Boutique Buds

Living soil the heartbeat of Custom Cannabis.

By Becca Bona

Photography By Brian Chilson

Tucked a short distance from Interstate 30, where Arkansas Highway 5 intersects Alexander Road, one Saline County dispensary is living up to its name to provide a personalized wellness journey to each medical marijuana patient who enters its doors. Enter Custom Cannabis — a dispensary that not only provides cannabis education and quality products, but also heavily focuses on each unique individual and their needs.

“We’re trying to fill holes and create a market that nobody else is going after,” General Manager Lonny Chris said. No stranger to cannabis, Chris has been in the industry for eight years, coming to Arkansas from Colorado. “We’re going off terpenes, genetics, and really trying to pinpoint those items that people need.”

Custom was founded in 2017 by a diverse group of Arkansans ranging from physicians, a CRNA, a pharmacist, nurses, an entrepreneur, a health care software and hardware developer, and an orthodontist. The operation started serving patients in Arkansas in 2020, and strongly emphasizes research and development.

One of the ways Custom serves patients is by carefully producing its own cannabis via the state-approved dispensary grow program. Parameters in Section 13 of the Arkansas Beverage Control (ABC) Division’s Medical Marijuana Rules govern dispensaries’ steps to cultivate their own plants. For instance, dispensaries can only produce 50 mature plants at any given time. Dispensaries also have as rigorous of a process to follow as the cultivators on where cannabis is stored when it’s curing and drying before it’s processed or put together for packaging and consumption.

The beauty of the program is its size, which sets dispensary operations apart from the cultivators in terms of scale. Unlike cultivators who need to optimize their operations to grow large quantities to justify their margins, Custom and other dispensaries can approach their cultivation from an artisan, small-batch lens. “We’re able to take our time to allow our plants to do everything they should,” Chris explained, “so we’re not rushing anything out at all.”

Today’s cannabis farmers employ different methods for emulating that loving outdoor environment so that the plants can grow and thrive indoors. The combinations of creating the perfect grow room are endless, from different soil mediums to hydroponic systems. At first, Custom used a hydroponic system that fed the plants via a nutrient-enriched water system. However, this process was not without its issues as the team combatted root rot, flow issues, and potential bacteria growth in the water.

Six months ago, Custom switched from a hydroponic system to a living soil system. Director of Cultivation Greg Olivella noticed an immediate difference. Olivella, a long-time grower and seasoned professional, said, “We have overall healthier plants because the roots never rot and they stay healthy, which creates an overall happier plant.” Chris added: “You’re definitely getting a stronger terpene profile even when you walk in the grow room.”

The living soil provides an ecosystem in and of itself. Contrary to growing mediums, typically composed of inert elements, living soil fosters a symbiotic bond between plants and the varied microorganisms inhabiting the soil. “With the living soil, you have a whole ecosystem that combats all your pests, bacterias and stuff like that,” Olivella said.

“We’re proud of all the organic inputs that we put into the soil. We don’t put any kind of salt-based nutrients or anything like that in it. Plus, it’s all completely organic, and the living soil creates a much better medicine for the patient.”

Custom works to ensure that it has a vision for every single one of its final cannabis products — from flower to concentrate and even live resin. “Dark Horse has been doing an amazing job processing for us,” Chris said. “We’re actually pulling stuff a week early, unlike most people, and freezing that product so we can make some of the first true, live resin on the market.”

The dispensary grow operation at Custom relies heavily on feedback. Chris and Olivella choose strains to produce the desired effects that patients are clamoring for — to support the other cultivators while trying to bring new strains to market. They’ve noted that patients are requesting strains that complement being social and creative as an alternative to consuming alcohol, among other things. “A lot of strains out there right now include terpenes like limonene and beta-caryophyllene, but we’re trying to specialize in new terpenes that aren’t on the market as much,” Chris explained.

Beyond fostering its grow program, Custom aims to support the cannabis industry in The Natural State and everybody in it. “We have everything on the shelf. We carry every single cultivator and every single processor out there,” Chris said. “If there’s a new product on the market, we try to be the very first to try it out. We are a team player and want to be a one-stop shop and be here for the patient.”

Moving forward, Custom will continue to specialize, focus on market trends and, ultimately, listen to the patients to help decide what they should grow or improve upon next. Chris thinks this feedback is critical for the cannabis industry in Arkansas. “[We want patients to] know that we’re there listening so that way their notes on products aren’t just complaints. It’s actual constructive criticism, and we’re actually going back and trying processes again,” he explained. “Having that transparency, that true communication between everybody — patients, growers, and everyone in-between — I think is needed in this market.”