Recommendations for commercial auto grow

[Herbal B]

We are contemplating a 100% auto commercial grow in large greenhouse in southern state. What breeders/strains would experienced growers recommend that have highest thc/yield in this environment...30x96 greenhouse with 30 1000w HPS supplemental lights? We are contemplating growing 10 strains or so using 100 seeds of each. Tentative thoughts are Mephisto, Dinafem, and 420 fast buds mix.

 

[Trichome farmer]

We are contemplating a 100% auto commercial grow in large greenhouse in southern state. What breeders/strains would experienced growers recommend that have highest thc/yield in this environment...30x96 greenhouse with 30 1000w HPS supplemental lights? We are contemplating growing 10 strains or so using 100 seeds of each. Tentative thoughts are Mephisto, Dinafem, and 420 fast buds mix.

@Son of Hobbes @FullDuplex this sound like something you guys would know about ? my own vote would be dutch passion . dinafem . mephisto cant go to far wrong with any of those

 

[Herbal B]

Thank you for your input.....

 

[Son of Hobbes]

We are contemplating a 100% auto commercial grow in large greenhouse in southern state. What breeders/strains would experienced growers recommend that have highest thc/yield in this environment...30x96 greenhouse with 30 1000w HPS supplemental lights? We are contemplating growing 10 strains or so using 100 seeds of each. Tentative thoughts are Mephisto, Dinafem, and 420 fast buds mix.

Hey there, good morning!

@FullDuplex has actually helped out a tier 3 producer in Washington state with his own autoflower genetics and has some GREAT first-hand experience growing when it comes to growing them in bulk. He actually breeds his own stock!

About 2 years ago I helped an operation source over 4,000+ Mephisto Genetics for them to produce a bumper crop of autos (they multi-potted them,) for use in full spectrum oil extraction.

I'll tag @Rwg111 in here as well, I think he's got some good commercial farm experience too.

Just some rough considerations here:

1. Look into producing your own seed if possible. Autoflowers -can- technically be cloned, but they don't clone out like a photoperiod where you have the luxury of that "near indefinite" veg if you were so inclined. The mileage of cloning autos varies CONSIDERABY and more a proof of concept or for breeding purposes at this point (not recommended for average grower.)

Bulk wholesale seed can range from $3-4 bucks per seed average (which is still high, but not as high as a single retail clone, which is about $20 average at least here in Colorado.) 10 strains at 100 each is $3,000-4000 in just seed cost per grow alone. You'd want feminized for these kind of numbers.

2. Because you're growing from seed, you're going to see different phenotypes expressed. This could pose some challenges to your canopy height, feeding regiment, etc. Not all plants will feed the same.

3. Have you considered light movers? We run three greenhouses at our commercial grow, about 1,700 square feet apiece, and we're lighting them up with only six 1000W DE Gavitas, but they are on rails. Now in our situation, I think personally we could stand to use a little MORE light (doubling it to twelve would be so awesome, or just better quality lighting, etc,) but you could potentially save a SHIT TON of money on that electric bill using movers versus just more lights. Food for thought, I know what our electric bill is at work and I can only imagine what yours must look like lol! And those movers only use a few watts compared to 1000W, etc.

All that said, I've seen it done, I know it can be done, and depending your setup it's totally viable to do it. I do think that states that limit by canopy space versus plant count benefit MORE from the idea (multi-potted to play the numbers versus limitation by plant count, etc.) But it can also be a good way to get a really quick turn-around for extra product, etc. When the California fires raged through a few years back, a lot of cultivators that lost their main crops turned to autoflowers to try to pull in a quick harvest still.

For breeder recommendations, the more STABLE you can get, the better you'll be when you're talking mass autos. I mentioned Mephisto, FullDuplex can tell you virtually everything about his own genetics; Dinafem and Dutch Passion are very reputable and have strong genetics, etc. And there are more then just these, but there's a lot of "snake oil" out there too and that can get very costly when you're talking that size/space, so hopefully you see a pattern in the recommended breeders to work from!

Oh. And pictures. We -ARE- going to need to see picture of this entire setup and grow from start to finish. *ahem*

 

[Herbal B]

Hi Son of Hobbes!!! I appreciate your reply and look forward to more discourse with the group as we move(and document for public consumption) from start to finish.....hopefully many start to finishes on this forum.

I would definitely like to source our seeds internally.....for the personal satisfaction and the economic benefit. I have already reached out to a number of breeders/suppliers to see what I could negotiate for (repeat) bulk sales. I reached out to @FullDuplex also per your recommendation. Do you have a guide that you find particularly relevant for producing auto seeds in bulk with as little pheno drift as possible? What about using tissue culture for autos? if I know someone experienced at doing that for photos, can they do autos also?

Yes, light rails have been part of past photo grows and I plan to use them here as well....especially since we will have a lot of space.

I bought 400 3 gallon pots and am also going to try 5 gal as well for this adventure and compare results.

I am going to pull the trigger on some or all seeds for the first greenhouse next week or the following and will probably let pics of those be my start pics for the grow.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Hi Son of Hobbes!!! I appreciate your reply and look forward to more discourse with the group as we move(and document for public consumption) from start to finish.....hopefully many start to finishes on this forum.

I would definitely like to source our seeds internally.....for the personal satisfaction and the economic benefit. I have already reached out to a number of breeders/suppliers to see what I could negotiate for (repeat) bulk sales. I reached out to @FullDuplex also per your recommendation. Do you have a guide that you find particularly relevant for producing auto seeds in bulk with as little pheno drift as possible? What about using tissue culture for autos? if I know someone experienced at doing that for photos, can they do autos also?

Yes, light rails have been part of past photo grows and I plan to use them here as well....especially since we will have a lot of space.

I bought 400 3 gallon pots and am also going to try 5 gal as well for this adventure and compare results.

I am going to pull the trigger on some or all seeds for the first greenhouse next week or the following and will probably let pics of those be my start pics for the grow.

If you're going to spend the money to tissue culture auto strains you might as well grow photos.