Pesticide free gets stamped on a lot of packaging. Walk through any dispensary in Washington and you will see it on packaging from brands that have never been third-party tested, never been certified, and have actually been recalled for pesticides by the Liquor Control Board. We are not here to call out other brands, we are here to tell you what it means when we say it. At Falcanna pesticide free cannabis is not a marketing line, it is just how we grow.
First, What Is a Pesticide
A pesticide is any substance used to control, repel, or kill pests including insects, fungi, weeds, rodents, and bacteria. In cannabis cultivation, the conversation usually centers on insecticides and fungicides considering cannabis is delicious to pests and mold likes to show up inside the dense flowers.
Washington State maintains a list of pesticides that are legally approved for use on cannabis crops. The list is managed jointly by the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the Liquor and Cannabis Board, and it is updated regularly. Being on that list means a substance has passed certain safety criteria, but it does not mean the substance is inert or harmless when heated and inhaled. Myclobutanil, a common fungicide that was legal to use on Washington cannabis for years, converts to hydrogen cyanide when exposed to the heat of a lighter. It was eventually restricted, but the point stands: legal and clean are not the same thing.
When Falcanna says pesticide free cannabis, it means no pesticides of any kind were used on the plant. Not approved ones. Not natural-sounding ones with complicated names. None.
Why We Do Not Use Pesticides
The short answer is that Justin and I smoke our own flower. We have been consuming cannabis for as long as we have been growing it, and we are not interested in inhaling anything we would not want in our bodies. That is the whole logic. It really is not more complicated than that.
The longer answer is that the Olympic Peninsula is not just where we grow organic cannabis. It is where we live, where our falcon conservation program operates, and where the ecosystems we care about exist. Running synthetic chemicals through an irrigation system and into the waste water that touches a watershed we share with wildlife is not something we are willing to do. Our commitment to naturally grown, pesticide free cannabis is part of the same value system that drives our biodegradable packaging and our raptor work. It is all connected.
I have been asked more than once why we do not just use the approved pesticides since they are technically legal. My answer is always the same. Legal is the floor, not the ceiling. We set our own standard and it is higher than what the state requires. It has been that way since we opened our first grow in 2009 and it is not changing.
What We Use Instead
Growing organic, pesticide free cannabis does not mean growing without care. It means growing with more of it. At Falcanna, every plant is fed with OMRI certified nutrients, meaning every input has been reviewed and approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute for use in organic production. We use a blend of organic nutrients and natural minerals that build natural resistance in the plant, rather than relying on chemical intervention. We inoculate the root zone with mineral teas rich in targeted microbes at key stages of the plant's life cycle, ensuring it has the beneficial biology it needs to thrive.
For the final days of the flowering cycle, we stop feeding nutrients entirely and flush every plant with pure water. This is something we have done since the beginning. It removes any residual nutrients from the flower before harvest and allows the natural terpene profile of each strain to express cleanly without anything sitting on top of it. What you taste when you smoke Falcanna flower is the plant, not the grow program. The natural senescence of cannabis plants as they approach harvest means that they do not need a heavy fertilizer to finish making delicious flowers.
We take great pains to keep our indoor grow facility processing and grow rooms clean using chemical free environmentally friendly cleaning supplies. The air is hepa filtered and UV sterilized and we maintain perfect temperature and humidity throughout the facility.
Clean Green Certified: What That Actually Means
Falcanna is Clean Green Certified. Clean Green is the only nationally recognized certification program for organically and sustainably grown cannabis in the United States. It is based on national and international organic and sustainable farming practices, and earning it requires independent verification of your growing inputs, your processes, and your documentation.
Our certification number is WA-CG-20-0412. It is one of the things we are genuinely proud of because it is not easy to earn and it requires us to maintain our high standard year after year.
Lux Pot Shop wrote about our flower and described it as growing in harmony with nature. That is the way we think about it too.
The Standard Does Not Change
HWY 420 wrote that Falcanna goes above and beyond state requirements and that our products test 'none detected' on all the legal pesticide limits. That is true, and it is true for pesticides the same way it is true for residual solvents in our concentrate. We set the bar for ourselves and we keep it there regardless of what the market around us is doing.
The accountability we built into Falcanna from the start is that we want to consume what we grow. It keeps us honest in a way that a marketing decision never could.
If you want to find our flower at a dispensary near you, see the strains we are currently growing, or read about the full Falcanna product line, start below.