Where are the commercial and legal growers at? 600+ plants

[KRxjoe]

That third picture looks like the perfect Grand-daddy Purple.


>> commercial and legal growers at?

There's a lot of commercial growers making do with the 25 plant limit.


International Society of Hybrid Micro-electronics - ISHM - a trade group. As a young geek I once gave a talk there about Surface Mount Technology when Silicon Valley still did manufacturing.


Getting back to the point - Trade Groups - Formal & Informal.

Actually, I think ICMag does a good job of bridging the gap, helping bring people together.


I think the task of manufacturing Cannabis is fascinating.

In 20 years we will probably have conferences with session titles like, "Applying Six Sigma Practices in Very Large Scale Cannabis Manufacturing".

It could even get boring ! \


Along the lines of informal trade groups, we had "Black and Tan" nights at one employer in the mid-80's. Very good networking, emphasis on the beer. Quite Coed too.



No reason there couldn't be (more) informal gatherings for local Canna-workers and Canna-entrepreneurs, in Denver or Norcal or Oregon or Michigan. Purple Thursday ?

I guess my intentions of saying "Commercial and Legal growers- 600+ plants" is that I'm looking for advice from people who are in very large spaces and likely dealing with a crew of growers or staff and how they went about a specific aspect of design. I understand an individual with a 25 plant set up can make good money for them selves. I on the other hand, have a license granted by the State of Arizona and I am required by law to adhere to a very strict set of rules and statutes and pay taxes and overhead that a private grower would never even think about. The conversation has wandered around a bit but my initial question was answered to my satisfaction.

I was actually thinking about how a site like this could create a section of this site designated to full blown commercial growers. Even though it could be considered exclusive I would like to see something set up that requires some sort of proof that they are operating on a larger scale than in a residential operation or with a plant count under 100. One of the biggest issues for people getting into this industry on a commercial level is a reliable resource for business owners to use. Forums are good for individual opinions on topics but often times they are just that, opinions. This industry is exploding right in front of us and things are going to continue to change rapidly whether we like it or not. I just hope that collectively all those involved with it work to steer it in a progressive and positive direction.

 

[sticky367]

Hey I bet good smoke has strong value out there then.

About the issues you've had with your employees... I think in this bis the investor really has to be taking on the project. No one is going to put consistent 110% effort into a project they don't believe in, or don't feel like is theirs in some way. Once you're dialed in, training someone to do exactly what you want will be easier

 

[ScrifflyPimp]

Third thing. The decision has been made to expand the facility. Without going into extensive detail on our business model I can simply say it is the best move we can make at this point.

Most likely no. Why throw money to expand low output method? Will need more labor, no?

We are not struggling by any means we are just at the ceiling of success right now in the current set up.

Yes. Spend money on better set up, increase output for less. Expand with better set up later. Save lot labor expense, upgrade expense.

 

[KRxjoe]

Hey I bet good smoke has strong value out there then.

About the issues you've had with your employees... I think in this bis the investor really has to be taking on the project. No one is going to put consistent 110% effort into a project they don't believe in, or don't feel like is theirs in some way. Once you're dialed in, training someone to do exactly what you want will be easier

That is essentially what I have done after realizing this earlier on. A part of me still doesn't understand the mentality of a few former employees that had said " well of course you live and breath this it's your business". Maybe it's my mid-western work ethic and values that I have just never thought like that when working for someone. If I don't do my job to the best of my ability then 2 things are going to happen. 1 the business could fail or struggle and my job security could be in question. 2 not putting forth 110% effort will likely decrease my chances of advancement and increase in pay.

Apparently that work ethic is very hard to find in this industry and it is disappointing to say the least. However, I have now established a thorough interview process, along with a "Cannabis test" that covers everything from "whats a sativa/indica" to "what is the endocannabinoid system and how does it work" I am currently working on a "Cannabis Horticulture" test. However my knowledge at this point is what is limiting the detail at which I can write it.

 

[blastfrompast]

KRxJoe:

Good luck with you employee search.. My suggestion, find yourself a non-smoker who is hungry for $$$

 

[KRxjoe]

Most likely no. Why throw money to expand low output method? Will need more labor, no?


Yes. Spend money on better set up, increase output for less. Expand with better set up later. Save lot labor expense, upgrade expense.

When scaling this business straight across with our current production levels and current overhead we still come out way ahead at the end of the day. Will labor increase? Yes absolutely. Production even if it stays the same .68gr/watt we will be just fine. When we weigh the option of spending money to effectively re-design the current setup as compared to simply moving into a larger space and implementing certain changes it really becomes a no-brainer.

