education on things to lend knowledge and credit to ones field of study/practice...with that being said, I was wondering what sort of college classes would be good to take for someone wanting to have a good knowledge of all the aspects of this industry...from the science of botany to the art of breeding, from the legal to the economic, socioreligiopolitcal implications, etc.

Cannabis colleges are cool and should be listed, but my focus is more on actual college classes...so list 'em all folks.

I could help. I am in college and have put a lot of thought into which field would be most promising with impending legalization. As others have mentioned you can be almost anything and when everything starts to really pick up there will be openings in your specific field. However that is not the approach needed to be a leader in the industry. To do so requires you to be an entrepreneur and to take significant risks.
In order to be a successful entrepreneur you must be very well rounded, a jack of all trades. Unless you have an extra large bankroll you'll have to do everything yourself in order to get your new companies off the ground. You're going to be the chemist, the engineer, the CEO, the salesman, the lawyer, and everything in between. This means that you cannot specialize. Well established companies need specialists and this is the majority of the economy. Therefore you'll somewhat trade your prospects in the broader economy for superior positioning to be an entrepreneur in the cannabis industry.
I would strongly advise a scientific background because it teaches you how to think, bio-systems engineering would be highly valued. Business is somewhat straightforward and if you understand supply and demand then you can intuitively pick things up.

 

[vitamingreeninc]

I would start getting actual experience. School is good and all, but with all of the big boys that have perfected their craft being able to come out of the shadows, you are going to need to have hands on experience growing, planning, and harvesting. I would honestly suggest getting a degree that you will be able to find a job with in order to support yourself while you work your way up from the bottom.
Botany and business for actual classes. Actually growing, setting up a grow, learning how to extract, how to make edibles, tinctures, breeding will be more important so do those at the same time! As the poster above said though, diversity is key.

 

[Chunkypigs]

the cannabis colleges are a joke. they walk you through a book on growing and pocket your cash.

traditional college education is only useful to get certified for a career that is under government control through licenses and certification.
it is nothing more than a racket to make you pay a fee for a chance at a better paying job.

everything meaningful that is taught in schools is available for free today online.
if you possess the intelligence to discern good information from bad you need only an internet connection and a place to garden along with good genetics.

IMO on the job training from a master is the way to go. Master Cannabis cultivators are all over the net and many of them are actively training the next generation on this site. for free.

being a good business person can't be taught in school and the are not many left to learn from anymore, good luck with that.

 

[ThePhiloStoned]

I agree with your take on formal education, cheers and good luck with whatever you choose to do!!!

Thank you, just happy to get the conversation started...if we want to truly be leaders in this industry I think some formal education will naturally be required...there are always the naturals that learn the game by doing, but even they would benefit highly from some formal reinforcements.

However that is not the approach needed to be a leader in the industry. To do so requires you to be an entrepreneur and to take significant risks.
In order to be a successful entrepreneur you must be very well rounded, a jack of all trades. Unless you have an extra large bankroll you'll have to do everything yourself in order to get your new companies off the ground.

My sentiments exactly, we really must all start to become jacks of all trades to keep from surrendering control of this gourmet industry over to multinational conglomerates.

I would start getting actual experience.

Completely agree, and have been involved in the pre-legal industry since I smoked my first joint at 11. However at this point I am looking to solidify my anecdotal real-life experiences and studies with a formal education.

IMO on the job training from a master is the way to go. Master Cannabis cultivators are all over the net and many of them are actively training the next generation on this site. for free.

Now this is something I'm very interested in being involved in, in tandem to my formal studies...not sure I particularly know how to hook up with and work under a Master Grower, but I would certainly love the opportunity.

 

[FunkBomb]

I agree with what Chunkypigs has said on this subject.

If you do want formal instruction you should look at classes in the following: Macro/micro economics, finance, accounting, horticulture, business management, organic biology, plant physiology. This list could be much longer but I think you understand.

The most important part is the ability to read the plants. This takes years of practice. You need to know what they want, when they want it, and be able to diagnose problems fast and get it taken care of. The only way to do this is hands on growing, making mistakes, and research.

Most of the information I know about growing I learned from Jorge Cervantes different growing books published over the years, and the hours spent reading on this website. This website is a goldmine of cannabis information.

Threads I get the most out of are the ones where a master grower has X amount of area with X amount of light/soil or hydro medium and X genetics. Once that is settled you can see what is done to get X yield and the techniques used to get there. That is what to remember and emulate to increase your skills.

-Funk

 

[ThePhiloStoned]

Also something that really interests me is soil science and the different ways you can cultivate a healthier rhizosphere, even longterm no-till situations. What kind of classes would discuss those subjects?

 

[mojave green]

electrician, hvac (light tight venting/ducting), plumbing, ro installs/sales...

 

[ThePhiloStoned]

From what I can find the soil sciences that I would be interested are called:

Edaphology - The study of the ecological relationship of soil with plants, and land cultivation practices.

I've also heard the term Agrology bandied about, which is a sub-discipline of agronomy which addresses the influence of edaphic (soil) conditions on crop production.

And things like Soil Microbiology, Soil Genesis, Soil Management, etc.

I would assume classes with those key terms in their descriptions would be positive to study.

 

[LowFalutin]

UC Davis has a brewers program...
https://extension.ucdavis.edu/areas-study/brewing/master-brewers-program
...and is also a great agriculture school.
Seems like it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for them to add cannabis growing/breeding.

 

[Bubbleblower]

Pharmacognosy, direction metabolomics.

