Indoor, Outdoor, or Greenhouse
In California’s regulated cannabis market, there is a dizzying selection of flower ranging from $80 per eighth on the top-shelf down to $20 per eighth for budget-oriented consumers. So why does top-shelf flower cost 4x as much as the lowest-priced eighth? It is mostly due to cost of production.
With cannabis cultivation, where and how the flower was grown is the largest single contributor to its cost. There are three types of cultivation facilities:
- Indoor Cultivation. Cannabis plants are grown indoor, in a controlled environment, using artificial lighting. Most expensive to build and operate.
- Outdoor Cultivation. Cannabis plants are grown outdoors using sunlight, without any environmental controls and light manipulation. Least expensive to build and operated.
- Greenhouse Cultivation. Cannabis plants are grown in transparent structures, providing some environmental controls using sunlight. Less expensive than indoor, more expensive than outdoor.
INDOOR CULTIVATION
gREENHOUSE CULTIVATION
oUTDOOR CULTIVATION
FLOWER STRUCTURE
Where and how the flower was cultivated impacts its structure. The same genetics cultivated indoor, greenhouse, or outdoor will have different structures:
There are other factors that contribute to production cost, such as trimming method (hand vs. machine) and post-harvest processing, which we’ll address in separate posts.
