Plans to build a commercial 100 lights grow operation

[Dirtbag]

there arent really any commercial growers in this forum am i right? :(

That is incorrect.

Please do not misconstrued this or get it twisted. There is plenty of commercial grower information on this site. Literally tons of it. What you are wanting is called a consultation and that my friend usually involves compensation to the one being consulted. What you are looking for is on this site you have to look for it if you want free answers.

This is correct.

Seek the advice of engineers who specialize in climate control. You're talking serious money for startup and operation until something starts paying. Sealed environment? You'd better be prepared to spend some very serious money.

This is also correct.

I grew commercially for about 15 years. Good friends and former growing partners of mine started arguably one of the best legal grows in Canada, and it cost them millions to start up. They borrowed from absolutely anyone that would give them money and exhausted every line of credit imaginable. They attracted investors once they were up and running and eventually sold the business, and retired extremely wealthy.

What they found was it took A LOT more capital than they thought. Just the electrical engineering and electrical upgrade installation alone cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Check this out. This mini-doc is from the time period right after they got bought out. It shows you what goes into starting a big grow like this, and also gives good insights on how to manage a grow that size.

 

[HydroDawg421]

Hire a professional who has designed grow room! You are about to invest $500k-1M+ and are getting advice from a bunch of yahoos on a forum? Hire a CONSULTANT!

 

[Pushrod Monkey]

That is incorrect.


This is correct.



This is also correct.

I grew commercially for about 15 years. Good friends and former growing partners of mine started arguably one of the best legal grows in Canada, and it cost them millions to start up. They borrowed from absolutely anyone that would give them money and exhausted every line of credit imaginable. They attracted investors once they were up and running and eventually sold the business, and retired extremely wealthy.

What they found was it took A LOT more capital than they thought. Just the electrical engineering and electrical upgrade installation alone cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Check this out. This mini-doc is from the time period right after they got bought out. It shows you what goes into starting a big grow like this, and also gives good insights on how to manage a grow that size.

Second large legal recreational operations to open in Fairbanks had 3 large grow areas. Two were engineered totally. The third didn't. Humidity control was impossible. The head grower told them this absolutely had to be addressed. Humidity was just the most obvious issue. The owners said no. They'd spent huge money already and hadn't sold the first bud. They'd do it soon.

An entire crop of bud had to be destroyed because of bud rot in #3. They fired the head grower and his right hand man! The same guys who tried telling them about the problems.

 

[Dirtbag]

Second large legal recreational operations to open in Fairbanks had 3 large grow areas. Two were engineered totally. The third didn't. Humidity control was impossible. The head grower told them this absolutely had to be addressed. Humidity was just the most obvious issue. The owners said no. They'd spent huge money already and hadn't sold the first bud. They'd do it soon.

An entire crop of bud had to be destroyed because of bud rot in #3. They fired the head grower and his right hand man! The same guys who tried telling them about the problems.

Yeah if you're gonna grow at this scale, do it right, straight from the beginning. And doing it right isn't cheap. Goes for any good business model honestly. You need a rock solid plan before breaking ground and then invest until it becomes reality. You can't cut any corners in commercial grows if you want to become profitable.

 

[Pushrod Monkey]

Yeah if you're gonna grow at this scale, do it right, straight from the beginning. And doing it right isn't cheap. Goes for any good business model honestly. You need a rock solid plan before breaking ground and then invest until it becomes reality. You can't cut any corners in commercial grows if you want to become profitable.

Not when you throw out over 300 Blackwater plants that were within a week or 2 of harvest. Later they actually apologized to the guy and thanked him for handling it the way he did because he didn't blast them. Which he had every right to do as well as suing for breach of contract. But everyone who's anyone here knows the story.

 

[Dirtbag]

Not when you throw out over 300 Blackwater plants that were within a week or 2 of harvest. Later they actually apologized to the guy and thanked him for handling it the way he did because he didn't blast them. Which he had every right to do as well as suing for breach of contract. But everyone who's anyone here knows the story.

Yep, here in Canada 2 years ago, I forget which company it was but they had something like 2 million worth of outdoor greenhouse harvest literally rot on the branches because they hadn't planned out the harvest properly, couldn't find enough people to work the harvest, the people they did have were quitting en-masse because of poor working conditions and low pay.

Didn't really even matter to the owners though I bet, they made their money on the stock market.

 

[Pushrod Monkey]

Yep, here in Canada 2 years ago, I forget which company it was but they had something like 2 million worth of outdoor greenhouse harvest literally rot on the branches because they hadn't planned out the harvest properly, couldn't find enough people to work the harvest, the people they did have were quitting en-masse because of poor working conditions and low pay.

Didn't really even matter to the owners though I bet, they made their money on the stock market.

Since Colorado went legal I've been involved in 3 legal states and I'm here to tell you there's money people and there's cannabis growers and these are not in the same person. They just aren't. The money fucks are ALL about the money and little details like air exchange and etc are someone else's problem. I'm open to hearing about some rich puke who's an expert grower going in. Sure it's happening but I've never seen it.

 

[flipflop64]

Thanks for all the great information guys i really appreciate it.

I have about one more year to plan before we can start building so i am trying everything possible to have the best plan until then @Dirtbag . I am already talking with an consultant from california. He was the only one who replied. I think most of them arent taking the german market serious? idk. I just wanted to get some first opinions on here and I also wanted to network/talk to likeminded people.
We have around a million dollar budget for the start so it's not going to be a crazy crazy facility. That would be the next step after the first few completed runs ;-).
We are definetly not in it only for the money. We want to make our passion/dream our career and very soon it's finally possible. We've been waiting long for this.

