When it comes to commercial cannabis growing equipment, your indoor lighting is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. This doesn’t simply refer to the lighting you use to light up your offices or facilities- you need special lighting for your plants to ensure that they grow effectively.
Indoor growers usually choose between two types of lighting for their plants- HPS Grow Lights and LED Grow Lights. Generally, High-Pressure Sodium lights are the better choice. It’s suggested that these lights are much more consistent for quality indoor growing. However, it’s also important to find the right type of HPS lights that are primed for cannabis growing.
No matter which choice you prefer, make sure you find high-quality lights that have a good track record among growers. Proper indoor plant lighting will use a lot of energy, but you can make up for it by implementing efficient energy solutions such as solar power.
Another one of the most important things to invest in for an indoor growing operation is proper HVAC (Heat, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) equipment. Effective temperature control is crucial for growing cannabis. You need the ability to constantly change the temperature according to the needs of your plants, and failing to do so can result in problems for your cannabis.
Ventilation is also important. It’s best to have an open ventilation system that uses carbon exhaust filters. This will help ensure that you have clean and efficient airflow in your growing facilities.
Overall, you’ll want to install the best industrial HVAC system for your growing facility, allowing you to control the temperature and airflow of the entire area. This will ensure that you can keep your plants at the optimum conditions for their growth.
Humidity control is also important for any indoor growing facility. If the relative humidity of your facility is too high and there’s too much moisture in your air, you run the risk of your plants growing mold and mildew. This can swiftly ruin entire crops, so you’ll want to avoid this mistake at all costs.
Low humidity can be just as disastrous. If the humidity of your growing area is too low, it can stunt the growth of your plants and make them dry and wilted. It also makes your plants much more inviting for pests such as spider mites. As such, you’ll need a humidity control system that allows you to see the humidity of your growing facility so you can control it.
Controlling the humidity of your growing area is just as important as controlling the temperature and airflow. You’ll want to keep your facility at the optimum level of humidity to optimize the growth of your plants. What’s more, humidity control also helps when it comes to drying and curing plants- you need to keep humidity at an appropriate level to avoid ruining the buds you’ve harvested.
When you’re growing cannabis plants, you’ll need to measure their pH and TDS levels quickly and effectively. These factors can affect how efficiently your plants absorb nutrients and, although you might not need to worry too much in the short-term, they can impact the growth of your plants if you don’t take care of them.
Every growing operation should have high-quality pH and TDS measuring equipment to ensure that they keep their plants at the right levels for maximum growth. Don’t skimp on this- you’ll want tools that give you clear, accurate pH and TDS measurements without the need for constant recalibration. This will help ensure your plants get the nutrition they need and grow as effectively as possible.
When you’re running a high-scale growing operation, it isn’t just your plants that you need to worry about. You’ll also need to consider how to keep your employees safe from any potential hazards in the facility. As such, you’ll need to invest in various pieces of protective equipment for your personnel, including UV light protection.
UV Light Protection includes hats, sunscreen, and even protective eyewear to shield your employees from the UV lights that are present in any grow operation. Outdoor growers will need to be protected from UV rays from the sun whereas indoor growers may need protection from UV growing lights.
Gloves are essential for any cannabis growing operation. Cannabis plants are often exposed to all kinds of sprays and materials, and employees who handle these plants may end up with skin irritation or even end up getting unwanted materials in their eyes. What’s more, gloves can also help protect your plants when they’re being handled by employees.
Trimming equipment is also a must. When it comes to harvesting your plants, gloves and trimmers go hand-in-hand. Your employees will need to handle your cannabis plants delicately and gently trim away at the excess plant material until they’re left with the buds. Having high-quality trimmers helps ensure they can get the job done quickly and easily without damaging the plants.
In addition to gloves and UV protection, you’ll also need some other protective equipment for your employees. Working in a cannabis growing facility often involves exposure to things such as pesticides, bright lighting, and various other potential hazards. Protective gear can also help protect the plants that your employees handle.
Respirators are important for ensuring your employees don’t inhale contaminants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and the chemicals used to help your plants grow. Your employees will also need protective eyewear when they’re spraying plants with chemicals. Antibacterial soap should be used for cleaning their hands regularly and you should also provide your employees with aprons and coveralls to protect your plants.
