Growing the Green Rush

Supplying all this equipment is big business!

Without the companies who produce and sell the equipment growers depend on, the green rush would not even be possible. All across America, both corporate chains and small, family owned businesses sell to growers. The network is so large and the demand so high that websites, such as GrowStoreFinder, have sprouted up so that customers can easily find the store which best meets their needs.

Many who benefit from this industry cater to the general gardening crowd – offering products which could be used to grow tulips or tomatoes as easily as they could cannabis. However, as deregulation continues, more businesses specifically catering to marijuana growers and breeders are opening. Some stores choose to stock almost everything a green grower needs – pots, soil, hydro systems, fertilizers – you name it, they have it, except for the seeds whose sales are typically strictly regulated by state regulations.

Today, however, even more specialized enterprises have begun by entrepreneurial growers who see the market potential. Thousands of experienced growers and breeders – many of whom studied horticulture, plant science or soil sciences – have launched business ventures which allow customers to benefit from the products they create utilizing their expertise and experience to grow cannabis better. Specially formulated fertilizers, composts, and soils are being created around America specifically for marijuana plants.

Both local ventures and large corporations are investing in research and design teams to create innovative methods and products which can increase crop yields, reduce waste and minimize the environmental impact of cannabis production. If this trend continues, even more jobs will be created and the way we grow cannabis may just be radically transformed.

FusionPharm and Terra Tech have created controlled growing environment facilities in steel shipping containers, a technology which could allow growers to harvest large crops in any setting by controlling all aspects of the grow environment in a large, convenient, transportable container. Just this one idea could transform our growing trends– and there are thousands of companies striving to capitalize on the green rush with such innovative inventions.

And, given that companies selling grow equipment are protected from the legal nightmare other cannabusinesses face, they will surely cash in on the green rush as America begins trying to grow enough bud to meet national demand. According to The Path Forward: Rethinking Federal  Marijuana Policy published by Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Jared Polis, America currently imports between 40 and 70 percent of the marijuana used in this country. This creates a nightmare for federal agents and people living south of the border, and they expect importation rates to be cut in half with the legalization of recreational cannabis usage in Colorado and Washington.

This equals a whole lot more bud being grown domestically over the next few years, possibly with many recreational growers setting up shop for the first time. They’ll all need complete systems, soils, fertilizers, and so much more – a great sign of this industry’s potential.