If you’re reading this blog post you probably already understand the many benefits of at least covering your greenhouse to protect your crop from wind and rain. Here we’re going to dive deeper into the many ways you can cover and protect your cannabis production for a more profitable growing operation that works for your budget, climate, local regulations, and product goals.

Your Goals, Your Budget, & Your End Buyers

Planning Around Your Budget

Correctly budgeting for a marijuana greenhouse project is critical, the last thing you want is to run out of money mid-grow or mid-build. A lot of consideration should go into not only the greenhouse and equipment costs, but also your pad prep and install costs, power and water requirements, growing method and medium, nutrients and plant maintenance, harvesting & curing, etc. There a lot that goes into a successful cannabis grow. If you’re on a tight budget, it’s better to do the manageable minimum and expand as you can. Even covering a row of plants with PVC and poly is going to yield you decent mids and better results than letting your plants stay exposed to heavy rains and drastic temperature swings potentially costing you half your harvest weight to mold or disease. If your budget is a little more flexible, an automated light dep greenhouse with proper equipment and automation controls can yield 3-5 harvests per year and deliver indoor quality flower that every dispensary and buyer is going to want.

What’s the Master Plan?

Every successful grower should have a plan in place before buying a greenhouse. Are you going all out on a huge buildout, throwing caution to the wind because you have the dough to ride you through until harvest and sale? Do you have the team to handle thousands of pounds of flower and a place to dry it? Or would you prefer to scale up slowly, grow a high end product that you’re managing yourself or with a small crew? Do you have to maximize your use of a small piece of land? All these things should dictate not only what style and size of greenhouse you go with but also what type of equipment and automation you choose.

What Product Am I Selling?

There are so many niches within the Cannabis game; massive fields for oil production, mid-grade flower for medical programs, pre rolls, and budget dispensaries, and the ever popular and always desired – high end indoor flower.

I’m Growing for Oil Processing

If you’re growing cannabis for eventual oil production, you have a huge property, and the legal permit to go big, then covering a massive field with super high end greenhouses may not be necessary depending on your climate- (avoid areas with naturally high heat and humidity during the growing season). Plants turned into oil do need protection from pesticides and you can certainly profit a lot more from getting 2-3 turns a year with a budget light dep setup rather than one outdoor pull a year. Plus, if you’re doing budget light dep coverings you can get a harvest in early summer, during the time of year when quality product fetches the highest price point. However this can’t be done everywhere, and we’ll dig into it below under climate and permitting options.

I’m Growing Mid Grade Flower – The Practical Choice

The post Choosing the Right Greenhouse For My Cannabis Farm appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

There are many factors to consider when setting up a growing operation, from choosing the correct greenhouse for your property and needs, to what equipment and climate control options you choose to maintain an ideal environment. Whether you’re planning a budget medical marijuana greenhouse, or a large commercial greenhouse, these are the essential factors to focus on. 

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1. DESIGN AND STRUCTURE STRENGTH

While the majority of US greenhouse Cannabis cultivation practices began in California, it does not mean those same principles and greenhouse designs will work in other states like Oklahoma or the northern states. In fact, we often hear of the california style hoop houses caving in and or otherwise flying away in storms. Choosing a cannabis greenhouse that is engineered for your property and specific climate conditions should be the first thing you do.

• Do you need an engineered structure? All states differ in building code regulations and permitting requirements. Some states will have a number of counties that will allow farmers to build greenhouses without additional permitting if their property falls within an agricultural exemption, while many other states will have strict  requirements for permitting your greenhouse. Understanding this is critical for Cannabis growers in order to avoid fines and wasted time for putting up a non-permissible structure. At Fullbloom we have AG exempt greenhouse options, and structures that can handle extreme wind and snow loads with engineer-stamped plans available.
• Does it have enough room for your plants? Cannabis needs room to grow vertically, and sometimes horizontally depending on the strain and your growing preference. Many successful greenhouse cannabis growers want to use grow lights or elevate their plants onto benches and raised beds. If the greenhouse you buy has an interior curtain or peak height that is 9’-10’ft off the ground, you will not be able to use high strength grow lights during the winter or veg periods without burning your plants. Unfortunately many of the greenhouses on the market right now are designed for small fruiting plants and the sidewalls, curtain height, and engineering are not intended for Cannabis. At Fullbloom, we currently have the highest ground to curtain clearance and sidewall options available.

2. AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

Removing the risk of human error goes a long way towards having a successful cannabis harvest. There’s a lot of equipment that functions best when automated to work together, and there are some things that will still need the touch of a grower’s green thumb.

