Oh wow… Ok, well I’m only playing with 4 plants. That’s crazy! I’m gonna take a wild guess and “assume” you’ve got yourself one hell of a nice set-up going on! I almost feel like a congratulations is in order. Lol, I wish I was near that point. Happy growing
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Hey @Grease_Monkey so I’m in Ontario Canada and from what I’ve read and understand is basically it’s definitely a grey area and it’s also a “Catch 22” cuz by law… We can ONLY grow plants from seeds that were bought through a “GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED/REGULATED” seed bank! Now if you look at any Government facility that does sell and seeds. Ive only ever seen 1 single strain (and of the absolute worst strain you could imagine) I’m not joking! It’s like 2%-4%ish in THC. So ya, as it stands in Canada from my understanding is that unless your growing seeds from a government regulated seed bank… “And really it’s nothing to stress out about” than by rights it’s in that GREY area so to speak😜
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First and foremost… You have to have something worth buying. If you want to rise to the top. If you produce the same mediocre smoke as everyone else, why should I buy from you… especially when johns smoke is the same and … cheaper. Most smokers will barely notice the subtle difference between most strains. Potency. Terpene profile. And yield. Put out an exceptional product and you can get what you want for it $$$. You should be easily supporting yourself as a grower. Keep to the older crowds
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I would have to agree with @Hugh_Glass putting tents in a bunch of places and paying people is a bad idea for one there not gonna leave them alone , there gonna show other people it’s really just risky much easier to rent a cheap apartment and fill the living room with free furniture and load the bedrooms down
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So a little update:
I had some meetings with my colleagues since posting this and they are willing to bring me in on a new cloning operation they are starting.
These guys are so much more knowledgeable than me and I am just grateful for the opportunity at this point.
The new cloning setup gear is on order and I believe they will be running like 30 trays in this room. They have the clientele and as long as I can get to the point where I am able to run the room on my own, I will be more than happy. It is a long term goal but this is a foot in the door.
I have been tasked with coming up with some genetics for them to run, and I will ultimately be keeping a couple of the mothers in my room when I get it framed out.
That brings me here. What are some strains you guys have been dying to see? Or miss seeing around?
Since they are paying for genetics, I am trying to get the best of the best. I personally love the terps, but in this business I also recognize that people like to see high #s since that is the direction things have continued to go over the years.
They really like DNA genetics, I really like BOG, and I also really want to try this Mimosa from Barneys.
Any suggestions from you guys are greatly appreciated as always.
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@Zenki
I have no suggestions for specific strains, but my suggestion would be; try to categorize the list of ideas you come up with, so you don’t end up with a bunch of different clones that all produce effectively the same final product.
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That is a good idea. I appreciate that.
Having a good variety is something that will be critical to ensure they are able to continually sell.
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Maybe it’s just me but profiting off pot makes me feel physically ill.
I’d kind of like to get ‘donations’ enough to cover my huge power bill but friends in need, need a friend indeed.
One of the reasons I moved to northern Alberta 20 years ago was to get away from some biker ‘friends’ that had me targeted to run meth labs after I graduated chem-sci.
#2 son was and still is hooked on stuff like that and no way I would profit off suffering like his. Or become a slave to that lifestyle.
I hate living in what is essentially a self-imposed exile for 20 years this Valentine’s Day. Cheap rent as I own my place with 15G on the mortgage. 7.5 acres in the middle of nowhere for 50G.
I tend to babble.
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In the hot zones it’s still easy to turn a profit. Though I simply cover my operating costs monthly. But the demand here, I couldn’t possibly grow enough…nor do I want too. But it is profitable to us by definition. I cover approximately a 500 dollar plus electrics bill, plus a few odds and ends with it. About 800 a month is what I sell and that’s it. It covers my costs, which is all I really could ask for.
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You could be like my sibling, and try to sell the bud back to me I gave seed for 
How much power are you using? It still costs less than buying it.
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It’s not just you man. 
I’ve given away far more weed than I’ve ever sold. I could sell to a dispo, but the problem there is if there’s an owner that I like whose struggling, like as not, I’d probably just give them a pound. We’re hoping to build a legal grow, and my financial goals are the exact same as your’s, cover my costs. And it’d be nice to have enough scratch to go on Phish tour. 
I had some White Widow and Strawberry Diesel x C99 that outgrew my harvesting capacity, (A First World problem if I ever saw one ) I know a guy who has a small grow and the regs are slowly choking them out, so I called him and told him he could have the excess. I took the top 2-3 feet of the plants, and a couple of weeks ago they drove down and helped me chop it, and hauled it back to their facility. It took two days to get it all chopped and rough trimmed, and I’ve been in trim jail all week.
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@Guitarzan and @LabRat
I think the term “profit” is problematic here; there is a distinction to be drawn between fair recompense for one’s labor and produce calculated on balance with the human needs of all involved, and the rapacious avarice of big businesses run by money-grubbing persons that couldn’t distinguish among responsibly-grown quality bud, shit weed, or an aardvark (nor would they care, which is half the point).
For instance, I doubt anyone here would have any issues swapping an oz or two for some plumbing work, a new water pump in their car, some foodstuffs from a local farm, etc. Similarly, exchanging the same for cash that is then exchanged for goods or services seems to me like an obvious and ethically compatible extension of the same principle.
I guess the point is that the term “profit” is fraught with issues, and can be conceived as being fundamentally in relation to greed (a term like “corporate profits” resolutely modifies it that way), but at the same time a grower’s labor confers value to which he/she is entitled to employ in the interest of meeting one’s basic needs.
