Block the meristems.
Grow colas, not larf.
The Cola Cultivator by Auxer is a patented plant-blocking device. It temporarily stops the upward growth of a cannabis plant’s meristems — the cells that build every part of the plant. The plant answers with a surge of its own growth hormones and builds a wide, flat canopy of colas in great light.
Without
With Cola Cultivator
A plant-blocking device.
Not a net. Not a tie-down. Not a cut.
The Cola Cultivator is a mast, an adjustable circular frame, a brace and a netting that sit over the top of a young plant and temporarily limit its vertical growth. That physical barrier is the whole invention — and the plant does the rest.
It blocks
The device creates a barrier above the growing tips. The meristems cannot push upward toward the light the way they are hard-wired to do.
The plant responds
Blocked growth triggers a survival mechanism. Powerful growth hormones are produced and moved to the top of the plant, where new lateral growth breaks out.
The canopy flattens
After about four days the device comes off. What grows back is a lower, wider, flatter plant with far more bud sites — all of them in great light.
Simple hardware. One moving part.
A circular frame, a hexagonal netting and a three-spoke brace, joined at a central hub that rides down a plant stake. No electronics, no batteries, nothing to plug in.
Shown: hand-built working prototypes. Production units are planned in injection-molded plastic.
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1
Circular frame
A rigid round hoop that sets the size of the blocking area and holds its shape over the plant.
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2
Netting
Hexagonal mesh across the frame. The growing tips press up against it and cannot pass through.
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3
Brace
Three flat spokes run from the frame to the center, keeping the netting flat and the whole device stiff.
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4
Hub & lockdown
A collar at the center slides over a plant stake. An oversized hand screw locks it at any height.
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5
Mast
A standard plant stake set in the pot, sold separately. It guides the device straight down over the plant and holds it there.
Prototype sizes
Diameter is measured across the frame. Launch sizes are being finalized.
The only moving part.
The device is placed over the plant stake, moved down over the plant, and locked in place by tightening the oversized hand screw. The netting rests on the top of the plant with slight downward pressure. Loosen the screw and it lifts straight off.
- Place the hub over the plant stake.
- Lower it until the netting rests on the top of the plant.
- Lock it by tightening the hand screw.
The most powerful part of the plant isn’t the flower.
Meristems are special zones of actively dividing cells. The apical meristem sits at the very top of the stem, just below the leaves. From a single meristem in a seedling, the plant grows more than a hundred — and they produce every cell of every part of the plant.
100% of the plant comes from meristems
Roots, stems, branches, nodes, leaves and flowers are all made of cells, and every one of those cells was made by a meristem. Flowers grow directly from meristems.
They divide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Meristems are capable of cellular division around the clock for an indeterminate period of time. Nothing else in the plant works this hard.
In nature they refuse to be stopped
If a deer eats the top off a plant, the meristems replace the branches and leaves. If a fallen tree blocks the way up, the meristems grow over, under, around and through it toward the light. Over time, root meristems can lift a 500-pound slab of sidewalk.
Light decides what they build
When a meristem gets great light, it grows more meristems. When it doesn’t get enough, it grows branches and leaves to go looking for light. That single rule is what the Cola Cultivator exploits.
So what happens if you temporarily block the upward growth of these powerful meristems?
A barrier on top. A hormone surge from the roots.
The Cola Cultivator was designed to do one thing: temporarily block the upward growth of the meristems. That barrier sets off a chain reaction inside the plant.
Barrier
The device is placed over the top of the plant. The meristems push up and meet a physical block they cannot grow through.
Survival signal
Blocked growth triggers the same survival mechanism the plant uses when a tree falls on it or a deer eats its top.
Cytokinin moves up
Cytokinin, a growth hormone made in the roots, is produced and quickly transported to the top of the plant, right where the device is holding the meristems back.
Lateral growth
When cytokinin reaches the top, it drives cell division sideways instead of upward. More bud locations break out across the top of the plant, all in great light.
Flat canopy
The device comes off after about four days. The plant grows on as a lower, wider, flatter plant with its flowers concentrated in the top twelve inches of the canopy.
Auxin
A group of vital plant hormones made mostly in the growing tips of shoots and roots. Auxins control stretching, shaping and how a plant bends toward the light.
