What’s It Like to Grow Cannabis For a Living? Here’s an Inside Look with Veritas’ Head Grower

Want to learn more about growing cannabis for a living? We spoke with one of our resident experts about cannabis cultivation jobs in Colorado and beyond.

It all starts in the garden with some of the best, most passionate cannabis growers in the game. Far from being a simple matter of sticking seeds in soil and adding water, cannabis cultivation is a complex profession. Fortunately, we’re in good hands with expert cultivators like Andrew Mahon.

With over a decade of experience in the industry, Mahon—who is actually Veritas’ first official employee—currently oversees three of our facilities located across the Denver metro area in his role as head grower. Bringing a background in plant and soil science to his work, he shared that his lifelong affinity for plants made the choice to pursue a career in cannabis cultivation “a natural fit.”

For anyone who’s curious about what it’s like to work with thousands of cannabis plants every day, Mahon has some stories to tell: 

How did you get into this profession? Did you have a mentor?

I learned a lot from several close friends. All of us would experiment through trial and error, then touch base on what did or didn’t work. By and large, we were self-taught through that process.

What’s a typical “day in the life” at your job?

Rarely are my days the same—the priority is maintaining the correct environment in our rooms so that the plants can thrive. I try my best to work alongside the other employees to share my experience and monitor how the facilities are performing. By helping out with the daily tasks necessary to garden operations, like transplanting, staking and manicuring the plants, I can keep a closer eye on the overall health of the garden and aspects like plant health and pest pressure.

How does your growth cycle work? When do you start growing a new harvest?

That's a pretty complicated question. At one facility, we’re harvesting every three days. At another facility, it's roughly every four days. We try to minimize downtime in our rooms, so a room will be reloaded and flowering again only 36 hours after a harvest. To achieve this, we have a master planting schedule. The goal there is to try to ensure plants are ready to flower once a room is harvested while still accounting for the fact that we are dealing with living plants that don’t care that we have a schedule to stay on.

What do you enjoy most about growing premium cannabis flower for Veritas?

I enjoy the challenge of bringing the quality of a small boutique grow to a commercial scale with over 120 full-time employees. Growing cannabis indoors on a commercial scale is complicated. There is no set way of accomplishing that task. Every grow has their own unique methods, and I enjoy fine-tuning our method to achieve the highest quality possible on the largest possible scale.  

What would you say is the most important part of your job? 

Training new employees. We all come to the table with different experiences, so it’s of the utmost importance that we embrace everyone’s background, while at the same time adhering to general techniques and best practices. Especially now that we have grown to become several different facilities, it’s all the more important that the training is consistent to ensure the quality remains the same.

Working with cannabis, it’s easy to nerd out on any number of different facets of the plant. Is there a specific area of focus that particularly appeals to you?

I like helping to manage the rotation of strains at Veritas. We have nearly 130 genetics in rotation at the moment, so it’s fun to balance things. That way, customers can always find something fresh on the Veritas strain menu, whether that be something that is brand new or something they know but haven’t seen in several months.

More Cannabis Careers: Meet the Artist Behind Our Psychedelic-Inspired Veritas Cannabis T-Shirts and Apparel 

Which strains are your favorite to grow and why? 

Anything new. It’s fun learning about new Veritas strains and watching them develop as you try different techniques. We’ve recently taken in some Forbidden Melonz and Apple Fritter that have been fun to play with.

Who goes into ensuring the cannabis you grow is the best possible quality?

Being as hands-on as possible. The only way to ensure quality is to make sure we are constantly monitoring the plants throughout their life cycle, so that we can identify any issues ASAP. We’ve designed our facilities so that we grow in small rooms, which allows us to inspect our garden daily with much more scrutiny than if we had one large open space where things could slip through the cracks.

What would you say is the biggest accomplishment you’ve had as a grower? Conversely, what would you consider to be your biggest failure as a grower?

I think my biggest accomplishment would be starting at Veritas as the first employee and growing our operations to where we now have over 120 full-time employees. As for failures, I killed the very first flower room that was planted at Veritas. We took over a grow from a failed company and I made the mistake of trusting the existing infrastructure they installed, which led to the loss of the first room I ever planted. That made me realize that if I wanted to succeed at the commercial level, I needed to analyze every step of the process and ensure no detail was overlooked.

Do you have any advice for those who might want to get into growing as a career?

At the moment, there is no standardized way to grow cannabis. As a result, you have to be willing to critique everything you do to see if there is a better way to accomplish the task at hand. Just keep in mind that we’re still developing the best way to succeed in this industry, so keep learning and evaluating as you go, and you’ll succeed no matter where you are.
Interested in Colorado cannabis jobs? Check out our Careers page.

