BigMike and Advanced Nutrients: Leading the Next Era of Cannabis Cultivation

[image: BigMike hero]
Cover Story
BigMike

HE BUILT A GLOBAL CANNABIS NUTRIENTS EMPIRE ON INSTINCT, PRECISION, AND AN
UNWAVERING DEDICATION TO THE PLANT. TODAY, HIS VISION FOR SCIENCE,
GENETICS, AND GLOBAL EXPANSION IS SHAPING THE NEXT FRONTIER.

*BY PAM CHMIEL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH SEP *
[image: Advanced Nutrients icon]

He’s called BigMike for a reason. At 6’7″ tall, Michael Straumietis towers
over most people, with a big voice, a big personality, and a big
rags-to-riches story to match. He founded—and twenty-six years later, still
owns and operates Advanced Nutrients, which sells cannabis-specific
products in 122 countries and generates $170 million in annual revenue,
making it the largest cannabis nutrients company in the world.

He’s also got a big heart. After a near-death experience in 2011,
Straumietis founded the Humanity Heroes Foundation, which to date has
provided more than $3 million worth of nonperishable essentials to more
than 60,000 individuals and families experiencing homelessness across the
United States.

A legendary outlaw grower turned legitimate businessman, mentor, and
philanthropist, Straumietis is a larger-than-life icon in the industry.
People literally and figuratively look up to him.

And he’s still blazing new trails. In December, Advanced Nutrients will
unveil its latest proprietary blend designed especially for cannabis, a
product Straumietis said enhances brix, resin, and terpenes. He’s so
convinced of its positive impact on cultivation that he backs the formula
with a 100-percent money-back guarantee.

But the launch represents more than just another formulation debut. It’s
part of a larger strategy Straumietis has been building for decades to
position Advanced Nutrients for what he believes will be the industry’s
most transformative period yet.
[image: Advanced Nutrients icon]
From the ground up.

Straumietis began cultivating in 1983, during a pre-legalization period he
calls “the Dark Ages.” Years of experimenting with commercially available
fertilizers formulated for vegetables, flowers, and other crops left him
increasingly frustrated with lackluster growth and disappointing yields
that simply didn’t measure up to the potential he saw in his plants.

“It didn’t make sense to me,” he recalled. “Cannabis is a completely
different plant. Why would it need the same nutrients as a cucumber?”

When he approached the major fertilizer companies to pitch the idea of
cannabis-specific nutrients, he met blank stares and slammed doors. Even
after California bucked the federal government and legalized medicinal use
in 1996, stigma remained strong. No commercial brands wanted to be publicly
linked to marijuana.

“A lot of people were afraid to talk about cannabis during the early days,”
Straumietis said.

Instead of walking away, he dug in. He and a small team devoured plant
physiology research and undertook hundreds of experiments with fellow
growers. Molecule by molecule, they proved the effectiveness of entirely
new nutrient formulas designed to bring out the best in a plant that had
been grown in the figurative dark for centuries.

“Research has always been the backbone of Advanced Nutrients,” Straumietis
said. “We knew we needed to dig into the science, so we did.”

The formulas debuted to an enthusiastic audience, and by the early 2000s,
the company employed more than twenty PhD scientists dedicated to
understanding the plant at the molecular level. Today, in labs spanning
Europe, Colorado, and Canada, the scientific team investigates everything
from basic nutrient uptake to cutting-edge genetic modification. Each new
product spends roughly three years in research and development before it’s
released to the public, because “consistency is everything in cultivation,”
Straumietis said.
[image: Advanced Nutrients icon]
The genetics gamble.

Five years ago, Advanced Nutrients extended its quest for perfect
consistency to genetics with the acquisition of biotechnology firm Tesoro
Genetics. Since 2018, Tesoro has researched and developed ways to optimize
crop yields, nutrient uptake, and metabolite production. Among the
company’s primary focuses are gene editing and polyploidy.

Polyploidy—multiple complete sets of genetic material in a single cell—is
rare and usually fatal in animals. But the genetic anomaly is a successful
and not uncommon adaptation in plants, where multiplied genes can produce
benefits like increased yield and larger flowers or fruit. Induced triploid
genetics, wherein plants are artificially encouraged to develop three
complete sets of chromosomes, have been used in commercial agriculture for
decades to produce crops like seedless watermelons, grapes, and
strawberries.

