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

[Billyboat]

Best of luck to ya, it can be done! All it takes is a lot of hard work and dedication.

48 lights is def manageable with 2 people, unless you don't have your system dialed in....

Off the top of my head I can recommend....

Soil/coco beds for better root growth and more even watering...

Only 1 layer of trellis netting.....it takes too long to chop rows of 3 deep layer trellis on 6 foot plants on this level. One layer for the initial scrog, then stakes and yoyos.

Growing is easy it's all the maintenance, trash, and cleaning that takes me forever at my lab.

 

[Surfandgrow]

We will be two very experienced growers going at it. One of us is meticulous and anal as hell and its not me. I have a small network of people I trust who know about and help out with my other grows when I need it. Finding people to cut leaves off plants is not hard to find. Ive been doing this long enough to know the right people. Thanks for all the kind words and advice from all you guys. Im going in to this with one of the biggest and oldest dispensaries in LA county and I think that we will have everything dialed by the time the check gets written to begin production. I was going to this alone and thats why I was asking about regulations and what not but now that I have been picked up by a co op they are going to take care of everything I just have to provide the seed money and the growing. 10 hours a day in my jungle is nothing. As long as I got my weed to smoke, a weight bench in between rooms to workout on and a bitchin sound system and ill be working and surfing in no time.

 

[fishwhistle]

I'll save the 600s for my house and test them out I was just curious if anyone was producing weight with 600s. I have one friend who hits 2# per light with his but he wants to be paid to share. He's a good friend and I understand where hes coming from but yeah it sucks he won't share his secret. I might not be gusnanteed a job but this will get me another step closer. We have two years in Ca left to make big moves. I'm making mine and doing it right. Two peeps 10 hours a day should be no prob. If I need more I can get them I just don't want to yet. We will see how it rides and I will hire as I need. My evolution will continue. From 40 will come 100 then 250 and then you will all be smoking my shit. Hope you love it. I do.

Its no secret you have to pay for just check out @midwestdensies thread,he did 2 per light with his gavita 600's and @Capulator seems to love his too,ive never heard cap claim weights but ive seen him post that hes not loosing anything by switching some of his 1k verts for philips 600's and hes usually killin it.I personally would think 11-12 ft ceilings and gavita 1ks would be the way to go with a commercial grow but theres lots of ways to skin a cat and i dont claim to be a commercial grower.

 

[Capulator]

Best of luck to ya, it can be done! All it takes is a lot of hard work and dedication.

48 lights is def manageable with 2 people, unless you don't have your system dialed in....

Off the top of my head I can recommend....

Soil/coco beds for better root growth and more even watering...

Only 1 layer of trellis netting.....it takes too long to chop rows of 3 deep layer trellis on 6 foot plants on this level. One layer for the initial scrog, then stakes and yoyos.

Growing is easy it's all the maintenance, trash, and cleaning that takes me forever at my lab.

Yep I run 40 lights all by my lonesome, and another 9 lighter as well.

@fishwhistle the Philips greenpower 400v 600w SE (single ended) bulbs are the shizzy for an 8' ceiling. 2 per light is possible. Not really for me because I only have space for 3' wide beds, but if I had 4-5' wide beds and if I kept my plants closer to the ground then it would be no problem. I like my plants up 36" off the ground though because bending way down sucks. I sit in a chair to do all my cleaning. It's nice to be able to look up at the canopy from the bottom.

In my last vert room I pulled 14 potatoes from 9 lights and 14 plants with bare 600's, and there was plenty of room for improvement.

 

[Capulator]

lol you guys are funny. I got plenty of skills Im just a scientist who always experimenting. Im running a 10 light and a 26 light op now and have been on the rise since 2002. This shits a joke my system will be dope. 4 12 light flower rooms one mother room a trim room and a dry room. Its going to be just me and my buddy that grows to. The best part is Ill never have to trim a single nug again. It gets done off site by my co-ops members. Its true 48 lights is a different beast then 10 or 26 lights but we will have it under control with the 4 separate rooms. We will harvest one room every 24 days. 12 lights over 6 4x8 coco beds per room, fertigation system and almost 20 tons of AC. Waiting on a few peeps and we should start the search for the warehouse. My buddy already has a few spots in mind with no fire inspection. So now we just need the investors to check the numbers and write the check. In the future only people with warehouse size experience will get jobs in the MJ industry. Im just planning for the future.