It all starts in the garden with some of the best, most passionate cannabis growers in the game. Far from being a simple matter of sticking seeds in soil and adding water, cannabis cultivation is a complex profession. Fortunately, we’re in good hands with expert cultivators like Andrew Mahon.

With over a decade of experience in the industry, Mahon—who is actually Veritas’ first official employee—currently oversees three of our facilities located across the Denver metro area in his role as head grower. Bringing a background in plant and soil science to his work, he shared that his lifelong affinity for plants made the choice to pursue a career in cannabis cultivation “a natural fit.”

For anyone who’s curious about what it’s like to work with thousands of cannabis plants every day, Mahon has some stories to tell: 

How did you get into this profession? Did you have a mentor?

I learned a lot from several close friends. All of us would experiment through trial and error, then touch base on what did or didn’t work. By and large, we were self-taught through that process.

What’s a typical “day in the life” at your job?

Rarely are my days the same—the priority is maintaining the correct environment in our rooms so that the plants can thrive. I try my best to work alongside the other employees to share my experience and monitor how the facilities are performing. By helping out with the daily tasks necessary to garden operations, like transplanting, staking and manicuring the plants, I can keep a closer eye on the overall health of the garden and aspects like plant health and pest pressure.

How does your growth cycle work? When do you start growing a new harvest?

That's a pretty complicated question. At one facility, we’re harvesting every three days. At another facility, it's roughly every four days. We try to minimize downtime in our rooms, so a room will be reloaded and flowering again only 36 hours after a harvest. To achieve this, we have a master planting schedule. The goal there is to try to ensure plants are ready to flower once a room is harvested while still accounting for the fact that we are dealing with living plants that don’t care that we have a schedule to stay on.

What do you enjoy most about growing premium cannabis flower for Veritas?

I enjoy the challenge of bringing the quality of a small boutique grow to a commercial scale with over 120 full-time employees. Growing cannabis indoors on a commercial scale is complicated. There is no set way of accomplishing that task. Every grow has their own unique methods, and I enjoy fine-tuning our method to achieve the highest quality possible on the largest possible scale.  

What would you say is the most important part of your job? 

Training new employees. We all come to the table with different experiences, so it’s of the utmost importance that we embrace everyone’s background, while at the same time adhering to general techniques and best practices. Especially now that we have grown to become several different facilities, it’s all the more important that the training is consistent to ensure the quality remains the same.

Working with cannabis, it’s easy to nerd out on any number of different facets of the plant. Is there a specific area of focus that particularly appeals to you?

I like helping to manage the rotation of strains at Veritas. We have nearly 130 genetics in rotation at the moment, so it’s fun to balance things. That way, customers can always find something fresh on the Veritas strain menu, whether that be something that is brand new or something they know but haven’t seen in several months.

More Cannabis Careers: Meet the Artist Behind Our Psychedelic-Inspired Veritas Cannabis T-Shirts and Apparel 

Which strains are your favorite to grow and why? 

Anything new. It’s fun learning about new Veritas strains and watching them develop as you try different techniques. We’ve recently taken in some Forbidden Melonz and Apple Fritter that have been fun to play with.

Who goes into ensuring the cannabis you grow is the best possible quality?

Being as hands-on as possible. The only way to ensure quality is to make sure we are constantly monitoring the plants throughout their life cycle, so that we can identify any issues ASAP. We’ve designed our facilities so that we grow in small rooms, which allows us to inspect our garden daily with much more scrutiny than if we had one large open space where things could slip through the cracks.

What would you say is the biggest accomplishment you’ve had as a grower? Conversely, what would you consider to be your biggest failure as a grower?

I think my biggest accomplishment would be starting at Veritas as the first employee and growing our operations to where we now have over 120 full-time employees. As for failures, I killed the very first flower room that was planted at Veritas. We took over a grow from a failed company and I made the mistake of trusting the existing infrastructure they installed, which led to the loss of the first room I ever planted. That made me realize that if I wanted to succeed at the commercial level, I needed to analyze every step of the process and ensure no detail was overlooked.

Do you have any advice for those who might want to get into growing as a career?

At the moment, there is no standardized way to grow cannabis. As a result, you have to be willing to critique everything you do to see if there is a better way to accomplish the task at hand. Just keep in mind that we’re still developing the best way to succeed in this industry, so keep learning and evaluating as you go, and you’ll succeed no matter where you are.
Interested in Colorado cannabis jobs? Check out our Careers page.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of opening a fresh jar of perfectly cured cannabis flower. From the smells of the terpenes, to the sights of glistening trichome crystals and the strain’s hues, to the entourage of effects that are yet to come, our aim is to make every Veritas purchase an experience for the senses. 

