The city's newest cannabis-growing supply store next week will unveil their "big bud boxes," stainless steel containers for growing medical marijuana.
Starting at 4:20 p.m. Monday, the eve of "420" (April 20), the counterculture holiday when people gather to celebrate and consume marijuana, iGrow will host "Cannaland," a free party and cannabis carnival with more than 50 vendors selling everything from T-shirts to bongs.
Also on display and for sale will be three models of the superstore's new self-contained growing units: sheet metal boxes equipped with lights, water systems, motion sensors, alarms and fire sprinklers.
"It's a turnkey system," said Tom Del Sol, of GrowOp Technology, which produces the units in a leased Oakland warehouse. "You plug in electricity and hook up the water, and everything is in place to start growing."
The "big bud boxes," as some call them, range from 12 feet long to a 53-foot, refrigerated 18-wheeler that was retired because of a sluggish trucking industry, Del Sol said. Prices range from $9,000 to $60,000.
Under an Oakland City Council resolution, people with a medical recommendation or patient identification card are allowed to grow as many as 72 plants indoors, keep a 36-square-foot growing area, have 20 plants outdoors and possess up to three pounds of dried marijuana.
"Basically, a person can roll the box into a garage or basement or backyard, hook up the water and electricity, and begin growing cannabis plants. They are entirely self-contained," said Dhar Mann, the 25-year-old owner and operator of iGrow, a one-stop shop for cannabis-growing supplies that opened in January near Oakland International Airport. "Each one comes with surveillance systems so you can remotely monitor your grow operation. It also creates less of a nuisance for neighbors, and they require little or no home modification."
Fire prevention?
The biggest draw, perhaps, could be the chance to alleviate grow-room fires, which are increasingly common in Oakland.
"There are fires. People rent houses without letting the landlord know what they are doing, and then they start their grow," Del Sol said. "And the neighbors would determine that there was something going on, and there can be problems."
In late December, a fire at a former fortune cookie factory in downtown Oakland led to the discovery of at least 1,000 marijuana plants worth about $500,000, police said. Authorities said the small fire was sparked by an electrical malfunction in the 7,000-square-foot building that had not been a working fortune cookie factory, bakery or retail outlet for at least a year.
Last October, an overloaded electrical box sparked a small electrical fire at a West Oakland commercial building where hundreds of pot plants were flourishing under grow lights. There are many other examples of similar fires in Oakland and other cities.
Oakland police don't know the exact number of grow operations in the city because they get the attention of police and firefighters only when there is a crime or a fire, police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason said. Police said there are indoor marijuana growing operations of varying sizes – from a few small plants to thousands of flourishing ones – across the city.
Another big draw for the boxes is that just about anyone can grow medical marijuana – or anything, for that matter – inside the containers, Mann and Del Sol said.
"With this, you don't need to know anything," Del Sol said. "We've got the support of the Grow Squad (workers at iGrow trained in growing marijuana) and UniCan."
A portion of the iGrow warehouse at 70 Hegenberger Loop is sectioned off for the 25 online classes offered by the University of Cannabis, or UniCan, also recently launched and run by Mann. Courses cover everything from the "Global History of Hemp" to "Sharpening Your Green Thumb" to "The Brain, the Body & the Bud." Classes, which run from $40 to $60, may be taken at iGrow or on one's own computer.
Payoff expected
Indigo Moonstar, of San Francisco, said he considers himself a "top-ranked amateur" at growing cannabis. He recently put a deposit down on the 12-foot-long container, which he plans to put on a friend's property in Santa Cruz. In that city, he said, each person with a medical marijuana card can keep a 100-square-foot area for growing medical cannabis, he said.
When the unit is complete in six to eight weeks, Moonstar said he'll pay $9,000 for it. He believes it will pay off.
"There's definitely a higher return on the investment in growing cannabis," he said. The unit will help him monitor pH levels and help with pest control, he added.
The iGrow containers also could be used by medical marijuana dispensaries. Oakland has four medical cannabis clubs, the maximum allowed in the city. (The city is, however, in the process of trying to revoke the permit of one dispensary.)
"A dispensary can take one of these and drop it in their parking lot and start growing certified, safe and organic medicine for their patients," Del Sol said.
Not all of the three dozen people who have put down deposits on the units are planning to use them to grow pot. Derrick Sowden, owner of two Bella Cucina restaurants in Orange County, is going to purchase the long-haul truck model to grow tomatoes and other fresh produce for his restaurants.
"I've grown organically all my life, and I thought it was a good medium to have control over the products we are serving to our guests," he said.
# if you go WhAT: iGrow's 420 Eve Party, featuring more than 50 vendors, entertainment, food and a costume contest.
# Where: 70 Hegenberger Loop, Oakland
# When: 4:20 to 8:30 p.m. Monday
# Cost: Free
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Inside Bay Area
Author: Kristin Bender
Contact: Inside Bay Area
Copyright: 2010 Bay Area News Group
Website: Just in time for '420': Self-contained pot-growing devices
Starting at 4:20 p.m. Monday, the eve of "420" (April 20), the counterculture holiday when people gather to celebrate and consume marijuana, iGrow will host "Cannaland," a free party and cannabis carnival with more than 50 vendors selling everything from T-shirts to bongs.
