Cultivator (business)

In the supply-chain business role sense, a cultivator is the licensed commercial entity that grows cannabis plants — managing growing media, irrigation, fertilization, harvest, drying, curing, and trimming for sale to distributors, manufacturers, processors, or retailers. California's DCC stratifies cultivation across three axes: environment (outdoor, indoor, mixed-light Tier 1/2), canopy size (Specialty Cottage → Specialty → Small → Medium → Large), and medicinal vs. adult-use. Indoor licenses require ≥25 W/sq ft artificial lighting; mixed-light Tier 1 ≤6 W/sq ft, Tier 2 6–25 W/sq ft. California imposed a moratorium on Large licenses from 2018 to 2023, prompting operators to "stack" Small licenses. Washington uses Tier 1/2/3 Producer licenses; Oregon tiers Producers by indoor/outdoor and size; Oklahoma issues a unified grower license; New York adult-use cultivators are tiered similarly. Application and annual fees scale with canopy and lighting intensity. Cultivators are distinct from nurseries (clone and seed propagation) and post-harvest processors (trim/cure/package only in California's framework). → See also: Craft cannabis, Cottage license, Processor, Master grower