• Climate Control Systems:  Cannabis will produce a higher quality product if the plant doesn’t have to fight against big swings in temperature. An ideal growing environment maintains a temperature around low to mid 70℉ with a variance of no more than 20° in either direction. Additionally, too much humidity build up can cause powdery mildew to form and break out. Thus, every good cannabis greenhouse should have an automation control computer and components to help maintain a uniform and ideal environment. The right automation suite will communicate between all of the equipment in your greenhouse to make sure it’s all working together to keep your plants healthy, and alert you if something goes wrong.
• Proper Ventilation: Heat and humidity build up is going to happen in every greenhouse, no matter your climate. It’s important to properly size your ventilation equipment to ensure a full air exchange at least once a minute. By using an adequate active exhaust fan on one end of the greenhouse and motorized louvers for passive air intake on the other end, you will create an active air exchange by bringing fresh air in to replace the exhausted hot and humid air. This creates a nice breeze for the plants and will actively cool the inside of the structure provided the outside is agreeable. This equipment can be automated through both temperature and humidity control points.
• Passive Air Removal:  One of the best methods to remove hot air and humidity, without running up your energy bill, is via automated ridge vents. An automated ridge vent will open up a section of your roof that runs the length of your greenhouse and allow hot and humid air (that rises) to escape out of the roof. Used in conjunction with sidewall roll ups, you can bring fresh air into your structure while the hot air is released. If the heat and/or humidity set points still climb too high, your ridge vent will close and the ventilation and any other methods you have for cooling will kick on until the ideal environmental setpoints are reached. Most standard greenhouses don’t have the option for ridge vents, at Fullbloom we have ridge vents available in any of our engineered series.

Greenhouse Heating & Insulation:

Heating your Cannabis greenhouse is one of the easier things to do as greenhouses naturally retain heat during the day. However, at night time a standard greenhouse will not retain almost any heat as greenhouses typically do not come standard with insulation. At Fullbloom we like to insulate our Cannabis greenhouses by adding a second layer of poly and inflating the roof (and sometimes the sidewalls) to retain energy. Additionally, especially in severely  cold climates, we include a foam board barrier that is installed 6-12″ into the ground to break the frost line and create a thermal barrier and further raise the insulation value. Almost every cannabis grower in the mainland US will need dry burning propane or natural gas heaters to heat up the air zone, but there are additional options like hydronic and geothermal heating, which can increase the efficiency of where the heat goes.

Cooling Systems:

Actively cooling a cannabis greenhouse is essential in almost any climate, when outside temps push past 90 even a well ventilated greenhouse with ridge vents can get too hot. If you’re in a hot/arid climate evaporative cooling systems (wet walls) can be crucial to dropping temperatures. We’ve achieved temperature drops from 120 degrees to 70 at one of our Arizona facilities with the use of a proper sized wet wall and ventilation package. High pressure fogging, shade cloth, and geothermal options can make a large difference as well. Understanding your humidity and heat range is crucial to determining what cooling systems to use, as you want to avoid raising humidity if you already live in a hot and humid climate.

Light Deprivation: Commonly referred to as light dep or blackout

Controlling the photoperiod is something nearly every cannabis grower does. In a fast growing industry, it’s important to harvest multiple times a year to stay competitive.

• Roll-to-peak (external) light dep systems are a budget friendly way to control the photoperiod on small cannabis greenhouses that are in moderate climates with low wind exposure. At Fullbloom we have spent years of R&D developing a unique  roll-to-peak system customizable to almost any structure. Used in conjunction with our light diffusing poly, allows any grower to use an affordable system without sacrificing light exposure to their canopy.
• Internal Light Dep is intended for use on large scale, heavy duty  greenhouses . Using an internal light dep curtain system is essential in high wind and snow areas as the curtains are protected by the structure. The internal curtain can act as a thermal barrier when temperatures drop at night, maintaining that ideal climate.

Fertigation and watering:

Here is the only often debatable subject for automation controls. Many cannabis greenhouse growers prefer to hand water their plants so they can get hands on with each plant and check it for bugs or disease before those things have time to spread. With that in mind, you can still have automated irrigation systems in place or some growers choose to use full fertigation systems that literally mix and deliver the nutrients right to your plants based on your plants current needs.

3. PEST, POLLEN, & PESTICIDE MITIGATION

As both commercial and personal Cannabis and Hemp grows are spreading throughout the US, so comes the added risk of your plants receiving some of these undesirable problems. As they say, an ounce of prevention and prevent a pound of pain (or something like that).

Pollen:

Male hemp and cannabis pollen is NOT something you want ruining your hard earned work. Having a greenhouse in general gives you leaps and bounds more protection then outdoor growers. However, since pollen can travel for many many miles, extra precaution should be taken if you’re at all concerned about your neighbors.  During the risky times of year (when male pollen would normally spread) it is essential to run the cannabis greenhouse as a sealed environment (doing so while keeping temperature and humidity under control is the hard part). Using an evaporative cooling wall and/or fogging system will actually trap and make pollen inert before it has time to get to your plants and has thus far been the best method we’ve seen available for the industry. Specialized pollen intake filters can also help in areas that need extra protection. As long as your intake air comes in clean, and there is no other source of air coming into the greenhouse – you will be safe from pollen.

Pests:

Pests and insects will often come in through your intakes, fans, and open sidewalls. Unlike pollen, you will need to protect your plants from pests year round . Using an anti-insect netting on your intakes and sidewalls will give you a big boost in keeping your cannabis greenhouse bug free, especially from larger pests, but even leaf miners and aphids can be blocked with a tight mesh. However, spider mites and other bugs can still be tracked into your greenhouse, sot is essential to have regular preventative pest spraying routines in place. This can be done with OMRI/Organic options via an automated overhead fogging system.

