Author: Don Henke

What Are the Megatrends Shaping Indoor Farming?

Is cannabis indoor farming the future?

Increased food demand with decreasing arable land and unpredictable weather patterns has elicited a demand for changes within the agricultural sector.

Consequently, various stakeholders have devised innovative strategies, such as indoor farming, to combat these challenges.

Indoor farming is a cultivation method being leveraged to combat issues such as global warming, which is characterized by rising temperatures and frequent droughts that disrupt healthy plant growth. 

Moreover, the practice has succeeded in mitigating upcoming disasters, such as the Covid-19 pandemic involving quarantine and border closures, affecting the food supply chain.

With this in mind, the agriculture sector needs to transform to use less water and chemicals while protecting crops from climate change to produce reliable yields sustainably.

Indoor farming plays into this solution as its an enclosed artificial controlled growing environment created to mimic outside conditions.

The practice utilizes Controlled environment agriculture to provide the right environment for plants to grow with less water and fertilizers and as an enclosed system protecting them from harsh weather conditions.

With the tall order on indoor farming as a modern agricultural solution, key innovations have emerged to establish it as a “future-proof” cultivation method.

Top 5 Emerging Trends Shaping Indoor Farming

1. Custom Plants

Indoor farming is at the epicenter of research on crops and their growth under optimized and simulated conditions. The approach of indoor farming has facilitated the growth of hybrid plants, hence even more refined cannabis plants.

The simulated conditions allow growers to try out new strains, providing consumers with even more variety and benefits.

Moreover, the controlled conditions of an indoor garden, such as lighting growers, can influence the potency and taste of crops to provide the desired results. 

Indoor farms help produce the quality needed; for example, a new Zealand startup has devised a way to leverage UV light to imbue flavor profiles in plants.

2. A Variety of Crops

Indoor growing has traditionally focused on growing leafy greens like kale, lettuce, and spinach, as they are considered easy to grow in indoor vertical systems.

However, as the growing technology has improved, farmers have sought to find more profitable niches like vertical cannabis growing. 

Indoor farming provides the opportunity to grow crops even during harsh weather, as the closed system helps protect delicate crops.

Moreover, various farms have sought to grow anything in vertical farms, from strawberries to barley. Notably, using vertical farming systems allows for a lucrative business as by “growing up,” you can have more yields for every square foot of space.

As cannabis has continued to be legalized, this has opened up a profitable channel in the indoor growing space.

Cannabis plants have a variety, such as Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid strains which all have different growing requirements bringing about various challenges and benefits.

For example, Indicas are short; hence you can incorporate multiple tiers of vertical systems; however, they are prone to molds. 

On the other hand, Sativas are tall plants hence reduced tiers but are mold resistant. Finally, we have the hybrid strains they are the best of both worlds (Sativa vs. Indica) and easy to get flavorful produce while tweaking the lighting systems, among other conditions.

3. Automation In IndoorFarming

Automation is a crucial factor in vertical farming. It is used in irrigation systems to control the amount of water plants receive. 

Its also used in nutrient delivery to quickly and sufficiently distribute nutrients to the plants as needed. 

Moreover, you can control the lighting and ventilation systems.

Automation is necessary for vertical farms due to the scale of work involved for every indoor farming system. You get to plant on a grand scale; hence automation reduces the labor needs, boosting productivity with lowered risks of human error.

Automation also allows for less use of pesticides and herbicides while increasing yields due to complete control over the growing process.

Some of the key ways automation is used in vertical farming include

• AI and digital monitoring to mimic nature indoors by manipulating factors like climate, temperature, and nutrients
• Using IoT sensors and AI cloud systems to optimize and manage crop growth 
• Automated arms and elevators for harvesting plants
• Seed-to-sale tracking of cannabis plants as required by various legislation 

4. Big Data

Access to credible information can tip the scales on any major decision, be it on the war front or, in our case, building the ideal indoor farm.

Installing sensors within an indoor farm is helpful as you can collect data from various touchpoints in your grow room. The data collected can then be loaded into an operating system that analyses it and creates actionable intel.

The data analyzed can give insights into handling various critical aspects of the grow room, such as ventilation, CO2 levels, light intensity, and humidity levels.

Big data helps create the specific conditions needed to grow your crops.  Hence you can grow a plant typically found in tropical regions indoors. As a result, saving time and preserving freshness hence better margins. 

Moreover, with data, you can leverage fewer resources while producing high-quality plants.

The data is stored in cloud-based storage solutions where rules engines (machine learning/artificial intelligence) learn, predict, and adapt.

5. Vertical Growing Systems

Indoor farming is also experiencing shifts in how growers are cultivating their crops. Growers are now using vertical growing systems to plant more crops, increasing their output per square foot.

Vertical growing systems are multiple shelvings or racks that help indoor farmers utilize their overhead space, whether in a skyscraper or warehouse. These systems include mobile carriages, vertical grow racks, and tabletop caster units.

These systems each bring a unique function within a grow space providing more variety for the grower:

• Mobile Carriages. These high-density steel shelvings sit on flange wheels, giving them mobility. Their mobility not only helps you utilize overhead space but also eliminates static aisles. By eliminating static aisles, you save 50% extra space as you create aisles.
• Vertical Grow Racks. This bulk racking made of 14 gauge steel allows farmers to extend their grow space horizontally and vertically. These sturdy grow racks are engineered to help you integrate your irrigation, lighting, and ventilation systems. 
• Tabletop Caster Units. These multiple-tier units incorporate caster wheels, making it easy for you to transition between rooms. They are a resourceful product for growing seedlings. Moreover, they are the perfect fit for a homegrow or small-scale indoor farms.

In addition, there has been a development in the vertical systems space with key innovations like the Mezzanine walkway.

The walkway is a retractable decking design that eliminates the challenge of accessing plants at higher elevations. The walkway simply integrates with your vertical systems, and when in use, it’s pulled out, and you can easily tend to the crops at higher elevations.

Shift Into Indoor Growing Vertical Systems With MMI Agriculture

The indoor growing space is an emerging agricultural tend with so much untapped potential. It is an industry that is leading various innovations and facilitating new perspectives on advanced technologies like AI and machine learning, which are already shaping the modern world.

MMI Agriculture is committed to being a part of the solutions that shape indoor farming. We are dedicated to providing advanced and dependable vertical farming systems for the average indoor farmer.

Our vertical farming solutions include mobile carriages, vertical grow racks, and tabletop caster units. In addition, we offer bespoke vertical systems installation services to transition you quickly into indoor vertical farming. Contact us today for a quote.

4 Brilliant Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line by Growing Cannabis With Vertical Grow Systems

Vertical farming is the farming practice of growing crops on vertical grow systems in the form of vertically stacked layers. The cultivation method leverages technology to grow crops efficiently in a controlled environment. 

This cultivation approach has numerous advantages, such as increased and consistent quality yields, high productivity per square foot, and increased worker safety. 

Moreover, with the ability to build vertical farms anywhere, whether in a warehouse or skyscraper, grow ops can lower production costs like transportation and storage of plant material, thus increasing profits. 

What Are Vertical Grow Systems?

Vertical grow systems are shelvings made of steel where cannabis plants are grown on hydroponic trays. The systems aim to maximize available grow space, both vertically and horizontally, thus ensuring maximum use of every square foot of grow space.

