Looking for learning materials on commercial growing

hylld4ff · May 17, 2026

One day, growing cannabis will be legal in my country. I'm preparing for that day, with the intention of starting a niche company and moving fast.

Right now I'm doing research and trying to learn as much as possible about what happened, business wise, in other parts of the world post-legalization.
I'm also interested in materials that people with no experience with commercial scale growing should study.

Can anyone recommend documentaries, podcast episodes, books or case-studies that focus on this topic?

DRFarmer · May 17, 2026

I'd personally recommend terpyhighs insight on commercial scaling I've been following along with his commercial series, but past that I've just downloaded pdf's on products seen in commercial grows to understand scaling and commercial production equipment, but the main one is it really comes down to how the law passes where you are to how you would like to run a cannabis business, there's different sections to it such as would you be a front line dispensary, a growing operation will you be processing your own product from clone to extract to sell what is your position on what your company will be doing is another question you will need to consider before undertaking this venture along with secure facilities, cameras, production tracking, to quality control and government bodies, and tax laws it all plays a part if you could provide more information I could point you to some resources that may have more information relating more specifically to your questions

You need to check the laws before they pass but as for scaling terpyhighs has lots to cover on growing as a whole try these too for insight into the cannabis business

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High

Lynching Charlie Lynch federal vs state enforcement dispensary case

CannaInsider - this is a podcast series focusing on many topics related to business

The Cannabis Business
Marijuana Horticulture / The Cannabis Encyclopedia — Jorge Cervantes (commercial cultivation fundamentals)

these are all good for a starter feel free to message if you have specific questions I can help with

JIMKSI64 · May 17, 2026

One basic fact should be obvious to anyone who has followed along in the ever changing legislation.
You will be getting in bed with a government.
Governments will view you and your company as a piggy bank that they WILL change, amend and generally raid your business when they need money.
We have several large scale commercial operations in my state and well they thought they would make all the money.
Then the medical stores went to the retail side of government and the rules changed.
Now the retail stores think they should make all the money.
Then they added another 6% onto what is basically a cartel fee.
The big multistage player is Colombia Care and they are a billion dollar debt producing company that seems to be unable to pivot on the business plan that has changed due to government intervention.
California is so taxed and regulated the cartels for weed are back and people get shot over weed again.

Good luck with your endeavor.

trygrowup · May 17, 2026

In my country it's simple. Just have connections and get one of the quotas.
Making the people that control the quotas happy is what matters. I guess it's like that everywhere there is quotas. Kinda like a natural law.
I think i said corruption in a very nice way this time.
I'm proud of myself.

HeadHunterpipes · May 17, 2026

hylld4ff said:
One day, growing cannabis will be legal in my country. I'm preparing for that day, with the intention of starting a niche company and moving fast.

Right now I'm doing research and trying to learn as much as possible about what happened, business wise, in other parts of the world post-legalization.
I'm also interested in materials that people with no experience with commercial scale growing should study.

Can anyone recommend documentaries, podcast episodes, books or case-studies that focus on this topic?

How many plants how many acers out door or in , are they all going in soil , year round operation or seasonable ?
How is the weather ? humidity ,temp .
How is the water and the soil where you live .

hylld4ff · May 18, 2026

HeadHunterpipes said:
How many plants how many acers out door or in , are they all going in soil , year round operation or seasonable ?
How is the weather ? humidity ,temp .
How is the water and the soil where you live .

the idea i'm developing is not really a large scale commercial grow. it's more of a modular approach. optimize a grow space to fit inside something the size of a shipping container, call it a hub. add more hubs if you need more production.

so i'm thinking more on the service side of things: provide portable and scalable grow sites to small scale / rural growers. one hub could supply your local market (if you live somewhere remote). the cost of the site could be covered in one to two harvests.

PS. climate here sucks. need to grow indoors for predictability. if you get a harvest outdoors thats a bonus.

Ninjadogma · May 18, 2026

If you want to do it as a more "formal" education, you might want to look into Oaksterdam University, presuming they're still around. They offer distance learning and if I recall, they were early on the scene helping folks set up their cannabis related businesses in new regulated markets.

HeadHunterpipes · May 19, 2026

hylld4ff said:
the idea i'm developing is not really a large scale commercial grow. it's more of a modular approach. optimize a grow space to fit inside something the size of a shipping container, call it a hub. add more hubs if you need more production.

so i'm thinking more on the service side of things: provide portable and scalable grow sites to small scale / rural growers. one hub could supply your local market (if you live somewhere remote). the cost of the site could be covered in one to two harvests.

PS. climate here sucks. need to grow indoors for predictability. if you get a harvest outdoors thats a bonus.

Nevada has some really strict and expansive rules on growing .
So the largest co op cannabis in Nevada are on the native American reservations .
Zero laws , zero permitting but the weed has to be transported . and there is licensing need ed to transport.

I am not sure if i would grow in a shipping container I think humidity is a issue

Ninjadogma · May 19, 2026

HeadHunterpipes said:
Nevada has some really strict and expansive rules on growing .
So the largest co op cannabis in Nevada are on the native American reservations .
Zero laws , zero permitting but the weed has to be transported . and there is licensing need ed to transport.

