How much does it cost you to produce one pound of herb?

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patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
Aeroknow said:
It's that expensive down south also?
I didn't think you guys were jacked like us. Sucks doesn't it.
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Yeah they have that 4th tier that should be called the let's rape the growers tier. .34 cents . I was under the impression that SoCal has most expensive rates, I thought up north got better deals. Guess not.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Colorado charges 10¢/kWh.
13.3¢ for summertime peak rates.

Someone said nutes were costing them several hundred/lb, because 'shooting powder'. THEY'RE the foolish one, MKP from a dry chemical supplier costs $78/50lb BAG. Hydroponic mix, $45/25 lb bag, makes 50 gallons of stock solution, or enough for 5000 gallons of nutrient solution. Dry calcium nitrate, $55/50 lb bag, needs 2-3 grams per gallon. Epsom salt- I think I saw it at Wal-Mart for $5/8 lb bag or thereabouts.

Anyone who buys water bottled nutrients is doing it for convenience or just plain dumb.

Figure in rent, pay yourself something for labor (you could be working a real job), amortize tools, supplies, equipment. Don't forget whatever you pay anyone else to trim, etc.

The calculation isn't that hard and it is useful, just to know what your costs are.
 
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BuzzD2Kill

Well-Known Member
GO figure. Mothering, cuts, nutes, gel, medium, and lighting = 150-250. Flowering medium, nutes, and lighting = 1400. Plus time, water, and cost of help = 2-3000 Ilb. I think everyones forgetting time?
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
BuzzD2Kill said:
GO figure. Mothering, cuts, nutes, gel, medium, and lighting = 150-250. Flowering medium, nutes, and lighting = 1400. Plus time, water, and cost of help = 2-3000 Ilb. I think everyones forgetting time?
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Time is the divisor- all this stuff is 'per month', or at least can be divided into the number of months/cycles you use it for.
 
Carolina Dream'n

Carolina Dream'n

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
You forgot cost of space, labor, trimming cost and cost of equipment.

This remains an excellent start.
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I'm not really sure how to compute those. I don't pay "rent" as I payed for the building whole. That was 45k. Labor is 100% me, no helpers at all. Equipment was another 55k. I trim by myself. I don't consider my time as "money".

How do I put that into my price per lb? I'm good with the numbers and can't seem to figure it out.
 
C

cloneseed

Well-Known Member
Carolina Dream'n said:
I'm not really sure how to compute those. I don't pay "rent" as I payed for the building whole. That was 45k. Labor is 100% me, no helpers at all. Equipment was another 55k. I trim by myself. I don't consider my time as "money".

How do I put that into my price per lb? I'm good with the numbers and can't seem to figure it out.
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If someone were to hire you for what you're doing, how much would you expect them to pay you hourly, and how many hours do you work per month? I've seen trimmers get paid $50 a pound to $250 a pound, or $10 to $20 an hour, it all depends on quality and size of end product and how generous the person paying you is, haha. Owning the building could get rolled into initial startup cost, but do you have any monthly property taxes from ownership?

BTW check out legallyflying's definitive air stone test thread, he used a DO meter to test output from different air stones and found those 6" straight blue stones that are $1-$1.50 a piece create more DO than a number of other stones.... I was using the ecoplus 4" round discs off hydro store recommendation but switched to the blue air stones and the water turbulence and amount of bubbles is visibly different.
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
soil: 6 bags @ $12 per bag = $75~ (w/sales tax)

electric for lights: 14.4 kw/day x 65 days @ $0.10/kwh = $95~ (w/taxes and fees)

electric for filter & climate control: fraction of light bill = $10~

nutrients: maybe $5 worth of maxsea? = $5~

neem oil: maybe $2 worth of neem oil? = $2~

water: small fraction of water bill = $3~

bags for finished product: $3~

depreciation on lights: 1 year/6 cycles per bulb @ $25 a lamp = $12~

depreciation on containers, room, ballasts = negligible

$205 base cost per 1.75 - 2 pounds (1200 watt setup) = $109.33 per pound (flower only)

rent: maybe one tenth of total house sq ft @ 2 months per cycle = $300~

labor: 12 hours trimming/debranching/bagging/curing per cycle @ $20/hour = $240

labor: 4 hours transplanting/cleaning/staking per cycle = $80

labor: 8 hours watering/neeming/nuting per cycle = $160

$780 "free" cost per 1.75 - 2 pounds = $416 per pound (flower only)

so i spend $505 for every pound i grow, but only about $100 worth of it is money i have to spend. the rest of it is money i would have spent anyway, whether i was growing or not, and labor.

this does not take into account materials and labor spent growing plants from clone to veg to teen, but it does take into account rent for space ("free" cost) and water. if you total it all up, it is probably less than $100 per flower cycle, probably closer to $40-$50 or less.

in all reality, i spend about $150 out of pocket (on top of what i would pay anyway just to live) to produce a pound.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Carolina Dream'n said:
I'm not really sure how to compute those. I don't pay "rent" as I payed for the building whole. That was 45k. Labor is 100% me, no helpers at all. Equipment was another 55k. I trim by myself. I don't consider my time as "money".

How do I put that into my price per lb? I'm good with the numbers and can't seem to figure it out.
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One way to calculate cost of the building is the mortgage payment. Another is what you'd get for renting it out. A third is what that $45k would be earning you if you invested it in something else.

Equipment cost gets split up over the expected number of crops it will produce. Add in maintenance and replacement of worn and broken gear like bulbs, pumps, fans, etc.

You're not working for free, so come up with a reasonable estimate of what your time would be worth doing the next most lucrative thing.

None of these are exact figures, but they'll give you a clearer picture of your total costs. If you run perpetual, divide by crops over time- so if you pull a crop every two weeks, assign half a month's costs to each crop, then divide by the number of pounds per crop you average.
 
jarvild

jarvild

Well-Known Member
And for us smokers what about the cost savings by not having to purchase! Let's say an ounce a moth at $300 a O. that $600 per harvest.
 
a mongo frog

a mongo frog

Well-Known Member
For those who have been doing this for a long time, I'm almost 100 percent sure you do this for the love of the plant. And for the excitement of a super good run, that turns out awesome, oh and don't forget the patients your helping. Its a really good feeling. I actually do get the jist of this thread, some of the gardeners here want to see exactly where all their money is going and how its being used. I personally don't live like that. Yea maybe that makes me a bad business guy, like another member mentioned. But i really don't care. There is so much one could add in this list of "cost per pound". So basically I subtract dollar figures for the love of the plant and gardening. Thats just what i do.
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
I'm over $2G's into my room build and I'm not even growing yet..that first Lb is going to be an expensive one..after that..it's all CAKE!
 
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