Vertical grow systems come in various designs ranging from static/stationary units to mobile units that can be moved back and fourth. They also can come as standalone units that sit atop caster wheels

Vertical grow racks are a space-saving solution made of high-density steel which can host multiple tiers of cannabis plants. These versatile systems are designed to help you easily integrate your LED grow lights and irrigation system.

The mobile carriages, equipped with flange wheels and aluminum shaft, sit on a bar track that allow you to move the carriage seamlessly within your grow room. These vertical grow systems allow you to save 50% more space by eliminating static aisles.

Another option is our tabletop caster units. These units are ideal for an at- home or midsize grow op. The units sit on caster wheels, allowing you to move the systems from room to room.

At MMI Agriculture, we offer vertical grow systems at affordable prices in all states cannabis is legal, like Washington DC, California, Virginia, Vermont, and Nevada. 

5 Benefits of Growing Cannabis Using Vertical Grow Systems

1. Vertical Grow Systems Reduce Waste

Water is increasingly becoming a scarce resource worldwide due to global warming. Notably, agriculture accounts for 70% of global water use yearly, a significant contributor to water scarcity.

However, vertical farming introduces technological leverage to counter this narrative. Vertical grow systems help save up to 95% water compared to conventional farming. There are various methods that can be used including hydroponics, aeroponics, or aquaponics 

The cultivation methods have water circulating in a closed loop, ensuring nothing is wasted. Even evaporating water from leaves is caught by dehumidifiers, which can also be reused.

Additionally, the cannabis plants are planted indoors, which necessitates creating a controlled environment, reducing the need to use pesticides as pests are easily kept at bay.

Moreover, the crops are planted in urban centers where the consumers are, lowering transportation costs and managing associated CO2 emissions. Likewise, there’s a reduced need for refrigeration storage, making the produce fresher and more profitable.

2. Vertical Grow Systems Increase Output/Yield

Indoor cultivation allows for highly controlled environmental conditions for the plants. In addition, the nutrient solution used with hydroponic cultivation can be adjusted to provide the ideal conditions for fast-growing crops and high-quality buds. 

Unlike growing outdoors in soil, indoor growing on vertical grow systems utilizes hydroponic trays where you provide a nutrient solution for the plants. The solution can be measured for nutrient concentration and pH, which you can adjust to benefit your cannabis plants. One way to ensure optimum conditions is to incorporate an automated dosing system that monitors nutrient and PH levels.

In addition, commercial cannabis growers practice controlled environment agriculture (or CEA) to grow cannabis plants year-round. CEA controls the grow room’s lighting, humidity, temperature, and air circulation. This means you can comfortably plant indoors uninterrupted regardless of external conditions, whether summer, winter, or autumn.  

Again,  you can run your indoor farm like a manufacturing plant churning out large loads of cannabis produce. This is in light of the increased number of plants per square foot through vertical grow systems and a year-round planting season.

3. Vertical Grow Systems Reduce Destruction by Pests, Weeds, and Diseases

Weeds compete with the nutrients your plants need to grow into healthy shoots. With vertical grow systems, you don’t have to grow on soil, reducing the chances of dormant seeds within the grow medium sprouting. The hydroponic systems used in indoor systems use a liquid grow medium that can’t harbor weeds with proper maintenance and sanitation of the irrigation system. 

Likewise, the liquid grow medium also reduces the risk of plants contracting soil-borne pests, which may impact the health and yields of the plants. Although the hydroponic systems may carry waterborne diseases, you can manage the situation with careful monitoring.

Furthermore, the enclosed indoor system keeps pests away as the growing space is constantly cleaned before farming begins. The vertical grow systems are made of steel, making the conditions unbearable for pathogens or pests to thrive or hide.

In a nutshell, the vertical grow systems help reduce the need for herbicides and pesticides harmful to humans. Equally, this promotes an organic approach to farming, improving the quality of yields produced.

4. Vertical Grow Systems Promote Low Labor Costs and Increased Safety

The CEA technology used with indoor vertical grow systems brings in an aspect of automation. The temperature, humidity, and airflow equipment are easily managed using controllers that automatically regulate conditions within the grow space.

This allows your workers to focus on vital parameters such as monitoring plant health and ensuring optimal yields.

Moreover, with indoor vertical farming, your workers are safe from injuries associated with heavy cultivation equipment, increasing productivity. 

Notable advancements in the vertical farming space have pioneered key inventions like the retractable elevated decking to enhance worker safety and productivity. 

Our vertical grow equipment, upon request, can be equipped with our retractable elevated decking. The elevated decking helps your workers comfortably and safely access crops on higher elevations during harvesting or inspection. This means your workers don’t have to strain reaching for the upper shelving or to have to balance on a ladder or scaffolding. Once you are done with the elevated decking, it easily retracts into the vertical grow system.

Are Vertical Grow Systems the Future of Agriculture?

As the global population gradually increases and key resources such as water and arable land dwindle, the demand for innovations in critical sectors like agriculture is growing. Vertical farming is a technology-based agricultural solution that solves the issue of limited arable land and water. The technology uses up to 95% less water than conventional cultivation and utilizes more than 200% of a square area of land by leveraging vertical grow systems.

MMI Agriculture is a vertical grow systems provider and installation company with experience in vertical farming technology. We provide our clients with customized vertical growing systems, including mobile carriages, vertical grow racks and tabletop caster units.

Our products are made with 14-gauge steel to ensure durability, a smooth transition, and sustainability in the vertical growing space.

Furthermore, we offer unique services such as capacity evaluations and free floor plans to set you up for success in commercial cannabis cultivation. Contact us today for a quote.

4 Unbeatable Techniques to Successfully Grow Cannabis Vertically

Read this simple guide to learn how to grow cannabis vertically.

Cannabis cultivation can be costly, with high real estate expenses, significant energy bills, and a lot of time and effort required to maintain a successful farm. However, a cannabis farm can be profitable by maximizing profits and carefully managing costs.

Horizontal marijuana growing is the classic approach to developing the plant. It involves growing plants side by side, usually underneath old-fashioned sodium lights.

Systems that allow you to grow cannabis vertically ensure that growers produce more cannabis with less space, making them ideal for small-scale operations. However, this is not the case anymore. Growing cannabis vertically has become the norm today.

Vertical cannabis grow systems are becoming increasingly popular among indoor growers. These systems allow growers to produce more cannabis with less space, making them ideal for commercial operations. Several types of vertical grow systems are available on the market, so growers can choose the one that best suits their needs.

If you’re thinking about switching to a vertical grow system, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

What Does It Mean to Grow Cannabis Vertically?

As the cannabis industry continues to grow, so does the demand for innovative growing methods. Vertical cannabis growing is a new method of cultivation that is becoming increasingly popular among growers. This method involves growing cannabis plants in vertically stacked layers, allowing higher yields and easier maintenance.

Vertical cannabis growth is a great way to maximize your space and yield. 

By stacking multiple square or hexagonal shelves around a central light source, you can create a large, productive growing area without taking up much space. This setup also allows easy access to all parts of the plant, making it ideal for growers who want to keep a close eye on their crop.

Growing cannabis vertically helps you utilize the square footage of your grow room. Not to mention, vertical gardens are simply beautiful to look at.

How to Grow Cannabis Vertically

Are you interested in starting your vertical cannabis farm? If so, there are a few things you need to do to get started.

Step 1: Choose Your Vertical Grow System

If you’re looking to grow cannabis vertically, one great way to start is with a vertical grow system, also known as vertical racking or simply “racks.” Racks are a great way to save space while still being able to produce a sizable amount of cannabis.

