Just a short scenic drive south of Reno, Nevada, you will find SoL Cannabis , a local producer of artisan flowers, extracts, and edibles. Owned by Ed Alexander, SoL has become one of the area’s largest dispensaries and is one of only two vertically integrated co-located cannabis facilities in Nevada. This means SoL not only grows their own products, but also extracts concentrates and produces edibles all onsite at their state-of-the-art facility, which features a five-bay Rimol Matterhorn greenhouse, as well as a commercial kitchen, extraction lab and large dispensary.
All of SoL’s products are sun-grown in organic soil without chemicals. “Today, most cannabis is grown using artificial lighting that is designed to mimic the sun,” said Ed Alexander, owner of SoL Cannabis. “Since day one, SoL has been focused on using natural Nevada sunlight. Sun-grown makes sense for our employees, our customers, and the environment, and we believe that you can see and taste the difference.”
When SoL began growing commercially, they worked with Rimol to construct a five-bay, 30’ x 144’ Matterhorn Greenhouse structure, totaling over 21,000 square feet of growing space. The greenhouse is connected to SoL’s retail building with a large glass wall that allows guests to have full transparency over the growing process.
The greenhouse is state-of-the art, designed for organically growing cannabis with complete environmental control. “Typically, greenhouses are focused on ambient air temperature control, which is pertinent in the summer but can be counterintuitive in the winter,” explained Ed. “We decided to do things differently by heating the concrete slab of the greenhouse and growing on the floor, rather than heating the air. This lets us maintain precisely the root zone temperature of our crops during the winter.”
The greenhouse has also been outfitted with custom systems for odor remediation, light control, fogging, pest management, microbial mitigation and more. “The systems that we have put together enable us to have one of the most technically and operationally efficient greenhouses in the industry,” said Ed. “In addition to what we do and the product we offer, our Rimol Greenhouse has allowed us to be the most-awarded cannabis company in the state of Nevada.”
“To me, greenhouses present all the beauty of full spectrum light and the ability to manage true organic production,” added Ed. “We are constantly looking for ways to educate end users, as I feel that we owe it to our consumers and to the industry to be a bastion of education.”
As for what’s next, SoL hopes to expand operations to continue serving as an “adult playground” for their customers. They recently added an outdoor venue for live music and plan to build a large performing arts space to enhance the experience of visitors. “We don’t just sell cannabis – we sell an experience,” said Ed.
