Behind-the-Scenes Photos of a Bunch of Marijuana Grows
By Holden, Dominic | |
Proquest LLC |
Fifteen Photos of the Things You Need to Make a Pot Farm Run Right: Surveillance Equipment, Lighting, Fences, Monitoring Appliances, Ventilation, and Ladybugs-Yeah, Ladybugs
Do you realize how onerous the state's rules are for pot farms? The requirements are dizzying-the surveillance you have to have, the fences you have to build to a certain height, the tracking you must do for every plant, the security systems you have to put in place. Not to mention all the other things you have to have to grow marijuana-starting with, you know, marijuana (either seeds or starts), lights (or access to sunlight), fertilizer, water, and harvesting know-how. Not to mention all the other things business owners need, like start-up capital, facilities to house operations, and insurance. Several legal marijuana growers were kind enough to show us around for this glimpse at some of what's required to do this right.
1 ENOUGH TIME TO LET BABY MARIJUANA PLANTS GROW These young shrubs at Sea of Green in
2 TRACKING SYSTEMS Every marijuana plant gets a bar code and number that follows it from seed (or start) to harvest. Using a remotely operated tracking system, the state assigns each plant its own 16-digit identity and spits out a bar-coded tag from a printer located at each pot farm. This is supposed to prevent pot that's grown in
3 ENOUGH MONEY TO DO IT WITHOUT A BANK'S HELP Steven Dietz had to customdesign his facility in
4 COMPLIANCE WITH HEAVY MONITORING REQUIREMENTS Among the exorbitant start-up expenses that hold back otherwise qualified entrepreneurs, the state requires farmers to install advanced video monitoring systems, locate farms in specific zones (which can require paying top dollar for land), and submit to extensive inspections. On the corner of this barn at
5 EXPENSIVE SECURITY AND SURVEILLANCE The state is looking out for the safety of growers by mandating that they own security systems. However, there are strict rules about what kind of security system it must be. For example, the security system can't involve a security guard with a gun; grow ops aren't allowed to have firearms due to federal restrictions on simultaneously possessing drugs and guns. At this outdoor farm in
6 EXTENSIVE VIDEO MONITORING This monitor at
7 EIGHT-FOOT-TALL FENCES The state requires outdoor farms to be surrounded by an eight-foot fence, which still isn't enough to keep out prowlers-which compels many growers to install razor wire (such as in that earlier photo). But it just so happens that in
8 OTHER MEANS OF SELF PROTECTION Dietz also keeps a baseball bat by the door.
9 LIGHTING RIGS WITH VENTILATION A 400-square-foot room like this requires 4,000 watts of electricity, says
10 MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ELECTRICITY This large indoor facility in
11 COPIOUS SUNLIGHT FOR OUTDOOR GROWERS The schedule for harvesting pot at this outdoor farm in
12 COMPLIANCE WITH NEW EXCISE TAXES When voters passed a law legalizing pot in 2012, they also imposed a 25 percent excise tax at each stage of sale. "My price is
13 EXTENSIVE CUSTOM IRRIGATION SYSTEMS Even though well water is free, an irrigation system of spigots, hoses, and electric timers is required to water the plants.
14 COMPLIANCE WITH VERY SPECIFIC SIZE RESTRICTIONS The state has been strict about the size of farms-there are three tiers, ranging from 2,000 square feet to 30,000 (the largest we've seen are 21,000 square feet). State representative
15 LADYBUGS-YES, HUNGRY, ADORABLE LADYBUGS Okay, not everyone needs ladybugs. But growers of indoor weed need some method of eradicating spider mites-arachnids that live underneath pot leaves and feast on the plants. Unchecked, they can devastate a marijuana crop. So to deal with them, growers use everything from soap sprays and tobacco juices to pesticides or chemical additives that can leave a residue on the plants. Or they use... ladybugs! These girls (and boys) eat spider mites without any mess. When we visited Sea of Green, they had just received a shipment of thousands of the critters, which were nibbling the mites, meandering among the planters, and flying through the through the air with their candy-apple wings. Leeds says that according to strict rules, "We can't say we're growing organic, but everything we're doing meets organic standards."
Copyright: | (c) 2014 The Stranger |
Wordcount: | 1680 |
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