Hydroponic Farming Business

Whats up everyone? I was just curious about hydroponic farming. Does anyone know about the business side of it? Is it profitable? I live in a place where there aren't any hydroponic farms near by. I think that this could be quite profitable, even if I had about a half acre to start out on. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

I guess it could be since you could grow all year round while the other farmers have to wait until the season starts.
It will probably just cost more to start up.But will pay for itself eventually.

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I guess it could be since you could grow all year round while the other farmers have to wait until the season starts.
It will probably just cost more to start up.But will pay for itself eventually.

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Yeah thats what I was thinking. I've read about some pretty successful hydroponic gardens. I would like to do something vertical if I did take on this venture that way you could get a lot more product in a much smaller space.

Yeah a vertical stadium type grow would be better.
What are you planning on growing?

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Yeah a vertical stadium type grow would be better.
What are you planning on growing?

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Well if I had the money I would do an indoor warehouse grow with a very large vertical system and many of them. But something outdoors with the 5 stack vert hydro things look interesting. I would prob try and grow herbs, tomatoes, lot of dif lettuce, strawberry's, cucumbers, cut flowers.....pretty much anything that would grow well in that kind of system. And of course have a little private hydro vert system in the closet of my home filled with the sweetest plant of them all.

I read about this family in Georgia that grows only hydroponic lettuce, the father built the green house and the nft system and the 4 member family pretty much runs everything but they said they sell about 1000 heads of lettuce a week. If you did actually get that much from 1 green house every week of the year that would be oh say 1000 heads of lettuce x 1.00 dollar a head (i dont know the actuall prices just guessing) that would be 52,000 dollars a year not including deductions for keeping the place going and all that but hey thats not to bad. That is if everything worked out.

KindGrower said:

I read about this family in Georgia that grows only hydroponic lettuce, the father built the green house and the nft system and the 4 member family pretty much runs everything but they said they sell about 1000 heads of lettuce a week. If you did actually get that much from 1 green house every week of the year that would be oh say 1000 heads of lettuce x 1.00 dollar a head (i dont know the actuall prices just guessing) that would be 52,000 dollars a year not including deductions for keeping the place going and all that but hey thats not to bad. That is if everything worked out.

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That is not to bad but you have to split all that money up between everybody thats involved with it so you wouldn't be getting that much.It would be a nice side job though.Or you could just
sell the lettuce for 2.00 a head and make double loleven at 1.50 you would make alot.
A head of lettuce around here is like 2.50-3.00

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That is not to bad but you have to split all that money up between everybody thats involved with it so you wouldn't be getting that much.It would be a nice side job though.Or you could just
sell the lettuce for 2.00 a head and make double loleven at 1.50 you would make alot.
A head of lettuce around here is like 2.50-3.00

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Thats true, I would prob just hire two of my friends to work there with me haha. I hear that hydro farms need a lot less workers than traditional farming. Plus if you had 4 or 5 or even 9 or 10 green houses producing like that I would think you could make some damn good money on about 2 to 3 acres.

No one else has got any ideas about this?

maybe build next to a river or some body of water so you spend less on water. and have something to collect rain water.

Sounds like a good idea. You would sell all of your products higher than grocer prices, your veggies will be fresher, no pesticides etc.... I'm sure the money that family is making is more than just enough.

Forget about it. When you get done with taxes, insurance, wages, electric, startup costs, etc, you will lose money. Now, the only crop worth anything is cannabis, and if you are OK with that, you can make a ton of money.

My brother owns a Hydroponic basil warehouse. He has 6 table, each table has a res., with two levels on each, each level has four-four tube fluorescent hoods, and 5 NFT channels housing ideally 16 plants. He grows them out for nine weeks and pulls about 30 lb/week which he sells at $30 each. Thats about $3600/month, just under $3000 covers are utilities, rent and wages for me his only part time employee. He is planning on expanding to gourmet mushrooms, hydro strawberries, and outdoor basil in the summer as a supplement. He is also gunning on some land in the valley near the city and hopes to start doing crops outdoors and getting me full time at the warehouse.

Peace

Mr.KushMan said:

My brother owns a Hydroponic basil warehouse. He has 6 table, each table has a res., with two levels on each, each level has four-four tube fluorescent hoods, and 5 NFT channels housing ideally 16 plants. He grows them out for nine weeks and pulls about 30 lb/week which he sells at $30 each. Thats about $3600/month, just under $3000 covers are utilities, rent and wages for me his only part time employee. He is planning on expanding to gourmet mushrooms, hydro strawberries, and outdoor basil in the summer as a supplement. He is also gunning on some land in the valley near the city and hopes to start doing crops outdoors and getting me full time at the warehouse.

Peace

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So hes making 3600 a month but has to pay 3000 each month for expenses of is it 3000 a year to run? I was thinking of herbs strawberries and tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. I was also planning on going to alot of restaurants and grocery stores where I live and asking if they would be interested in buying hydro. I think if the general population had an idea of even what hydro is I think that people would flock to it. Plus there are no hydro farms around me for prob 400 miles and I live near NOLA I think they would eat that up down there in NOLA. That city def knows good food.

If you live in a big area, we have a Pop. of 200K you can find enough gourmet kitchens and delis to buy your supply no problem, fresh local food year round will sell like mad no questions.

I asked him today and his expenses are 2500, he was paying the original owner who set it up a monthly fee for year of 1250 but is done that as of Jan. 1. But stay on top of your information if you have problems with bugs, you can have serious problems. The owner that sold it to him was battling thrips and couldn't find a cure for the life for him, he tried the pyrethrins, neem oil, and predatory insects but to no avail. So he cleaned it out, froze the buggers out on a cold day, found a buyer, sold the land and equipment. After we came in he was informed about a organic pest controller called spinosad which works wonders on the mother fuckers.

Peace

Mr.KushMan said:

If you live in a big area, we have a Pop. of 200K you can find enough gourmet kitchens and delis to buy your supply no problem, fresh local food year round will sell like mad no questions.

I asked him today and his expenses are 2500, he was paying the original owner who set it up a monthly fee for year of 1250 but is done that as of Jan. 1. But stay on top of your information if you have problems with bugs, you can have serious problems. The owner that sold it to him was battling thrips and couldn't find a cure for the life for him, he tried the pyrethrins, neem oil, and predatory insects but to no avail. So he cleaned it out, froze the buggers out on a cold day, found a buyer, sold the land and equipment. After we came in he was informed about a organic pest controller called spinosad which works wonders on the mother fuckers.

Peace

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What about 5 10' pvc pipes set up like and nft system, how many basil plants do you think I could fit in that? Any guess?

KindGrower said:

What about 5 10' pvc pipes set up like and nft system, how many basil plants do you think I could fit in that? Any guess?

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And also I was thinking about arugula.

I have been thinking about this. I want to set up my own greenhouse and start selling to local restaurants year round. The key is to look into the rare items such as truffles. Those things sell like mad and are impossible to grow and then find in the wild. The spores to start them are cheap. It takes like 2 years for them to grow outside under a certain tree then you have to have a pig to find them. If you grow indoors you know where your shit is and can control it the way you want. There are also a few herbs that are really rare but there is a reason they are...they are impossible to get the right stuff to grow. Realistically if you have anything that is fresh, available year round, and you set up buyers and find interest before you go through the trouble than you should be fine. Also, look into farmers markets in your area...if there isn't one...start one.

-Bonnie