Cytokinin
A class of plant hormones that cause cell division and drive growth and bud development. Cytokinins keep leaves green and photosynthetically active longer by directing nutrients to the areas where cytokinin levels are high. The device stimulates the movement of cytokinin from the roots to the top of the canopy.
Phototropism
The plant’s stems growing toward the light to maximize the energy it can absorb for photosynthesis. It is the drive the Cola Cultivator temporarily blocks — and then puts to work.
When cultivating cannabis, light is the key.
Most commercial and home growers produce plants with four- and five-foot-thick canopies. Grow lights cannot burn through four feet of vegetation. The nodes and meristems in the lower center never see enough light, so they stretch, grow branches and leaves, and produce ounces of fluffy, low-THC larf on every plant.
Natural growth
Canopy measured from the highest green leaf to the lowest. Light energy fights through feet of leaves and branches. Meristems starved of light make more branches and leaves. The shaded interior is where larf grows.
With the Cola Cultivator
A wide, flat canopy with the flowers in the top twelve inches. Every meristem in great light grows more meristems, and more meristems in great light means more colas. Far less energy is spent lighting vegetation that will never flower well.
Same cultivar. Same age.
One was blocked for four days.
Top-down views of two identical plants. The only difference: one was trained with the Cola Cultivator. Look at the center.
Thirty to eighty percent more yield.
During the discovery, testing and product development phases, Auxer grew more than a dozen cultivars with the Cola Cultivator. Using the device produced an increase in yield with every cultivar tested.
- 30–80% yield increase across all cultivars tested
- About 90% of test plants grown from clones, 10% from seed
- Flowers concentrated in the top 12 inches of the canopy
- Less branching, less leaf, little to no larf
- Lower lighting energy per gram of flower
| Cultivars tested | 12+ |
|---|---|
| Clones / seeds | ~90% / ~10% |
| Yield increase | 30–80% |
| Time on plant | ~4 days |
| Power, batteries, consumables | None |
Protected in the United States.
Filed internationally.
The Cola Cultivator is not a technique anyone can copy. The device and the method of using it are claimed in an issued U.S. patent.
What the patent protects
- The device. A plant-blocking device for limiting vertical growth: mast, adjustable circular frame with lip, netting, and unitary brace.
- The method. Using the device to stimulate cytokinin and auxin development and increase the size, quality and quantity of colas on plants of the Cannabaceae family.
- The runway. A utility patent filed in 2022 gives Auxer protection into the late 2030s, with an international application on file.
Auxer continues to invest in protecting the invention. Investors can request the full patent file and prosecution history.
Four simple steps. Four days on the plant.
No batteries. No app. No string. Grow, top, wait, block — that’s it.
Grow
Grow your plant to about 24 inches. Smaller or larger plants work too — this is just the sweet spot.
Top
Remove the top three nodes with an angled cut at the lowest point. That’s all the cutting you’ll do.
Wait
Let it grow a few weeks to develop new meristems — the future colas.
Block
Gently spread the branches outward, slide the device down the plant stake and tighten the hand screw. Leave it for four days. Remove.
A patented device, a tested result, and a market that wants both.
Auxer is bringing the Cola Cultivator to home growers and licensed commercial cultivators. We are speaking with investors and partners who want to be part of it.
Issued U.S. patent
Device and method claims granted in 2024, with an international application on file. A real barrier to copycats.
Tested result
30–80% more yield across every one of the 12+ cultivars grown during discovery and development.
Simple hardware
No electronics, no batteries, no consumables, no app. Reusable across grow cycles. The plant supplies the power.
Two markets
Home growers who want colas instead of larf, and commercial cultivators paying the electric bill on four-foot canopies.
The words behind the invention.
Key terms commonly used in the cannabis grow community, and what they mean for the Cola Cultivator.
See it in action.
The device, real grows and the science behind it. Click any image to view full size.
The timelapse grow video is coming soon from the Auxer test lab.
Common questions.
What growers and investors ask us first.
Be first to grow with the Cola Cultivator.
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Have a question? Get in touch.
Investors, press, retailers, licensed cultivators and curious growers all welcome. We’ll reply within a few business days.