The 5 Biggest Mistakes Medical Marijuana Growers Make when Setting up a Growing Facility

1. Trying to put together a growing system piece by piece
If you are getting your benching from one supplier, irrigation from another, and lights from someone else. Who is coordinating everything? Did you make sure that the benches are being designed to suit the irrigation system you chose? Did you make sure to define all the sensors you are using, and did you make sure not to forget to qualify whether the irrigation sensors are supplied by the irrigation company or the computer company. Is the company who is installing your air filtration and cooling systems completely aware of every detail in your lights, or did you forget something that will create a difference in the heat output and throw off your whole system? The automated growing equipment available to commercial growers when properly designed as an integrated system can not only provide better traceability and uniform quality, it can increase the amount of production.

2. Relying on Equipment used by small grow ops
For licensed Medical Marijuana growers ensuring consistent quality control in a 6,000+ square foot facility is much more complicated than operating a small 400 sqft grow op. The growing systems need to be built to handle the size you are today but also the growth you have planned. Proper consultation with experts in scaling growing rooms is necessary. And as a commercial scale facility there are options for automation that you may have never heard of before.

3. Not Establishing a Strong Partnership with your Equipment Supplier
Because medical cannabis is a high value crop, do your due diligence when finding an equipment supplier to partner with. Ask for references, and if possible go see their factory and office buildings. Make sure this is a company that can stand behind their products and services, and that they represent quality. Cutting corners is not going to get Medical Marijuana licenses approved, and you need to make sure your partner is capable in coming through for you.

4. Not automating the growing process in order to ensure consistent quality
Those with knowledge of the Medical Marijuana application process say that what makes a company an acceptable candidate to Canadian authorities is a vigilant focus on quality control and compliance with government regulations at the forefront of operations. By working with complete integrated growing systems, light levels, irrigation timing, specific fertilizing mix, air filtration, cooling, and heating, can all be adjusted automatically based on the needs of your marijuana plants. All details are monitored and recorded on the environmental computer. Any deviations can be rapidly identified, and corrected. Now that is the kind of quality control that impresses government inspectors.

5. Waiting until the last minute
We are still getting frequent calls from operations that need benches, and irrigation systems manufactured and installed right away because Health Canada’s inspection of their Medical Marijuana facility is in 2 weeks. Fortunately for many of these last minute rushes we have been able to work with the growers to satisfy their immediate needs. But I don’t recommend counting on rush orders. No one wants to lay out money before it is needed, but in the critical start of a business plan, this is not an inspection you can afford to miss. Plan ahead and get set up before your inspection is scheduled.

You can learn more about integrated marijuana growing systems designed to maximize production, and how the GGS team works closely with growers to customize solutions for your needs.