Pesticides:

Any cannabis greenhouse gower that cares about their buyers (hopefully all of y’all), and/or wants to sell their product to a licensed dispensary,will need to protect their plants from pesticides.  Outdoor growers are in the worst position of any growing method as pesticides from neighboring farms can easily cross contaminate yours.  Ensure you get to know your neighbors and when they spray, and ensure your greenhouse is prepared to run as a sealed environment during those times.

We hope you found this blog helpful. Feel free to reach out to us for any questions on your Cannabis greenhouse needs. At Fullbloom, we pride ourselves in providing our customers the best opportunity for a healthy and profitable grow. Our goal is your success and to grow with you every year.

The post Greenhouses For Growing Cannabis: 3 Must Have Considerations appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

Nearly every hemp farm will be using large amounts of acreage to mass produce and harvest their plants. One of the most expensive aspects of hemp cultivation is the initial and ongoing expenses for seed stock. With feminized seeds costing upwards of 1-3 dollars each, many farms spend hundreds of thousands (or millions) on seeds alone.  

Additionally, there is large demand for top quality CBD flower for direct consumption by the public. Outdoor cultivation provides a lower quality flower compared to the indoor quality that can be achieved inside a light deprivation greenhouse.

As such, many cultivators are using greenhouses with auto blackout systems to propagate, grow seed, and get starts planted before the outdoor season begins. An automated light deprivation greenhouse with full environmental controls provides an opportunity for farms to significantly reduce costs and produce a variety of additional income streams:

How a Light Deprivation Greenhouse Lends to Cultivating Hemp & CBD

1. Grow and test different phenotypes of your seed stock to find the best CBD ratio and to ensure THC is not above content limits.
2. Protect your crop from pollination from other farms by growing and flowering in a sealed greenhouse.
3. Harvest 3-5 times per year by using the light deprivation system to control photoperiods.
4. Grow your own seed stock in a sealed greenhouse without risking pollination of your own outdoor farm (or your neighbors farm).
5. Use the light deprivation greenhouse for flowering top quality strains for additional harvests and diversified income streams.
6. Create your starts early inside a light deprivation greenhouse and push out larger plants for a larger overall harvest.
7. Harvest early and sell your product before the market is glutted once every other farm has harvested.

Fullbloom provides greenhouses specifically tailored for all your hemp growing needs. Whether you’re planning on propagation, flowering, or growing seed stock, we have a greenhouse package that will suit your needs. Click the contact button above or call us M-F 9am-5pm PST at 888-725-4769.

The post 7 Benefits of Cultivating Hemp & CBD in an Automated Light Deprivation Greenhouse appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

Light Dep vs. Agriculture Greenhouses

• Traditional freestanding greenhouses don’t have to use precise bends and angles. A light dep greenhouse has to have precise bends or runs the risk of light leaks or shade casted from the blackout system.
• Cannabis and hemp require a very controlled environment in order to produce healthy “indoor quality plants.
• Controlling the environment and extending seasons requires heavy equipment; lights, heaters, dehumidifiers, circulation fans, CO2 generators, large exhaust fans, etc.
• Many growers end up using light deprivation greenhouses for initial curing and drying of plants. Wet plants can weigh A LOT.
• Hurricanes and big storms will often collapse regular farm greenhouses.

The post Fullbloom’s Light Deprivation Greenhouses VS. Standard Ag Greenhouses appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

Any area where a greenhouse is located comes with its own special climate challenges. To overcome these challenges takes research, planning, and intimately knowing the types of plants you intended to grow.

Many people assume California is a perfect paradise for greenhouse growing. 

However, the number of macro and microclimates in the state can be exceptionally challenging for people new to greenhouse growing. To the west, growers have the warm humid air of the Pacific Ocean. On the opposite side of the state, to the east, are vast mountain ranges and deserts.

In fact, variations in Californias climate are so drastic that grapes can thrive in one area but may freeze in a microclimate just a few miles away.

Because of their versatile design, light deprivation greenhouses can operate successfully in any of these microclimates.

With the correct covering and ventilation techniques, you can create a greenhouse that adjusts to the ideal temperature, diffuses light, and eliminates condensation. In these conditions, vegetables, fruits and plants valued for their flowers (like cannabis) can all thrive.

To create those ideal conditions, growers must first understand the two primary macroclimates of California: hot/dry and hot/humid.

These macroclimates are not evenly divided between the state, but are randomly dispersed in pockets throughout.

Greenhouses For Dry/Hot Climates

In hot, dry climates, summer temperatures can remain above 100C for weeks at a time. Clear skies and burning sunlight are a constant.

Greenhouses in these climates should prioritize protecting plants by diffusing the harsh light. This can be accomplished with covers such as SOLARIG, which blocks harmful IR rays while allowing helpful wavelengths through. Because of the diffusion properties, plants receive full light coverage without burning heat. SOLARIG has the additional benefit of protecting plants from high desert winds.

