HELP! New Grower with 400 plants Greenhouse Outdoor Operation

[Emays09]

Hello, I'm new to the forum in search of some concrete answers about the amount of yield I can reasonably expect per plant. I have a small operation of 400 plants in an outdoor greenhouse overseen by a more experienced grower living in another state, and growing on his property. So I've accepted all financing for the 400 plant crop as a 50/50 partnership. However, because of my inexperience in growing, and living in another State but funding the operation 100%. I found this to be a fair agreement considering his experience in growing, an also using his land. So my question is: What type of yield can I expect off of each plant (roughly under reasonable conditions) that is grown in a greenhouse (PVC Pipe Structure) outdoors? My (experienced growing) partner is quoting me a yielding quantity that seems to be much lower than what I would expect from a 400 plant crop. Now I know that there is no absolute way to determine this number, but I figure perhaps some experienced growers in this forum could possibly give me an idea on what can be reasonably expected yield per plant under favorable conditions? Can someone give me a little guidance in this area? The pics that I'v attached represents 200 plants that were moved from indoor to the Greenhouse.

[9fingerleafs]

I harvest around 200 plants per year in a perpetual cycle. Usually 5 feet high and anywhere from 2 to 4 feet diameter depending on the plant. Even the smaller shitier plant yields a couple of ounces. A normal yielding plant is 100 to 150 grams. I’ve had big ass 250 grams plants. It all comes to what size the plants are. If you are doing a yearly crop I really don’t know what to expect. I veg for 8-10 weeks and flower in 8. Think about this way. How much space between plants and how tall are they when they go into flower. Are topping and topping all summer long? If you do and the plants have enough room. I think you could be looking at a pound per plant of usable buds plus tons of trimm.

What strain are they. That will make a big difference.

[crucialbunny]

There are so many variables that you haven't covered. Are the plants clones or from seed stock? What strains are you running? What part of the country are you growing? 400 plants will require more attention than one person can provide which will affect optimal yield.

[Emays09]

Thanks for your insight, I'm still getting familiar with the jargon but I believe as my partner may have mentioned as you can see in the first pic was 8-10 weeks of veg and we moved them to the green house which which I would hope is enough room to yield what I'm hoping is a pound per plant. However, my partner is trying to convince me that expectation in yield amount is way off! He's trying to convince me that I should not be expecting several hundred pounds from 400 plans but trying to lower my expectation to under 100 pounds off of this crop! Should I be skeptical about these extremely low expectations, and what should be a reasonable expectation for ideal weather conditions (Humbolt County CA)?

[9fingerleafs]

Here in Mexico I sell each ounce for 150usd. But if I want to sell a pound I can only get 2k usd less the 300 bucks the middle man keeps. I don’t really sell in bulk. Mostly ounces

[grouchyoldman]

9fingerleafs, thank you for that info. Those numbers are hard to come by!

Is $40,000 a reasonable ballpark for total expenses to manage 400 plants (including labor & materials)?

[9fingerleafs]

That my friend I wouldn’t know. Hard to know what you are going to need if something goes sideways, hard to know how much to pay to trimmers or buying equipment. You may need a big food saver to vacuum seal everything. A controles rh/temp room to dry and cure for about a month (and electricity) plus what ever you use to water, pumps. Reservoirs. Nutrients. It seems like too much money for expenses but that a big ass operation

[Emays09]

The plants are clones, ice cream/wedding cake strains & OG Glue strains in Humbolt County. My parter has a helper so there is two individuals overseeing the 400 plants.

[Emays09]

Sorry didn't mention the following in my first response to 9fingerleafs: The plants are clones, ice cream/wedding cake strains & OG Glue strains.

[Yoopergarden]

Until you lost a bunch of your crop to a preditor (Animal or otherwise), pest or pestilance that ravage a crop with months of effort invested, you have know Idea what a difficult question (How much will I get?) you pose.... And that assumese someone has thier game togeater. I consider 2oz dried cured flower as an average. I have hit it big and have seen half pounders. I have counted my chickens too early to only see the deer ravage most of a summer grow in a night.... BTW: no insult intended but is your "Friend" a Nigerian Prince? too good to be true sumtimes is..... best of luck!

