Interesting results could be very significant
ASHBURTON ZEOLITE SHIPMENT ARRIVES: BC BUD DEPOT TO COMMENCE TESTING ZEOLITE IN MARIJUANA GROWING
"Ashburton Ventures Inc.'s zeolite shipments have arrived at the BC Bud Depot (BCBD) strain development and test facility. Phase One of zeolite testing will commence Thursday, April 27th, 2017. BCBD's Test Facility features 14,920 square feet of greenhouse space capable of housing 1,900 cannabis plants up to 2.5 metres height each.
Approximately 900 cloned cuttings of the cannabis strain CBD God will be transplanted into growth media divided between control groups and those enriched with zeolite and compatible nutrients. The facility's on-site plantation manager, biologist Albert Kasprowicz, M.Sc., will oversee testing.
"We are excited to measure and document the variances between control groups and those augmented by zeolite blends," stated Kasprowicz.
He continued, "The advantages of zeolite to cannabis cultivation have only been observed informally although zeolite has well-known benefits in agriculture. It is high time that we use scientific quantitative analysis to chart the benefits of zeolite to cannabis as an organic method of optimizing the ease and efficiency of cultivation, increasing plant health and vigour, and raising end yields in terms of total weight and marijuana quality."
Testing to commence this week will take ongoing measurements from three categories plus a control group. The three test categories (Zeolite-Enriched, Carbon-Enriched and Zeolite + Carbon-Enriched) each subdivide into three groups according to increments of enrichment to the base potting mixture. The T-Carbon is from Ashburton's collaboration partners ZMM Canada Minerals Corp and is complimentary to zeolite in the root zone
For the Zeolite-Enriched and Carbon-Enriched groups, researchers will distribute plant sets containing 5%, 10% and 15% enrichment throughout the greenhouse. The Zeolite + Carbon group containing a 1:1 blend of carbon and zeolite will be enriched at 10%, 15% and 20% and similarly distributed. The Control Group will contain only the base potting mixture which consists of 90% coconut husk (coco coir) and 10% worm castings.
Zeolite is from the Z-1 Zeolite Mine, a recent collaboration between Ashburton Ventures and ZMM Canada Minerals Corp, located about 3 km northeast of Cache Creek, BC. Key among zeolite's known advantages to plant growth include a high capacity to increase the bio-availability of essential plant nutrients, as well as filtering adverse components from the soil.
According to geoscientist LuVerne Hogg, Ashburton's Z-1 zeolite has a pressure-release curve of water and nutrients that matches the liquid-uptake rate of cannabis roots.
"By releasing nutrients and water at the specific rate required by plants, efficiencies and yields increase, so cultivation is a more cost-effective enterprise" Hogg stated.
Ashburton Ventures Inc. is a Canadian-based junior exploration company focused on Canadian mineral projects in Quebec and British Columbia, Canada. "