 

[Epiphyte]

I think soil sciences and chemistry are a good place to start. Botany and genetics will probably be very fulfilling from a grower, breeder, quality of life standpoint. However, I think sustainability programs could help the cannabis industry immensely. No more drain to waste especially in Cali. Lastly, business. Business plans, financial reports, profit margins are probably the most important. As far as learning to grow dank buds, there isn't a school to teach that. Its all heart.

 

[stoned-trout]

the classes I took in school helped me a lot..ipm,irrigation design .plant propagation,greenhouse management and quite a few others...time well spent......I got plenty hands on experience mixing soil,doing irrigation ,working in greenhouses ect..way better than online course would of been for me..i got lucky the community college I went to had awesome auto and horticulture setups...cuyamaca comm college... I did both...they never figured out why I ended up buying a lot of the soil I mixed in class..we made soils for sale in bags...lol...yeehaw...all the info you learn will carry over then all ya need is a few things specific to marijuana...with my education I can grow any plant ..well except for staghorn ferns damnit they hate me .. I killed thousands of dollars of them once..

 

[ThePhiloStoned]

with my education I can grow any plant ..well except for staghorn ferns damnit they hate me .. I killed thousands of dollars of them once..

Lol, that's one of the first plants I learned to grow from my maternal Great Grandmother...God bless the dead I inherited half my greenthumb from her and the other from paternal Grandfather who was a horticulturalist from the University of Florida and had me growing Jalapeno Peppers at like 4.

Grew my first cannabis plant on Great Grandma's roof. #ThrowbackToThirteen

 

[Payaso]

Did you mean Cell culture metabolomics Bubbleblower?

Pharmacognosy being the the branch of knowledge concerned with medicinal drugs obtained from plants or other natural sources.... of course. That would be a great course...

 

[wsmith]

i was actually just contemplating the same thing

i was actually just contemplating the same thing

without getting too much in to locations et al, before i was doing this stuff (which i've been doing continuosly since those last posts, years ago, thank you icmag! i would have been posting more but there was a real life issue with a certain really big jerk who is now banned banned banned so i'm now back back back...growing is not a team sport, as they say... be careful who you take under your wing. there's a good business lesson to take to heart.), i was working in industry for an engineering firm, and having no formal degree started becoming a problem for signing off things. so i used a tuition reimbursement program to take a lot of agronomy classes at a nameless reputable institution and owing to using my bonus money to pay for classes you bet your ass i aced them.
most of my useful knowledge comes from running and designing a lab q/a program for a groundwater lab, field work collecting samples and doing remediation. at the time the notion of a remediation degree program didnt exist but i went to a reputable ag school a little at a time, relevant classes only on my dime at night and they suggested i pursue agronomy
a lot of those classes will help you here
take an introductory soils class. they'll teach you the USDA NRCS classification system. among other things. having worked for an engineering firm that was useless because we use a very different classification system for boring logs. gardening, yes, it will teach you some things.
they talk about applying ferts more in a field sense but once you figure out the scale issues you'll have a solid basis in the basic concepts and once you take that (you'll probably ace it) the department will love you
hehe we have a biodiesel program using tobacco and i managed to convince them to switch it over to a coco basis and now i think their yields have increased about 15%...
i'm about to retake organic chemistry, i passed it but i hated it and i didn't get a good lesson out of it
now i'm interested in acquiring myself a gas chromatograph and possibly a mass spectrometer. it's easy to use an FID to provide hard numbers on your shatter. where i am we don't have labs that can accomodate those analyses. so i consulted with an organic chemistry phd and he told me to go buy a gas chromatograph and learn how to use it. then when we get some legal here, as a consultant, i'll have another advantage over those who opted a less formal route, and another service to provide.
the other nice thing about understanding a GC/MS is that you can work on reverse engineering all those mystery bottles if you feel like it and doing some real good for less experienced growers. i think it's nice how MJ targetted nute manufactures remarket things like trimmit 2sc (paclo) as nameless kelp extracts at low enough ppms to non-ag familiar growers who may not know they just overdosed their shit with what is actually a registered pesticide some places. kudos to california for running those analyses (gravity, et al). i'm all for responsible PGR use but it's not responsible if it's mislabeled and you don't know what you're applying.
so far my plan was just retaking organic chem, moving through the next couple, and taking those ipm and greenhouse classes y'all mentioned above.
no matter how much anecdotal experience you have and how good of a grower you are for it, i think formal training in the science behind it is the obvious next step. especially since regulations are in our future. it's an investment in the sustainability of our usefulness.
i'm really glad to see someone else thought this thread to be a thing we could use.
thanks for the suggestions i will be going about the business of reregistering myself in school this january just to cherry pick some more good knowledge.
also, the point about being well rounded being most important as an entrepreneur - couldn't agree more. i wouldn't suggest bothering through an entire degree program. but you will not see any disadvantage to finding an accessible agriculture program, and making use of the fact that as an entrepreneur, we can easily allocate time for growth, to take the classes most relevant to us. we're building something, all of us. and if we're not ready for it the corporations will murder the industry given the chance. that gc/ms paperwork will make a lot of an impression on a client, well worth 2000 to have. part of what i do now, is recommend and spec shit for guys who are getting started. it's working well. as will being a thorough individual.
as for what does it cost
you know if you're not going for the whole degree and just trying to round yourself, continuing education provides much more affordable rates even at top schools.
and even better, see if you can audit classes. that's free. i'm not sure if you can audit labs, i don't see how they could not charge you for that.
there's things like MIT opencourseware, correct, knowledge is all over the internet. but if you can conveniently acquire formal training under a decent professor i say it's a sound investment no matter how you go about it.
cheers