Commercial Forum Section

[GR33NL3AF]

Is it possible to open up a section specifically geared for commercial growers, contractors, consultants, workers etc etc...

A section like this will provide an easier ability to track down useful information pertaining to large scale growing such as practical styles of growing, sizing equipment, scheduling, security etc...

As this industry is rapidly transitioning into commercial gardening I feel there are allot of uninformed individuals looking to drop big money into something they know little about. A section like this could really help guide people in the right direction.

GL

 

[noone88]

Trade secrets. No one wants to spill it.

At least we get pictures (like Texas Kid). I am trying to reverse engineer what I see to kinda-sorta piece together building requirements etc etc.

 

[We Solidarity]

As this industry is rapidly transitioning into commercial gardening I feel there are allot of uninformed individuals looking to drop big money into something they know little about.

idk man, if they got big money they can hire a consultant, it's one thing to have a pH question, but the hundred thousand dollar questions about large-scale engineering/electric/hvac/irrigation should probably be left to professionals, and not left to chance on a forum. I'd personally never take advice from a forum into a commercial grow unless it was proven math...that just sounds fuckin dumb. I've already seen the warehouse I helped design try to be imitated twice, everyone wants to run a perfect system but it takes weeks of on-site consulting (and some practical grow experience/knowledge) to make it happen...

 

[Seamaiden]

I personally feel that that stance will keep cannabis in a darker realm, so to speak.

I used to spend a lot of time on a fishkeeping forum, one specifically for marine fishkeepers, because I used to work the trade. That website has an industry-specific section, and it's an eye-opener, as well as a fantastic way to network in that small community. I can see a place for such a section here.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

I personally feel that that stance will keep cannabis in a darker realm, so to speak.

I used to spend a lot of time on a fishkeeping forum, one specifically for marine fishkeepers, because I used to work the trade. That website has an industry-specific section, and it's an eye-opener, as well as a fantastic way to network in that small community. I can see a place for such a section here.

Thanks Sea!
That was my thought behind this post..Not necessarily a place to leak your 'trade secrets' or even get a definitive answer on a technical problem but rather share experiences and offer insight. A place where like minded individuals can geek out on large scale grow room techniques.

An example of this would be different approaches to raising and lowering lights when working with 16-20 ft. ceilings. I'm currently working on a motorized winch/pulley system that could benefit others in the same situation. And it will be cost effective.

 

[Stalks]

We are professionals here at the farm... Lol

But seriously this is an awesome idea larger grows are what I love reading and learning about

 

[Seamaiden]

Thanks Sea!
That was my thought behind this post..Not necessarily a place to leak your 'trade secrets' or even get a definitive answer on a technical problem but rather share experiences and offer insight. A place where like minded individuals can geek out on large scale grow room techniques.

An example of this would be different approaches to raising and lowering lights when working with 16-20 ft. ceilings. I'm currently working on a motorized winch/pulley system that could benefit others in the same situation. And it will be cost effective.

Absolutely, although to be sure, there were many sides of/to the industry represented there. From the actual collectors in the PI, Indonesia, etc, to fish farmers in Florida (the mainstay of FW fishes that we can captive breed & raise), to shop owners, to wholesale suppliers, to the charitable foundations (think reef restoration) full-on 501(c)3's, to public aquarium and zoo peeps (including a curator here and there, if I recollect), hell, there are two guys there still who get stories about their work published in Associated Press and the like (look up Richard Ross or Matt Wandell)... you name it, they're represented. All aspects.

When I was at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, there was a gal who was the first person in the world to not only breed weedy sea dragons, but achieve viability and adulthood with the fry. She slept in that fishroom. You'd better believe that lady was precious about her trade secrets!

The AoTP has one of the first large kreisels I've ever seen. The wholesaler who supplies them is often featured on Tanked (we hate that show, but love the Cohen bros at SDC).

I could go on... :shy:

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Absolutely, although to be sure, there were many sides of/to the industry represented there. From the actual collectors in the PI, Indonesia, etc, to fish farmers in Florida (the mainstay of FW fishes that we can captive breed & raise), to shop owners, to wholesale suppliers, to the charitable foundations (think reef restoration) full-on 501(c)3's, to public aquarium and zoo peeps (including a curator here and there, if I recollect), hell, there are two guys there still who get stories about their work published in Associated Press and the like (look up Richard Ross or Matt Wandell)... you name it, they're represented. All aspects.

