Steve Garner, VP of Cultivation, Ethos Cannabis – Interview Series

One educational and professional trend that will be interesting to observe as the American cannabis industry expands is the number of graduates from universities with very esteemed agriculture/horticulture schools and programs who use their educational experience to work in this nascent industry. One such person who matches that description is University of Georgia graduate and VP of Cultivation for Ethos Cannabis, Steve Garner.

What inspired you to study horticultural science at the University of Georgia? Given Georgia’s strong agricultural industry, I imagine the horticulture program there would be quite great.

I initially majored in Landscape Architecture at UGA, as I’d always been interested in design and the outdoors and thought this would be a nice melding of those two interests. In my second year in the program, I noticed I was enjoying my horticulture classes more than my design classes. I have a family history in agriculture – my father’s side of the family all owned and operated orange groves in central Florida – and was interested in tapping into that history with my career path.

What were some subjects/topics in agriculture and horticulture that you learned about that would later be incredibly useful in cannabis cultivation and harvesting?

The single most impactful aspect of my education was the internship I took part in while getting my degree. An internship was a prerequisite for graduation and I met two incredible mentors during a summer in Pensacola at a perennial nursery I was lucky enough to be working for. The real lessons for me were attention to detail, people management, grit, and how to wield a chainsaw (after a category 4 hurricane made direct landfall on our property).

What types of produce were grown at the BrightFarms facility, and how does utilizing hydroponics for the cultivation and harvesting of produce (fruits and vegetables) differ from the hydroponic cultivation and harvesting of cannabis?

BrightFarms focused on growing hydroponic leafy greens, such as lettuce and spinach, as well as herbs and tomatoes. While the fundamental principles of hydroponics—soilless cultivation, nutrient-rich water delivery, and controlled environments—apply to both produce and cannabis, there are notable differences. One key difference is the cycle times of leafy greens. With crops harvested in 14-21 days, the learning curve is sped up with such rapid cycles. You make a change and feedback is received within weeks. Within cannabis, that timeline is dramatically stretched out to months at a minimum. This slows the learning process and requires a tremendous amount of patience when implementing shifts in strategy.

What lessons in account management and operations/organization did you learn while working at BrightFarms? Were there certain troublesome hurdles or lesser-known parts of the job that proved to be meaningful in the long run?

The two most valuable lessons I learned were about the importance of strong foundational design and effective leadership. First, I saw firsthand that long-term success starts with well-planned infrastructure. The greenhouse we inherited had design flaws that made profitability challenging due to inefficiencies in the hydroponic setup, workflow, and automation. By pausing operations, upgrading to proper commercial equipment, and optimizing the facility, we were able to turn things around and achieve profitability within months.

The second key lesson was the power of leadership in shaping company culture and team engagement. A leader who prioritizes collaboration, vision, and team buy-in can inspire remarkable results. When leadership is focused on a people-first approach, it becomes easier to unite a team around a shared mission. These experiences reinforced my belief that the right strategy and leadership can make all the difference in achieving success.

What first interested you about working in cannabis, and did you ever imagine you’d be using your degree in this manner?

I have been cultivating cannabis since my teenage years and carried that into my college years to a more intensive level. This somewhat influenced my decision to study horticulture in school but I certainly never imagined that I could combine that passion with my career. As California and Colorado paved the way with medical programs, I kept an eye out west and, as soon as recreational was announced in Colorado, I felt it was time to head there and combine my hobby of cannabis with my career of cultivating at a commercial scale.

What were some advanced lessons in large-scale cannabis cultivation that you were taught while with Silverpeak Apothecary that would later become game-changing when working with Ethos? How would you describe working in the Colorado industry in the first few years of recreational legalization?

I was fortunate with the Silverpeak opportunity as the owner had done a fantastic job of designing the facility with the technology that I was familiar with from my traditional background. Many facilities at that time were essentially ‘scaled-up closet grows’ and didn’t utilize a lot of technology that is more commonplace now. It was to see that the automation platforms (Argus), drip irrigation systems, greenhouse design, lighting, etc were all leveled to the standard of hydroponic vegetable facilities. While still a huge challenge to get the facility up and running, it was more of a comfortable environment than heading into a warehouse grow in Denver would have been. While the greenhouses and indoor grows I design and operate now look very different from the Silverpeak facility, I still lean on the lessons learned from there as the tactics continue to evolve.

What led to the creation of Pure Cultivation, and how do you assist your clients? Why do you feel the services you offer are necessary for cannabis companies across the states with legal cannabis?

I formed Pure Cultivation from a passion for early stage projects, a desire to move back east to be closer to my family, to take a slight step back from two years of 80-100-hour work weeks, and to work alongside my good friend and mentor at BrightFarms, Graham Tucker. At the time, legalization was rolling out very quickly across the country and I saw a gap in the market. There were many groups of investors looking to enter the market and an even bigger pool of ‘master growers’ who had more confidence than capability. My desire was to lend my experience to the design, build, genetic acquisition, hiring, and first year of startup for new operations, in addition to operational turnarounds for struggling facilities. I believe we were successful in doing just that.

What were the determining factors that led to your joining the Ethos Cannabis team, and what do you feel Ethos is doing differently from other multi-state operators of a similar size?

It was a relatively easy decision for me to join Ethos. After working with over a dozen other operators through Pure Cultivation, I saw the range of approaches that these new entrants into cannabis were taking and, frankly, I had no interest in a long-term working relationship with any of them other than Ethos. There were two distinct differences I saw – first, the founders had a moral compass that followed my own and were some of the smartest people I’ve ever been around. Second, they empowered me in my role. They asked difficult questions and pushed me, but they also trusted me and let me execute my vision from day one. That is very rare in cannabis and especially at the scale at which we operate.

Since serving as VP of Cultivation for Ethos, how has the quality of the products improved overall, and how do you maintain the consistency of quality across multiple states?

I have been with Ethos since day one and we have absolutely improved our craft over the years. Our teams, especially our Director of Cultivation, Brendon Hershey, have put a tremendous amount of effort into our irrigation strategies. We designed our facilities so that every strain is on its own irrigation program and this, coupled with the team’s dedication to data collection and analysis, provides the ability to develop a unique irrigation program for every strain. Combined with far superior genetics from where we started and an entire team that is laser-focused on quality, we pushed our quality to the highest standards. We drive consistency by executing a singular strategy, meeting with teams weekly to discuss all elements of our grow, aligning genetics across all sites, and living by the principle that ‘there is only one right way to do things until we find a better way’. We do not vary from the script until we prove there is a better way to do it.

What are memorable milestones or other accomplishments in cultivation that you’ve reached with Ethos, and what is the grand importance of those achievements?

The realization at the end of last year that all three of our sites have teams that stand on their own and, while they are better with the input of our full team, they do not ‘need’ oversight. They are truly world class teams on their own and, while my and Brendon’s input make them better, they are still among the best without us. It took several years to get to this point but knowing we are there is a huge point of pride for me.

If a federal rescheduling of cannabis were to occur, how would that change the regular current day-to-day operations and future plans of Ethos?

That is a very difficult question to answer, as the way in which it is implemented would greatly affect things, such as if interstate commerce is allowed. Three things I know for sure:

• Quality will always come first for Ethos
• Prioritizing quality will open up new opportunities for the entire Ethos organization whether rescheduling happens or not
• We are ready for those opportunities when they present themselves

Thank you for joining us, Steve! For more information on Ethos Cannabis, please visit its website.