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Commerical Yeilds Light-Dep?

I'm in Coastal BC and looking to get a micro-cultivator license. I'd be allowed 200 sq.meters of canopy, which is about 2,100 sq.ft (including vertical space/shelving. So no advantage to staking). This is pretty limited when you take into consideration the dropping prices and the required nursery space for cloning and veg.



I'm trying to crunch investment and return numbers. Was hoping to get 2-3 harvests a year in light-dep. I can for sure get 3 harvests if I invest +$50,000 in a heated, automated greenhouses, or 2 harvests in about $6,000 of hoop-houses. I'd get way better pest and mold control in a screened, heated, and vented GH, so I am really leaning that way if I can get my yield projections dialed-in.


I'm thinking I'd need to veg plants to at least 1 gallon pots and then transplant into light-dep, similar to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN6p8QwncjE


Kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to get the plants large enough before transplant since my veg space would be limited to less than 100-200 sq.ft. And if I did dedicate more space to veg, I'd lose flower space, so I have to find that magic ratio.



Anybody out there doing light-dep and willing to share their rough yield numbers? I've read people claiming 0.03-0.06lbs/sq.ft (150-300g/sq.m), but I have no clue how big their plants were when they flipped them to flower. What planting density was most effective?
 

CrushnYuba

Well-known member
Those numbers for greenhouse pricing are way off. I bend my own steel greenhouses, and i know i could do a 2000sqft greeny for under 6kus with full automated black out, motorized roll up side vents on thermostat, and heat. If u got a kit i bet it could be under 10.
You can pull .05 lb a sq ft here in norcal, but that's totally dialed. Most people get less depending on strain, sun and how dialed.
You need to dedicate a little under 1/3 of your flower space for veg. For instance, i have a 20x60 (1200 sqft). It has 96 20 gallon pots. I use 300-400 sq ft of veg to veg for that in 3-5 gallon pots. I let them grow into the trellis for about 2 ish weeks in the flower greenhouse before i flip.
 
Thanks for your yield numbers and pot sizes! How many harvests are you able to pull in your area?


The $50,000 isn't so far off, keep in mind that's $CAD. I already have a professional Harnois greenhouse for tomatoes, so if I went the professional route, a 30x100ft with 15ft gothic peak isn't going to be under $15,000 delivered to my door, just for the steel and plastic. Cement footings, equipment rental, potentially having to grade the land, drop new electric service, etc. No way it's going to come out under $35,000 if I wanted to do an automated system. I wouldn't be able to do more than 2 harvests if I didn't go for such a large greenhouse because, in my micro-climate, I'd need to be heating it in April and mid-October, so spending +$40,000 to get a 3rd mold-free harvest is totally worth the investment.


Although I am reading your DIY greenhouse thread now and it's very helpful. I'm going to go ask a question there ;)
 

blastfrompast

Active member
Veteran
I guess the better question....have you grown mj at scale before outdoors?

Im doing 600ft total 1/2 half greenhouse, half straight light dep on skids pulled into outbuildings 48 plants total..

24 plants will be put out at 4fters , 24 will be 1ft bushes. 1fters going in greenhouse..

For me this is just a hobby....I've had some great years and some shit ones.......

only advise is
Dont let your plants get tooo big in the greenhouse...better a smaller crop that is clean than dumping a HUGE crop in the compost pile.....
 

CrushnYuba

Well-known member
Wow.. Moving them on skids.. Back in the day, when light depp was not wide spread, we used to do that super small scale. A few plants on dollies in the driveway that we pulled into the garage. What a pain, but back then it was really just an experiment to see off light dep could work.

I agree. One off the biggest first time mistake i's flipping them to late and letting em get to big. The other is improper support. It's never too early to trellis. Don't pre veg too long. Put them in small and let them grow into the trellis
 

petert

Member
I'm in Coastal BC and looking to get a micro-cultivator license. I'd be allowed 200 sq.meters of canopy, which is about 2,100 sq.ft (including vertical space/shelving. So no advantage to staking). This is pretty limited when you take into consideration the dropping prices and the required nursery space for cloning and veg.



I'm trying to crunch investment and return numbers. Was hoping to get 2-3 harvests a year in light-dep. I can for sure get 3 harvests if I invest +$50,000 in a heated, automated greenhouses, or 2 harvests in about $6,000 of hoop-houses. I'd get way better pest and mold control in a screened, heated, and vented GH, so I am really leaning that way if I can get my yield projections dialed-in.


I'm thinking I'd need to veg plants to at least 1 gallon pots and then transplant into light-dep, similar to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN6p8QwncjE


Kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to get the plants large enough before transplant since my veg space would be limited to less than 100-200 sq.ft. And if I did dedicate more space to veg, I'd lose flower space, so I have to find that magic ratio.



Anybody out there doing light-dep and willing to share their rough yield numbers? I've read people claiming 0.03-0.06lbs/sq.ft (150-300g/sq.m), but I have no clue how big their plants were when they flipped them to flower. What planting density was most effective?

I’m in north central Oregon. Last year I got three great harvests.
Started the first early April and harvested the third mid October!
I tried for s fourth. Bought heaters already had Gavitas. Cost WAY too much !!
 

DIYer

Active member
You can pull .05 lb a sq ft here in norcal, but that's totally dialed. Most people get less depending on strain, sun and how dialed.

That all? Seems low for light dep, from the numbers I've read I thought more like .1 to .15 per sq ft.