Before harvesting cannabis plants, growers need to carefully check the plant’s trichomes. Trichomes are the bulbous growths that appear on cannabis buds and they can tell you a lot about the plants you’re growing, such as how far along in the growing process they are and how much THC they contain.
Although some growers simply check their plants’ trichomes without any extra equipment, professional growers will need to invest in some professional magnifying equipment. This will ensure that you can get a close look at the trichomes of your plants and harvest them at the perfect time.
There are a few options for this. For instance, an LED Magnifying Glass has lights that make it easier to assess the trichomes of your plants as well as checking for mold, mildew, and any other issues. You can also use a Microscope or even a Jeweler’s Loupe to assess your plants thoroughly.
While it might seem obvious, one of the most important items on any commercial cannabis growing checklist is plant containers. Containers have various functions. Not only do they help keep your plants contained in one place, but they can also help protect them from things like pests and excess moisture.
Plant containers are important whether you’re growing indoors or outdoors. While outdoor growers might be tempted to simply plant seeds in the soil, using containers helps avoid your plants being ruined by flooding and keeps them away from pests. Make sure you get some high-quality containers for your growing needs.
Another simple essential that you’ll need for growing cannabis is soil. Unless you’re planning on setting up a hydroponic growing operation, buying the right kind of soil is essential for growing high-quality cannabis plants. There are many types of soil you can use, but it’s best to use nutrient-enriched super soil for growing cannabis plants.
You should also buy nutrients for your plants. Cannabis plants need nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium. While they can often get these from the soil you use, you might also want to use nutrient-enriched water to feed your plants in the early stages of growth.
Naturally, you’ll also need plenty of seeds when it comes to growing cannabis. Seeds can be found in many varieties, but it’s important to buy the right ones. Regular seeds have a 50/50 chance of producing male or female cannabis plants. However, male plants don’t produce THC-rich marijuana flowers and can even prevent female plants from producing them. As such, you’ll need to buy feminized cannabis seeds.
You might even want to buy autoflowering feminized seeds. Not only do these produce female marijuana plants, but they also grow much faster than normal feminized seeds. For a high-scale growing operation, you’ll likely want to buy a range of cannabis seeds so you can produce many different strains of marijuana.
Seeds can be bought in bulk from seed banks. Alternatively, you can also use clones. Clones are cuttings from mature cannabis plants that you can then plant to produce more cannabis plants of the same type. As you start to grow cannabis plants, you might want to take clones from your best plants and plant them to produce more high-quality cannabis.
After your plants have been harvested, cured, and dried, you might need to store them for a while before you ship them off to retailers or other organizations. As such, you’ll need to invest in some safe cannabis storage equipment. Cannabis storage can be tricky as you’ll need to keep your buds at the right temperature and avoid them being damaged by light, moisture, and air.
While glass containers are useful for storing small amounts of cannabis, commercial growing companies often use vacuum-sealed packaging for storing mass amounts of harvested weed. What’s more, these packages need to be kept in a safe and secure vault with temperature control. Walk-in freezers or cold storage units are often useful for this as they allow you to keep your cannabis cool, dry, and away from light.
Security is crucial for all kinds of businesses, and cannabis growing companies are no exception. Not only will you have a lot of valuable stock to protect, but you’ll also need to protect all of the expensive equipment inside your facility that you’ve invested in. Setting up some cameras and alarms can help deter would-be burglars or catch them in the act.
While it’s important to protect your facilities against burglars, it’s also important to remember that most security issues come from employees. Make sure you set up security measures inside the premises, including identity badges and plenty of surveillance equipment to make sure you have video evidence if any problems occur inside your facility.
If you’re planning on starting a cannabis growing operation, you’ll need to invest in the best commercial cannabis growing equipment. Consider everything from the things you need to grow your crops effectively to the security measures you’ll need from your premises. This list will help you get everything you need for a successful cultivation company.
Don’t forget that there are some extra things you’ll want to invest your funds into. For instance, you’ll need to pay for staffing, insurance, licensing, and various other functions. You might also want to market your company to potential clients. For help with your cannabis business fowning, check out Cannabis Promotions.