5 Reasons Hoses Don’t Belong in Commercial Cannabis Cultivation

For as long as trim separators have existed, they have been attached to trimming machines with PVC hoses. But the initial problems with that design are now compounded by the growing scale of cultivation, and the corresponding workload being put on trimming machines. Regulations (and cannabis market demands) are changing quickly, and there are some VERY good reasons you should retire your hoses.

1. HOSES GET DIRTY WITH MOLD AND MILDEW.
The buildup of plant matter stuck to the inside of a hose starts almost immediately when using a trimming machine with an external separator. Mildew can begin to set in as early as 24 hours after use. When you’re talking about product that will eventually be ingested, running it through a hose that is contaminated with mold, mildew, and decaying plant material, is a problem. You could try and clean the hose, but…

2. HOSES ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO CLEAN.
Whether you’re trying to power wash the inside, run a variety of solvents through it, soak it in solution, or whatever other trick you’ve thought of, it’s just about impossible to clean a hose to any sort of legitimate standards. That is why…

3. HOSES CAN’T BE USED IN A GMP-CERTIFIED WORKFLOW,
unless you throw them away after every use. (Not familiar with Good Manufacturing Practices in a cannabis facility? Check out our Commercial Cannabis GMP Primer.) If you’d like to consider your business a green, sustainable operation, then throwing away loads of PVC hose after every trimming session is going to be a problem. That’s a lot of space in the landfill, not to mention the…

4. COST TO PURCHASE HOSES.
The typical hose-length on the leading trimming machine costs about $20 to replace. Not a big deal, except that if you’re a large-scale cultivator you’d be replacing it AT LEAST every day you trim, and that’s just on a single machine. It doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up fast, and if you’re playing the cost-per-gram game, then it matters. If you’re concerned with protecting the value of ALL your product, then consider that…

5. HOSES DAMAGE THE TRIM.
A separator attached to a trimmer with a hose vastly reduces the damage compared to trim that passes through an impeller (which is what happens if you don’t use a separator). But it’s still not the same as, for example, trim from an operation that uses hand-trimming methods. The longer the hose, the more damage that’s done to the trim, and the less valuable it is for extraction.

Clearly, it’s time to say goodbye to hoses. They don’t belong in a commercial cannabis trimming operation. Not to worry, we’ve got you covered. Check out the Integrated Separation System in the Mobius Trimmer M108. It features a completely hose-less design and fixes all five of the issues listed above.