Help! Growing regular veggies, commercial scale, 12 story building

[Donatello]

OK. Here's the skinny.

I've gotten really into growing plants using hydropinics. I've been speaking with a relative, who is in the real estate/hotel business, about starting a commercial scale, walk-in, pick-your-own legit veggie garden. He's actually tired of doing what he's doing and looking for a career change and just so happens to have a degree in agriculture.

He owns a 12 story building, that is currently empty in a downtown area. The bottom two floors are 10,000 sq ft each. The rest of the floors are 5,000 sq ft. Lets say, after elevators and stairways,that there are 4,000 sq feet of usable space on each floor.

He wants me to determine how many units for different kinds of plants can be grown, per 1,000 sq feet, using a vertical grown system similar to the ones offered by these guys:

Hydroponic Vertical Gardening, Commercial Growing Systems, High Density Production, Agriculture, Hydroponic Fertilizers and Nutrients, Hydroponic Strawberries, Hydroponic Lettuce, Hydroponic Tomatoes and more

All legit of course, no MJ.

Which type of lighting would you use? Any experience on a commercial scale? What would you think would be our biggest hurdles?

If any of you have serious commercial hydro experience and wanna make a few bucks, i'll be willing to pay for your time. He is serious about this!

Thanks in advance,

Donatello

 

[mudrunner]

Re: Halp! Growning regular veggies, commercial scale, 12 story building

im sorry buddy, unfortounatley I do not have much in the way of info or advice for you... but man this is a brilliant idea! i really like what you've got goin on. my father grows and markets all his own fresh produce. its super rewarding. I should talk him into hydro!!! lol lol... take it easy buddy

 

[Donatello]

Which one of you MODs changed the title of my thread from Halp to Help?

 

[Donatello]

and after 218 views, no one has a real opinion on what to do with a 12 story building?

 

[TorturedSoul]

The monthly electric bill for lighting a 12-story commercial greenhouse would seem to be a show-stopper as far as profit goes, methinks.

Building from the ground up, I'd suggest natural lighting with the minimum necessary supplementation to maintain photoperiod requirements. Don't have a clue how to work that into a preexisting structure such as you describe.

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

If I were going to go full commercial vegetable gardening, I'd go green. As in politically correct green type of green. Wind on the roof of 12-story building is going to be almost constant, so wind power is a go-ahead. Maybe solar too. All-LED lighting for plants. Low-voltage pumps for hydro system. Battery banks in basement or other lower floor. The higher the floors, the more sunlight is able to get in on the Western, Southern, and Eastern sides. Also, I've heard of what I'd call a "light transport tunnel." System of white tubes, mirrors, prisms (think deck prism from old sailing ships), to direct natural sunlight to lower floors. I think it's called daylighting. An empty building like that, to me, would be a gold mine of opportunities for farming! It just takes some thinking, planning, and sadly, probably a bunch of money.

 

[J189RFC]

Well firstly that is a lot of room! 2, I would start on the roof with a green house and do it 1000sq at a time. I would add 4-6 1000w switchable on tracks. 3 really long double set ups with a central reservoir each in the middle. 3 different tanks, trout, talapia and crayfish. If you expand like this you may be able to make money over the summer months. You could use solar panels to power your pumps. Now if you were to find 2-5 really really nice and exotic/pricey products you could make really good coin. Think outside the box and I think it could be feasible.