One of the great things about racks is that they can easily be customized to fit your growing needs. 

If you are a medium-sized enterprise, our tabletop caster units would be a useful vertical system. On the other hand, if going all out in a warehouse or skyscraper, our customized mobile carriages or vertical grow racks should help you make the most of every square inch of your grow space.

When looking for a vertical system for your indoor grow room, it’s essential to consider a few key factors. Check the rigidity of the systems as they should carry the weight of plants, lighting and irrigation equipment, and even your workers. Moreover, the systems should allow for a good clearance between the canopies and lighting for healthy plants and quality yields.

Step 2: Select Your Lighting System

When it comes to growing healthy plants, the light you use is essential. White light, also known as broad spectrum light, is excellent for general growth when growing cannabis vertically. However, pink spectrum light is ideal if you want to encourage blooming and flowering.

The most important thing is to match your light levels to your plant’s needs for optimal growth. Just as too little light will prevent your plants from reaching their full potential, providing the right light intensity can ensure that your plants will be healthy and vibrant.

Moreover, you need to understand the type of light you need for your indoor operation. There are three common types of lights used in indoor cannabis grow rooms.

• LED lights. They are preferred in vertical growing for their low energy requirements. In addition, you can provide a variety of light spectrums for your cannabis plants as needed.
• HID lights. They are preferred for their high intensity. However, this becomes an issue with vertical systems due to the close proximity of the lighting and plants; the plants might end up scotched, lowering the bud quality.

Step 3: Choose Your Environment Controls

Regarding indoor gardening, there are several options for heating and cooling your plants. Depending on your climate and the time of year, you may need to adjust the temperature in your grow room to ensure that your plants are comfortable.

You can heat or cool your grow room in a few different ways.

• Use a space heater or an air conditioner: Using a space heater or air conditioner is the most effective way to regulate the temperature in your grow space and can help you avoid any drastic fluctuations that could harm your plants.
• Use a fan to circulate the air and help regulate the temperature:  One of the most important things you can do to regulate the temperature in your marijuana farm is to use a fan. By circulating the air, you can help keep the temperature consistent, which is essential for healthy plants.

When growing cannabis vertically, airflow is important. Good airflow helps to keep the plants healthy and free of mold and mildew. High humidity can lead to increased temperatures, which can be damaging to the plants.

Step 4: Pick a Production Method

One of the benefits of growing cannabis vertically is that you can save space by utilizing your overhead space. However, this also means that the space in your farm system is limited. To make the most of the area in your system, you’ll want to keep your plants short.

Think of your grow system as a manufacturing facility. The faster you can produce your product, the more valuable you become. Speed becomes even more critical when you can make twice the product you were before.

By using automation, you can speed up your process and get your product to market faster.

Tips On How To Grow Cannabis Vertically

If you want to grow cannabis but don’t have a lot of space, you can try vertical cannabis growing. Here are some tips for vertical cannabis growing:

1. Choose the Right Strain

You’ll want to choose a strain that is best suited for the space you have available. If you want to maximize your space and grow as many plants as possible, you’ll want to choose a strain that has a relatively shorter canopy. You can opt for the fast-growing auto-flowering cannabis seeds or light-sensitive photoperiod seeds.

2. Plan Your Grow Room Properly

As a grower, you want to maximize your yield and pack as many plants into a room as possible. But it would be best if you did not forget that the room also needs to be functional for you. After all, you’ll be spending a lot of time there!

Some things to consider when planning your grow room:

• Installation: When planning your grow room, it’s important to consider the installation process of your vertical marijuana grow system. You’ll need to ensure you have enough space for the system and any other equipment you might need. Additionally, you’ll want to consider the height of your ceilings and the amount of light your grow room will need.
• Floor plans: These plans are important for your vertical cannabis to grow room. Having a well-designed floor plan can maximize utilization of the available grow space. 
• Capacity evaluation: When planning your vertical cannabis grow room, it’s important to have a capacity evaluation. How many plants do you want to grow? How much space do you have to work with? What kind of equipment do you need?  Answering these questions will help you determine how to set up your grow room and align your business plan. 

3. Keep Your Watering System Clean

It’s essential to keep your automated watering system’s reservoirs and pipes clean to avoid the risk of salt build-up and the formation of bacteria. Doing so will help keep your plants healthy and your system working correctly. Here are a few tips on how to clean your system’s components:

• Drain the reservoir and rinse it out with fresh water.
• Flush the pipes with fresh water.
• If you notice any build-up of salt or bacteria, clean the affected area with a vinegar solution.

4. Create Better Yields With MMI Solutions

If you’re looking to produce top-quality cannabis, then you’ll need to invest in a cutting-edge vertical grow system. These systems support your plants and help them reach their full potential. Providing the right environment and support ensures that your plants will thrive and produce high-quality cannabis buds.

At MMI Agriculture Solutions, we take pride in offering top-notch systems if you want to grow cannabis vertically. We have a wide range of options so that you can find the perfect design for your needs. Whether you’re looking for a small vertical system for personal use or an extensive system for commercial production, we have you covered. Contact us today for a quote.

Vertical Growing Systems: The Money Saving Strategy for Indoor Cannabis Growing

Vertical growing systems are the improved ways of cultivating cannabis plants and reaping huge profits. They are a growing field of indoor growing with a promise of helping you make the most of your real estate by allowing you to grow up – utilizing your overhead space.

This approach allows you to utilize your available grow space and brings in major energy savings on ventilation, lighting, humidity, and temperature regulation. 

For example, on lighting, vertical systems leverage LED lights. LED lights allow you to grow at half the heat of HIPs while utilizing the same cooling that would be needed for horizontal farms.

Notably, growing cannabis indoors isn’t your ordinary walk in the park. It has its challenges. However, there are key steps you can follow to ensure maximum yield growing cannabis indoors while using less energy with the help of vertical grow systems.

What Is A Vertical Cannabis Growing System?

Vertical grow systems or vertical grow rack systems are multiple shelves stacked to create green towers of cannabis. The vertical grow rack systems host the cannabis plants, irrigation equipment, and lighting. 

The systems rely on vertical farming technology.

Vertical farming technology or controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology is a cultivation method that allows you to plant your cannabis canopies indoors. 

CEA technology involves creating the ideal indoor environment that necessitates the growth of your plants. This includes providing nutrients, good airflow, CO2, and light for the plants. All these conditions are provided artificially by using HVACs, CO2 burners, fans, and LED lights.

In addition to tuning the environmental conditions, you need to look into the operation and planning of your grow room. The latter really determines the savings or losses you will make in your grow-op. 

What are these factors to consider in planning for your vertical growing systems?

4 Pro Tips in Setting up Your Vertical Cannabis Growing System for Success

1. Plan the Layout of Your Equipment

One primary consideration with vertical systems is how you will reach the upper tiers. This may necessitate the use of ladders and scaffolding. Therefore one needs to account for this while also ensuring no space is wasted on creating space for aisles.

One key invention is the use of mobile carriages. They are movable shelvings that help eliminate the need for static aisles. The mobile carriages are carried on tracks that allow you to create aisles as needed within the grow space and tend to upper tiers. This helps eliminate static aisles saving even more space. 

In other words, the rows between grow racks systems don’t need to be more than 4 feet wide; hence, if using five static racks, you’ve saved about 10 feet of space by using mobile carriages.

Moreover, you need to have capacity evaluations of your grow space to help you evaluate or reevaluate your business goals for the operation. Planning the layout helps with these calculations refining your business plan. 

