Greenhouses Still Account for Only 1% of Cannabis Cultivation Centers

Marijuana Business Daily posted last week’s chart of the week, showing statistics from their Marijuana Business Factbook 2015. Cannabis cultivation in the US is still dominated by indoor marijuana growing facilities. Perhaps what is even more surprising than the domination of indoor grow ops over greenhouse marijuana growers, is that outdoor marijuana production is also six times greater than the marijuana production in greenhouses.

Coming from the commercial greenhouse industry this statistic seems implausible.  Cannabis grows very well in greenhouses, and the commercial scale of agriculture with all our technical advancements for environmental control lends itself very well to cannabis production.

At GGS we have a division dedicated to legal marijuana cultivation facilities, and we supply warehouse marijuana cultivation centers as well as turnkey marijuana greenhouse solutions.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both growing environments.  Indoor cannabis cultivation is likely to stay a significant part of the industry, however as marijuana continues to grow in popularity we will see an increase in greenhouse cultivation.

Why do Marijuana Growers prefer warehouse cultivation over greenhouse cultivation?

^{Michael Camplin, inside a Canadian medical marijuana warehouse that was installed with an integrated growing system by GGS}

1. Consider the Early Legislation

• With the exception of Colorado and Washington, and then Alaska and Oregon, in all the other states, and throughout Canada, marijuana is strictly for medical purposes.  Legislators looking to control production quality and security of a medicine are more likely to be comfortable with industrial warehouse manufacturing similar to the pharmaceutical industry than with greenhouses.

2. Urban Centers Are Where the Demand Is

• Throughout all forms of agriculture the “grow local” movement has spurred a rise in urban agriculture.  With marijuana cultivation allowed inside dispensary stores, grow local was logical. And converting existing commercial property into cannabis growing rooms is in the short term more cost effective than building roof top greenhouses.

3. It Is Smart to Stick to What the Grower Knows

• The initial crop experts, did not have much experience with greenhouse growing or any of the traditional agricultural environmental production methods. Master growers with cannabis crop experience typically had gained their experience through indoor grow-ops or outdoor field production.  These grower pioneers were entering a newly developing legal industry with plenty of uncertainty; it would not have been wise to experiment with new growing techniques at the start.

4. Controlled Environment Agriculture

• As much as sophisticated greenhouse technology has allowed us to control the greenhouse growing environment, growing in a completely enclosed warehouse environment does provide the ultimate in control by eliminating all external environmental factors such as natural light. With medical marijuana being put under the microscope, growers need to be 100% certain that all environmental inputs are exactly the same to achieve consistent lab testing.

5. While the Traditional Horticulture Industry Has Taken an Interest in the New Marijuana Possibilities, Most Are Not Looking to Jump into This Field

• On the surface growing a cannabis plant is similar to several other greenhouse crops, however growing the crop is only one important component of a successful business.  The appeal of a high value crop is undeniable, but the marketing, sale, distribution, and legal and regulatory environment are all vastly different than the industries served by traditional horticulture. For most greenhouse operators, getting into marijuana would require a completely new business plan, and either abandoning the current business or setting up to run two different corporations.  

Why will greenhouse cultivation of marijuana increase in popularity in the near future?

^{A GGS construction project building 3 gutter connected marijuana greenhouse ranges for a licensed grower in  Washington State started 4/20/2015}

1. Legislators Are Gaining Familiarity and Comfort with Greenhouses

• Even in Canada where the strictest of medical marijuana licensing regulations are in place, several greenhouse operators have been approved.  Colorado, Washington, Oregon, all are seeing more marijuana growers building greenhouses In fact according to the Marijuana Business Factbook 2015, Oregon is leading the nation in greenhouse marijuana cultivation. Add in the soon to be licensed Florida companies, where state legislation requires that the successful bidders be nursery growers with at least a 30 year history, and you can see that more politicians appreciate the agricultural nature of growing cannabis.

2. Greenhouse Technology Is Providing Solutions to Previous Concerns about Growing Cannabis

• The initial worries legislators had about greenhouse cultivation primarily stemmed around two issues: security, and smell.  Security issues were easily answered as greenhouse growers built fences, and installed sophisticated security monitoring systems.  The odor problem is also being worked on by several different technological advances.

3. While Urban Agriculture Has Its Place, Greenhouses Are Just More Cost Effective

• Large scale cannabis greenhouses have the benefit of decades of agricultural production advancements, and while the cannabis crop currently offers a high sales value, this in time will be reduced as we travel along the supply and demand curve.  Sophisticated business people recognize that the future success of growing cannabis will depend on automation and labor reduction, and for that greenhouse cultivation is the answer.

4. Marijuana Businesses Are Hiring Horticultural Grads from the Best Universities and Colleges

• The Master Grower profile is rapidly changing as marijuana businesses recognize the need for large scale agricultural production knowledge, as well as crop specific experience. As their growing facilities increase from several hundred square feet, to multiple acres, cannabis businesses realize they need technical knowledge and expertise not just of the cannabis plant, but of the whole production process, and the technology of controlled environments. This new crop of future master growers bring with them an understanding and comfort of growing in a greenhouse.

5. Advisors Like GGS Provide a Wealth of Knowledge for Marijuana Growing

• Crop knowledge, industry knowledge, and technical knowhow from companies that have helped growers get the most out of their crops regardless of whether they are growing in greenhouses or in enclosed warehouse buildings. This ensures that greenhouses are presented as a viable option.

In the end for some operations marijuana cultivation is best done in an industrial warehouse, and some marijuana businesses will be better to cultivate marijuana in a greenhouse.  At GGS our goal is to help our customers grow, we do this by taking the time to understand your unique needs.