Value-added packaging for our clients

PRO-MIX® has been the global reference brand for performance and yield among greenhouse growers since its launch in 1967. It has also led the way in bringing technological innovations to market throughout the years.

Since the beginning, the key factor driving this approach has always been the group’s resolute focus on providing value and utility to its clients, beyond technology, and has been core to the reflections of the Premier Tech Growers and Consumers teams.

PRO-MIX® became the first growing media brand in the world to incorporate biostimulants and biocontrols into its product offerings, providing a more ecoresponsible option to flower, plant, vegetable and cannabis growers. This long-term approach of Premier Tech Growers and Consumers since 1983 to biotechnology investment has paved the way for the many innovations that allow the group to set the pace in the market.

In the same spirit of continuity, sustainability and leadership, the group set to work a few years ago to develop the PRO-MIX® HP® commercial offer for the cannabis market sector.

— PRO-MIX® became the first growing media brand in the world to incorporate biostimulants and biocontrols into its product offerings, providing a more ecoresponsible option. —

Through multiple visits, observations and interactions with clients, team members identified a new value niche that challenged the predominant industry paradigm. It completely redefined the function of product packaging by transforming the polyethylene bag used for transport and handling into a true commercial offer — a container in which each plant could grow to maturity.

This innovation turned our growing media offer into a production system tailored to greenhouse cannabis production. The benefits to the grower are substantial, including savings in time and growing space, thus improving its financial performance.

With its built-in tear-off opening, the open-top grow bag is ready to use from the moment the client receives it. Each bag has eight premade drip holes to facilitate drainage and promote optimal plant growth. In addition, the light blue colour used on the inside of the bag prevents heat buildup, which helps protect the root system.

The PRO-MIX® HP® growing system is based on the Premier Tech Growers and Consumers biotechnology platform. The growing medium in the bag contains the same active biological ingredients that promote root growth as well as water and nutrient absorption.

The growing medium also has characteristics that reduce transplant shock and increase resistance to environmental stresses such as drought, compaction and salinity. This optimizes plant growth and value creation for the grower.

The product of careful analysis

This growing system was years in the making and its development was carried out in collaboration with various partners, including bag suppliers, Université Laval, and clients in the medicinal cannabis production market.

To ensure the new product met industry needs, special attention was paid to the following features.

Strong but flexible

Developing a bag with a tear-off top presented several challenges. The bag had to be easy to tear, but not fragile. It also had to be sized to suit industry needs and practices. And it needed to be stable enough to be handled and placed on greenhouse tables without tipping over or losing its shape.

Optimized drainage, maximum growth

Each drip hole had to be strategically positioned and sized to provide the kind of drainage plants need to stay healthy while effectively keeping the growing medium in the bag at the same time.

A colour with thermoregulatory properties

The PRO-MIX® HP® growing system bag is lighter in colour than most common growing containers, which prevents additional heat from building up around the root system. This ensures better root development and distribution, a crucial aspect of cannabis plant growth. With its distinctive colour, the open top grow bag is also visually appealing, another differentiator for the PRO-MIX® brand.

The all-in-one solution

The open top grow bag has been designed to reduce handling to the minimum. Cannabis growers no longer have to transfer the growing medium to a growing container or sterilize containers after use to prevent disease. All that needs to be done now is transplant the plant in the open top grow bag, then dispose of it once harvesting is complete. This also reduces the amount of labour and potting space required.

“Using the PRO-MIX® HP® growing system reduces our labour requirements by 25% to 50% and saves us a lot of prep time. Since the open top grow bag is already filled with growing media, there’s less handling. That makes the transplant process cleaner and more efficient, without sacrificing any of the performance of the original PRO-MIX® HP® growing media.”

Mitchell Alswiti
head grower and CEO of Purplefarm Genetics