Major vertical systems installation companies, in addition to capacity evaluations, do CAD drawings of your available space to ensure every square footage of your space is utilized. Moreover, the CAD designs are customized to every customer’s needs; hence you get what’s ideal for your space while meeting municipal regulations.

2. Consider the Spacing of Crops on Your Vertical Cannabis Growing System

The space between your light fixtures and cannabis canopies needs to be regulated. 

Previously, HPS lights were the norm in growing cannabis plants indoors. However, the significant advancements in LED lights and lower price points have brought about a shift in increasing their use.

HPS or High-pressure sodium lights were preferred for their high intensity, which is necessary for growing cannabis. However, with the advent of vertical farming systems, the proximity of plants to the light source would result in scorched plants, hence poor yields.

This resulted in a search for solutions, and this is where Low emitting diodes or LED lights came in. Though more expensive than HPS lights, they are energy-saving and give the right intensity plants need, considering their close proximity without scorching them. 

LED lights can be placed up to 6 inches from the crops without showing signs of light or heat stress.

Therefore you need your vertical farming systems customized to the variety of cannabis plants you’ll be growing. For vertical growing systems, short cannabis varieties are preferred. 

Moreover, you can plant auto-flowering cannabis varieties. These cannabis plants have fast turnover while remaining robust, resilient, and of high quality. They are a bonus if you are starting on commercial vertical farming, as they have low-skill requirements. 

3. Manage microclimates in Your Vertical Cannabis Growing Systems

Microclimates are one of the major challenges faced by vertical farming facilities. This is because the vertical grow racks and installed lighting can impede proper airflow.

Microclimate refers to any set of atmospheric conditions that differ from the climate surrounding it, typically caused by a lack of air circulation.

Air circulation helps draw away the moisture released by plants during respiration. If the moisture released remains in a particular section of a room, that area will have higher temperatures than the rest, hence the formation of microclimates. 

The cannabis plants will be exposed to different environments, causing different reactions that result in an inconsistent yield quality. Therefore, it’s in the farmer’s best interest to limit the formation of microclimates for a better bottom line.

One key solution to this challenge is installing environmental monitoring software to automate your lighting and ventilation equipment. 

The environment monitoring software leverages sensors mounted throughout your indoor grow room that measure critical parameters like temperature and humidity changes. This will allow you to monitor microclimates’ formation and make the necessary adjustments.

Moreover, there are other interesting solutions, like utilizing frozen slurry piping to localize air conditioning in the vertical grow racks. The frozen slurry is delivered using pipes running throughout your racks, cooling the plants and lighting, lowering the formation of microclimates. 

4. Quality of Vertical Growing System Installation Service

Embarking on deploying the use of vertical grow racks for your cannabis indoor grow room is an expensive undertaking. This means you must first get it right when purchasing your vertical farming systems. 

Partnering with the right vertical farming systems installation company is paramount to ensuring you don’t get it wrong at the onset.

MMI Agriculture is a vertical growing systems installation company available in all states where cannabis is legal, like California, Arizona, Alaska, and WashingtonDC. We provide customized vertical grow racks built for rigidity and durability.

Moreover, we offer installation services backed with a 10-year warranty on parts and labor. This ensures you get vertical systems that get you started well and long after, helping you focus on maximizing profits and improving operations.

Get Started With Vertical Growing System For Your Cannabis Indoor Grow Today

Success getting started, or upgrading to vertical farming systems is easy but can also turn ugly if you aren’t in step with all it entails. 

For a start, you need your grow space mapped out and the spacing between racks well defined. Then cater to your plants’ well-being by eliminating microclimates and finally partner with a competent vertical systems installation company.

At MMI Agriculture, we offer expertise in vertical grow racks systems planning and installation. Contact us today for a quote. 

Vertical Cannabis Farming: The Future Of Cannabis Cultivation

Vertical cannabis farming is a profitable way to increase your grow facility’s capacity and thus expand your business.

Indoor cannabis farming has traditionally been done on horizontal farms with the help of complex lighting and ventilation systems. However, over time, there’s been an increased demand for efficiency and sustainability in indoor cannabis growing.

Vertical cannabis farming is an intelligent cultivation setup that boosts yield through increased efficiency.  

The major hurdle with growing cannabis indoors is managing space to maximize the grow space capacity. 

The more plants you can grow and harvest within a year, the more gains you will make from your grow op. 

Vertical farming is a method of growing cannabis indoors that leverages Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology to produce high-quality cannabis year-round. 

This farming method is rising in popularity and is increasingly being accepted as a profitable way to maximize an indoor grow output.

What Is Vertical Cannabis Farming?

Vertical cannabis farming is the practice of growing cannabis in vertically stacked layers.  

Vertical farming rides on CEA technology for its success. CEA is an intensive form of hydroponically- based agriculture where the cannabis grows within a controlled environment. 

Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in nutrient-enriched water, which uses 98% less water than traditional cultivation methods.

Vertical farming is essentially a technology-based approach to farming. 

It entails using technologies such as HVACs, ACs, lighting, and irrigation systems to artificially create climatic conditions that allow plants to grow. These systems regulate the humidity, temperature, CO2 levels, and light the plants require for maximum yield.

Adopting the farming method has resulted in some significant advancements in indoor cannabis farming.

One of those advancements includes the shift from using HPS grow lights to using LED lights in growing cannabis plants. 

HPS lights emit much more heat, which could scorch and damage the plants. LED lights became preferable for indoor cultivation, especially in vertical farming. The LED lights produce less heat facilitating the proximity between lights and plants common with using vertical systems.

Other key innovations like the mezzanine walkway improve worker productivity and safety as they reach for plants higher up in the vertical systems.

Types of Cannabis Vertical Farming

There are different approaches to growing cannabis vertically. The cannabis plants can be planted on shelves, columns, or walls. All of which are divided into two categories.

1. Stacked Vertical

Stacked vertical grow is simply one horizontal farm on top of another. 

The lights can run through the top of each stacked tier. In addition, the irrigation systems run through the hydroponic trays that house the grow medium for the cannabis plants.

On the other hand, the shelvings can be arranged in a square formation around a central light source.

The key to a successful stacked vertical cannabis grow is keeping the plants short. You can consider growing the auto-flowering cannabis varieties. They grow fast and are easy to manage, even for a beginner.

2. True Vertical

With true vertical grow, the plants grow out the side of a column.

The method employs the nutrient film technique (NFT) and aeroponics to provide nutrients and water to the cannabis plants.

Aeroponics is a soilless growing method where the roots are exposed to air, then NFT incorporated, where nutrient water is passed directly over the roots.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Vertical Cannabis Farming

As with every other cultivation method, vertical cannabis farming has merits and demerits. 

As a prospective vertical cannabis farmer, you need to assess your target for the grow space and, from that basis, create a model that works for your operation.

Advantages of Vertical Cannabis Farming

1. Reliable Year-Round Cannabis Production

Vertical farming is not dependent on weather. This means you can have consistent year-round crop production without worrying about adverse weather conditions affecting the quality of your yields.

In addition, vertical farming incorporates automation allowing for repeatable programmable production. Therefore, you can meet customer demand with the increased acreage while maintaining high-quality flavor and potency. 

2. Optimal Use of Space

In traditional farming, you need several acres of fertile land to produce high cannabis yields. 

However, with vertical farming stacking technology, you can expand the available acreage by three or more times.

Using technologies like vertical grow racks, you can use your warehouse’s overhead space to grow more cannabis canopies.