Growers who are avoiding air conditioners and other electronics must ensure that proper air circulation, ventilation, and temperature control strategies are in place. They can include exhaust fans and intake louvers light traps, so proper airflow is achieved even during blackout mode when sidewall roll ups are unuseable. This will help to keep the plants’ temperature at safe and comfortable levels when outside temps are climbing. Circulation, or horizontal airflow fans, can be used to achieve additional air movement in the upper ridge area of the greenhouse.

Proper circulation of air can help reduce condensation from building in the greenhouse. Condensation will cause humidity build up, which can be a haven for plant pathogens and diseases and should be avoided, if possible. This can be especially difficult in hot, dry climates when misting or evaporative cooling systems may be necessary for active cooling or to create proper humidity levels. Many growers solve these interrelated problems with automation systems. Air conditioning, foggers, misters, and exhaust and circulation fans can be programmed to maintain the ideal environment.

In hot, dry climates, greenhouses without active cooling systems may require ridge vents for added ventilation. This allows hot, stale air and humidity to escape the greenhouse effectively. 

Some master greenhouse growers recommend raising blackout tarps once night sets. They believe the buds have the highest weight, THC% yields, and terpene quality with this technique. Plants enjoy the fresh night air and moonlight before “waking up” naturally with the rising sun.

Many growers have avoided installing air conditioners in their greenhouses. It’s typically not about the initial price of the unit but rather the energy costs to keep them running. Some growers experimenting with cutting-edge technologies have discovered a way around this dilemma: solar and wind power. Specifically, solar panels in conjunction with a wind turbine and connected to storage batteries.

With the growers generating their own electricity, they no longer have to worry about utility bills. They can use as many automated greenhouse fixtures – including air conditioning – as they’d like.

Greenhouses For Humid Climates

Light dep greenhouses operating in humid climates face the opposite struggle with humidity that greenhouses in dry climates do. Instead of having to control their added humidity levels, growers have to constantly combat the natural humidity levels of their ambient environment.

Consequently, they must incorporate the similar, if not more, management strategies to reduce mold and pathogens caused by excess humidity.

In these humid growing zones, it’s ideal for greenhouses to include the ridge vent technology previously mentioned.. These vents are fastened onto the roof and allow excess hot, moist air out. The vents can be motorized to open and close when needed, so in the event of a downpour, rain won’t fall through the vents and into the greenhouse.

In humid climates, rainfall occurs throughout the year. Heavy cloud cover can reduce sunlight. Growers in these areas often construct greenhouses in the highlands. These elevated areas are cooler with less rainfall and consequently have more sunlight.

Greenhouse walls in these areas often include insect screens in conjunction with poly coverings. This allows for maximized airflow and ventilation, as well as keeping insect predation lower. We all know how much bugs love plants!

Additional equipment can be added for ideal airflow when combating humidity. In exterior light deprivation houses, traditional ridge vents are not usable due to the blackout poly on the outside of the structure. In these cases, smaller exhaust fans mount high in the end wall of the greenhouse to act as a ridge vent. This will help remove hot air and humidity that builds up high in the greenhouse. There are also commercial size dehumidifiers you can hang overhead to actively remove the humidity from the environment. Using automated climate control systems, this can all be set on a schedule or at a humidity point, to allow for hands-off control.

With careful research, thorough planning, and the right equipment, you can have a flourishing light deprivation greenhouse even in the hottest, most humid, or driest climate Mother Nature has waiting for you!

The post Successful Greenhouse Management in Hot Climates appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

What is it that is making growing in greenhouses so popular?

Essentially, they’re the perfect balance between an indoor and an outdoor grow. Consider these six benefits of growing cannabis in a greenhouse.

1. Control the Light

One of the benefits of an outdoor grow is that sunlight is free. Greenhouse growing also utilizes this free sunlight, but can take it a step further by supplementing the plants with light on overcast or cloudy days when the plants need a bit of a boost.

In a greenhouse, you can also play with the spectrum of light you’re providing. For example, you can use a grow light with an emphasis on the blue spectrum to optimize the vegetative stage or something with a heavy red spectrum to encourage the flowering stage.

2. Control the Climate

Producing a high-quality product is all about controlling the environment. Like an indoor grow, a greenhouse also protects your plants from the elements, but at a much lower cost per square foot. If you have an automation system in your greenhouse, that’s made even easier. You can control temperature, ventilation, and more with just a touch of a button. That level of control is impossible to reach in an outdoor grow, when Mother Nature might decide to throw disastrous conditions your way at any moment. In a greenhouse, you’ll rest easier knowing that your crop is protected from the storm blowing through, or that you don’t have to worry about a rainstorm coming in right before your harvest.

3. More Harvests in a Year

You can dramatically increase your yield when you add a light deprivation system to your greenhouse. This setup, sometimes called a “blackout system,” includes thick curtains that completely block the light hitting the plants in your greenhouse. This allows you control the length of daylight your plants experience. By altering this schedule, you can encourage your plants to flower regardless of the season, giving you a huge advantage over outdoor growers.

