From trapping basement grows to legally selling out boutique exotics in Kalamazoo, today’s guests embody the hunger for hunting down the most A-1 premium smoke that can only come from career consumers and passionate stewards of the plant.

Blackleaf is live in Detroit, moments before judging the rosin for Bring Your Best Bag 2025, with the Growing Pains team, Jason, Seth, and Tom, to discuss all things that are “actually smoking,” as well as the state of 🍃in Michigan. We cover topics such as why Michigan fell short during the medical boom, iconic strains that Michigan doesn’t get enough credit for, what strains and products consumers in the market are actively purchasing, and so much more.

Along the way, you’ll also learn the entire lore of the Growing Pains brand, even how they got their name. Tom dives into a wealth of backstory during this pod, including how he got started maxing out his basement, when he partnered up with Seth during the medical days, and how they’ve brought on Jason recently as their full-time extraction artist to truly elevate their rosin game and product offerings.

Growing Pains burst into Michigan’s scene as a boutique, flavor-focused grower, hand-selecting exotic genetics and rigorously testing every batch in their modest warehouse operations. The brand leans into a hands-on, founder-led cultivation process, touting that they personally R&D each batch from seed to harvest, which you’ll learn during this pod is entirely true. Their team actively crafts popular strains such as Pink Pebbles, Crunch Berries, and Zyrup, to deliver consistent, high-terpene flavor profiles in over 50 doors (currently) across the state and through their own owned shops.

One of the biggest topics during this pod is not only pheno hunting, but deciding on which batches to send 3k or more into for making hash. Jason, Growing Pain’s extraction artist, goes into deep detail on how he got educated in the field, as well as his preference for using The Osprey machine over washing by hand. He even details the methods for testing out new strains from the grow to see if they’re even worth washing.

The other overarching conversation during this pod is the affordability of 🍃in the current Michigan market. These prices are CHEAP CHEAP. Not to mention, Growing Pains’ team also owns a shop where they can take their product straight from packaging to the shelves. You’ll hear about how they bring their staff and local customers in on the fun when it comes to pheno hunting. Additionally, you’ll also find out why the taxes are so low and why so many operators were able to set up shop QUICKLY in the Motor City as soon as legalization turned on by tuning into the full pod.

Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture you can’t find anywhere else.

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For some people in the industry, one whiff of a plant when it first starts flowering, or a fresh batch of solventless, is all it takes to ignite their never-ending passion to forge ahead. Today’s guest is one such individual.

Blackleaf is on the road for this episode and sits down with Tyler Hall of Michigrown following the Bring Your Best Bag 2025 competition in Detroit to discuss literally everything surrounding terps. From Tyler’s bursting box of rosin pucks he calls his head stash, to the logistics of keeping over 300 mother plants in rotation, as well as consulting large-scale grows across the country, dialing in their SOPs and genetic libraries, the story behind naming the Titty Sprinkles strain, and so much more.

For the uninitiated, Tyler Hall is a seasoned cultivator who currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Michigrown, a leading Michigan-based 🍃 company. Since taking over cultivation in November 2023, he has revitalized the company's flower quality, emphasizing terpene-heavy strains over high THC content to deliver game-changing varieties and trend-setting terps.

Hall's extensive experience includes consulting for growers across Colorado, Arizona, California, and Alaska. He is known for his meticulous selection process, recently narrowing down 800 seeds to 30–50 promising strains. Beyond Michigrown, he is also the CEO of Kinship C******s Co., where he continues to flip the game on its head in terms of genetic forecasting and branding.

You’ll hear several bold claims from Tyler during this episode, such as his preference for high-terpene, lower-THC flower, and the rigid timeline for boutique cultivators and ma-and-pa businesses in the industry unless they establish unwavering IP as soon as possible. There’s also tons of discussion about the politics behind popping seeds while Tyler discusses his tenure as a breeder. They talk about what it’s like hunting F2, F3, or F4s, and why Tyler went after the Blue Zu strain when no one is hunting Blue Power crosses right now.

By the end of this conversation, you will fully grasp the depth of what we mean when we say that Tyler Hall is a literal “strain forecaster,” debatably a weatherman of weed. You’ll hear him talk about maintaining hundreds of different mothers throughout the year while still doing a 35-plant pheno hunt on the side.

Despite his endless seed library and regular pheno hunts, Tyler will highlight why he still does a yearly run of Blue Dream that sells out every Summer. His understanding of what the market wants on a seasonal basis, as well as his opinions on what to pursue next, are nothing short of inspirational if you work with the plant in any capacity.

Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture you can’t find anywhere else.

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If you’ve ever felt like you didn’t stay in one place too long, or have lived a thousand lives in terms of jobs and careers, today’s guest puts your entire lore to shame. On top of that, he’s probably growing better 🍃than you, too.

Blackleaf is joined back in the FSOTD studio by Heston Allcorn, home-grow pioneer, past-life collector, avid no-till farmer, and co-founder of Floro Farm in Lincoln City, Oregon, to discuss the road that’s led him to where he’s at today, working alongside his family, falling in love with no-till organic farming, the lack of herb festivals in Oregon, old strains from Alaksa like Matanuska Thunderf*ck that still haunt him, what a worm tower is, the power of undercanopy lighting, and so much more.

Floro Farm, located in Lincoln City, Oregon, is a family-run 🍃 cultivation company founded by Heston Allcorn alongside his brother and sister. Heston is renowned for pioneering indoor, no-till, living soil cultivation methods, incorporating innovative techniques such as vermicomposting towers and custom lighting setups.

Heston’s commitment to sustainable, organic practices has positioned Floro Farm at the forefront of the Pacific Northwest's 🍃 industry. Beyond cultivation, Heston actively shares his expertise through podcasts and serves as an official judge at the Autoflower World Cup.

The stories in this pod are absolutely out of control. You can’t miss a moment of Heston recalling his days moving weight out of the old trap house in Rhode Island, or what it was like living on a boat growing a couple plants in the bathroom. There’s also the nightmare hurdles he went through to get OLCC licensing, the classic cultivars he’s engineered and unleashed in the Oregon market, or having to destroy his first major crop of CBD because it tested .2% over.

More than anything, this episode is for the passionate growers who have an undeniable wanderlust. Heston has truly been all over the world doing every odd job possible so he could get closer to carving out his own lane in organic, no-till 🍃farming. If you’re ever looking for inspiration or super insightful insider knowledge on how to elevate your home-grow with the right organic soil or lighting, or even boss up your commercial indoor grow with proper undercanopy lights, tap in with this pod and you’ll always dig up something new.

Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture you can’t find anywhere else.

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