Everything you need to start a legal Warehouse grow in CA?

[Surfandgrow]

Im getting ready to start the process of opening a perpetual harvest 24 light flower grow in a warehouse in either Ventura or the valley. I have an electrician, HVAC and a Lawyer. I havnt talked to the lawyer yet since hes out of town but Im curious about how I go about making this completely legit. Do I have to have the fire dept come and inspect the grow once its built. Do I need to hire licensed contractors to do the build? What about inspections? Are they once a year? Who and how many people do I have to pay to make this work. Do in need certain licensing or permits? Anyone have exp with the electricity bill for 24 flower lights? Water? Do I tell my landlord what Im doing or lie? If I need 1200sqft how much bigger should the actual warehouse space be? Anybody trying using gavia 600s instead of 1ks? Im thinking 3 600s in place of 2 1000 will produce better results. Waste water is an issue and as such Ill have to use tap water, any opinions there? Anything I missed? What materials should I use to construct the buildout? I here using wood to build a room inside a warehouse is a no-no. Any info on the subject would be appreciated I have 250k to make this happen. Anyone have experience with growing in Ventura, Ventura cops raiding their legal warehouse grow and going through the court system after your legal warehouse grow has been raided? Im sure the valley would be the best place to do this as it is in LA county but I like the beach and cooler weather of Camarillo and would like to set up shop there if possible. Thanks for any and all info. My Lawyer will be back July 9th and Id like to have a shit ton of questions to throw at him. @JACKMAYOFFER @Texas Kid, @desertsquirrel

 

[Papa]

that's a lot of questions.
how much experience do you have? how many lights have you run before?

 

[fishwhistle]

Another good source for info on legal cali growing and buildout is @Garden of Dreams,he is a great guy and will help if he can,hes up in the PNW now but has a shit ton of cali knowledge from building rooms to owning dispensaries,I would drop him a PM.

 

[Surfandgrow]

I have run personally 10 lights and have consulted successfully a 16 light room run by a complete noob that has never grown before and owns a dispensary. I figure 3 eight light flower rooms staggered 28 days apart will allow me to harvest every 28 day. My buddy was doing the same method that I have planned and was pulling 2.5 a light. His method is a little different then mine now but a lot more efficient and as such I will be switching. I have been growing and experimenting indoors since 2009 and growing outdoors since 2002. I no longer grow outdoors. Im looking to grow no pun intended with this industry and I have a lot of investors who are interested to. When legalization hits CA I want to be ready with a store front on Main street already built, a warehouse cranking out connoisseur quality meds and money to invest in the next aspect of Marijuana growth as our nations steps into a new light as we end a hundred years of prohibition. I have been getting high since I was 12 and its done nothing but made my life and its experiences incredible all over the world. I fucking love weed!!

 

[DO IT]

What system is your boy using and getting 2.5# per 1k??? Is that a consistent average??

 

[caregiverken]

Another good source for info on legal cali growing and buildout is @Garden of Dreams,he is a great guy and will help if he can,hes up in the PNW now but has a shit ton of cali knowledge from building rooms to owning dispensaries,I would drop him a PM.

Thats good advice right there ^^ G.o.D. Is probably hella busy.
But he would be a great consultant on you endeavor !
Best of luck man!

 

[Surfandgrow]

Thanks guys this will be the biggest investment I have ever embarked on. Also for anyone that knows, are warehouse grows done in sealed rooms with C02? Burners or tanks? @DO IT you will just have to wait till my grow journal hits the forum for that tid bit of info. My boy hits consistently 2 per light, has been for the last 5 years. He only grows OG. Sometimes he hits higher but never lower then 2.

 

[DO IT]

I also hit 2+ per light but have not been able to hit 2.5 per on a consistent basis. I was wondering bc you said he hits 2.5#. Look up some of my post I have 1 50k warehouse up and running for about 2yrs and I'm in the process of putting up another 50k setup.

 

[Surfandgrow]

50K thats awesome! I will have 4 14X24 rooms one will be mothers and clones and a hardening off station. Each of the other 3 rooms will be staggered 28 days apart. The clones will be in 1in rock wool cubes where they will be rooted hardened and transplanted into 4x8 tray lined coco beds. Each room will veg for two weeks and then flip to flower for the remainder. Ill be able to harvest each room every 28 days crating a perpetual harvest. This setup should generate 2# per light. Care to share any advice you have for a warehouse grow? I read almost all your posts. I cant wait for some shots of the rooms in full bloom!