Vertical grow racks are made of steel, enabling them to carry the weight of your canopies and irrigation systems. Furthermore, the rebars used to support your grow trays make it simple and seamless to integrate your lighting systems.

We do, also, have mobile carriages. These are completely rust-proof systems propelled by heavy-duty flange wheels and bar tracks. 

The flange wheels are secure and fit snugly on our rigged bar tracks, eliminating the possibility of racking or tipping. As a result, your valuable cargo is safe and able to be moved with ease. 

Furthermore, the mobile carriage vertical systems bar rack is strong enough to support multiple tiers.

These systems are unique in that they are customized to fit the space to the maximum capacity. 

3. Low Labor Costs and Enhanced Worker Safety

Vertical systems are designed with worker safety and efficiency in mind. 

Configuring your vertical cannabis farm with an automated growing system eliminates some of the labor demand on your business.

The automated systems irrigate your plants, fertilize, and regulate the humidity, temperature, and lighting. This ensures consistency in your yields and allows your workers to only focus on inspecting and harvesting your cannabis canopies.

Vertical farming has low labor overhead costs, allowing you to scale without incurring additional costs.

Moreover, indoor farming protects workers from the hazards of heavy farming machinery and exposure to harmful farm chemicals. 

Vertical farming is an approach that boasts of using low agricultural chemicals like herbicides and pesticides as the enclosed system reduces the chances of the plants being contaminated.

Disadvantages of Vertical Cannabis Farming

1. Technology Dependent

For a farmer to maintain the required climatic conditions for cannabis to grow, they have to utilize various equipment such as grow lights, HVACs, and CO2 burners.

Any hitch with these technologies can be detrimental to the health of your plants and, as a result, impact your bottom line. 

Therefore, regular maintenance of your equipment is critical to ensuring maximum output. Also, it’s crucial to have backup power to ensure your systems are always operational.

2. High Startup Costs

At the onset of growing cannabis indoors, purchasing quality grow equipment can increase startup costs. There’s a demand to acquire advanced climate control systems, vertical grow racks, and sensors, which aren’t cheap.

However, in the long-run vertical growing of cannabis proves cost-effective as there’s no need for additional adjustments than starting with horizontal farms and then transitioning. 

Start Your Vertical Cannabis Farming Op Today

Vertical cannabis farming is a popular cultivation method helping revolutionize the industry. It’s a technology-based practice that boosts acreage per square foot by utilizing vertical grow racks with multiple shelving.  

Thanks to advancements in the industry, farmers can now plant all year regardless of climatic conditions, increasing their profits.

MMI Agriculture is a vertical systems specialist company that installs vertical systems for cannabis cultivators. Whatever type of indoor space you have (warehouse or skyscraper),  we have a professional team to help you design and install our cutting-edge vertical systems.

So, are you planning to begin or transition into vertical cannabis farming? Contact us today.

4 Things To Know Before Converting To A Vertical Farming Facility

Here are some of the things to consider before setting up a vertical farming facility.

With the growing human population and demand for resources, the availability of arable land has dwindled. 

Moreover, with the increased use of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and shrinking water reserves, there has been a call for improving the agricultural sector.

These gaps have resulted in innovation and creativity, with experts devising alternative strategies to traditional farming, such as vertical farming. These innovations focus on utilizing less space, increasing yield per unit area, and lowering water usage. 

In addition, the increased demand for healthier and more quality food free of agrichemicals has fueled the need for these critical innovations.

One popular advancement has been the creation of vertical farming facilities. These facilities are built on a concept known as vertical farming. 

Vertical farming is an indoor cultivation method that aims to increase output vertically rather than horizontally. Vertical farming is a multilayer indoor growing system in which all growth factors such as humidity, light, temperature, water, and nutrients are controlled.

With this in mind, starting or converting an indoor grow space into a vertical farming facility is no easy task. 

Considering some top vertical farming companies like Bowery farms, it’s a delicate process that demands high expertise and planning to ensure a successful operation.

What are the requirements for establishing and operating a successful cannabis vertical farming facility? Here are our top five recommendations.

4 Top Tips to Consider Before Converting to a Vertical Farming Facility

1. Get the Basics of How CEA Technology Works

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is growing crops under controlled environmental conditions to reduce pests and disease, increase efficiency and sustainability and lower the overall cost of production. 

At the heart of CEA is automation to control the enclosed ecosystem better. Automation is employed to regulate the plants’ humidity, CO2 levels, temperature, light, and nutrition.

Automation helps you have an integrated climate control system that overall helps bring down your energy costs.

In the less ideal case, some growers may opt to have separate controls for their HVAC, CO2 burners, lighting, and irrigation which unfortunately aren’t” speaking to each other.” This scenario brings in a loss as you can have your CO2 burners on and the exhaust fan cooling your space simultaneously, which results in wasting the CO2 created.

The ideal scenario is to have your equipment staggered where they are turned on each at a time. This strategy can also help prevent energy spikes, increasing your utility costs.

For example, when lowering the temperature in your cannabis vertical farming facility, you can turn on the fans and exhaust system before turning on the power-intensive ACs to aim for the optimal growing temperature.

2. Select the Growing Media

Indoor gardening in a vertical farming facility can be done in various ways. 

On the one hand, there’s hydroponics, a soilless cultivation method that leverages scheduled irrigation of nutrient-enriched water. It’s a common method in professional cannabis vertical farming operations. 

The system works best with an automated irrigation system programmed to the plant’s needs and growth cycle. The grow medium used needs to allow for aeration as it impacts the water economy of the plant and its ability to utilize nutrients.

Another method is aquaponics. It’s a system where nutrients circulate from fish to plants and back. However, it’s not a popular method because it wastes water and increases the risk of plant root disease. Moreover, because the fish tanks may require regular and timely maintenance, it does not allow for year-round crop production.

Finally, there’s aquaponics, where roots are exposed and fed with nutrient-rich fog. This method relies heavily on automation and time-consuming technical problems may affect the plant’s nutrition, impacting their overall health and yield. 

It’s important to note that in indoor vertical farming, the grow medium isn’t necessarily the source of nutrients for the plants. 

Regardless of whether an organic grow medium such as soil, coconut husks, sphagnum moss, or peat is used, it is fertilizers that are used to provide nutrients to the cannabis plants.

The growing medium’s purpose is to host or support the roots and promote root aeration. All of these functions should be facilitated by the medium you choose for your cannabis vertical farming facility.

3. Plan Your Vertical Farming Facility

Whether you are just starting out or converting your horizontal operation to a vertical farming facility, planning your grow room is central to your success.

Vertical farming is considered a commercial venture, and with it comes a demand for an increased workforce, advanced climate control equipment, expertise, and workflow management.

Moreover, by utilizing the overhead space, you increase the capacity of your grow space, and the multiplied cannabis canopies will necessitate the refinement of your plant processing and harvesting technique.

Partnering with the right vertical systems installer entails having them design floor plans to maximize the use of your grow space. The planning helps ensure the vertical systems are customized to the dimensions of your grow space, allowing you to make the best use of your real estate while staying within municipal regulations.

In addition, they can help you do capacity evaluations which can help you refine your business plan projections.

By combining these factors, we can install efficient and long-lasting vertical grow systems for your vertical farming facility.

4. Capital Required for Converting Into a Vertical Farming Facility

Vertical farming is a capital-intensive business with high operation and equipment costs. The key to overcoming financial hurdles along the way is practicing a feasibility study to help clearly define your expectations.

