[SirStynkalot]

^ And this is why no one hires people with previous growing experience. I'd eat a bag of dicks stuffed with hand grenades before I dealt with this special kind of something.

Also, what you're proposing for final harvest numbers is .75-1.0 grams per watt. In what reality is that a safe estimate for a new commercial op run by a guy whose only experience is with a single light over a 10x10 area? Do you even grow?

If anyone on this site ever wants to get hired in the industry and finds a boss who hasn't been around other growers long enough to realize what a huge mistake hiring one of us is, I would strongly recommend against telling them their bottom line doesn't mean anything to you, all you care about is lots of big pretty plants, or that they're lucky to get whatever income from their business you don't feel like keeping for yourself.

Khaleel, I hate to be a naysayer and I'm sure you've done well with what you've tried in the past, but I think this is probably going to be a whole lot for you to chew. For a quick example of what I mean, you should probably learn how to grow using 1x 1000w light per 16 square feet of plant canopy before you scale up. Just that difference is going to cost you thousands upon thousands of dollars in wasted rent and increased crop turnaround times. If it's a deliberate choice after learning both ways that's one thing, but if it's just your personal habit that's a huge problem. There are a lot of other differences like that between hobbyist production and economically viable models of commercial production. If you do continue then good luck and feel free to PM me if you just can't figure out something.

I also recommend ordering all the back issues of Marijuana Venture magazine. It's a great magazine. It'll answer a lot of your questions and the advertisements are directed specifically toward commercial growers. One of the few promises I will make to the general public is that this magazine is good for this specific use. I read through every issue and think to myself, "FUCK. There goes my competitive edge." Seriously. My boss calls me to tell me about an article in the newest issue and I usually end up accidentally swearing loudly in her ear because I already knew that but I didn't want all of my competitors to. She does not appreciate the habit at all.

[Yes4Prop215]

can i have your investor?


but seriously man, 4000 sq ft and you only want to run 36kw and run 1kw over 100 sw ft?

you have a long ways to go homie, just on the general learning scale curve for growing.

4000 sq ft is tiny by CO legal standards and could be built and run solely and without investors. 40000 sq ft and i could see taking on some outside money.

[manic]

standardisation...knowin where to han the lihts, and bein able how much light overlap where, and why
getting to know the hardware, and knowing what to look for
pinponting issuesm and recocnising them at first sign
reading and feeling the plants
being meticulate , and cool about it towards coworkers
and thats just the start

doing big grows takes big minds, and thourough approach
having to ask the question you did ask leads me to the impression your learning curce ought to be damn steep to keep up with reality

be well

[AAinAA]

I have never met an investor that didn't want to produce the best of the best. That being said I would secure your genetics before anything. Then make sure you have your hvac guy lined up and an electrician.

If the investment doesn't pay itself off by the second harvest something is wrong.

I would recommend running Under Currents for hydro or coco amended with organics and supplemented with teas. For best of the best follow the latter. For easy massive production go with the former.

I've never managed more than 12k though.

[cheesyblues187]

Under 1000 4 plants but remember 2/4 lights nothing like 30 my advice divide the space into 10 light rooms get each enviroment correct and boom go at it

[Cogollo33]

Well Im dont know a shit about feats, inchs, etc... So i will talk about square meters, with an 1000w bulb u can light a 1'5 square meter, and two options in there, seeds and cuts, running seeds u can put between 12 and 20 plants in 7l containers (talking of soil) cuts u can put around 40/60, maeby more.
With seeds u need give them between 3 and 5 weeks of grown time, with cuts the isue come from where to take all this cuts and the work that can be for all this room.
How i see u need a grown room for mother plants and cuts, and other flower room that make it more easy and productive, so u can keep some mothers and put in and out in flower room making it continuosly.
The real iissue come from air and temps things, thats can be different and need to be adjust deppending of how u put things how many 1000w, temps, humydity... Etc...
Sorry for my poor english and hope it can help u almost at how many plants and how many can light a 1000w, u need to scale for u needs

[betshtick]

Originally Posted by Khaleel

Hi there, I'm an old time icmag'r. I hung up the farming shears to be a dad and go legit. Now it's a few years later, and I've been approached by someone looking for an investment in the Colorado legal cannabis industry. They want to do only high end. Best of the best. I have had great success in the past with organics and top shelf herb, but only on a scale of a couple thousand watt lights. This is going to be more like 35 thousand watts. I need to come up with some figures, though. So please help me out. What are some conservative estimates for yield per square foot, how many square feet can a 1000 watt cover, how many plants, how much per plant? My experience was about ten plants under a 1000w,and about two ounces per plant. Was thinking one 1000w covered 100 ft2. 20 oz for every 100 ft2 sound about right? Let's not get lost in the weeds with the obvious stuff--of course sativas and Indicas will bloom and produce differently. I need a good solid number to convince a guy to put a few hundred grand into a khaleel-run farm. I can't say well it depends on this and that and this. I need a solid number to run projections. That kind of thing. Thanks for your help!
)

I do agree with the guy that said everything is scalable. However, scaling 2kw -> 4-6kw is one thing. Going to 20-40kw+ is a really big leap.

No idea what your total power allotment and layout would be like, but most of the serious home growers I work with run 5-10kw and our commercial guys tend to start at ~40kw of bloom +veg/cooling etc. They are all pulling 2-3lbs per 1kw on the regular. So, I'd say 20oz/1kw is probably on the low side, but I wouldn't use a higher number for your projections until you are reliably pulling more. Look very closely at all of your costs to make sure that you'll be profitable. Visit your local grow shops and ask for a quote on all the gear you'll need, chat those guys up, some really know their stuff and you can get insane deals when you're shopping for 10+ lights. You will also need to know other startup costs, ongoing monthly costs and costs per run. What about staff, advertising, security, legal? How is this being sold? etc. etc.

I'm sure you know there are a ton of things to consider, just saying the more thorough you are the more likely you'll be to get this guy's green to grow your green

[coldcanna]

Honestly you need to hire somebody that's been doing it on that scale for awhile- his salary will be payed for many times over by the consistent yields and your business will come out of the gates hot. Pros are hitting 2.5 units per Gavita, 40 lights times 5 harvests per year you could be talking hundreds of pounds difference from accumulated errors by doing it alone. First impressions are everything and you don't want any chance of sub par nugs hitting the market or getting behind on finances as a result of the learning curve of that scale. Opening a brewery you need an experienced brewer, a restaurant you need a well known chef, a pot op you need a professional horticulturist... that's not hating on you it's just business sense. Not to say you should back away by any means- something that size you can still be involved growing and also help handle some of the management aspects of it. You'll learn a lot from the pro and as the operation expands you can focus more on the aspects you like.

I strongly advise you to watch medicropper's youtube videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTHAIeXLC0w

he's been growing for years in 15K+ gardens, and upgraded to a new huge facility and he is having major troubles. It would be unfair to your investors to act like you can handle that scale of operation when you've only done 2kw gardens.

[Yes4Prop215]

growing pains…fuck it i say let all these investors learn the hard way.

hiring someone with only bedroom growing experience to run a warehouse = lolz.