Why on earth would you trim off site, but still opt for a "trim room"?

I would highly suggest conforming to prop "d" regulations and California law that limits the radius you can be from a school, church, daycare, AA/NA treatment, park, etc..

Make sure you bring your electrician to the site you plan on renting so he can check the panel so you know if you will need an expensive, permitted upgrade.

Good luck.

 

[Billyboat]

Why on earth would you trim off site, but still opt for a "trim room"?

I would highly suggest conforming to prop "d" regulations and California law that limits the radius you can be from a school, church, daycare, AA/NA treatment, park, etc..

Make sure you bring your electrician to the site you plan on renting so he can check the panel so you know if you will need an expensive, permitted upgrade.

Good luck.

This just happened to me, was looking at a building that looked great but was smaller on power then I needed. Called the city to ask about an upgrad/permit and had an electrician come look at it as well...$45k upgrade for electrical...meter had to be relocated and all new cable had to be ran per the power company instructions because it was old wiring and needed to be redone...


Having a good plan is #1

 

[Surfandgrow]

@Capulator we will be trimming fans and hanging to dry. the unfinished nugs will be put into buckets and taken elsewhere. We still need a smell proof area with climate control to do this. Good advice on the city/panel and pro D. I really want to do a 600 watt grow instead of 1000s but maybe a 48 light grow is not the place to do that. It turns into an 80 light grow. Same wattage just a better spread. Damn I wish I had tried this out in the last few years now I dont have time to set up a new experiment room.

 

[toquer]

My 16k room will be down to 9.6k or 10.5k by the end if the year. Wattage is a number of the past with lighting technology. Yield is looking greater after my switch to the new bulbs. Will know exact numbers by the 24th but side by side growth shows the new lights cost less and produce more. Same everything except for the lights from above.
Had 1000w XXXL's on both digital as well as magnetics. Run mainly hortilux. Super's and dual arcs.
All flowering lights are being changed to the gavita 6/750 de. Their new controller is going to rock too. That's coming next month.
Look at new lighting technology and forget saying I'm gonna have 48 lights. It's about coverage and cost in commercial.
When it comes to lighting.

 

[Billyboat]

@Capulator we will be trimming fans and hanging to dry. the unfinished nugs will be put into buckets and taken elsewhere. We still need a smell proof area with climate control to do this. Good advice on the city/panel and pro D. I really want to do a 600 watt grow instead of 1000s but maybe a 48 light grow is not the place to do that. It turns into an 80 light grow. Same wattage just a better spread. Damn I wish I had tried this out in the last few years now I dont have time to set up a new experiment room.

I can tell ya from first hand experience that this is easier said then done. I just trimmed a 14k room offsite, it took 33 big Rubbermaid containers to transport to the trim spot. Talk about something I didn't like...let alone how much space it took up and that smell...

You aren't going to transport a 12k room untrimmed, in 5 gallon buckets. Are you gonna break down all the stems first?

Plan on trimming on site, or figure out a better transportation plan.

Cheers

 

[toquer]

The old co-op of 5 growers that I ran; four of us had a seperate location for post harvest activities, myself included. But we had a private gated alley and roll up door so it was easy loading up. But it was a dangerous drive. Trash bags was my method. Chop and dump into the bag, the entire tree. If it was to big, cut it in half. The odor lingered for a few car lengths. Dressed in a suit and tie so I didn't look the part.
Most important room at my place... Dry and cure room. Has it's own AC, dehu, and humidifier. Hard wood panels walls. Ozone and charcoal. Why grow it for 4 months if you can't finish it right.

 

[Capulator]

The old co-op of 5 growers that I ran; four of us had a seperate location for post harvest activities, myself included. But we had a private gated alley and roll up door so it was easy loading up. But it was a dangerous drive. Trash bags was my method. Chop and dump into the bag, the entire tree. If it was to big, cut it in half. The odor lingered for a few car lengths. Dressed in a suit and tie so I didn't look the part.
Most important room at my place... Dry and cure room. Has it's own AC, dehu, and humidifier. Hard wood panels walls. Ozone and charcoal. Why grow it for 4 months if you can't finish it right.