According to various expert vertical farming companies, there are hidden costs that growers should recognize before converting to a vertical farming facility. They include:

• Permit acquisitions. These are elusive fees that can prove costly. However, with a credible vertical systems installer, it’s something you shouldn’t miss.
• Input costs like power and fertilizers.  
• Wrong choice of seed strain to plant. When starting your vertical farm, there are different types of seed strains you can cultivate. 

For example, as a startup vertical farming facility, auto-flowering cannabis varieties are preferable for their quick turnover and require low management skills. But as an expert grower, cannabis photoperiod feminized seeds are better as their growth cycle help save on energy costs.

• Equipment maintenance. Maintenance costs are a factor that needs constant monitoring.
• Hiring and maintaining experts in the management and operation of the vertical farming facility. 
• Venturing into the wrong market. When choosing the best place for starting your vertical farm, look into markets that have legalized recreational and medicinal cannabis, such as Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington D.C., Illinois, Maine, and Massachusetts.

Build a Profitable Cannabis Vertical Farming Facility

When ready to convert into a cannabis vertical farming facility, first arm yourself with some basic CEA technology knowledge. Then, have your grow room design and growing medium/cultivation method figured out.

Finally, find the best vertical farming systems installer for your grow facility. At MMI Agriculture, we specialize in vertical farming systems installation, offering premier products such as vertical grow racks and mobile carriages designed to help you get the most out of your grow space.

In addition to installation, we provide a 10-year warranty on equipment and labour to support your success in the vertical farming space. Contact us today for a quote.

Top Tips For Setting Up A Commercial Grow Room For Cannabis

It’s no secret that the cannabis industry is thriving, with markets like Washington state seeing total sales of up to $2 billion since recreational cannabis was legalized in 2014.  At the backbone of this industry is cannabis cultivation, where you need to get your figures right when establishing your commercial grow setup. 

Indoor cannabis farming is a prominent part of the cultivation industry. This type of cultivation has major advantages as well as challenges in setting up and running. 

A key factor to ensuring the smooth running cannabis indoor grow op is having your commercial grow setup meticulously planned.

Lighting, HVAC, irrigation, and cultivation systems are part of your commercial grow setup. Also, consider your floor space and the plant varieties you want to grow. All these elements contribute to your indoor grow setup, and strategically implementing them puts you on the road to success.

So, how do you design a profitable cannabis commercial grow setup?

5 Expert Tips For Profitable Cannabis Grow Room Setup

What do you need for the perfect cannabis grow setup?

1. Purchase The Right Vertical Equipment For Your Cannabis Grow Setup

You can’t say you are starting a cannabis commercial indoor grow room without having uprights in your space. 

Uprights, also known as vertical growing systems, are vertically stacked layers where you can grow and manage your cannabis canopies. They are available in various forms, such as vertical grow racks and mobile carriages.

Vertical grow racks are important for your commercial grow setup as they allow you to utilize the overhead space, increasing your acreage over every square foot of your repurposed warehouse, skyscraper, or even a shipping container.

Vertical systems come in various materials such as wood and steel. They both serve the purpose, but steel structures are preferred due to their sturdiness, ability to withstand damage and lower likelihood of harboring diseases and pests.

Another key advantage of using vertical systems is that they help save on water, utilizing 95% less water than traditional cultivation systems. 

On the other hand, mobile carriages add versatility to your commercial grow setup because they not only hold more cannabis canopies but also help maximize your floor space. They aid in the elimination of static aisles. If you want to access a system, you only need to create an aisle and tend to the plants.  

2. Choose The Right Seeds/ Strain For Your Cannabis Grow Setup

Every commercial grow setup may demand a different type of strain. 

For example, suppose you are doing vertical farming. In that case, you may need a short cannabis strain to facilitate the multiple layers and allow spacing between the lighting and canopies for each tier. 

However, because there is plenty of headroom in horizontal farms, you have more freedom to grow tall varieties.

Furthermore, auto-flowering seed varieties are recommended when starting an indoor commercial grow operation. These seeds have a quick turnover, fewer complications with managing light cycles, can fit in small spaces while remaining robust and resilient, and are an excellent choice for easily developing high-quality weed.

However, for more experienced growers, photoperiod feminized seeds are a suitable choice. These seed types demand the farmer to have basic cultivation knowledge and specialized grow equipment. 

Regardless, they have various perks, including the ability to control the size and shape of the plants as well as their vegetative cycle. This means you can save on energy costs as they require less light than auto-flowering varieties during bloom.

It’s important to note that only female cannabis plants can produce potent bud-rich produce. Therefore it’s crucial to prevent pollen contamination and avoid having male seedlings in your grow space. Pollination compromises the bud quality of the female plants as they tend to form seeds affecting your yields. 

3. Choose Good Lighting For Your Cannabis Grow Setup

In a cannabis commercial grow room, there are three primary types of grow lights: LED, HID, and Fluorescent grow lights.

Each grow light has its advantages and disadvantages, as well as a distinct purpose based on your needs.

High-intensity discharge (HID) lights have long been used in indoor growing. However, their popularity waned over time due to their excessive energy consumption and proclivity for scorching plants. They’re best, though, if your grow-op specializes in auto-flowering seed varieties.

Autoflowering cannabis plants have a fast growth cycle. Because of their high light intensity/potency, HIDs can handle their quick cycle. As a result, the potency of this grow light provides the necessary parameters for these plants during their brief existence.

On the other hand, we have LEDs. The low-emmiting diode (LED) grow lights bring in the dynamic slow-growing feminized seeds need. LEDs have grown in popularity due to their low energy consumption despite a high price point.

Feminized seeds take a longer time to get to the flowering stage; hence a grow light that can remain sustainable in the long growth cycle is key to a good commercial grow room setup design. LEDs, in this case, have low energy waste and won’t scorch your plants. 

Fluorescent lights are not common in grow spaces. But they can be useful in supplementing other types of grow lights. Also, they can be used in small spaces like tabletop caster units, and due to their low heat, they can be positioned near the cannabis canopies.

4. Save On Your Cannabis Grow Setup Energy Costs

Energy bills are responsible for the high production cost associated with cannabis indoor cultivation. The first step toward lowering your energy bills is to conduct an energy audit. This audit will help you figure out where you’re bleeding and what you need to do about it.

Incorporating an integrated climate control system that manages your HVAC, lighting, CO2, and irrigation is key to lowering energy costs. 

Most growers have equipment run by separate controls; this introduces a great inefficiency as the different commercial indoor grow systems don’t communicate.

You can resolve these inefficiencies through automation. Automation helps stagger your equipment avoiding energy spikes. Equipment staggering means having your commercial grow systems like HVAC and humidifiers turn on at different times. 

For example, if you have five units, instead of having all of them on simultaneously (causing an energy spike that can peak your energy bill), turn them on one at a time to lower the grow room temperature gradually.

Insulating your grow room also allows you to keep the temperature stable for longer periods without having to use your air conditioning.

The foundation of good ventilation is making sure the commercial indoor grow systems are in optimal working condition. This is as ascertained by good maintenance of your commercial indoor growing systems.

5. Partner With A Good Commercial Indoor Grow Systems Installation Company

Experts are needed to construct the best commercial grow setup, whether it’s for your HVAC, lighting, vertical system, or irrigation system.

When it comes to vertical farming systems, MMI Agriculture has the experience and equipment to get you started or transition into vertical farming systems.

We get you started with a free floor plan/drawing that ensures you get the most of your grow room space. 

