VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Affinor Growers Inc. (“AFI” or the “Company”) (CSE:AFI, OTC:RSSFF, Frankfurt:1AF) issues a message from its CEO and announces the testing results of its first grow trial using the LED cannabis lights.  In December 2019, the Company entered into an agreement with Fundamental Lighting Solutions Inc. (“Fundamental”) and Cannalife Solutions LLC (“Cannalife Solutions”) to test the LED cannabis lights.

Message From the CEO

Affinor would like to take a moment to thank all the front-line workers, across all industries, supporting our society during this Covid-19 pandemic.  We thank you for your efforts, hard work and dedication during this pandemic.  We also want to extend our thoughts and prayers to all the families affected by Covid-19.

During this pandemic, Affinor is respecting and following the guidance provided by provincial health authorities and is operating through virtual means.  We’re committed to continuing to build off the successful re-design of our vertical farming towers, the development of the Hydro tower and the development of the cannabis LED lights with Fundamental.

Grow Trial Test Results

The first grow trial ran from mid-December 2019 to the end of February 2020.  After a period of five (5) weeks of drying and testing, the final results were received by Cannalife Solutions.  The test results are summarized in the table below:

* A Grade – Large flower buds on the highest branches are called colas.  They have a better visual appeal and often have a high THC level.  High-intensity light affects the size of the buds, density and trichome production.  The canopy (top and middle part of the plant) receive the most light leaving smaller buds on the bottom.  
** B Grade – Airy buds that tend to form in areas that don’t receive as much light due to the “canopy-like” effect of the higher branches. They have lower levels of trichomes, therefore are less potent and aromatic than the larger colas.

Qualitative Highlights

• The LED light room saw less plant foliage and more spacing between the nodes.  This resulted in greater light penetration deeper into the canopy;
• The LED light room showed higher density in the canopy bud and had more developed lower level buds as compared with the double ended high-pressure sodium (“DE HPS”) light room;
• The LED light room had less foxtailing than the DE HPS room.  Cannabis foxtailing is a phenomenon in which the buds of a cannabis plant start growing abnormal spires or tips.  For Cannalife Solutions and their master grower, Ivan Scheumack, less foxtailing is an added benefit to the already positive results they have seen with the lights.
• The LED lights reached an average of 1,550 micromoles at the canopy as compared to 1,450 micromoles with the DE HPS lights.

One of the more significant benefits Cannalife Solutions experienced with the LED lights was the significant decrease in the stress on their infrastructure.  The LED light room used less energy to control the temperature of the room due to the low levels of heat given off by the LED lights. 

The testing not only showed the LED cannabis lights could compete with the high-pressure sodium lights but were able to beat them in overall Grade A cannabis production and THC content.  This test was a side-by-side study with the exact same growing conditions and growing methods in both rooms.

Randy Minhas commented, “We are absolutely ecstatic about the results.  We were confident we would be able to succeed in this trial but couldn’t have imagined a better result.  Cannalife Solutions’, through their network, had received negative feedback on LED lights for cannabis growing and they were skeptical on whether the LED cannabis lights would work.  Their main area of concern going into this grow trial was whether or not the LED lights could match the overall yield of the DE HPS lights.  Those concerns quickly turned to excitement as the grow trial advanced.  In fact, they were so impressed with the results, Cannalife Solutions proceeded immediately into a second grow trial, before the results from the first grow trial were received.  This is a testament to the belief they hold in the lights.

“It is critical to note that this was a completely independent grow trial and the results reported above were based on independent lab testing.  Affinor and Fundamental provided no financial support for this grow trial and were in no way involved in the grow trial, outside of providing the lights and set-up support.  I wanted to emphasize this point in order to support the validity of the results.

“Given the exceptional results achieved with the lights, Cannalife Solutions moved straight into a second grow trial, beginning in March, with two additional strains of cannabis in order to ensure consistency across their wide variety of strains.  We’re very please to see Cannalife Solutions moving forward with additional trials and are currently in discussions to expand the grow trials to multiple rooms.”

Randy Minhas
President and CEO

About Fundamental Lighting

Fundamental Lighting is a corporation out of Monroe, Washington and they have developed high-efficiency, white LED lights and coloured LED growing lights to be used for indoor growing operations, including greenhouses as well as newly developed cannabis LED lights.  Fundamental Lighting is lead by their CEO, Wayne Bliesner.

About Cannalife Solutions

Cannalife Solutions is a state-of-the-art cannabis production and testing facility in Eugene, Oregon.  The facility, with its 19 independently controllable and isolated grow room environments, is ideal for side-by-side controlled experiments. They are focused on the highest level of indoor cannabis production. Cannalife Solutions is lead by its CEO, Scott Benedict, [email protected], and its master grower, Ivan Scheumack, [email protected].

Ivan Scheumack is the master grower at Cannalife Solutions and has over twenty-two years of experience in cannabis production, facility design, and consulting. 

Visit Cannalife Solutions on Facebook at @CannalifeSolutionsLLC.

About Affinor Growers

Affinor Growers is a publicly traded company on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol (“AFI”). Affinor is focused on developing vertical farming technologies and using those technologies to grow fruits and vegetables in a sustainable manner.

This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

AFFINOR GROWERS INC.
www.affinorgrowers.com

For More Information, please contact: Randy Minhas, CEO [email protected]