Is indoor commercial hydroponics feasible?

[fbrad1]

is it feasible to have a large scale commercial hydroponics farm indoors? for example, inside a warehouse. is it profitable after the costs for warehouse rental and lighting expense have been deducted?

[fbrad1]

any help please

I'm trying to research the technigue. There is not much data available. It all seems to center around green house hydroponics. There was an experimental farm in Japan, that I've read about.

[GrowBox123]

It is feasable. You would need some start up cash, about 20k would be nice. Set up a grow box or a couple grow boxes and run your operation. That's all.

[Henry S]

^
you would take 20k to setup a commercial warehouse and fill it with a couple growboxes made from office furniture?

good luck with that

Def feasible if you are smart about what you do. What type of crops are you planning on growing?

What region are you located in?

[Jaxom]

Same reason I'm here. Unemployed and I told the other half, if I couldn't find a job, I'd make on for myself. My personal biggest concern is how do you start out small and dealing with red tape of owning and operating a buisness. Since we're talking food products more then likely health departments or some variation there of will have to be involved.

Think about this... remember back when they were trying to trace down saminella outbreak in some produce last year? Would you like to be caught with your pants down growing in a basement or industrial park without a permit or such? Talk about being open for law suits!

Jax

[Mr.Hydro]

Many people in the south grow their own veggies and sell them on the side of the road. There's a lot of veggie/tomatoe stands, watermelon stands, and even pumpkin stands that do not have food handling permits. The government can't control everyone...

Now, as far as commercial scale, then yes, you would have to get licenses and permits. If you are a "farming" business, you will also get tax breaks, and even government grants for being a farmer - check into it.

Unless your planning on growing pot, commercial hydroponics is not feasible in a warehouse, and 20K wouldn't come close to buying everything you need. The problem with hydroponics in a warehouse is that you have to supply the light which runs of course on electricity which cost money. Considering that a 1000 watt HID light cost around $350.00 and will only cover a 4x4 area you would need to buy at least 6 1000 watt lights ($2,100 plus bulbs at $100 a piece) just to cover a 10x 10 grow area. Then you have the cost of electricity which if you run your lights 18 hours a day at the average of .10/hr equals $1.80 per day per light, so if you had 6 1000 watt lights running 18 hours a day it would cost you roughly $324 a month just in electricity for lights not counting what it would cost for cooling, humidity control, and the cost to add CO2 (which would be a must for commercial growing). I imagine it would cost close to 6 hundred or more dollars a month just in electricity to grow in a 10 x 10 area, and considering it takes crops at least 2 - 3 months before harvest is ready you would end up having probably close to $2,000 in electrical and nutrient cost before you get your first harvest which mean just to break even you would have to earn at least $20 per square foot of growing area(this doesn't even count your equipment, labor, or warehouse rental costs). Now the reason people use commercial greenhouses is because you do away with all the cost for lighting which then makes it more feasible because you are not paying for the cost of lighting which as I just explained is the major cost of indoor growing. Also now you know why hydroponic pot is so expensive.