Researchers have studied and manipulated polyploids in food crops since the
early 1900s, but scientists were not aware of its natural occurrence in
cannabis until a wild tetraploid strain—a plant with four complete sets of
chromosomes—was discovered in India in 2015. Triploidy in wild cannabis,
where plants possess three complete chromosome sets, was documented in 2022.

Straumietis called polyploidy “a game changer hiding in plain sight.”

So far, the Tesoro division’s research has yielded what Straumietis
described as extraordinary results. Triploid cannabis plants produce much
heavier yields, display richer terpene and cannabinoid profiles, and resist
pollen contamination, he revealed. Growers testing the company’s triploid
genetics reported yields of two pounds or more per light, indicating
potential to boost bottom lines dramatically.

“It’s going to change the face of how cannabis is grown,” Straumietis said.

The team also is experimenting with tetraploids, octoploids (eight
chromosome sets) and double haploids (a homozygous single set) to further
push the plant’s genetic potential. Each iteration brings new insights
about how cannabis can be optimized for flavor, potency, environmental
resilience, and stability. The program resembles the kind of long-term
scientific research and development traditional agriculture has performed
for more than 100 years, and Straumietis is determined to see cannabis
catch up.

He is confident the future of cannabis has never been more exciting as
cultivation moves toward plants biologically engineered for performance,
consistency, and quality. The transformation is not unlike the one that
took place in traditional agriculture during the late twentieth century, he
said.

“Ninety percent of the vegetables we eat today have been gene-edited,” he
added. “You’re going to see the same thing in cannabis.”
[image: Advanced Nutrients icon]
Global growth, rooted in heritage.

Ask Straumietis what sets Advanced Nutrients apart, and he’ll tell you it
all comes down to mastering micronutrients and applying the right chelates
at the right moment in a plant’s life cycle. Most fertilizer brands, he
said, stop at the basics.

“Micronutrients are critical,” he explained. “A lot of companies overlook
that, but micronutrients are where the magic is.”

Iron, for example, plays an unexpectedly major role in cannabis growth.
It’s typically categorized as a micronutrient, but in practice, it behaves
almost like a secondary macronutrient. One of Advanced Nutrients’ lead
scientists, a world-renowned expert whose doctoral thesis explored iron
uptake in plants, coordinates a team working to determine not just how much
iron cannabis requires but also which chemical form of the element produces
the most vigorous growth and potent flowers.

“We’ve spent years fine-tuning the way the plant feeds,” Straumietis said.
“Once you understand what the plant needs and when when to give it what it
needs, cultivation completely changes.”

Much of Straumietis’s professional life has been devoted to defining,
refining, and spreading the gospel of optimal cannabis nutrition. But as
legalization rapidly spreads worldwide, he spends an increasing amount of
his attention on international expansion. The company now sells products in
122 countries, from established European markets to emerging opportunities
in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa.

Recently, he attended an agricultural trade show in Dubai, where Advanced
Nutrients showcased its products but kept the cannabis connection under
wraps. “People knew we were cannabis people, but we didn’t advertise it,”
he said. “A lot of attendees approached us about partnering to open
manufacturing facilities in the Middle East. It’s going to be a very
exciting opportunity to see what happens there.”

Growing in extreme desert conditions will rely primarily on greenhouses.
“They can grow outdoors, but it’s tougher,” he said. “I’ve seen facilities
in the desert, and they need shade cloth, swamp coolers, and similar
systems. Most likely, we’ll see indoor greenhouse setups, because it’s a
medical market and you want tighter control over the plants.”

Pakistan has been experimenting with hemp cultivation and is considering a
medical marijuana program, and India also is showing interest in legalizing
the plant. “Some of the best hash in the world still comes from that part
of the world,” Straumietis said.

He recalled a trip to Morocco’s Rif Mountains, where for centuries local
families have cultivated the endangered Beldia landrace strain. “It’s
sacred. It’s part of their lineage,” he said. “Unfortunately, the lines are
beginning to blur since some farmers are growing Romeo next to Beldia,
making the original strain washed out.”