Don’t get me wrong, by all means give away whatever, but I also don’t feel compelled to negatively judge a more transactional approach that involves meeting someone’s weed needs in exchange for the means to put food on the table and keep a roof over one’s head.
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For sure I grow way more pot off that power than what it would cost me even in the ‘legal’ market but it still is 23.5¢/kwh here which is crazy high. That works out to almost $90/mth to run a 1000W HPS. I have a Light Rail 4.0 to extend my grow space and lets me run a 1000W as close as a foot above the canopy. I uses a whole 9W so helps keep costs down but was a $300 investment. Should be paid off by now.
Please don’t tell me about LEDs. The initial cost to get into good COBs would be huge to replace what I have in HIDs and I need the extra heat I get from them or would need to run a heater when the LED lights are on during the cold 8 months we get up here.
A couple years ago when I was out in BC visiting my now 93yo mom and other family I scored 5 600W eBallasts with Hortilux SHPS bulbs and reflectors from a shut down grow for $60/set. There were 60 sets. Gave 2 to a local buddy as a Xmas prezzy and am using one now for my two Monkey Banana Kush girls I have in flower. Next week I’ll be picking up a few sheets of 3/8" OSB to tack on another 20 square ft of grow space downstairs next to my current 56 square foot grow room of almost 20 years use. I’ll use the new space for vegging the many strains I need to explore and prepping plants for outdoor growing next spring. Also have a 10x10ft spare bedroom on the main floor here vegging plants atm. My mother Monkey Banana Kush girl, 2 Hindu Kush ladies and a rooted clone form the Earth Lover girl still growing outside as winter draws near. 3 more weeks and I’ll pull a pound of CBD goodness off her for sure!
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I’m totally cool with the concepts you put forward Vesti. Cash is just a definitive level of barter that works in the world of business and general work.
Some of the people I give pot to never asked for it but I knew they needed it and now it’s a ‘thing’. One guy in particular is the town nutbar type of guy. I’ve known him since I moved here 20 years ago next Valentine’s Day. Schizo and your basic druggie using meth, crack, opiods etc but if he has pot he doesn’t nee to scrounge/steal shit to support his habits. Rides around town on his bike all the time looking for whatever he might make a buck off of.
The other big consumer is my fishing buddy Jean. Big fat french guy, illiterate in any language and I doubt he understands 10% of what we talk about but watching his huge belly laughs warms my heart. Pretty much every week I drop an 8th and a dozen eggs to help him out. I’ve known him since moving here too.
Been doing plumbing and ready for bed so L8r.
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@LabRat your grow rooms sound awesome! I dream of having more space like that one day.
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I have buddies I barter with.I grow and give them killer bud,they in turn do electrical,plumbing,painting,Just met a really cool lady,give her a oz a week and she cleans my place 3 times a week.others get me building supplies and materials.Have some peeps pay cash too…Now have peeps wanting to buy my clones for the strains i am growing getting 25 to 50 a clone.My grow license lets me have 340 plants at one time.So i can flip 10 clones a week for 250 to 500 depending on the strain.I keep my transactions small scale make a couple grand a month doing what i love to do.With it being legal in Canada its alot easier to make money now as people can carry an oz and can grow 4 plants.So i deal with people i know and can say i gave it to them as a present if any issues ever arise. I have one buddy i have known 25yrs he is the only one i give large quantity to, anyone else its an ounce or less.My rule I only interact with people i know and wont do anything if they bring anyone with them. I also do not do any transactions at my home.Still have to be cautious.
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I completely agree, actually, and one of the things I love about the cannabis community is that the general default attitude is one of generosity, which is a refreshing counterpoint to pretty much everything else.
Sorry of I came across as if laying down a gauntlet or anything like that. I teach part time at 2 or 3 universities (at poverty-level wages…when there are courses available…), and do some academic writing for peer-reviewed publication, so my writing mode is always shifting among the academic idiom, student communication, and…weed forums. Point being I don’t always get the tone right in these quick postings.
Anyway, like most persons reading this I am very jealous of your grow space, but for now my little closet setup will have to do!
Good luck, @LabRat!
Now back to figuring out how to put some lights together…
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A penny saved is a penny earned. If I don’t have to buy it I save so much money. Same as making a dollar.
That being said, I wouldn’t mind being a co-op of a few like minded individuals so that my grow is cost/revenue neutral.
All the best
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To me, something like this is ideal. Anytime you try to actually make money off of a hobby it starts to be stressful - now that plant that’s lagging behind is going to cost you money - do you chop it and try with another, or push through? What if the new one lags too? What if the harvest isn’t as big and I can’t honor my commitments - no thanks, sounds like a ton of stress.
But sharing bud with my friends and accepting donations for new genetics or chipping in for the power bill? Sounds nice and stress free.
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Thanks very much for your kind words!
It’s my own place so I can do what I want with it. Plus I’m an old fart that really doesn’t give a damn about what anybody thinks about what I do.
I’ve been growing pot since 1970 something. First buds in '78 but they weren’t much.
I did the stoner thing for decades but 30 years ago realized this stuff was keeping me alive.
Most of my growing is just experimentation these days. I neglect the hell out of almost everything but they keep growing.
Pot doesn’t need anything but the basics to grow well and too much effort is wasted to try to get some form of ‘better’.
I’m more into breeding good CBD strains and making fem seeds with STS. I’ll happily give away the chem for the STS or pollen and seeds for like minded growers. My only ask is to pay it forward to help the next generation of growers.
@Sebring is the kind of of guy that I’ve tried to be like for the last 2 decades but he’s done a much better job of it than I have. I’m a lot more paranoid and even now kind of still in the closet.
A little better now and willing to share.
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