[9fingerleafs]

Last year I lost 40 plants in one bad weather month

[9fingerleafs]

So you are looking at a solid 3 months of veg ahead of you and even a bit more. Plants could get enormous. But by looking at the pictures they don’t look as healthy and strong as they could. What the soil situation? I’m used to coco watering hydro nutrients every day. Soil grows slower and the nutrient situation can get complicated easily.

Having so so much time ahead of you before flowering (assuming you are not doing light dep) I think you should focus on controlling the height of the plant. Making sure it grows wide before getting too tall. You can always chop down entire branches that get out of control to promote lateral development.

Another thing to consider is the inevitable loss to mold. Depending on the season and the moisture temp situation in the green house you can loose entire plants. Or at least the best colas. Read up on boytritis. It attacks the stem and everything above dies in a matter of days. It’s mostly caused by caterpillars. Pythium can affect the roots and it’s game over. Use trichoderma harzanium as a preventive measure. Is super cheap and three applications are enough to create a healthy mycelium.

This is is getting long. Better if you ask questions cause I could ramble all day. Tell me about the nutrients and your water

[Yoopergarden]

I just looked closely at the images and hate to be a buzz kill but..... Your buddy my be more expierienced than you, but is missing some basics as it comes to plant training (Just as an example, I don't see a plant which has recieved any method of training). Read some of the tutorials on the main Grow Weed Easy side and search training. Are you in for a huge fiscal investment. (Not my circus, no reply needed). I hate to be that guy... send him to the forum to ask us for help!

[crucialbunny]

I grew three Wedding Cake clones outdoors in containers last season. While they produce some nice fat bud (Pic) the yield was less than a dry pound for all three. Clones tend to not grow as large as a seed plant. But that's why you're doing quantity. I have a buddy that had a clandestine warehouse grow and they just didn't have the time or manpower to manicure and train plants for maximum product. I got my clones from him and I put a lot of time and effort into mine. It sounds to me that your grower is trying to temper your expectations so there isn't a lot of disappointment come harvest. Based on what you're saying I think your guy is being honest with you.

[Rwise]

With the lack of experience I read here, expect 0 - to maybe 100LBS maybe (if all goes well)
A CA grower had a problem and lost 2 crops (at last count I seen), with no cure in site.
Good luck!
Welcome to GWE

[johnb1963]

i grow two plants outdoors every year, here in socal, and it's a major battle. last summer i lost half the crop to caterpillars. Average dry yield is 8-12 oz. per plant. i keep them shot and bushy, 5x5, always heavy indica, and directly in the ground.

[Canuck147]

Rwise has it right - 0 grams for some plants - more for others that don't encounter bugs or mold or any other cannabis problem.

[SoOrbudgal]

Man they look sickly cold i'm not sure how many will survive

[grouchyoldman]

Man they look sickly cold i'm not sure how many will survive

Tacitly concluded and succinctly stated SoOrbudgal !!!

Dear @Emays09, as I re-read this thread from top to bottom, the following two thoughts occurred to me:

1. "this nice guy is in way over his head!"
2. "He came to the right place for honest, knowledgeable advice.

It's pretty clear that you and your partner aren't working from the same playbook. Partner may, or may not, know what he's doing. From the looks of things, well, I've toured a professional cannabis setup and your pics don't look like that. If those were my plants I'd be tearing my hair out.

I know that sounds harsh, but if you have serious money in this project there are a bunch of questions you should be asking.

Please don't infer any disrespect in my comments, I'm both a grower and an entrepreneur so I get where you're coming from and my advice to you is that you need some timely advice and this is a good place to find it.

*Sighs*,

-GOM

[9fingerleafs]

I agree. And when your livelihood is on the line it’s super stressful and hard to not get emotional and make mistakes. Ask away and provide as much detail about everything as you can. I’m not the biggest op around here. A couple of other people have 200+ plant grow but unless you ask more specific questions I think it’s hard to provide advice or be proactive with the information.