4. More Reliability

Once you know exactly what environmental inputs your strains need to flourish, you can easily produce those effects harvest after harvest. Growing in a greenhouse allows you the kind of consistency that you can’t get from an outdoor grow. This is particularly important when consumers have come to expect a particular profile out of your buds. A bad batch can be not just disappointing to your customers but can cost you money in lost sales.

One way to get a jumpstart on figuring out which strains are best for you is by purchasing your seeds from a website such as I Love Growing Marijuana. Reviews and ratings from farmers who have already grown and harvested the seeds can be extremely valuable in your decision-making process.

5. Cost Savings

The startup costs of an indoor grow can easily reach $100/square foot or more. Investing in a new greenhouse will be significantly lower, usually around half of that. You’ll save on ongoing costs with a greenhouse, as well. It’s incredibly expensive to reproduce the power of the sun, which is essentially what indoor grows are attempting to do. Greenhouses harness that power for free, allowing you to simply make smaller, less expensive tweaks to ensure that the plants are getting the light they need.

6. Security

Although greenhouses aren’t exactly stealth, they do keep the plants away from prying eyes of neighbors and passersby. This won’t take the place of a comprehensive security plan that may include cameras, fencing, and patrol, but it is a big step up from an outdoor grow. For additional security at your greenhouse grow site, consider steel end walls, cameras, motion detectors, and fencing.

The Big Picture

Growing cannabis in a greenhouse strikes a balance between the benefits of indoor and outdoor grows. Greenhouses are significantly more cost effective than indoor grows, but still provide all the same environmental control and reliability benefits. Like outdoor grows, greenhouses can harness the free power of sunlight. In many ways, greenhouses really are the best of both worlds for growing marijuana.

The post 6 Reasons to Grow Your Weed in a Greenhouse appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

Both marijuana and hemp are cannabis plants, but over many years, they have been selectively bred for different characteristics.

Hemp is a cannabis plant that contains only trace amounts of THC – less than 0.3%. It won’t get you high. Hemp plants are bred to grow taller, and are typically used for food products, clothing fibers, and construction materials.

As the benefits of hemp are becoming more well known, demand for products is increasing. Light deprivation greenhouses are an ideal solution for farmers looking to grow hemp year-round or to mass propagate seedlings and then transplant outdoors.

Fullbloom’s light deprivation greenhouses allow you to harvest your hemp more often, get seedlings off to a strong start, and spend less overall on initial investments and customizations.

The simplest option for protecting your seedlings from frost and rain while still allowing natural ventilation and sunlight is a rain cover or “bikini top” greenhouse. Clear poly covers the top of the greenhouse, but the sides are left open. For more protection, choose from a 20′ wide quonset-style greenhouse or a 30′ wide semi-gable greenhouse. Lengths up to 95′ are available. Both the quonset-style and the semi-gable style greenhouses can accommodate Fullbloom’s blackout light deprivation systems.

Our automated blackout setups are incredibly intuitive and user-friendly. Control all of your greenhouse systems from one touchscreen control panel. Key metrics, including indoor and outdoor temperatures, humidity, and CO2 levels, are easy to monitor at a glance. See daily, weekly, or monthly reports and easily refine your growth results. If you’re interested in seeing how light deprivation greenhouses can improve your hemp farm, we welcome you to stop by our Southern Oregon facility for a tour. Our knowledgeable on-site sales representatives are available by phone at 888-725-4769. Call us to get a free, same-day quote on a hemp greenhouse or for more information.

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The post Advances in Light Deprivation Greenhouses for Healthy Hemp Crops appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

Before you even try, save yourself a lot of time, money, and effort and check out these five time-tested reasons why your yields will be bigger and better in a light deprivation greenhouse compared to growing outdoors:

1. You can put the sun on your schedule
2. Protect your plants from pests, high wind, rain, and hail damage
3. Control relative humidity and temperatures in the environment
4. Maintain lower root temperatures for your plants
5. Hands/stress-free automation

It’s one thing to be aware of the benefits of growing in a greenhouse, and quite another to fully understand how a properly designed, constructed, and operated greenhouse will help you to grow healthy, robust plants that bring in consistently higher yields year in and year out.

So let’s take a closer look at each one of these reasons to see exactly how and why each one of them is a key contributing factor. Together, they will allow you to unleash explosive growth and vitality in your greenhouse plants for multiple bountiful harvests every year, compared to just one for outdoor grows.

You Can Put the Sun on Your Schedule

Outdoor growers are always at the will of the natural environment. Planting your crops using the soil already available and letting them grow through their natural cycle in their natural environment is a tried and true method. It’s an efficient and simple way to produce a crop without too much manipulation on the grower’s side. Most outdoor growers will still employ nutrients and other forms of solutions to stimulate bud growth and keep pests at bay, but even in these cases, the natural environment will be the determining factor of plant health and yield sizes. Also, when letting your crop grow through it’s natural cycle, you will only be able to pull off one harvest at the end of the season. Often times, this one harvest does not result in enough product to keep growers afloat.

