Eat Your Weedies
Member
New Dude here looking for large grow room advice. Please tell me what is wrong with the following business plan so I can avoid some mistakes before they happen. I have 5 small time harvests under my belt
As you all know pot is now legal in Washington. They plan on issuing grower's licenses in late August and selling out of stores by Dec 1. It will have to be grown indoors due to both weather and security concerns
I plan on getting one of those licenses and here is my business plan.
Lease a 2500 sq ft warehouse at the local rate of .50 a sq ft in an industrial area so no one can whine about its location
Construct 120 cubicles, each 1 meter square (10 sq ft)and 8' high, in groups of 8, inside the warehouse
Use 8 bulb T5HO lights, a quiet bath fan and two small circulation fans for ventilation in each cubicle. 4 amps per cubicle, 4 cubicles per 20 amp breaker.
Timers for the lights, 18-6 and 12-12
Everything painted flat white
Install a drip irrigation system
Each cubicle will have 2 or 3 plants in 3- 5 gallon buckets depending on strain
Allow 17 weeks per crop, 3 crops a year per cubicle
Plant 8 cubicles a week and after 17 weeks start harvesting/ selling cured pot, 8 cubicles a week. Forever
Expect half the yield amount stated on the seed websites. Goal is 5 ounces per plant, the smaller buds going to the brownie makers
Use your own clones for half the plants. Feminized seeds for the rest. NO outside clones due to spider mite concerns
Miracle gro moisture control potting soil --Have already used with great results. No need for a drainpan and stressful wilting chances are minimized. No need to fertilize and chance a burn durning veg cycle. The nitrogen is depleted after the 6- 8 week veg cycle which is what you want right? Then dump in the phosphorus
Up to 8 weeks in veg cycle from sprouting since height is not an issue nor is time. 9 weeks in flower
Harvest, dry, cure and estimated 4000 ounces a year. 80 ounces a week from 8 cubicles yielding 10 ounces each, Sell each ounce to a retailer for the State suggested wholesale price of $170 BEFORE tax!
After setup , the main labor will be in harvesting since watering and lighting are automated, What is needed is a machine that clips the leaves off the buds!
Have accounts at 5 seed banks. They DO ship to WA and besides your business will be legitimate so no need to sneak around
Cater to the needs/ wants of the retailer's customers.They want Papaya, Afghan or White Widow, they get it. Sativas like Haze extra due to a longer flowering time
For security purposes, the banks, and the IRS, you are growing Orchids, African violets and begonias for florists throughout Puget Sound, as hot house nursery
Follow the regulations by the book and pay all taxes when due
It will take at least 800 facilities of the size I have planned to support the current demand in WA, going at a retail price of about $320 an ounce. Washington State envisions a retail price of $340 and will control supply to keep it there
I am currently using such a system ( for medical pot of course) and am getting a yield of about 4 ounces a plant using a 6 bulb fixture in a 2x4 cubicle and suspect the yield would be 1/3 higher if I used an 8 bulb fixture
Estimated construction costs for 120 cubicles. Lights fans timers et al---$30,000 (assuming I do the labor)
Estimated operating costs before revenue comes in --$12,000 (Lease -power- seeds and soil)
Estimated yearly operating costs $60,000 (sans labor if any)
Current problems-- finding a way to flush when you do not intend to cut down the entire plant at once but stretch it out over 3 weeks. I usually do the main cola, then the side branch colas about a week later and the rest in another week after they have plumped up. But it requires more phosphorus to do so
I also am having a problem with ammonia smell in the some of my jars even though I know the weed was dryed properly so mold forming in the jar is not an issue. Perhaps I need to burp them of air more as the chlorophyl breaks down? I have been lax at that
As you all know pot is now legal in Washington. They plan on issuing grower's licenses in late August and selling out of stores by Dec 1. It will have to be grown indoors due to both weather and security concerns
I plan on getting one of those licenses and here is my business plan.
Lease a 2500 sq ft warehouse at the local rate of .50 a sq ft in an industrial area so no one can whine about its location
Construct 120 cubicles, each 1 meter square (10 sq ft)and 8' high, in groups of 8, inside the warehouse
Use 8 bulb T5HO lights, a quiet bath fan and two small circulation fans for ventilation in each cubicle. 4 amps per cubicle, 4 cubicles per 20 amp breaker.
Timers for the lights, 18-6 and 12-12
Everything painted flat white
Install a drip irrigation system
Each cubicle will have 2 or 3 plants in 3- 5 gallon buckets depending on strain
Allow 17 weeks per crop, 3 crops a year per cubicle
Plant 8 cubicles a week and after 17 weeks start harvesting/ selling cured pot, 8 cubicles a week. Forever
Expect half the yield amount stated on the seed websites. Goal is 5 ounces per plant, the smaller buds going to the brownie makers
Use your own clones for half the plants. Feminized seeds for the rest. NO outside clones due to spider mite concerns
Miracle gro moisture control potting soil --Have already used with great results. No need for a drainpan and stressful wilting chances are minimized. No need to fertilize and chance a burn durning veg cycle. The nitrogen is depleted after the 6- 8 week veg cycle which is what you want right? Then dump in the phosphorus
Up to 8 weeks in veg cycle from sprouting since height is not an issue nor is time. 9 weeks in flower
Harvest, dry, cure and estimated 4000 ounces a year. 80 ounces a week from 8 cubicles yielding 10 ounces each, Sell each ounce to a retailer for the State suggested wholesale price of $170 BEFORE tax!
After setup , the main labor will be in harvesting since watering and lighting are automated, What is needed is a machine that clips the leaves off the buds!
Have accounts at 5 seed banks. They DO ship to WA and besides your business will be legitimate so no need to sneak around
Cater to the needs/ wants of the retailer's customers.They want Papaya, Afghan or White Widow, they get it. Sativas like Haze extra due to a longer flowering time
For security purposes, the banks, and the IRS, you are growing Orchids, African violets and begonias for florists throughout Puget Sound, as hot house nursery
Follow the regulations by the book and pay all taxes when due
It will take at least 800 facilities of the size I have planned to support the current demand in WA, going at a retail price of about $320 an ounce. Washington State envisions a retail price of $340 and will control supply to keep it there
I am currently using such a system ( for medical pot of course) and am getting a yield of about 4 ounces a plant using a 6 bulb fixture in a 2x4 cubicle and suspect the yield would be 1/3 higher if I used an 8 bulb fixture
Estimated construction costs for 120 cubicles. Lights fans timers et al---$30,000 (assuming I do the labor)
Estimated operating costs before revenue comes in --$12,000 (Lease -power- seeds and soil)
Estimated yearly operating costs $60,000 (sans labor if any)
Current problems-- finding a way to flush when you do not intend to cut down the entire plant at once but stretch it out over 3 weeks. I usually do the main cola, then the side branch colas about a week later and the rest in another week after they have plumped up. But it requires more phosphorus to do so
I also am having a problem with ammonia smell in the some of my jars even though I know the weed was dryed properly so mold forming in the jar is not an issue. Perhaps I need to burp them of air more as the chlorophyl breaks down? I have been lax at that
