No not a reefer, just regular shipping containers on a friends farm, that’s where I had my knowledge of not burying it lol, we had thought to use the earth’s temperature to balance out the heat.
That pole barn would fit several shipping containers under it, would keep the heat off them directly, and save you some $ for sure. I know they have gone up in price though since the pandemic, but a clone/mother room in one, then a perpetual SOG in another, with flood and drain tables, roughly 144 plants a light in 4 blocks, start a new block every two weeks, build out a small access/lung room at the front of the trailer so workers can change into clean gear/hair nets/gloves whatever, leave about 2 foot on each side of the tables and run it down the middle…then a trailer for drying/curing in totes…it’s a real nice system, these are semi vague numbers because we built that system out a few years ago and I have a bad memory and don’t have the plans. Very easy to scale up though is why we really liked it.
If you leave it out side, would definitely paint the outside white to help cool as well. I would plan ahead for where to dump water/drain excess as that will be labor to move it out of the reefer. Watch for potential flooding as well, a shallow pit with gravel would work well to place the reefer on.
Honestly, I would stay away from any broad leaf plants and try to find mold-resistant narrow leaf plants for outside, they will grow well in the summer(Florida is a beast for veg period) it’s just come hurricane season there’s alot of potential for rot. As long as y"all stay on top of IPM though, they will perform well.
Have you gotten soil tests yet?
You can easily plant in rows with plastic mulch and have thousands out in a field, especially if you have a pond or some form of water reservoir nearby, and pump the water from there.
You don’t have to do automated light dep, however you need to make sure the person that is responsible for tarping at lights out/on is responsible. A “wook,” won’t cut it lol. You can get 3 harvests in easily if you do light dep, simple hoop houses you can DIY are cheap. I wouldn’t spend big $ on automation till I was certain it was a go for legal bud.
The heats not really a concern the humidity and pathogens are the real issues to take head on I think. But choose the right strains, and it ain’t a thing.
Hope this helped give you some ideas to run with!
Funny, starting a burn pile UNDER a structure, jeez haha.