When I was at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, there was a gal who was the first person in the world to not only breed weedy sea dragons, but achieve viability and adulthood with the fry. She slept in that fishroom. You'd better believe that lady was precious about her trade secrets!

The AoTP has one of the first large kreisels I've ever seen. The wholesaler who supplies them is often featured on Tanked (we hate that show, but love the Cohen bros at SDC).

I could go on... :shy:

Right on Sea, that's an industry I know absolutely nothing about... but that weedy sea dragon sounds cool

 

[XTC]

I imagine it would be a useful place for commercial growers to brainstorm and get/share new ideas..think about things from different perspectives...for me it wold just be interesting to see what's happening in the world of large scale growers..!

 

[miko]

Then the question could become what is the definition of a commercial grower?
Plant counts, yields, dollars, square footage, light counts, hours or perhaps self declaration?
Love the idea though. Been full time a year now.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Then the question could become what is the definition of a commercial grower?
Plant counts, yields, dollars, square footage, light counts, hours or perhaps self declaration?
Love the idea though. Been full time a year now.

In Monster Garden's eye a commercial cultivator is someone who operates 25 lights or more but this number is slowly rising as is the total amount of fixtures put into a given warehouse. There are several clients setting up 50, 60 and 70,000 sq ft. warehouses.

 

[Seamaiden]

Why worry about defining 'commercial' grower? Why does it have to be big to be commercial? Why does someone have to be an actual grower to be considered part of the trade, assuming they're operating in some other tertiary manner that's still related?

All levels should be represented, IMHO, should logic decide he wants to take this sort of step.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Why worry about defining 'commercial' grower? Why does it have to be big to be commercial? Why does someone have to be an actual grower to be considered part of the trade, assuming they're operating in some other tertiary manner that's still related?

All levels should be represented, IMHO, should logic decide he wants to take this sort of step.

I agree Sea.. The guidelines we have in place are merely to avoid an overload on 'commercial clients'. The huge rise lately has pushed us to create a questionnaire to weed out the bullshit artist's wanting to waste our time.

In my personal opinion a commercial gardener is someone who operates a full time garden, and I mean FULL TIME.

 

[miko]

Will keep an eye out to see if it develops. Would be good to have a section like this for sure , who has the extra time to bounce all over the forum.
:)

 

[CaliShark]

I support this idea. I think the information gathered by the members of this community could help others greatly.

I think the main reason people are looking to go commercial is COST. Our product is dropping in price, back 5-7 years ago when you could get $3500-$4000 a pound for top shelf indoor. This allowed you to stay "small", in your house. Now a days your lucky if you can get $2800, more like $2250-$2500, shit places like CO are down to $1500-$2000. Compile this with cost of producing going up (electricity, water) now it's more expansive to grow "small" in a residence and it's more economic to grow large in a commercial space.

 

[caveman4.20]

Be prepared to take the heat for people who apply advice their own way fail then blame the advisor.....i think it would be useful but still the advice you want to take with a grain of salt. No environment is exactly the same....

 

[Seamaiden]

That's no different than my experience with aquaria. I had a good "keep my ass covered" contract and if the owners did precisely as they were told, there were never any problems. The problems arose when they would decide they wanted to do something themselves and caused a crash, or a leak or something like that. Because of the nature of the work (going into someone's private home or business and setting up a glass box full of water running on electricity) I also got myself bonded.

 

[We Solidarity]

Be prepared to take the heat for people who apply advice their own way fail then blame the advisor.....i think it would be useful but still the advice you want to take with a grain of salt. No environment is exactly the same....

now scale that up to a 2 million dollar grow...anyone taking advice off the internet is just asking for failure. Every location, every building, every water source, every electrical supply is different, I get paid a LOT of money to think about those things and how to maximize their efficiency, and I couldn't imagine doing a single part of it without schematics or seeing the building.

In addition the biggest secrets are the specs the warehouse runs at, the cfm of air exchange, the energy cycles, the scale of how much production space vs veg space vs flower space, water management, AC placement...knowing those values alone is worth millions, idk if it's something people are going to be open to publicly sharing anytime soon. I know I wouldn't, simply because its an income for me and I know that anyone taking this information without having any sense of engineering or vice versa will have the struggle of a lifetime.