Greenhouse farmers, on the other hand, have learned how to develop relatively simple greenhouse technologies that can manipulate environmental factors to create more control. One technological advancements that has made this possible is the introduction of automated light deprivation systems. These systems work to put the sun on your schedule.

By using light deprivation techniques, greenhouse growers are freed of the restriction of one harvest per year the way outdoor farmers are. Without having to switch to an indoor set up, where you have to buy expensive grow lights and pay outrageous power bills, greenhouse growers simply apply a blackout poly covering that is solid black on one side for total darkness and white on the other to reflect light and heat.

Greenhouse growers can flower through what would usually be the vegging season by applying the light deprivation tarp over the greenhouse after the plants have had 12 hours of sunlight and then remove the covering in the early morning for a 12 and 12 light cycle. If light deprivation is consistently applied throughout the flowering cycle, and you have the next round of plants vegging, ready to flip, then you can get three full harvests out of the natural growing season.

Protect Your Plants From Hungry Pests & Damaging High Winds & Hail

Being that outdoor crops are subject to the natural environmental factors, oftentimes large portions of crops can be lost due to pests, high winds, rain, and hail. These can cause irreparable damage or open up conditions for mold/mildew development in the flower. If you’re a professional outdoor grower, just one event like this could spell financial disaster.

For this reason alone, professional outdoor growers are seeing the benefits of converting into professional greenhouse growing!

Greenhouse poly covering can also contribute to controlling key environmental factors surrounding your plants. Just having a structure around the plants will help keep pests at bay and reduce the number of animals feeding off your plants. With a covering, you are able to block high winds that may rip through and damage the stock of your plants, as well as keep spurts of rain from over-watering your soil.

Outside of pure control over the environment, you can also get coverings that help you to manipulate the environment to keep a more uniform relative temperature and humidity level, reducing stress in your plants. These coverings can come with infrared blocking additives to reduce heat buildup in the hot summer months. They may also have an anti-drip coating to control condensation buildup and reduce the amount of moisture that comes in contact with the flowering plants to keep mold/mildew issues at bay. One important aspect to look for in poly coverings is a light diffusion property. This will help to scatter the light evenly throughout the greenhouse, reduce shadows, and get full light coverage on the canopy. There are a plethora of options from standard polyethylene, woven polyethylene, to rigid poly or poly carbonate coverings. To find out what would be the best fit for you check out our blog on “The Best Poly Covering for Your Grow”. All Fullbloom greenhouses are equipped with SOLARIG. Sure, the initial cost of building a greenhouse is greater than growing in the open country, but greenhouse growers consider it a crucial long-term investment and money well-spent.

Control Relative Humidity and Temperature For an Ideal Environment

One of the larger contributing factors to crop loss is distress under rapidly changing conditions. If temperatures and humidity levels are fluctuating too drastically, the plants cannot withstand the stress and will suffer in vitality as a result. Using a greenhouse allows you to better regulate those fluctuating temperatures to create an ideal environment at all times of the day and in any season. The amount of equipment and energy it will require for you to regulate these temperatures will depend on the area, climate, and season you will be growing through. It will require a lot less to regulate a greenhouse environment in temperate Southern Oregon or Northern California through the spring and summer season than it would to keep an ideal environment in the dead of summer in Arizona or the dead of winter in Michigan. If all you need is some additional airflow for you plants, it can be as easy as rolling sidewalls up on the greenhouse to get some free air exchange.

If you are in a high heat, dry air climate, you can introduce evaporative coolers to cool the greenhouse down while introducing some beneficial moisture into the air. On the other hand, if you are in a high humidity climate, that moisture could be detrimental. Instead, you’ll want to invest in enough exhaust and circulation fans to keep a consistent air exchange, not allowing any air to sit still and become stagnant. Sometimes this can be as simple as an additional ridge vent exhaust fan to help with high air movement. Sometimes a dehumidifier could be beneficial as well. Harsh winter environments will require a lot more equipment and energy to regulate. Insulation, if not already included, will need to be added to the greenhouse to reduce energy waste. You can heat via standard natural gas or propane vent heaters to keep your average temperatures high. There are also forms of geothermal heating that are becoming popular, energy efficient ways to keep your temps up in the winter with little cost to the grower. You can find out more information about recommended equipment in our blog “9 Ways to Optimize Your Greenhouse Performance”

Maintain The Ideal Root Temperature For Your Plants

Often times, when growing outdoors, the soil around the roots of the plants can cook under high heat conditions. This can result in under watering because of how quickly the soil dries out, which will inhibit the ability for the plants to root out. This can cause root and internal temperatures to get too high, which will either stunt the growth of the plant, or kill it all together. The temperature of the roots is often times more important than the temperature of the ambient air for a healthy plant. In a greenhouse environment, greenhouse poly with infrared blocker additives will help reduce the heat build up in the greenhouse, meaning less heat is penetrating the soil, pots, or beds.

