Commercial Scale - Stacked - Rotary Gardens

[CnnbsMxms]

Hello everyone!

I have been a passive beneficiary of these forums for about 8 years now. I never participated, though I have been growing these past 8 years, due to having the type of job that frowns upon such and has the resources to find me out, but I just quit! Hooray! and with the capital to start my dream job

Anywho... Fast forward to today, and I have $1 million in capital, just closed the lease on a 5,000 sq ft former auto service facility in Colorado, about to start the state licensing and contractor build out process, and then (hopefully) I will finally be living the dream running a dispensary and edibles company in beautiful CO!!

On to the point of this post

I am wondering if anyone knows of, has pictures, or has seen with their own eyes, commercial stacked rotary grows. An example would be the roto-gro 420 stackable unit.

My experience is mostly hydroponic (dwc, nft, and f&D), but I have also grown in soil and coco.

I did about 8 hours of online research yesterday, and was unable to find any solid accounts of these rotary grows delivering on their promises of 2-4X yields. Obviously, the idea of increasing the flowering potential of my square footage by a factor of 2-12! (12X being rotary units stacked 3 high), has me seriously wanting to know the practicality of this grow method.

Anyway, I hope I have provided suitable context to define my question, which is: Has anyone seen Rotary grow methods used in a commercial environment successfully?

Thanks for any help or advice you can offer!!

 

[Tead]

I saw a good bit of them many years ago... but I think it was mostly a minor fad sort of thing.
I have see some circular grow configurations that are stationary.
Of course, I'm just reporting observations... not any actual data.

 

[CnnbsMxms]

Do you think it was a fad due to the units not being able to deliver quality buds?

I would think that would have to be the reason, because the math, as far as scalability, output, and efficiency is staggering.

I am waiting on a call back from a certain company's sales team to see if they can get me access to a commercial facility using these things properly.

 

[Tead]

I would guess that their popularity may have waned simply due to the complexity needed to implement such a system.
Drippy water trays... rotating devices and drive systems... it would all seem to add up to some regular problems.
Again... just my opinion... not based on any factual data.

 

[CnnbsMxms]

Ok, thanks for your replies Tead!

I would gladly trade regular maintenance (checking drive chains, having replacement motors stocked, etc) for 4-12X flower potential, but I am totally unconvinced that these claims are actually possible without seeing someone actually do it.

I may just go with my original plan of doing coco dtw tables (coco seems to be the commercial medium of choice in CO) and order 1 or 2 rotary grow units for some R&D.

 

[Tead]

A good rule of thumb to use around here seems to be "follow the lead". Our growing methods percolate thru the years with best practices usually floating to the top. I can't help but imagine that if rotary gardens gave that much production boost, there would be a lot more growers doing it. It's been around for a very long time after all.

I'm sure you'll be able to settle into a growing routine that will work. Look to grow methods other large scale growers are using in your area. Take established paths in your journey ahead... you'll bleed much less.

For the record, I'd love to see 10 or 20 gallon hempy grows in a commercial setup. Seems you could get some really good commercial yields that way with a system that would be fool proof (ish). Of course, I'll probably have to make that dream come true myself instead of waiting for others.

 

[Tead]

I did some searching and found some old stuff in the completed grow journals forum. You might check there if you want some design ideas. I saw some Volksgarden and Rotogrow examples along with a DIY build from PVC.

 

[c526]

some of this maybe cart before the horse

you havent secured a license yet?? have you been in the state for 2 full years??

hmmm I had to buy property last year before I could even be looked at,1 MILL IS A START,they wanted a bank wallet of 1.5 mill before they would consider me,cash was not my problem,residency was.

greenest vibes on your journey,I will go look at new rules regulations

 

[businessman]

Whats the difference of a rotary and a verticle grow surrounded by the light in the middle? I know the actual difference of the setup but wouldn't the results be the same and less expensive of a setup?

seems to be the same to me

 

[J189RFC]

Well the rotary growing system will fit in a 4sq/M area. The problem though is just as posted. They are complicated to run because you have to think you have 80~ small plants getting watered four times a day for 5 mins, if im not mistaken through a wicking process. There is a large motor, a large tank, but your still dealing with a sea of green in a rotatting tube. I perfered the colloseum grow system when I was looking at them. Its a small space, drip style vertical grow. No extra motors or supports or blah blah. Pretty straight forward. All the accounts I've read from the volksgardens was that getting enough clones was a pain, flowering them quickly was a pain, chopping down 80 tiny ass plants was a pain, not burning the tops was a pain etc etc etc. If you were to grow 80 plants regular sure you would need more lights(maybe) and a larger foot print, but you could grow them bigger than the 30cm you might get with that.

Good luck to you in your adventure!

 

[CnnbsMxms]

A good rule of thumb to use around here seems to be "follow the lead". Our growing methods percolate thru the years with best practices usually floating to the top. I can't help but imagine that if rotary gardens gave that much production boost, there would be a lot more growers doing it. It's been around for a very long time after all.

I'm sure you'll be able to settle into a growing routine that will work. Look to grow methods other large scale growers are using in your area. Take established paths in your journey ahead... you'll bleed much less.