Also on display and for sale will be three models of the superstore's new self-contained growing units: sheet metal boxes equipped with lights, water systems, motion sensors, alarms and fire sprinklers.
"It's a turnkey system," said Tom Del Sol, of GrowOp Technology, which produces the units in a leased Oakland warehouse. "You plug in electricity and hook up the water, and everything is in place to start growing."
The "big bud boxes," as some call them, range from 12 feet long to a 53-foot, refrigerated 18-wheeler that was retired because of a sluggish trucking industry, Del Sol said. Prices range from $9,000 to $60,000.
Under an Oakland City Council resolution, people with a medical recommendation or patient identification card are allowed to grow as many as 72 plants indoors, keep a 36-square-foot growing area, have 20 plants outdoors and possess up to three pounds of dried marijuana.
"Basically, a person can roll the box into a garage or basement or backyard, hook up the water and electricity, and begin growing cannabis plants. They are entirely self-contained," said Dhar Mann, the 25-year-old owner and operator of iGrow, a one-stop shop for cannabis-growing supplies that opened in January near Oakland International Airport. "Each one comes with surveillance systems so you can remotely monitor your grow operation. It also creates less of a nuisance for neighbors, and they require little or no home modification."
Fire prevention?
The biggest draw, perhaps, could be the chance to alleviate grow-room fires, which are increasingly common in Oakland.
"There are fires. People rent houses without letting the landlord know what they are doing, and then they start their grow," Del Sol said. "And the neighbors would determine that there was something going on, and there can be problems."
In late December, a fire at a former fortune cookie factory in downtown Oakland led to the discovery of at least 1,000 marijuana plants worth about $500,000, police said. Authorities said the small fire was sparked by an electrical malfunction in the 7,000-square-foot building that had not been a working fortune cookie factory, bakery or retail outlet for at least a year.
Last October, an overloaded electrical box sparked a small electrical fire at a West Oakland commercial building where hundreds of pot plants were flourishing under grow lights. There are many other examples of similar fires in Oakland and other cities.
Oakland police don't know the exact number of grow operations in the city because they get the attention of police and firefighters only when there is a crime or a fire, police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason said. Police said there are indoor marijuana growing operations of varying sizes – from a few small plants to thousands of flourishing ones – across the city.
Another big draw for the boxes is that just about anyone can grow medical marijuana – or anything, for that matter – inside the containers, Mann and Del Sol said.
"With this, you don't need to know anything," Del Sol said. "We've got the support of the Grow Squad (workers at iGrow trained in growing marijuana) and UniCan."
A portion of the iGrow warehouse at 70 Hegenberger Loop is sectioned off for the 25 online classes offered by the University of Cannabis, or UniCan, also recently launched and run by Mann. Courses cover everything from the "Global History of Hemp" to "Sharpening Your Green Thumb" to "The Brain, the Body & the Bud." Classes, which run from $40 to $60, may be taken at iGrow or on one's own computer.
Payoff expected
Indigo Moonstar, of San Francisco, said he considers himself a "top-ranked amateur" at growing cannabis. He recently put a deposit down on the 12-foot-long container, which he plans to put on a friend's property in Santa Cruz. In that city, he said, each person with a medical marijuana card can keep a 100-square-foot area for growing medical cannabis, he said.
When the unit is complete in six to eight weeks, Moonstar said he'll pay $9,000 for it. He believes it will pay off.
"There's definitely a higher return on the investment in growing cannabis," he said. The unit will help him monitor pH levels and help with pest control, he added.
The iGrow containers also could be used by medical marijuana dispensaries. Oakland has four medical cannabis clubs, the maximum allowed in the city. (The city is, however, in the process of trying to revoke the permit of one dispensary.)
"A dispensary can take one of these and drop it in their parking lot and start growing certified, safe and organic medicine for their patients," Del Sol said.
Not all of the three dozen people who have put down deposits on the units are planning to use them to grow pot. Derrick Sowden, owner of two Bella Cucina restaurants in Orange County, is going to purchase the long-haul truck model to grow tomatoes and other fresh produce for his restaurants.
"I've grown organically all my life, and I thought it was a good medium to have control over the products we are serving to our guests," he said.
# if you go WhAT: iGrow's 420 Eve Party, featuring more than 50 vendors, entertainment, food and a costume contest.
# Where: 70 Hegenberger Loop, Oakland
# When: 4:20 to 8:30 p.m. Monday
# Cost: Free
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Inside Bay Area
Author: Kristin Bender
Contact: Inside Bay Area
Copyright: 2010 Bay Area News Group
Website: Just in time for '420': Self-contained pot-growing devices