 

[mowood3479]

I read this thread the n op seems like a smart guy. read n read n read u will get it all dialed in time.
My experience although on a smaller scale would suggest grow employees can't be trusted to do much more than follow to do lists with daily accountability needed.
If the crop fails it's not their $...
It sucks but the truth is if they (employees) were able to do it on their own they probably already would be.
I've found a few good employees over the years, n I try like hell to keep them happy because most of my guys r pretty useless as far as using their brains goes.
Probably nothing u don't already know
I was wondering r u in one of the cooler areas of az? If not keeping things cool enough in the summer must be outrageous with ac costs..
I used to live in Tempe.. Couldn't imagine trying to grow there in the summer.. 114f @2am..
Anyway, good luck. Adapt or perish as some of the old heads around here say.

 

[KRxjoe]

I read this thread the n op seems like a smart guy. read n read n read u will get it all dialed in time.
My experience although on a smaller scale would suggest grow employees can't be trusted to do much more than follow to do lists with daily accountability needed.
If the crop fails it's not their $...
It sucks but the truth is if they (employees) were able to do it on their own they probably already would be.
I've found a few good employees over the years, n I try like hell to keep them happy because most of my guys r pretty useless as far as using their brains goes.
Probably nothing u don't already know
I was wondering r u in one of the cooler areas of az? If not keeping things cool enough in the summer must be outrageous with ac costs..
I used to live in Tempe.. Couldn't imagine trying to grow there in the summer.. 114f @2am..
Anyway, good luck. Adapt or perish as some of the old heads around here say.

Yes I am in Northern AZ, summer time temps still can reach 100+ but not as often as PHX. Keeping cool in the summer isn't a challenge simply because we have a ridiculous amount of cooling into the facility, so yes quite expensive considering the square footage. And now we are going to be moving the cultivation to PHX so it will be interesting to see how the engineers address the cooling issues there.

 

[tenthirty]

Seems to me you will have VPD issues as well as temp.

 

[sticky367]

Someone with a horticulture background would be a good match...

 

[ScrifflyPimp]

Production even if it stays the same .68gr/watt we will be just fine.

Sad.

very

 

[TheArchitect]

Our current setup of the 2 week perpetual harvest is what keeps the money coming in and allows to continue providing a variety to the shelves. As far as adding lights it quite literally is impossible as our 3 phase 400 amps is maxed out. The systems we use I wouldn't call bullet proof but they are reliable none the less. The current hydro set up is plug and play other than mixing and Ph balancing the nute mixes. It was actually your suggestion of the Dosatrons that is going to be the biggest change in new facility. I can't help but think that will be one of the keys to "bullet proofing" our systems. Also plan to get away from the tables and trays and get into just plain ol buckets on the floor. In the new setup there would be several rooms on mono crop cycles. NO more multiple strains per room, it drives me bananas. The expansion is budgeted at around 1 million. SO we are making a big investment and sparing no expense to ensure that not the just equipment works to our advantage but the facility itself is entirely "clean". Also it will have better working spaces for transplants, cloning, veg and overall cleaning of equipment and such.

Well it sounds like expansion is in order, though 25ksqft is quite the jump.

With that kinda space I would build 8-10 flower rooms and pull a room a week. 10k per room should net 15# a week consistently. Build a nice mother/cloning room, 2 veg rooms, and a harvest/drying room and you'd have quite the outfit.

If you ever want to toss ideas off me feel free to private message me once you hit 50 posts.

 

[Lazyman]

I didn't read the whole thread, but figured I'd throw in a few cents:

Strain selection is important, you need to know what you can MOVE, YEAR ROUND. In any quantity. It doesnt matter if it yields 5 pounds a light if nobody wants it. Likewise high THC, cool name or otherwise.

In the same vein, running multiple strains per crop fucls you in a few ways. You end up with lots of partials, lots of different popcorn/larf nugs and lots of trim, more work for trimmers and more work for maintenance crews (oh this strain needs this, that strain meeds that, ad infinitum.) Messy. Pick one or two strains per crop max and do them well. We do 90% OG kush, thw rest is cookies or sours. Occasionally we will do a test run of 1 light to try a new strain (Harlequin) but no more.

Also, flood and drain trays, or at least buckets, seem to outyield most other systems indoors. More flexibility, easier flushing, less manual labor, more reliability, easy to find parts for, all make them quite useful.

Good yields are often tricky. Though sours and some OG hybrids can yield above the 1.5 mark per light, 1.5 seems to be average for most of the "pure" og strains. Usually I find the bigger the garden, the lower the gpw. We get around .65 to .75 average, but thats handwarering coco/perlite with H&G nutes, vegged for 3 weeks from clone.

In the basement grow in my sig, we now rotate 3 10 light crops in a perpetual grow, one garden chops every 3 weeks, veg is in another building onsite. This way we can change strains every 3 weeks if necessary, have a 7 light veg room, and the maintenance/trimmer people dont get burned out doing the same shit for weeks on end. Trimming 12 or 17 pounds is one thing, takes a few days. Trimming 30 lights would be more like 40 or 50 pounds and would take a couple weeks, and a huge veg room to refill. Perpetuals rock!

Hope that helps somebody!