Reason I'm curious..
I'm in 11x70 777 sq ft light dep growing in what I call aeroponic NFT trenches. Buried res to stay cool.. and I pull .05 per sq ft with only 40 stalks, and I do it five times a year, easily pulling more than .5 per stalk.

I veg to roughly 14" tall then transplant and flip to flower into a full time rotational flower house, no artificial lighting needed here. Southwest dry year-round great sun no dehumidification cost helps a lot, but after a few years of dialing I'm now south of $100 a pound production cost and most think it's top shelf indoor, but I digress.

Anytime I see near 200 plants in soil in light dep I cringe at how inefficient soil is and I've been guessing 3-400 dollars per pound was spent growing it?
I was under the impression the only thing large scale had on me was total grams per square foot, but your figures say I'm right there. I thought there was no way industry would ever adopt the way I grow because of this.

I'm ranting now, but imo most in the industry are growing highly inefficiently, and their doing it in the wrong geographical locations worsening cost per gram numbers. Thank you 80 years of illegality. Once borders are legality able to be crossed I don't see how anyone outside the South West or Latin America competes.

✌️
 
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CrushnYuba

Well-known member
That all? Seems low for light dep, from the numbers I've read I thought more like .1 to .15 per sq ft.

Reason I'm curious..
I'm in 11x70 777 sq ft light dep growing in what I call aeroponic NFT trenches. Buried res to stay cool.. and I pull .05 per sq ft with only 40 stalks, and I do it five times a year, easily pulling more than .5 per stalk.

I veg to roughly 14" tall then transplant and flip to flower into a full time rotational flower house, no artificial lighting needed here. Southwest dry year-round great sun no dehumidification cost helps a lot, but after a few years of dialing I'm now south of $100 a pound production cost and most think it's top shelf indoor, but I digress.

Anytime I see near 200 plants in soil in light dep I cringe at how inefficient soil is and I've been guessing 3-400 dollars per pound was spent growing it?
I was under the impression the only thing large scale had on me was total grams per square foot, but your figures say I'm right there. I thought there was no way industry would ever adopt the way I grow because of this.

I'm ranting now, but imo most in the industry are growing highly inefficiently, and their doing it in the wrong geographical locations worsening cost per gram numbers. Thank you 80 years of illegality. Once borders are legality able to be crossed I don't see how anyone outside the South West or Latin America competes.

✌️

Soil And the way most light depp growers grow is WAY inefficient. Everyone wants to be "organic". Organic soil isn't more expensive though. It's most likely significantly less. The only way you Can touch the price of organics with synthetic nutes is by mixing up your own nutes with salts. Even powdered pre mixed nutes like jacks are more expensive. Consider an amendment like shutzmsn nutri-rich pellets. 4-3-2 with 7% calcium for 12$ for 50 lbs. Hard to find a cheaper base. It's almost complete. Synthetics do better in the yield department though.

Allot of efficiency loss is from isle space in larger greenhouses. The entire greenhouse isn't canopy. Heat is another thing that drastically reduces yield. Your climate may be more mild.
 

DIYer

Active member
Soil And the way most light depp growers grow is WAY inefficient. Everyone wants to be "organic". Organic soil isn't more expensive though. It's most likely significantly less. The only way you Can touch the price of organics with synthetic nutes is by mixing up your own nutes with salts. Even powdered pre mixed nutes like jacks are more expensive. Consider an amendment like shutzmsn nutri-rich pellets. 4-3-2 with 7% calcium for 12$ for 50 lbs. Hard to find a cheaper base. It's almost complete. Synthetics do better in the yield department though.

Allot of efficiency loss is from isle space in larger greenhouses. The entire greenhouse isn't canopy. Heat is another thing that drastically reduces yield. Your climate may be more mild.

Hey man thanks for the reply. This topic really interest me.

On a side note.. You're preaching to the organic denouncing choir. Something like 87% more land space would be required if everything was grown organically LOL. Every time I see the word on my veggies I cringe. They're not growing organically in Latin America where we get half our produce. And Latin America will be shipping us cheap cannabis soon as it's legal to.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kriskr...on-will-be-a-race-to-the-bottom/#5cf816b54184

You mentioned isle spacing inefficiency, and the canopy concept. I know this puts me on an island but, I think the canopy is a bad idea leftover from indoor production grows where it was necessary because penetration was poor. In my dep I'm down to two single plant rows at 1 meter trunk spacing. If I had another 100' of land East to West I'd have done one row twice as long and a hoop house half as wide.

I understand everyone pays for every sq ft of building, so did I, but filling every square foot doesn't lend itself to growing efficiently. Canopies don't help quality either.
Don't most grow houses miss out on the sun's immense penetrating power, that for most of the year is coming from the southern sky and doesn't even hit a canopy ideally? The South row is always biggest, so why not make it longer?

Another problem with the canopy concept is your left with a whole bunch of work to do come harvest time which leads to downtime in your flower house. Rotational allows more light in, more is produced for less, and everyone keeps working. Every light dep should be aiming for 5 crops a year. That's doable in the hot dry no snow little rain sunny South west where I'm at, no mild climate for me. There's no reason to have dehumidification or artificial lighting cost.

EDIT: Is artificial lighting being used in flower right now in May in greenhouses across the southwest? I would think not, and i would know its not needed. The only time most need artificial lighting during flower is in fall and winter because most are growing a canopy and the southern sun isn't penetrating 95% of it. The sun comes up everyday, were allowed to use it on weed now, and people are still paying lighting costs. Thats a byproduct of the canopy concept, and bad geographical location.
 
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