Marijuana Business Magazine January 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | January 2019 104 Best Practices | Cultivation The $15 million facility certainly wasn’t cheap. And while he uses sup- plemental lighting on cloudy days, he estimates that when the sun is out, his energy costs are about 50% lower than an indoor facility. “We looked at it from the stand- point of what’s the best long-term, low-cost production facility,” Van Wingerden said. “By far, that’s a glass greenhouse that utilizes the sun whenever it’s shining.” He’s targeting a cost of production of $400 per pound and believes that should give him an edge over com- petitors who are growing indoors in warehouses, which he estimates costs roughly $800-$1,000 per pound. Nutrients Joshua Haupt, a Denver grower and chief operating officer at Medicine Man Technologies, recommends not spend- ing too much when concocting a nutri- ent mix, or formula, for your plants. “If you’re spending $50-$80 a pound on nutrients, I would highly recommend looking at that formula,” he said. Your nutrient costs should range from $15 to $25 a pound all in, according to Haupt. “There’s a lot of over-the-top nutrient regimens out there,” he said of available commercial formula- tions. “Make sure you’re not stuck in one of those.” Van Wingerden blends his own ingredients. He uses a complex fertigation system that allows him to add ingredients such as nitrogen, potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate and phosphorous based on his own specifications. “We’re constantly making small adjustments,” he said. “But I’m not having to pay a nutrient company to come up with these things.” Peters of Oregon-based C21 Investments recommends culti- vators move away from bottled nutrient mixes that are specifically made for cannabis. If you can develop your own formulation, you can reduce your nutrient costs by as much as 85%, he said. “Right now, we’re paying a lot for marketing and advertising,” he said of the commercial mixes. But, he pointed out, it takes a lot of work and careful monitoring to test how your plants respond to your in-house formula. A good cultivator can work this out with extensive test- ing and experimentation. Hiring a soil scientist or consultant to help create an in-house system is another option. Lights For Peters, there’s one clear cost-saver when it comes to lighting: light emitting diodes, or LEDs. “If you are not already running LED lights or are in the process of budg- eting so you can transition to them in the near term, you’re behind,” he said. LEDs allow a grow to use less electricity to achieve the same yields, Peters said. “When the math is done to calcu- late the labor cost for replacement and disposal of HID (high-intensity discharge) bulbs, the savings is vast,” Peters said. “Everyone has a different technique for how long they run their bulbs, so it’s hard to pinpoint a price.” Based on coverage of the same space with a typical HID-spectrum grid, Peters estimates he sees 30%- 50% power savings with LEDs. “LEDs have caught up (to other lighting systems) in what they can do for the plant,” he added. Under LED lights, Peters has seen equal terpene production with yields of up to 2.01 grams per watt and 5.09 grams per cubic foot of flower- ing canopy space. “That’s honestly more than we ever accomplished with HID,” he added. Aside from the power costs to run LED lights, Peters has seen sub- stantial savings in air conditioning and dehumidification costs because the lights don’t run as hot as the commonly used HID lights. He also believes you can save money in the long run because LEDs last longer. Haupt recommends saving some cash by researching companies that sell lights and shopping around for the best deal. “There’s a lot of retailers out there who can give you a great deal and take care of you, but there’s also a lot of retailers who are selling snake oil,” he said. Finally, make sure you get a war- ranty in case your lights fail. “Because lights out is costing you money,” Haupt said, “you can’t let that stay that way for very long.” The natural light in SunMed's greenhouse saves about 50% in energy costs. Courtesy Photo