CLTVTD Success Story: Incentive Program

Indoor cannabis nursery, CLTVTD, is unique from most other indoor cultivation facilities in Sacramento, and not just because they took the vowels out of their name. They also took out the soil.

“We are growing deep water culture clones so there’s no soil involvement,” explained Chief Operations Officer, Mark Fitzgerald. “This helps avoid insect problems, mold, mold spores and helps us to perfectly balance the profile of each set of varieties that we have.”

Setting up shop in Sacramento two years ago, the principals of CLTVTD quickly realized there was a lack of transparency in the quality of product sold in the dispensary space and focused their efforts on filling that need.

“CLTVTD isn't just another clone nursery,” CEO Sergio Picazo pointed out. “As a B2B business, our goal is to provide a trusted start for our customers. We want to ensure that we are providing the cleanest, purest and healthiest clone available.”

“When our product gets to the grower, the grower can look back and see exactly where this plant came from,” Mark added. “When it was born, what it’s been fed its entire life and what light conditions it’s been under.”

And optimizing the lighting for their plants is a major focus of their operation.

“The photosynthesis period is very crucial. We needed to find the best kind of vegetative light for the clones once we put them up on the racks”, Sergio recounted.

“We were looking at various options, including LED lighting. But because LEDs cost more than traditional lights to purchase, we were initially shying away from them.

“And then we learned about the SMUD rebate,” Sergio continued. “I reached out to them and they were very responsive. They came out to our facility, did some lighting tests and gave us a lot of guidance and information.”

SMUD demonstrated how the rebate program not only made the purchase of the 172 LED fixtures affordable, but that the technology would lower CLTVTD’s energy bill and reduce their carbon footprint.

“In the end, the PHOTOBIO LED was exactly what we're looking for. It gives off the right type of light spectrum to keep our plants healthy and ensure the roots are sustainable”, Sergio said.

The CLTVTD team also discovered that the LED’s lower temperature allowed them to vertically stack clones, maximizing the spacing on their shelves while providing light consistency across the canopy.

“SMUD’s help has been amazing,” concluded Mark. “They are always easy to get in touch with and very communicative. And if it wasn’t for the incentive program, we wouldn’t have been able to purchase these great LED fixtures.”

And he noted “It isn’t just about the rebate. SMUD has proved to be a trusted consultant and a partner we can count on to help maximize the efficiency of our operation, now and in the future.”