 

[Garden of Dreams]

cali warehouses present alot of issues both legally and socially, for starters you have to do a "Bootleg" buildout meaning NO Bldg Dept will issue a bldg permit to build a grow facility, Socially its nite job, You cant show up at your spot while the nieghbors a cabinet shop or sheet metal shop or auto repair, there gonna notice real quick you go in and dont come out for hours, they will get nosey and they will figure you out. Then theres the mandatory fire inspection yearly that ALL commercial warehouses and shops get. its a dance and it grts real old real quick having to look over your shoulder 24/7. thats my first hand 2 cents.

 

[DO IT]

What strains will you be Growing?? I run 1 mom/clone room 10x10 (1k) that gets its AC from the veg room next door 20x20 (9k) so they are always under at least 1k and at 1000ppm CO2. Like this I have no down time hardening them off. The babies go directly to the 9k veg room with the lights on 50% for the first 4 days then 75% for the next 3days and finally 100% on day 7. They then stay in the veg room for 21 days getting a total of 30 days veg. They are then transplanted into one of the 20k flower rooms where I also start the lights at 50% with the same process for the first 7 days. I run 3 rooms on a 90day cycle so I chop every 30days. I grow them around 5-6ft at finish this is why I veg for 30 days and it works into the cycle perfect with the 2 bloom rooms and the 1 veg room. The first pic is about 30 days and the second is around 55 days. The rooms are producing an average of 48# that's 1.0752gpw. I would love to be getting 1.12gpw aka 2.5#per1k. I have gotten close a few times bit as an average that his hit consistently I it's super hard. I WOULD LISTEN TO GOD ON THE COMMERCIAL GROWS HIS ADVISE IS GOLDEN. ;)

 

[fishwhistle]

Although nowhere near as big as what your talking i have built several stand alone facilities on private property,why not buy a house and a few acres with a detached building or erect a seperate metal or stick building and build out inside of that after final inspection?you would avoid fire inspections etc and be close to your grow saving time.I was in a friend of a friends 50k building in fillmore awhile back and he said theres a few of them out that way as they can claim agricultural use and get 3 phase power?One thing i will say is there will be no large scale LEGAL growing in socal anyways,you might win in court in the long run but they will still bust the fuck out of you and tear your shit apart in the short term.

 

[Surfandgrow]

yeah I see what you guys are saying and a 3 year lease on a warehouse would cost me 100k. I might as put that money into real estate and do a build out there. Fillmore is close by and so is Moorpark and Somis and there is a ton of available land out there. I found recently 1.3 acres with a house in Moorpark with a barn for 550k. Maybe I should by that and build out the barn! I cant wait for my lawyer to get back in town.

 

[Garden of Dreams]

yeah being defendable is one thing, Being "Legal" isnt available, The buildout after inspection is a option on private property, in standard commercially zoned areas they still come by early for a fire inspection, Wait tell you show up one day and find the notice, Fire Dept was here today, Please call and schedule your yearly. Now its tear down time.

 

[Surfandgrow]

What happens if you hire licensed contractors to do your build, everything is up to code and the fire inspector shows up and you let him in and all your paperwork is in order. Do they contact the police or do they inspect and walk away? How are all these guys getting away with large warehouse grows?

 

[DO IT]

Confucius say... Nail that stick out.... Get hammered. ;)

 

[fishwhistle]

Any commercial bldg i have ever been in gets inspection once a year and ive been in a few,never had a grow in one though and they still nitpick everything,its as if they feel they have to find something to justify their job,lol.This isnt the case on residential property but 99 3/4% of the time you will not have 3 phase there,the place i saw in fillmore was a detached metal bldg (and home) on 5 acres surrounded by orange grove and the 3 phase was pre existing,like it used to be a packing house or something used agriculturally?Do they contact police?who knows but your still compromised just because they know and will probably blab about it to everybody,whats to stop them?

 

[Surfandgrow]

Doh!

 

[Texas Kid]

Could you pull permits and do a build out for an indoor food production facility/warehouse? for plant husbandry? for organic sweet basil, tomatoes or bib lettuce etc.. and then when it all becomes legal your setup is ready to go and up to local code and permitting..

 

[Garden of Dreams]

in all honestly the city are pretty hip now to the game, Food production is such a nitemare to get approved and calling it a tomato grow dont work either, to answer somesones Q's "How are all these cali warehouse grows going?"
some are in unregulated areas, or personally owned and rural areas or tied to a dispensary, lotsa reason how n why a perticular spot is rocking all the circumatances are all different, its hard getting legit in a legal rec state, be better off getting a 3 bedroom house upgrading the panel to 200 amps and running it solo. Beats a blank, Trying to go big in a warehouse in Cali is like going into the resturaunt bussiness, 98% of them fail the 1st year.