Furthermore, if you require a capacity assessment to provide a mental picture that streamlines your expectations for predicted yields with vertical systems, please contact us.

Finally, we provide and install our unique vertical systems, designed to be functional and long-lasting.

Get Started On Creating The Ideal Cannabis Grow Room Setup

When creating the ideal cannabis grow room setup, you need to know the right equipment to purchase and have a monitoring system that ensures you keep costs low and profits high.

At MMI Agriculture, we provide you with reliable and durable vertical farming equipment backed with a 10-year warranty on the systems and installation service.

Contact us today for a quote.

Don’t Just Start! 5 Must-Haves in Your Cannabis Commercial Grow Facility Design Checklist

An efficient commercial grow facility design is essential for a successful cannabis cultivation business. You may have the best cannabis seeds available, but if their environment is deplorable, it will lead to low yields, negatively impacting your bottom line.

Equipping your commercial grow facility with the right indoor gardening technologies could be the game-changer your operation needs to thrive.

For example, incorporating commercial vertical grow systems into your commercial facility helps you utilize otherwise wasted overhead space and increase acreage by over 200%. In other words, you can get 4-6 acres worth of produce from a single acre which translates to higher yields and returns.

You can do much more to ensure you get the best of your available grow space. Creating the ideal commercial grow facility design is a necessary step toward running a successful cannabis operation.

5 Tips for a Successful Commercial Facility Design

What do you need well-thought-out before launching your cannabis commercial grow facility?

1. Develop a Business Plan

A business plan is the foundation of a successful cannabis operation. It provides a road map for structuring, running, and growing your business.

Every business, including a cannabis grow facility, has both the administrative and operational sides which need to be bridged to ensure a smooth operation.

Having unrealistic production methods can create a disconnect between the above factors resulting in systematic failures or inefficiency that result in heavy losses. The failures and inefficiencies would demand costly redesigns during operation, upsetting the harmony of your cannabis operation.

At this stage, you can decide whether to opt for vertical grow racks or horizontal shelving, each of which has different complications and benefits depending on the available grow space.

For example, one may go for horizontal shelving to grow their cannabis canopies in a warehouse considering available capital. On the other hand, assuming similar financial muscle, another may choose to have their commercial grow facility designed for vertical grow systems and equip it gradually.

Upon reflection, the former may switch to vertical systems, which would be a costly endeavor. While the other will smoothly transition into industrial operation with a minimum redesign of production procedures and management of the facility.

A successful cannabis commercial facility design begins with defining clear business goals, laying down an actionable production process, and then harmonizing the two.

2. Architecture

Many architectural preliminary activities need to be done before getting your vertical systems and grow equipment installed.

A sound installation company should have these done to ensure your commercial grow facility design is optimized for maximum yields

• Site Survey

This is where the installation company visits the site to assess and measure the area. Then, the installation company should work collaboratively with your team to design a setup that optimizes your space vertically and horizontally for maximum canopy cover.

• Capacity Evaluation

Once the vertical farming solutions company gets the measurements, they can help you evaluate the capacity for your operation. This helps you align your business plan’s expectations with the projected canopy coverage, helping you make more refined/ realistic goals.

• Floor Plans and Drawings

An experienced vertical farming systems provider understands how to manage a given space. As a result, hiring an installation company to create floor plans and customized drawings for your commercial grow room is a sure way to maximize your available indoor grow space.

At MMI Agriculture, we offer the above services to ensure a sustainable transition or start with vertical grow systems.

The good architectural design of the space will ensure the essentials for the plants’ well-being, such as good airflow (managed by HVAC systems), grow lights, and irrigation systems, are intelligently installed. Such considerations ensure maximum output while lowering production costs in energy bills for a given space.

A successful commercial grow facility design relies on good architecture to make the most of available space and energy resources.

3. Vertical Farming Systems in Commercial Grow Facility Design

Vertical farming systems, such as vertical grow racks, and mobile carriages, are a great way to start a commercial cannabis indoor grow room.

Vertical grow racks are a commercial indoor growing system vital in helping utilize overhead space that would otherwise be wasted with horizontal shelving.

Vertical shelving allows you to increase output per acreage of your warehouse or skyscraper as you can have multiple tiers of shelving filled with cannabis canopies.

Moreover, unlike fixed systems where you have static aisles consuming valuable space, you can install mobile carriages that help save on space by only creating one aisle in your grow room. Hence, if you need to access the plants, you only create an aisle for that row. 

The design of the vertical systems needs to be handy and versatile. The vertical grow racks should be sturdy enough to carry the weight of crops, lighting, and irrigation systems.

They also need to be resistant to agricultural chemicals and humid conditions in the grow room.

A suitable vertical farming system complements your commercial grow facility design. They are an expensive investment; hence should be durable and reliable, ensuring a good return on your real estate.

4. Safety in Commercial Grow Facility Design

As with every industry scale operation, accidents can be quite common, leading to significant losses in lost skilled labor and even reduced productivity from injured workers.

Water spills, falling shelving and trip hazards from equipment are among the most common causes of accidents in grow room setups.

You can prevent water spills by having hydroponic grow trays with proper drainage features.

Purchasing vertical shelving with anti-tip features is crucial in preventing accidents in seismically active areas. Anti-tip features keep shelving from falling over, reducing losses from the damage to commercial indoor grow systems and preventing injuries.

Moreover, with key innovations like the retractable mezzanine walkway, workers can be secure when reaching crops in higher-up shelving. Consequently, there’s enhanced workflow and hence increased productivity.

Also, ramps installed on railings that carry mobile carriages can help eliminate trip hazards enhancing overall worker safety.

The safety of workers is vital when considering your commercial grow room facility design, as their productivity rate sustains the output of your cannabis indoor grow operation.

5. Temperature, Grow Light, and Ventilation Considerations in Commercial Grow Facility Design

Apart from equipment, one of the high costs incurred by a cannabis indoor cultivator is energy costs.

It would be best to consider the energy used by various equipment such as lighting systems, temperature controls, dehumidifiers, and exhaust fans. All these are crucial elements of a grow room. Hence you need to have a design that ensures they are used efficiently.

Vertical systems can help maximize the utilization of key resources like exhaust fans, ACs, and lighting. A single source can serve a broader range of canopies spread vertically and horizontally in vertical growing systems.

Moreover, your commercial grow facility design should ensure good airflow, which is essential for removing stale air hence keeping optimum humidity levels for healthy plant growth.

The type of grow lights you choose also affects your energy consumption and the health of your plants.

For example, if you consider using LED lights for your cannabis canopies, the lights are initially expensive. However, energy costs are reduced because they consume low wattage while being gentle on crops because they do not easily scorch them.

When planning your commercial grow room facility design, consider how the climatic conditioning equipment affects production costs. Avoid buying equipment that will need to be replaced because it does not produce the output required to ensure proper airflow in your space.

You Can Nail Your Commercial Grow Facility Design on the Get-Go

You can do your commercial grow facility design the right way by creating a good plan. First, have your business plan simple and realistic, then get a handle on the various types of commercial indoor growing systems.

Finally, partner with the right installer of vertical grow systems. At MMI Agriculture, we not only install vertical systems but walk with you in the design phase to ensure you have the maximum cannabis canopies for your grow space.

Moreover, we back our products and services with a 10-year warranty to give you the peace of mind you need when transitioning and starting with a vertical farming system.

Contact us today for a quote.

