Most Efficient Commercial Grow Methods

Lucius Vorenus

Well-Known Member
we have a Mondi sump pump and a goodyear hose, we give the plants a 3 second(half gal) or 5 second(gal) count depending on the day/conditions/treatment the scrog we have is not a sog, way less plants and maintenence, we do between 4 and 6 plants per light and they are on giant 4' x 16' flood tables that drain at an angle, they are all on heavy duty casters so we can roll them around.
Sounds like you're doing a manual watering and zero runoff? We do a hose feeding too but like a 5 second watering and it seems to wet our plants for 3-4 days. We use a moisture meter and wont water again until its under 3.0 out of a max of 10
 

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you're doing a manual watering and zero runoff? We do a hose feeding too but like a 5 second watering and it seems to wet our plants for 3-4 days. We use a moisture meter and wont water again until its under 3.0 out of a max of 10
we have some runoff i would guess around a cup or 2 per pot.
we are watering into coco, and I want it to almost dry out everyday, but not quite. what medium are you watering once every 3 or 4 days?
 

Lucius Vorenus

Well-Known Member
we have some runoff i would guess around a cup or 2 per pot.
we are watering into coco, and I want it to almost dry out everyday, but not quite. what medium are you watering once every 3 or 4 days?
Sunshine Advanced #4 which is Coco/Peat and Perlite. We add about 20% more Perlite too. No chance of drying our daily. Not even when we ran pure Coco and Perlite
 

Canibitual

Well-Known Member
BELOW IS MY OWN PERSONAL SEMI COMMERCIAL SCALE OUTDOOR CROP AND MY REWARDS FOR MY LABOUR (OKANAGAN VALLEY BRITISH COLUMBIA 2006.


I was using the sog method growing Hindu Kush and I Sucesfully Harvested over 50lbs of dry product for a whopping sale price of $150,000.


I bought the truck below with some of the money and my friend wrote it off a year and a half later while driving without a license and in turn I received nothing back from the insurance company in form of compensation.

I was not going to charge my friend, but I was not gonna tell them that I knew he had no license either.
So I ate the cost of the truck ( over $60,000 Canadian).
After all mother nature did provide it for me to enjoy it while I had it.
It was my stupidity to let him drive my truck any way, we are still friends to this day, but I bust his balls about it all the time
I can tell he still feels bad about it after over 3 years everytime I bring it up to him too.. lol

My outdoor crops this year are going to the medical dispensaries around Vancouver BC






:peace: PEACE AND HAPPY GROWING !! :peace:
if that huge amount of plant only amounted to 50lbs... it was shit weed and a shit yield

I personally know Commercial growers doing 50+lbs a month or more.. some use soil, some use Rock wool,

The Soil Growers Like the safety and uncomplicated nature of their grow...

the Rock wool Growers Like to be able to sit their plants in trays and fill rez and only check once a week..

Spider Mites Like Plants no matter what they're grown in...

In my Opinion... Neither method is better than the other, both have ups and downs... enough ups and down on each to level them both...


Way to go Marijuananation. Almost every word from your post was plagiarized. (Except for your random rant about buying a big nice truck. What an interesting story! I wish I could be as cool as you.) Lol.
In the future you should give credit to an author when you rip off an entire chapter of their book instead of implying you wrote it.


"...... Here is my decsription of SOG METHOD.

SOG is the theory of harvesting lots of small plants, matured early to get the fastest production of buds available......"
I think your right... I think he even plagiarized the picture of that outdoor grow... I found the same pic somewhere else...

From the looks of that pic, I'd estimate 200+lbs,
 

Canibitual

Well-Known Member
Someone said they get 15 5 gal plants into a 4x8? That seems like a lot.
16 5 gallon pots (the wide net style ones) fit in a white tray, a few more if your pots are narrower... however, it's hard to access the pots more than 4 deep... so how you set your tables can be a big issue...
 

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
if that huge amount of plant only amounted to 50lbs... it was shit weed and a shit yield

I personally know Commercial growers doing 50+lbs a month or more.. some use soil, some use Rock wool,

The Soil Growers Like the safety and uncomplicated nature of their grow...

the Rock wool Growers Like to be able to sit their plants in trays and fill rez and only check once a week..

Spider Mites Like Plants no matter what they're grown in...
that is nice and all but not the point or topic of this thread
this thread is about the most EFFECIENT COMMERCIAL grow setups, not the pros and cons of different growing methods. if you dont have any commercial experience then your opinion doesnt mean a hill of beans to someone with real commerical experience. now, if you have some real operating and employee costs to compare then we might have something. but it sounds like you are a homegrower, not even the same ballpark if you dont employ at least 2 people full time.
 

Canibitual

Well-Known Member
that is nice and all but not the point or topic of this thread
this thread is about the most EFFECIENT COMMERCIAL grow setups, not the pros and cons of different growing methods. if you dont have any commercial experience then your opinion doesnt mean a hill of beans to someone with real commerical experience. now, if you have some real operating and employee costs to compare then we might have something. but it sounds like you are a homegrower, not even the same ballpark if you dont employ at least 2 people full time.
How many Pounds a month do you consider to be big enough to be a commercial grower... Employee count and hours is irrelevant
 

mvp1399

Member
After reading through this entire thread I can't express enough gratitude to igothydrotoneverywhere for adding thorough and helpful advice that pertains to the op's topic. Many others on this site should learn from his example.

I'm curious if you use CO2 enrichment for your grow? Any information regarding commercial grade environment controllers and fans?