For the record, I'd love to see 10 or 20 gallon hempy grows in a commercial setup. Seems you could get some really good commercial yields that way with a system that would be fool proof (ish). Of course, I'll probably have to make that dream come true myself instead of waiting for others.

I agree with all of this, and thank you Tead! Although, I will have to research the hempy method, as I'm currently unfamiliar.

I am leaning towards coco beds for 90% of our plant count, but I will reserve 10% for R&D. Maybe buy one of the roto growers to try out and see if it has failed due to a permanently flawed design or whether it's just really difficult. If it's just difficulty (lots of clones, attention, experience, etc) then it is definitely worth learning.

 

[CnnbsMxms]

some of this maybe cart before the horse

you havent secured a license yet?? have you been in the state for 2 full years??

hmmm I had to buy property last year before I could even be looked at,1 MILL IS A START,they wanted a bank wallet of 1.5 mill before they would consider me,cash was not my problem,residency was.

greenest vibes on your journey,I will go look at new rules regulations

Hi C526!

I have been in the state for 5 years. My attorney and I have done our due diligence on the space we are leasing in Aurora, CO, and the landlord is looking to rent it out to growers, specifically. It is also properly zoned for MIPS. All of my funding is single source, in state, and bank balance will not be an issue. If I can't build a profitable business with a million bucks, then I should go retire to Kansas in shame :surrender:The lease has been written to be contingent on my company obtaining licensing. If I don't for any reason, then the lease becomes null and void.

Being that I'm about to spend a modest retirement on getting this started right, I am writing a detailed business plan, and the equipment cost and room design need to be locked in before the contractor starts building. Right now, I am trying to get my contractor in the space ASAP to get the buildout done, as it and preliminary approval from the dept of revenue both have to be done before we can be fully licensed and permitted by the city of Aurora.

I am thinking, now that I'm going to be "out" to all friends and family regarding this industry, that I might start a journal here to document the entire process. It is certainly going to be an adventure!

 

[CnnbsMxms]

Whats the difference of a rotary and a verticle grow surrounded by the light in the middle? I know the actual difference of the setup but wouldnt the results be the same and less expensive of a setup?

seems to be the same to me

Hi businessman,

The difference, as far as my interests are concerned, is the fact that Roto-Gro model 420 is stackable up to 3 units high. Also, if you want to see the hypothetical deathstar of growing, google "farmdominium"

 

[c526]

please do start a journal,give us an inside look at all of this.will be a very interesting read.

 

[Tead]

I'd second that!

 

[businessman]

Hi businessman,

The difference, as far as my interests are concerned, is the fact that Roto-Gro model 420 is stackable up to 3 units high. Also, if you want to see the hypothetical deathstar of growing, google "farmdominium"

seems to much to. The cost of building out somthing like that would outweigh your expenses to just buy a bigger building

 

[J189RFC]

Yes please do start a journal and let us know how you are progressing. Very few large scale legal producers have documented their whole process. As things move forward over the next decade this could help a lot of new entrepreneurs. Help them avoid the pitfalls that Canadian Big Business medical Producers are running into right now.... Like quality control and balancing shareholders and medical patience needs/wants.

 

[CnnbsMxms]

seems to much to. The cost of building out somthing like that would outweigh your expenses to just buy a bigger building

It does not matter how big of a space you are growing in. If stackable Rotary Gardens perform as advertised, one could multiply their yield per square foot by 12 if units were stacked three high. That is worth a one time upfront expense to me, even if I have to stock extra replacement motors and what not.

There are 3 potential scenarios to consider, the way I see it:

A) there is an inherent design flaw that prevents the rotary garden from finishing grows reliably.

B) it is very difficult, but achievable for an experienced and diligent grower.

C) it is too difficult, because of the cannabis plant and it's particular needs, that producing a good harvest, even for the experience and diligent grower, produces less then a traditional and reliable method would per square foot.

I am going to set aside a percentage of my grow space for Research and development. That is the only way for me to feel like I know for sure, unless I can find a commercial grower somewhere in the country already having success with the rotary method.

 

[CnnbsMxms]

Yes please do start a journal and let us know how you are progressing. Very few large scale legal producers have documented their whole process. As things move forward over the next decade this could help a lot of new entrepreneurs. Help them avoid the pitfalls that Canadian Big Business medical Producers are running into right now.... Like quality control and balancing shareholders and medical patience needs/wants.

Journaling the process sounds like a fun and worthwhile thing to do! I will keep this thread updated to document the process of retail marijuana licensing in Colorado (so, I'm guessing I should change the title?), and I will start a separate one as soon as we get architectural drawings and a buildout plan for our space, to document the grow, extraction processes, research and development, and any other beneficial information that may come from this great adventure!

Thanks for all your feedback

 

[CnnbsMxms]

Just an update: I am meeting with a project manager from Xcel energy about upgrading the buildings total power. Estimated cost to bring necessary power to (3) 20,000 sq ft buildings (of which I only have 5,000 sq ft) is estimated to be 200-250K. The HOA of the building park is trying to negotiate (aka pass the buck) exactly who will be paying for this upgrade. Until we figure this out, everyone in the park is hamstrung. Hopefully, we'll get some good news from the Xcel project manager today.