Yeah no way would I want to drive with all that and risk all my hard work and freedom. Dry room with climate control is soooo important. Then, locked up secure trim room and have it all done and processed on site.

 

[Surfandgrow]

Anybody have any numbers on total cost to build at their warehouse grow? How many lights? Ive never hired a contractor to build a room Ive always done it myself. What do you think an electrician would charge for the whole project? Framer? AC guy? I have my parts list I just do know how much to allocate for doing the actual build just the materials. Any previous numbers would be a big help. Im just looking for a realistic ballpark. We are already up to 50k in materials and thats just lights, trays, and AC. Thanks guys!

 

[Billyboat]

Anybody have any numbers on total cost to build at their warehouse grow? How many lights? Ive never hired a contractor to build a room Ive always done it myself. What do you think an electrician would charge for the whole project? Framer? AC guy? I have my parts list I just do know how much to allocate for doing the actual build just the materials. Any previous numbers would be a big help. Im just looking for a realistic ballpark. We are already up to 50k in materials and thats just lights, trays, and AC. Thanks guys!

If your going to pay someone to do all the building and wiring and everything has to be bought new, I would easily estimate 150-200k total cost for a 50 lighter. Your gonna spend 25k on ac's alone with install...20-30k for all the framing and drywalling, including materials (depends on ceiling height, and 2x4s or 2x6s... 1k-10k for electrical, every job is different...could be more if you need any panel upgrades

I feel like if you have to ask these questions and or don't already have people in mind who could accomplish these tasks, that this may be biting off more then you can chew..... It's one thing to grow, and it's one thing to be able to design and build a facility from the ground up.

100k gets spent very fast when you aren't doing the work yourself.

Best of luck

 

[DO IT]

Me and Billy got the same feeling on this 1. These are rookie questions..... how much does it cost?? what kind of lamps do I use ect.ect.

 

[Surfandgrow]

This will be my first warehouse build from scratch but not my first build and not my first warehouse. This may be a lot but there are always questions to be asked and opinions to be heard. I know what Im doing when it comes to growing but I am not an architect, a builder or an engineer. I grow weed and I grow great weed. This will be my biggest embarking and Im willing to tackle it and learn along the way but Ive never had to build on this scale and I need numbers to show my investors. Fisher price my first warehouse grow. You were all there once and soon Ill be just as jaded as you. Thanks for the help guys. For those with input that helps I appreciate you tyring to push forward our movement. We are winning keep spreading the knowledge.

 

[Billyboat]

I have a notebook I keep with all my notes....

48 light plus 2 veg rooms (gavita in flower and cmh in veg)..

Lights 45k
Ac-30k
Fans/scrubbers 10k
Dehuy/humifiders 15k
Pumps, trays, grow acc 20k
Buildout 30k
Electrical 15k
Rent and overhead for 5-6 months 20k...gonna take a few to see a return...

That's an easy 150k plus right there....


Take your assumed low budget and double it, shit gets expensive quick...

Building is easy, I just posted up pics of a small 20x12 veg room I will have finished in 4 days, working alone...and I'm no carpenter...

 

[Capulator]

time is money.

 

[DO IT]

150k sounds about right on the conservative side.

Surf I'm curious, what kind of return are your investors looking on their $$$?
What happens if something goes wrong or you don't hit the numbers you predicted? Are they putting you under contract or are they just handing over X amount of dollars and hoping for the best? How long is the agreement for?

 

[DO IT]

time is money.

It's funny Cap it's the only thing $$$ can't buy back, but it's all you got when your broke. :cool:

 

[Surfandgrow]

My Investors are looking to put up 350k and are looking for a 10-20k return per month return on their investment for as long as this endeavor succeeds. 350 gets paid back in a year an a half at 20k per month and and 3 years at 10k. This is not a loan and as such there is no principle or interest to pay. They simply want to get paid every month. If I hit 1 elbow per light thats 48 #s every 2 months. Im happy with 20k per grow anything more then that is retirement money. I cant pass up this deal, it comes with a dispensary backing, they buy all the weed I grow, I dont have to trim anymore and the collective has a consultant that comes by and makes sure everything is working properly. I dont know shit about fertigation systems but my buddy lives, eats and sleeps them and he just happens to be the consultant.