The Tested Way to Cultivate Cannabis Profits Using Indoor Vertical Farming

Here’s everything you need to know about how vertical farming can elevate your indoor cannabis commercial grow room.

As the world’s population grows, the supply of fruits and vegetables is falling 22% short of global nutritional needs. The expanding population outpaces the ability to feed itself, necessitating further innovation such as controlled environment agriculture (CEA) or vertical farming.

Modern cultivation problems include water shortage, land scarcity, and an ageing farming population. CEA is a solution working to address all of these issues and more.

Indoor commercial vertical growth has been found to boost crop yields by increasing arable space vertically per square foot and circumventing the land area limitation. 

Humans have improved agricultural practices over time, and vertical farming is redefining urban agriculture to secure adequate, high-quality food for everybody.

What Is Indoor Vertical Farming In A Commercial Grow Room?

Vertical farming is growing crops vertically in stacked layers in a closed and controlled environment. 

CEA controlled environment agriculture is a technology-based approach to food production that incorporates indoor agriculture and vertical farming. CEA protects crops from harsh external factors and ensures that they grow under ideal conditions throughout their life cycle.

Everything plants require at various phases of development is artificially provided in CEA or vertical farming. Your commercial grow room will need water, temperature, humidity levels, ventilation, lights, and CO2 available to your plants.

Indoor commercial cannabis cultivation necessitates purchasing LED grow lights, irrigation pumps and hydroponic systems to provide nutrients and water. Moreover, you’ll need fans, an exhaust system, dehumidifiers, and CO2 burners for your ventilation system and proper airflow.  

Using vertical farming in your professional grow room eliminates the heavy use of herbicides, fertilizers, and pesticides which can be pricey and impair the quality of cannabis crops. Moreover, you can produce crops with 70 – 95 less water than in conventional cultivation, depending on the growing system. Vertical farming also proves superior to greenhouses in the yield produced per litre of water for a square metre of land.

Indoor vertical growing systems include;

• Hydroponics – Hydroponics is a vertical growing technology widely employed in vertical farms that involve growing plants in a nutrient solution.
• Aeroponics – Aeroponics is a vertical growing technique in which plants are grown in an air/ mist environment.
• Aquaponics – It’s a type of farming that involves a symbiotic relationship between fish and plants. Fish create nutrient-rich excrement for crops, and the crops purify the fish’s water.
• Soil – Even though vertical farming removes the need for soil, it remains a suitable medium for growing crops. Moreover, you can sterilize soil using hydrogen peroxide for indoor commercial cultivation, and there are natural alternatives to soil like coconut husks.

As cannabis legalization spreads, vertical farming proves as the preferable method for growing cannabis. CEA equips your commercial grow room with the technology it needs to achieve cannabis growing regulations such as seed-to-sale tracking. 

This means that vertical farming allows for greater control (by automation) over the practicality and profitability of cannabis production.

Pros and Cons of Vertical Farming for Your Commercial Grow Room

Vertical farming technology has much to offer for a cannabis commercial grow room operation. Then again, some setbacks come with the technology. Here are a few things to consider when deciding to grow up.

Advantages of Vertical Farming for Your Commercial Grow Room

1. Customization

Vertical farming helps create a professional grow room as the systems can be configured to fit the available grow space. A vertical system can be easily adapted for your commercial grow space, whether in a shipping container, warehouse or skyscraper. 

Most vertical systems providers bring in designers and advisors to assist in developing the ideal custom industrial size solution for your cannabis operation.

2. Automation

Vertical farming allows growers to automate cultivation equipment, resulting in higher-quality yields. Whether you need partial or complete automation, there are a variety of solutions to help control the irrigation, lighting, humidity, ventilation and fertigation for your crops. 

This helps save on labor costs and time by eliminating repetitive processes and allowing your employees to focus on the critical tasks.

3. Maximizing Energy Utilization

Where you’ve previously invested in quality growing equipment but employed horizontal racks,  switching to vertical grow racks will allow you to get more out of your equipment. 

Vertical growing systems allow for good airflow while increasing output per square foot, resulting in healthier, more nutritious plants with better yields.

4. Plant Year-Round

Since you are planting indoors and in a controlled environment, whether it’s summer or winter outside, the inside environment is ideal for plant growth. Severe weather conditions can’t affect your plants, allowing consistent harvests throughout the year, improving profitability.

5. High-Quality Crops and More Yields

With the elimination of soil as the only grow medium, the plants are cleaner and easier to process. Crops are also kept free from pesticides, herbicides and most other chemicals, helping meet cannabis cultivation standards. 

On the other hand, the stacked layers allow for space utilization both vertically and horizontally. This means you can have 4-6 acres in a single indoor acre and increase yield by over 200% for a particular space.

6. Sustainable and Environment-Friendly

Indoor vertical farming is primarily done in urban setups. The proximity to the consumer eliminates the cost of transportation of produce. Moreover, the products are within easy reach of consumers, increasing product freshness and allowing growers to make more money from their products.

Disadvantages of Vertical Farming for Your Commercial Grow Room

1. Not Sustainable for Small-Scale Farming

Vertical farming systems are great for all operation sizes; however commercial grow rooms benefit the most from this innovation. All the same, there is vertical growing equipment like tabletop caster units that can comfortably accommodate vertical growing for a household grow. 

A professional grow room entails massive spaces that can support multiple tiers resulting in increased yields associated with vertical grow systems.

2. High Initial Cost

The purchase of vertical growing and environment control equipment can prove expensive. However, vertical farming has a good return on investment, making it beneficial in the long run.

3. It’s an Emerging Technology

There’s a demand to improve various aspects of vertical farming. For example, the multiple tiers can make it cumbersome to reach the plants; therefore, solutions like the mezzanine walkway are needed. 

Notably, many other problems may arise, affecting the effective use of the cultivation method. Fortunately, companies like MMI Agriculture are investing in the field and developing solutions to streamline the industry.

What are the various solutions/ equipment available for commercial vertical farming?

Indoor Vertical Farming Equipment for Sale for Your Indoor Commercial Grow Room

Not all vertical farming equipment is the same. You need to source yours from the best providers. Some of the vertical equipment you can use to equip your room include;

1. Vertical Grow Racks For Your Indoor Commercial Grow Room

These are stacked shelving ideal for a commercial grow room. They are made of 16 gauge steel braced with steel cross and diagonal beams, making them among the strongest uprights in the market.

2. Mobile Carriages

These are vertical farming solutions that help maximize space by removing static aisles, and increasing productivity and available grow space.

3. Elevated Decking

This vertical farming solution specific to MMI Agriculture allows for easier access to plants located on higher elevations.

4. ABS Grow Trays

These are hydroponic trays made with strong and durable ABS plastic that allow you to plant crops on your vertical shelving with ease. These trays have a drainage grid that keeps water and nutrients flowing.

5. Tabletop Caster Units

These tables help take advantage of and utilize space that would be too small for a mobile system. They are customizable and mobile, making them perfect for a medium-sized operation.

Partner With the Right Installer for a Money-Saving Vertical System for Your Commercial Grow Room

Vertical farming systems are the best fit for a commercial grow room. It may be a developing technology, but it has proved effective in increasing yield for a particular grow space.

MMI Agriculture is a seasoned vertical system installer with a reputation for innovation and unmatched customer service. 

We have the industry’s most sought-after vertical equipment, which comes with a 10-year warranty. We take pleasure in providing excellent service and vertical system installation knowledge.

Request a quote and enjoy a smooth transition into vertical farming.