In Straumietis’s opinion, the difference between cultivation in the United
States and the rest of the world is “day and night.” In Germany, for
example, producers are still in an early development phase. “They’re not
even making pre-rolls or gummies yet,” he said. “There’s a whole learning
curve that Europe still has to go through.”

European cultivators are turning to U.S. experts to help them establish
standard operating procedures and refine growing techniques. To support the
emerging German market, Advanced Nutrients partnered with the European
company GrowMotion to develop starter kits designed for social clubs and
home growers. The collaboration brings American cultivation expertise to
Europe, helping to bridge the knowledge gap.

Straumietis advises U.S. companies looking to enter Germany to understand
and connect with the culture. The business landscape is very different, he
said: “It’s a very communal mindset in Europe.”

Although Europe certainly contains well-run commercial facilities, many
remain far from optimal. Straumietis estimated the U.S. is five to seven
years ahead of the European Union in cultivation and manufacturing
capabilities. “Spain, Italy, France, and Germany are the biggest markets,
and that’s where commercialization is going to happen,” he said.

Despite lagging behind North America in cultivation know-how, international
markets are the guardians of the industry’s, and the plant’s, history:
original landrace strains, the genetic foundation of modern cannabis.
“There’s always going to be a demand for landraces,” Straumietis said.
“They’re the grandfathered genetics, where everything came from.”

These heritage varieties, cultivated for generations in regions like
Afghanistan, Thailand, and Colombia, possess unique cannabinoid and terpene
profiles that modern hybrids struggle to replicate.

Straumietis hopes landrace strains won’t vanish as commercial breeding
accelerates. He’s optimistic about global preservation efforts, pointing to
pioneers like Ben Dronkers of Sensi Seeds, who built one of the most
diverse genetics libraries in existence.

“There are still people out there preserving those original genetics,” he
said. “And that’s a good thing, because they’re the foundation of
everything we’re building today.”

As legalization spreads, overlooked corners of the world are quietly
discovering the benefits of cannabis for both health and economic growth.
“Kyrgyzstan is looking at medical cannabis,” Straumietis said.
“Kazakhstan—we’ve been selling there for years. Armenia is preparing to
launch its medical sector. A lot is happening. Georgia is another Eastern
European region where Advanced Nutrients is sold, specifically in the
Caucasus, the region formerly part of the Russian Empire.”

He predicts a new wave of cannabis production will emerge in regions with
lower land and labor costs, much like the tea industry expanded in South
Africa. “You’re going to see cannabis genetically modified and grown in
places like South America and South Africa,” he said. “When I was in Dubai,
a representative from Botswana’s government told me they’re interested in
moving medical cannabis forward.”

He added advances in gene editing and agricultural efficiency could reshape global
supply chains, despite regulatory and political hurdles.
[image: Advanced Nutrients icon]
The rescheduling catalyst.

Straumietis sees a global marketplace ready to take off. In this new
landscape, brands born in California, the epicenter of cannabis culture in
his opinion, finally can reach consumers across state lines and around the
world.

He also believes federal reform is inevitable, predicting the plant’s
recategorization from Schedule I to Schedule III in the U.S. could happen
as early as 2026. That change—a major modification of federal narcotics
law—would open doors to banking, investment capital, and expanded medical
research.

“When [the plant] goes from Schedule I to Schedule III, you’re going to
hear the whole world talking about it,” he said. “It will change the market
overnight. The landscape of our industry will change as major players
enter, creating numerous opportunities for those who wish to exit.”

He even expects a short-term “mini bubble” as capital floods the market,
followed by a correction that will separate serious operators from the rest.

“After that, things will get normalized,” he said. “They’ll get
consolidated or they’ll sell or they’ll go out of business, and only the
strong will survive.”

For Straumietis, decades of investment in research, genetics, and global
infrastructure have been building toward this moment. While others may be
caught flatfooted when federal prohibition ends, Advanced Nutrients will be
positioned with defensible intellectual property, established international
distribution, and the scientific credibility that comes from twenty-six
years of cannabis-specific research.

“We’re just at the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “The best and biggest
chapter in cannabis history is still ahead.”
[image: Advanced Nutrients icon]