In the winter seasons, the opposite will happen as freezing temperatures become more consistent. In a greenhouse, it’s easy to set up a system for radiant (or floor) heating to help maintain the soil and root temperature through the freezing nights. In the enclosed environment, growers have more control over stabilizing a healthy internal plant temperature throughout all growth stages.

Hands/Stress Free Automation

An added benefit to any greenhouse set up is the ability to fully automate all of the working components of the grow operation, down to an automated feeding system if you like. Growers no longer have to manually pull blackout tarps to change light cycles or go out and turn their fans on or roll their sidewalls up to ensure proper airflow. Given that the property has power available, these systems can all operate hands free. You could potentially go days without even stepping foot on your property. Motorized light deprivation systems can be set up on a timer to run a perfectly timed 12 and 12 cycle. Or you can include a full environmental automation controller to run everything from motorized sidewall roll ups, exhaust and circulation fans, heaters, dehumidifiers, and even supplemental lighting.

Many of these controllers even have a cloud storage access. With proper internet connection on site, you can see how everything is functioning in your greenhouse from your computer or smartphone. Even if you don’t make it out to the greenhouse that day, you can rest assured everything is functioning and your plants are healthy. There are many resources out there for even setting up full auto watering systems either with a soil base or hydroponic medium.

When growers are better able to control the ambient environment for their plants, they will thrive and grow more robust and healthy. Overall, when there’s less stress for the grower and the plants, the results will be larger yields and higher potency, with a better ROI.

The post 5 Reasons Yields Are Higher In Light Deprivation Greenhouses Vs. Outdoor Grows appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

As cannabis growers realize the benefit of growing in light deprivation greenhouses, fully automated blackout greenhouse systems are quickly becoming the future of the cannabis market.

More and more growers are now recognizing that light deprivation greenhouses allow them to produce high-quality crops even when the local climate is working against them and also allow them to harvest multiple times a year, beating competition to the market.

Cannabis and hops are, in many ways, very similar plants. Both belong to the cannabinaceae family. Both have terpenes, the organic compound in some flowers and trees responsible for producing flavors and aromas, and the two plants even share many terpenes in common. So if they’re so similar, why haven’t hops growers discovered the benefits using light dep greenhouses to control environmental variables and produce a higher crop yield?

Challenges of Growing Hops in a Light Dep Greenhouse

One of the biggest reasons that hops growers haven’t taken advantage of the benefits of light deprivation greenhouses is that blackout greenhouse systems previously on the market and specifically targeted at growing hops were extremely expensive, requiring hundreds of thousands of dollars in initial investments.

With Fullbloom’s light deprivation greenhouse kits, growing hops year-round is easier and less expensive than ever before. The design is simple and easy to install, with outstanding structural integrity. Our fully automated controls and blackout systems means that you can program the ideal conditions for the hops and not worry that they’re getting too much heat or light. User-friendly computerized environmental controls allow you to precisely set the correct photoperiod and encourage plants to flower more quickly with just a few simple taps of a screen.

When choosing a greenhouse, consider going with the wider semi-gable style Fullbloom greenhouse. It will provide the hop bines (yes, hops have bines, which grow clockwise around a support, rather than vines, which climb using tendrils) with more room to grow. And grow they do, up to 25 feet in a season or a foot a day. Fullbloom can set you up with a greenhouse up to 100 feet long and 25 feet in height. You’ll want to make sure you’ve got a good trellis system in place to accommodate the plants, as well.

Benefits of Growing Hops in a Light Dep Greenhouse

Climate Control, Photoperiods, and Increased Yields:

Because of the specific climate requirements of hops, they have historically been grown primarily in the Northwest. In fact, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho currently produce more than 97% of the hops used in the US. With light deprivation greenhouses, you can overcome the limitations of your local climate and create a perfect environment for hops to flourish.

Photoperiodism is a plant’s biological response to light and dark cycles in a 24-hour period. The plants evaluate these periods of light and dark to track the seasons and flower at an appropriate time of year. Both hops and cannabis are short-day plants, which means that they only flower when the time they are exposed to light each day doesn’t exceed a certain amount. Longer days signal to the plant to focus on vegetative growth. With a light deprivation system, you can essentially trick the plant into speeding up the flowering process.

Farmers experimenting with hops grown in light deprivation greenhouses are reporting growth and flowering of hops after just three months. They’re indicating that the harvesting of hops could occur two to five times per year. This is a dramatic increase in productivity, which can make huge differences in the overall profitability of growing hops.

Independence from other Farmers:

If you’re an independent brewer sourcing hops from other farms, you’re essentially at the mercy of their growing conditions and supply. Larger breweries frequently sign contracts to buy hops from farmers and wholesalers. This is good for the farmer because it ensures they have a committed buyer, but it’s tough for smaller scale brewers, who are left selecting from the leftover hops on what’s called the “spot market.” Large-scale brewers have been known to completely wipe out an entire source of hops, leaving small-scale brewers empty-handed.

When you’re growing hops in a light deprivation greenhouse, you’ve got some huge advantages to work with. You’ll never again be at the mercy of a supplier, you’ll have more flexibility in experimenting with various strains, and your profitability has the potential to skyrocket.