I am not sure if i would grow in a shipping container I think humidity is a issue

I presume you'd modify the shipping container to accommodate the task... Throw in some venting to assist 2 way climate control.

HeadHunterpipes · May 19, 2026

Ninjadogma said:
If you want to do it as a more "formal" education, you might want to look into Oaksterdam University, presuming they're still around. They offer distance learning and if I recall, they were early on the scene helping folks set up their cannabis related businesses in new regulated markets.

I had friend who went there, I think he was stoned and the horticulture classes he had his mind other places.
The place was raided by the feds when he was there .

Most Colleges offer Horticulture . four credit class ,, Lab is required

HeadHunterpipes · May 19, 2026

Ninjadogma said:
I presume you'd modify the shipping container to accommodate the task... Throw in some venting to assist 2 way climate control.

Hoop house ,, allot easier to vent

hylld4ff · May 20, 2026

i've done some sketching, figured that you could fit two 8x4, one 4x4 drying tent, and the rest is a veg/seedling/passage space. this space would be small enough to be transported by truck. a decent inline fan can vent the place, and heat pump (can also function as AC) keeps lung room temps under control.

it's not the most cost-efficient use of space, but it's a way for a an interested party to get started quick by renting / buying a complete rig. once they've raised more capital it would make sense to invest in a different setup. but living in a cold country, a small space that's rigged for local conditions could be viable. could also be pretty energy efficient by running the light cycle during the night when electricity is cheap.

i'm a programmer, so I would also build an IT setup where all the data is collected, all the plants are monitored, and you can get advice from AI / community pretty easily. my aim is basically to do this at even smaller scale with my 2x4 tent, and plan how to scale it up.

Ninjadogma · May 20, 2026

hylld4ff said:
i've done some sketching, figured that you could fit two 8x4, one 4x4 drying tent, and the rest is a veg/seedling/passage space. this space would be small enough to be transported by truck. a decent inline fan can vent the place, and heat pump (can also function as AC) keeps lung room temps under control.

it's not the most cost-efficient use of space, but it's a way for a an interested party to get started quick by renting / buying a complete rig. once they've raised more capital it would make sense to invest in a different setup. but living in a cold country, a small space that's rigged for local conditions could be viable. could also be pretty energy efficient by running the light cycle during the night when electricity is cheap.

i'm a programmer, so I would also build an IT setup where all the data is collected, all the plants are monitored, and you can get advice from AI / community pretty easily. my aim is basically to do this at even smaller scale with my 2x4 tent, and plan how to scale it up.

I cringe at paying for electricity when the sun already provides optimal light. Unless the rig needs to be hardened for theft deterrence, using a stake bed trailer lined with white poly sheeting would give you grow lights and a greenhouse on wheels.

HeadHunterpipes · May 20, 2026

Your not going to need a truck to transport the amount you are going to grow in a 4x8 tent.
what is your expected harvest in pounds or kilo ?
for me a 4x8 tent will produce 4 pounds every 90 days using hybrid seeds in hydroponics .
Hydroponics require a water RO system
a 4x8 tent is not a commercial grower ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

You don't need AI and personally i would rather get advise here then AI
You need 30 watts led grow lights per square foot of grow space .
I am running 1280 watts per 4x8 tent .

Ninjadogma · May 20, 2026

HeadHunterpipes said:
Your not going to need a truck to transport the amount you are going to grow in a 4x8 tent.
what is your expected harvest in pounds or kilo ?
for me a 4x8 tent will produce 4 pounds every 90 days using hybrid seeds in hydroponics .
Hydroponics require a water RO system
a 4x8 tent is not a commercial grower ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

You don't need AI and personally i would rather get advise here then AI
You need 30 watts led grow lights per square foot of grow space .
I am running 1280 watts per 4x8 tent .View attachment 2644245

I was scratching my head too but let's say you're living out of a semi cab...

Nah still doesn't make sense

hylld4ff · May 21, 2026

sorry that was unclear. the truck is for the entire portable grow site, not the yields.

each unit fits on a truck. get more units if demand outweighs supply. build a more cost-efficient solution after raising money / establishing yourself in local market.

HeadHunterpipes · May 21, 2026

You better wait until its legal.
Where I live all indoor grows have to be in metal or brick buildings Again in the USA The indian reservations
is Sovern territory with their own laws , loop holes in the law allows weed farms.
Other then that , that is the only outdoor grows because its illegal .

As of your idea of getting investors, ( Really ) that's a problem waiting happen

Looking for learning materials on commercial growing

Looking for learning materials on commercial growing

hylld4ff

DRFarmer

JIMKSI64

trygrowup

HeadHunterpipes

hylld4ff

Ninjadogma

HeadHunterpipes

Ninjadogma

HeadHunterpipes

HeadHunterpipes

hylld4ff

Ninjadogma

HeadHunterpipes

Ninjadogma

hylld4ff

HeadHunterpipes

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