It all starts in the garden with some of the best, most passionate cannabis growers in the game. Far from being a simple matter of sticking seeds in soil and adding water, cannabis cultivation is a complex profession. Fortunately, we’re in good hands with expert cultivators like Andrew Mahon.

With over a decade of experience in the industry, Mahon—who is actually Veritas’ first official employee—currently oversees three of our facilities located across the Denver metro area in his role as head grower. Bringing a background in plant and soil science to his work, he shared that his lifelong affinity for plants made the choice to pursue a career in cannabis cultivation “a natural fit.”

For anyone who’s curious about what it’s like to work with thousands of cannabis plants every day, Mahon has some stories to tell: 

How did you get into this profession? Did you have a mentor?

I learned a lot from several close friends. All of us would experiment through trial and error, then touch base on what did or didn’t work. By and large, we were self-taught through that process.

What’s a typical “day in the life” at your job?

Rarely are my days the same—the priority is maintaining the correct environment in our rooms so that the plants can thrive. I try my best to work alongside the other employees to share my experience and monitor how the facilities are performing. By helping out with the daily tasks necessary to garden operations, like transplanting, staking and manicuring the plants, I can keep a closer eye on the overall health of the garden and aspects like plant health and pest pressure.

How does your growth cycle work? When do you start growing a new harvest?

That's a pretty complicated question. At one facility, we’re harvesting every three days. At another facility, it's roughly every four days. We try to minimize downtime in our rooms, so a room will be reloaded and flowering again only 36 hours after a harvest. To achieve this, we have a master planting schedule. The goal there is to try to ensure plants are ready to flower once a room is harvested while still accounting for the fact that we are dealing with living plants that don’t care that we have a schedule to stay on.

What do you enjoy most about growing premium cannabis flower for Veritas?

I enjoy the challenge of bringing the quality of a small boutique grow to a commercial scale with over 120 full-time employees. Growing cannabis indoors on a commercial scale is complicated. There is no set way of accomplishing that task. Every grow has their own unique methods, and I enjoy fine-tuning our method to achieve the highest quality possible on the largest possible scale.  

What would you say is the most important part of your job? 

Training new employees. We all come to the table with different experiences, so it’s of the utmost importance that we embrace everyone’s background, while at the same time adhering to general techniques and best practices. Especially now that we have grown to become several different facilities, it’s all the more important that the training is consistent to ensure the quality remains the same.

Working with cannabis, it’s easy to nerd out on any number of different facets of the plant. Is there a specific area of focus that particularly appeals to you?

I like helping to manage the rotation of strains at Veritas. We have nearly 130 genetics in rotation at the moment, so it’s fun to balance things. That way, customers can always find something fresh on the Veritas strain menu, whether that be something that is brand new or something they know but haven’t seen in several months.

More Cannabis Careers: Meet the Artist Behind Our Psychedelic-Inspired Veritas Cannabis T-Shirts and Apparel 

Which strains are your favorite to grow and why? 

Anything new. It’s fun learning about new Veritas strains and watching them develop as you try different techniques. We’ve recently taken in some Forbidden Melonz and Apple Fritter that have been fun to play with.

Who goes into ensuring the cannabis you grow is the best possible quality?

Being as hands-on as possible. The only way to ensure quality is to make sure we are constantly monitoring the plants throughout their life cycle, so that we can identify any issues ASAP. We’ve designed our facilities so that we grow in small rooms, which allows us to inspect our garden daily with much more scrutiny than if we had one large open space where things could slip through the cracks.

What would you say is the biggest accomplishment you’ve had as a grower? Conversely, what would you consider to be your biggest failure as a grower?

I think my biggest accomplishment would be starting at Veritas as the first employee and growing our operations to where we now have over 120 full-time employees. As for failures, I killed the very first flower room that was planted at Veritas. We took over a grow from a failed company and I made the mistake of trusting the existing infrastructure they installed, which led to the loss of the first room I ever planted. That made me realize that if I wanted to succeed at the commercial level, I needed to analyze every step of the process and ensure no detail was overlooked.

Do you have any advice for those who might want to get into growing as a career?

At the moment, there is no standardized way to grow cannabis. As a result, you have to be willing to critique everything you do to see if there is a better way to accomplish the task at hand. Just keep in mind that we’re still developing the best way to succeed in this industry, so keep learning and evaluating as you go, and you’ll succeed no matter where you are.
Interested in Colorado cannabis jobs? Check out our Careers page.