Next Steps

Ready to make the switch? Growers have an open invitation to stop by our facility in Southern Oregon and tour a model light dep greenhouse. We ship all over the world, so if you’re out of the area, just give us a call to learn more about how Fullbloom can improve your farming business. You can also check out the Fullbloom website for more information on our light deprivation greenhouses for hops.

The post Increase Your Hops Yields with a Light Deprivation Greenhouse appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.

There are many risks that come with an indoor growing operation. Some of these include house or building fires caused by electricity overload, mold and mildew buildup in structure, large energy consumptions, and a higher risk of pest and infection of plants.

Most of the long-term extensive damage occurs due to toxic molds and mildews. These can develop in a matter of a few short months and require very expensive structural repairs to eliminate. Some mold damage is so toxic, extensive and irreparable that homes or buildings are permanently ruined and no longer hold their value.

To set up an indoor grow that won’t damage your building or cause pest infestations, you need an expensive array of equipment.

The reason you need all this expensive equipment to grow plants indoors comes down to the way plants grow and the type of environment they thrive in.

Plants breathe out most of water that they absorb through their roots. This biological process is called transpiration. Up to 95% of the water plants absorb from their nutrient solution is expelled back out into the environment.

In a confined environment, this excess moisture in the air will cause humidity build up. If this unwanted moisture is not dealt with in a timely manner, either via temperature/humidity variance or by dehumidification methods, high moisture levels  in the grow room will slow down plant growth, and may cause mold and mildew build up on the plants and in the growing environment.

Another issue that can cause your temperature/humidity variance to get off kilter is the use of growing lights in indoor operations. Standard grow lights (HPS, MH, CFL) give off a lot of heat. This will cause your temperature to climb if the proper ventilation and cooling systems are not included. Newer LED grow lights are much more efficient when it comes to energy use and heat output, but their upfront cost is often too much for growers to swallow.

It can be particularly difficult to keep the relative humidity in an indoor grow room at a stable level without a lot of extra equipment, because you can’t use the air circulation naturally provided by being outdoors. A confined environment means putting in extra fans, air conditioning units, and dehumidifiers to keep a constant agreeable environment for the plants.

Here are 3 ways your product and budget can benefit from growing in a light deprivation greenhouse:

1. It’s Less Expensive

When growing in a greenhouse, initial cost of required equipment is much less. The structure itself will be easier and cheaper to erect than building a warehouse on your property. Being able to utilize the natural environment for airflow and light means there are fewer obstacles in your way of a high quality product. And with light deprivation techniques, you can still harvest 3-5 times a year!

Especially when growing during the spring and summer seasons, environmental control can be much easier to manage, as you can utilize functions of the greenhouse not available in indoor setups.  With the right greenhouse covering, you can combat heat from the beginning. Poly coverings like SOLARIG(read more on Solarig in our post The Best Greenhouse covering for You) have IR additives that help reduce the amount of heat build up in your greenhouse in those hot summer months. You can also install roll up sides for your clear poly walls to keep a free exchange of air, making sure your plants are breathing in plenty of CO2. Anti-insect netting can be installed to keep out unwanted pests. Including an exhaust fan and some circulation fans to keep the ridge air moving will help keep a uniform temperature/humidity variance throughout the greenhouse for your plants to thrive.

2. The Grower Benefits from Natural Growing Conditions

Being able to utilize the natural light and airflow around you means less stress over maintaining your environment. There are now some great environmental controllers on the market to help automate all of your equipment. You can now set heating, cooling, humidity , and lighting stages, so all of your accessories will be running when they are needed and will kick off when they’ve done their job. This helps save on energy costs and the time/labor it takes to run it all manually. When utilizing a light deprivation system, you can set your time points to simulate a 12 and 12 light cycle without pulling a single tarp.

3. Grow Bigger Yields Without Sacrificing Quality

There’s nothing like the pure power of the sun to grow bigger, healthier plants that produce the big fat kolas you’re looking for.  With Solarig’s light diffusing properties, light will be evenly dispersed through every corner of your greenhouse, no matter the angle it enters from. This will help ensure that all of your plants are getting the light they need. With anti-drip additives, you can combat mold and mildew issues that arise from condensation raining down on your plants. Also, with greenhouse growing, you are alloted a larger square footage to grow in, because your grow will be classified as an outdoor operation. Utilizing light deprivation techniques allows you to harvest three to four times a year (strain determinate) without any additional supplemental lighting. Growing in an outdoor, light dep greenhouse operation, your projected yields will be roughly 25-30% higher than an indoor operation. And these days, the quality of product developed in a greenhouse environment rivals indoor production in value. This is why we highly recommend starting, or switching over to a light dep greenhouse growing operation. Here at Fullbloom, we provide all the components you need to ensure you are growing a high quality product with as little cost and risk to the grower as possible.

The post 3 Reasons Why Growing in a Light Dep Greenhouse Is Better than Growing Indoors appeared first on Full Bloom Light Deprivation.