 

[LetsGrowBud]

Thanks for all the great information guys i really appreciate it.

I have about one more year to plan before we can start building so i am trying everything possible to have the best plan until then @Dirtbag . I am already talking with an consultant from california. He was the only one who replied. I think most of them arent taking the german market serious? idk. I just wanted to get some first opinions on here and I also wanted to network/talk to likeminded people.
We have around a million dollar budget for the start so it's not going to be a crazy crazy facility. That would be the next step after the first few completed runs ;-).
We are definetly not in it only for the money. We want to make our passion/dream our career and very soon it's finally possible. We've been waiting long for this.

Hi @flipflop64. I have been thinking the same since the colalition was trying to form. I also would love to make this my career. Can I ask where are you going to setup? Also where are you getting most of your info?

 

[flipflop64]

Hi @flipflop64. I have been thinking the same since the colalition was trying to form. I also would love to make this my career. Can I ask where are you going to setup? Also where are you getting most of your info?

I'm in contact with an consultation company from california. You need at least 500 thousand Euro to start a decent grow facility with decent profits.
You can write me a private message if you need more information :). Gerne auch auf deutsch.

 

[sammyknows]

Hey people, long time grower here, planning to start a commercial grow op.
First of all, i am not an english native so please excuse any grammatical/spelling mistakes.
As y'all probably already know, germany is about to legalize and i want to get in. i have an investor/partner and we are planning to build an approx. 100 lights grow operation.

I just have a couple questions where everybody seems to have different opinions on and its hard to ask somebody with the needed know how over here because its been illegal

soooo:

Sealed rooms or hybrid systems with filtered air from outside?
What is the go to hvac/ac in the industry?
One big ac unit for multiple rooms or a few smaller ones?
Is it cheaper/advised to get an full climate control system (dehumidifier and ac in one) or seperate units?

thanks in advance

Split system 5ton units way better reliability. You can add aftermarket reheat to handle your dehumidification or use traditional dehumidifiers. But having an 100 lighter with 1 point of failure to shut down your whole AC is an extremely bad idea. Sealed systems work some people say the buildup of co2 can have adverse reactions but haven't read anything conclusive yet. Is this a retrofit, a new buildout?

 

[Paradiced]

How goes the planning flip flop? I grow commercially. 75 1k de hps broken up into 4 flower rooms them 2 led flower rooms. One with 12 gavita 1700e and one with 12 phantom pheno 440's. We run 3600. btu mini splits. Like it's been said better to not have all eggs in one basket, and better air distribution. All rooms are sealed but have intake and exhaust fans just in case. You'd be surprised. If there's ever problems w the dehue or a/c (it happens!) at least you can exhaust nighttime humidity and hot air. A day will come when it will save your crop or keep it from taking a hit at the very least. The capability to exhaust the CO2 is no doubt a requirement. Running quest dehues in every room. They get a workout at lights off,. If sized properly they will own the room. For enviro control we use troll master for about everything. I can't complain so far. What's your medium?
Anyways good luck farmer.

 

[flipflop64]

Hey, planning goes great, politics are super slow tho (of course) so it will take some more time before me and my team can start working.

I am using rockwool @Paradiced

Thanks for all the input guys it always helps and gives me new ideas and inspiration

 

[Chip.Douglas]

Hey people, long time grower here, planning to start a commercial grow op.
First of all, i am not an english native so please excuse any grammatical/spelling mistakes.
As y'all probably already know, germany is about to legalize and i want to get in. i have an investor/partner and we are planning to build an approx. 100 lights grow operation.

I just have a couple questions where everybody seems to have different opinions on and its hard to ask somebody with the needed know how over here because its been illegal

soooo:

Sealed rooms or hybrid systems with filtered air from outside?
What is the go to hvac/ac in the industry?
One big ac unit for multiple rooms or a few smaller ones?
Is it cheaper/advised to get an full climate control system (dehumidifier and ac in one) or seperate units?

thanks in advance

For ac go with trane brand it's American

Avoid these Westinghouse, Maytag, Frigidaire, York, Luxaire, and Coleman. Other brands that have low reliability include Goodman, Amana, and Ducane

Luxaire isn't to bad if you can't get a trane unit definately avoid Goodman they are poo and so are the warranty

 

[flipflop64]

For ac go with trane brand it's American

Avoid these Westinghouse, Maytag, Frigidaire, York, Luxaire, and Coleman. Other brands that have low reliability include Goodman, Amana, and Ducane

Luxaire isn't to bad if you can't get a trane unit definately avoid Goodman they are poo and so are the warranty

Thanks a lot this is really helpful

 

[hydrodreams]

How goes the planning flip flop? I grow commercially. 75 1k de hps broken up into 4 flower rooms them 2 led flower rooms. One with 12 gavita 1700e and one with 12 phantom pheno 440's. We run 3600. btu mini splits. Like it's been said better to not have all eggs in one basket, and better air distribution. All rooms are sealed but have intake and exhaust fans just in case. You'd be surprised. If there's ever problems w the dehue or a/c (it happens!) at least you can exhaust nighttime humidity and hot air. A day will come when it will save your crop or keep it from taking a hit at the very least. The capability to exhaust the CO2 is no doubt a requirement. Running quest dehues in every room. They get a workout at lights off,. If sized properly they will own the room. For enviro control we use troll master for about everything. I can't complain so far. What's your medium?
Anyways good luck farmer.

How do the 1700e compare to the 1K de hps in terms of yield?

 

[JohnBlazr]

How do you like the Phantom Pheno 440s? I’m looking to add one to my homegrow