Cannabis Consulting: What Marijuana Growers Need To Know
In designing an efficient facility to grow medical marijuana, it is important that a well thought out plan is prepared and agreed to. Without this the cost of the project will escalate far above the budget. This plan needs to take into consideration all the requirements outlined in the regulations prepared by the governing body and the regulations of the municipality where the facility will be constructed.
In preparing the plan, it is advisable to have the participation of the master grower as he/she will ultimately be responsible for the quality and quantity of product grown. When the master grower is not onboard during the consulting phase, it is necessary to have more than one alternative available for discussion and budgeting.
The plan needs to cover among other things:
- Location
- Enclosed warehouse building or greenhouse
- Size of facility, number of rooms for veg, flowering, clones, mother plants, etc.
- HVAC or other heating and cooling methods
- Need for odor control
- Ventilation
- Growing method (pots on the ground or on benches, troughs, flood trays, etc)
- CO2 dosing
- Irrigation requirements depending on the growing method, the number of fertilizer recipes, the need for RO water purification, fertilizer water to waste or recirculation, etc.
- Lighting (HPS, MH, LED, florescent, induction, etc. ) and if it is supplemental as in a greenhouse, or primary lighting in a warehouse.
- Blackout shading for photoperiod for greenhouse growers
- Computer controls
- Mezzanine construction, and accessibility requirements for anything on additional floors
- Maximizing use of available space
In addition to the above, the plan needs to take into consideration site security, testing labs, storage, vault, offices, packaging, shipping etc. Much of this depends on the regulations and does not affect the growing of the product. GGS specializes in advanced growing systems and design, for the components that do not involve growing cannabis we work with an extensive network of professionals and can assist you in putting together the best team for your needs.
The extent of GGS’s input into the plan will depend on the in-house expertise and an initial meeting is needed to determine the amount of input that is required from GGS. This can be of a conceptual nature or it can include drawings, specifications, proposals from outside suppliers, etc. Once this has been agreed to, GGS can quote a fixed price or can work by the hour in developing the plan.