I have 8 years growing experience at a small scale (< 60 plants) but I have been approached to prepare an outline for a commercial grow that will start as soon as the regulations are finalized by the Colorado task force and legislature. Any information you are willing to share from your experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for the helpful advice thus far!
 

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
How many Pounds a month do you consider to be big enough to be a commercial grower... Employee count and hours is irrelevant
i think a commerical operation qualifies when you are responsible for more than just your own quality of life for the full fiscal year. meaning your legal employment of at least 2 other full time employees. you have to have at least one full time trimmer(especially if you are trimming real weight) and at least one garden assistant and a fully operational garden that requires attention 365 days a year.

the reason i bumped this thread is bc i dont know it all, and i would like to cut my costs and improve our cannabis. we have a hell of a good starting point. im sorry if i have been a bit cocky, but i want to know who is doing more with less.
10 lbs/week, after, $2200 a week in employee costs, plus around 1000$ in materials, plus the electric bill, ours is about $4000 a month in the summer, depending on ac use...
 

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
After reading through this entire thread I can't express enough gratitude to igothydrotoneverywhere for adding thorough and helpful advice that pertains to the op's topic. Many others on this site should learn from his example.

I'm curious if you use CO2 enrichment for your grow? Any information regarding commercial grade environment controllers and fans?

I have 8 years growing experience at a small scale (< 60 plants) but I have been approached to prepare an outline for a commercial grow that will start as soon as the regulations are finalized by the Colorado task force and legislature. Any information you are willing to share from your experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for the helpful advice thus far!
yes! CO2 is a must(especially when the owner finds out about 20-30% more yields) those that say it doesnt work(all they need is fresh air[lmao]) are full of shit or dont have it hooked up right. I have seen the bud grow bigger right before my eyes. with and without it. this debate is over. anyone who states otherwise has never done a controlled experiment.
you will want to call GREEN CO2 systems. they provide their own solenoid and 100 lb tanks, they come once a week to refill the tanks... FROM OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. super sweet. call brett shutte to get it set up, he runs shit over there.

seems like all the enviroment controllers are way over priced for what they do, make sure you get a co2 sniffer that reaches the center of your grow.
also make sure you have a plan for the cold air going over your lights in the winter, we ran a line from our exhaust manifold to our intake manifold with a damper and booster fan in the middle to warm up the air over our lights(using the recycled air that cools the lights back over them in relative proportion to temperature and humidty) basically it keeps the hoods from raining water like the rainforest.
 

Canibitual

Well-Known Member
i think a commerical operation qualifies when you are responsible for more than just your own quality of life for the full fiscal year. meaning your legal employment of at least 2 other full time employees. you have to have at least one full time trimmer(especially if you are trimming real weight) and at least one garden assistant and a fully operational garden that requires attention 365 days a year.

the reason i bumped this thread is bc i dont know it all, and i would like to cut my costs and improve our cannabis. we have a hell of a good starting point. im sorry if i have been a bit cocky, but i want to know who is doing more with less.
10 lbs/week, after, $2200 a week in employee costs, plus around 1000$ in materials, plus the electric bill, ours is about $4000 a month in the summer, depending on ac use...
so your doing aprox 32 lights total for a building (based on electric cost)... that's about 4 lights coming down each week for aprox 10lbs (very heavy yield per light even if I believe you)... you do not need 2 employee's for 4 lights..., 10lbs should take you 2-3 days to trim yourself...

Transplant, clones, Cleanup and everything else can be done with 1 person...

32 lights does not take 3 people... especially when they are overlapped to come down weekly... tha's a loss of 114K a year...
 

mvp1399

Member
you will want to call GREEN CO2 systems. they provide their own solenoid and 100 lb tanks, they come once a week to refill the tanks... FROM OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. super sweet. call brett shutte to get it set up, he runs shit over there.
Thanks for the heads up on this company. I love the idea that they fill the CO2 from outside.

I'm interested in hearing about your modified lucas solution that you use for feeding.

I was also wondering if those 4 x 16 flood tables are custom made or if you have a supplier for them?

I imagine with our super dry climate you are using a humidifier? If so how was it sized for your grow? The calculations I've found are all based upon air exchanges with the outside, which obviously aren't applicable to a CO2 grow...

Thanks and I'm sure I'll have a hundred more questions in the coming months...
 

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
so your doing aprox 32 lights total for a building (based on electric cost)... that's about 4 lights coming down each week for aprox 10lbs (very heavy yield per light even if I believe you)... you do not need 2 employee's for 4 lights..., 10lbs should take you 2-3 days to trim yourself...

Transplant, clones, Cleanup and everything else can be done with 1 person...

32 lights does not take 3 people... especially when they are overlapped to come down weekly... tha's a loss of 114K a year...
jeez bra,
go back and READ
i have 60 k flowering lights. thanks
 

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the heads up on this company. I love the idea that they fill the CO2 from outside.

I'm interested in hearing about your modified lucas solution that you use for feeding.

I was also wondering if those 4 x 16 flood tables are custom made or if you have a supplier for them?

I imagine with our super dry climate you are using a humidifier? If so how was it sized for your grow? The calculations I've found are all based upon air exchanges with the outside, which obviously aren't applicable to a CO2 grow...

Thanks and I'm sure I'll have a hundred more questions in the coming months...
we use a 6:9 ratio for lucas with 7 of the koolbloom when they start wanting it...
yes we brought in some good carpenters that fabricated the tables for us... they were a few hundred a piece, but they work and roll and the drain... and they are made out of high quality wood.
it is very dry here, but we run a closed system(bc of co2) and water almost everyday so the humidity is kept between 30 and 50%.
 
Top