@@kingdav5794 I work in one and let me tell you these things are expensive, ecological disasters, and maintenance nightmares. The up keep to keep them clean and pest free is heinous. Eventually they admit you will need pesticides. The dependance is brutal.
@@Nonamebrand168 Hi just curious if you received your Growcer and how is it going. We would like to connect with other communities that have them. I work in one and it ridiculous.
I was expecting this video to say the container farms didn't work but instead, it is just that the non-DIY version is too expensive. This is really interesting since the application I'm looking for is to use it to grow my own food. Rather than specializing in just one food crop, I'd rather build something that could do 10 at once. The reason for doing this is to make sure they can be grown year-round regardless of what is happening outside, needing little or hopefully no pesticides, and don't need to worry about deer or squirrels getting into the garden. Has anyone looked into this? Let's say your target crops are: vegetables: cabbage, spinach, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries Which are suitable or this and which could be grown together.
Not an expert in any way but my AG professor was asked about this sort of farming and leafy greens are best, root veggies are decent and everything else is "probably not a good idea". But its been 5 months, if this has worked out, would love to know!
The hit to ROI is not just electricity and financing that $180k debt It's also regular purchase of hydroponic chemicals -this adds up fast My farm partner and i looked into this and it was 8 years to break even assuming we sold everything, paid ourselves minimum wage and worked 40hrs a week ...and that nothing went wrong, for 8 years
I laughed at how much they wanted to see the produce for - like food grown hydroponically in a trailer will sell more than food from a local greenhouse......
It isn't viable at $180k. We have therefore priced it at $26,900+shipping, ex works India, and will be glad to offer further discounts if we have more quantity. The product must almost compete with the open field crops, while offering better quality, pesticide free produce.
If you have multiple units on your farm, you also don't need the prep & water storage for each unit. Each container with with the prep & water storage could service 4 containers for single level (including itself) or 8 if you stack upwards. Smaller prep area would be all you need in each, to gather harvest or have prepared trays/plugs before set out. Maximising growth area.
@@SimpleTek Agreed. At the price point you mentioned, they would be economical & per unit faster to pay off, so you can GET the ROI. 2-3 years to pay off a $139k unit, are they talking about growing drugs or are they just insane?
@@elenidemos they probably are, but there are companies that openly make containers geared towards growing cannabis, and they go for like $60k, pretty far below that price point
@@thomasflores7817 👍. Just thought to state what I did, to show ways of maximizing your growing space. If you have more then a single unit, you don't require a "prep" or "water" area in each unit, what ever your price point.
The container farm builders are pricing relative to buying a conventional two acre farm, that's who they think their competitor is. Imagine two acres of California or two acres in downtown LA/NY/Chicago (many are setting them up in back alleys or parked on side streets). Then their pricing seems like a great deal. They are also targeted at buyers who are directly selling to restaurants and perhaps medicinal smokers, both of which willing pay top cash for convenience products.
You don't think there are delivery operations that can deliver same day salad greens to NYC from eastern PA and NY state? They aren't competing on land, they are competing on the product. Also these things aren't producing 2 acres of crops, they are producing 1/5th of an acre of crops. In Eastern PA, you can get an acre of farmland for around $4k and doing salad greens on an acre of land (producing 5x's as much product) would cost you another thousand or two in infrastructure (post harvest processing). And I would LOVE any example of the city of new york allowing a shipping container to sit permanently in an alley.
Technology has value. A system that takes the guesswork and human error out of a sustainable farm that's growing hundreds of pounds of produce annually that's safe to sale to the public.
I used to work for a company that built container farms and climate controlled rooms! I can tell you right away that in most cases those systems are not economically viable. It's not just the investment there's also alot of maintenance involved with systems like this. I don't think the price is a scam, because a good sealed climate controlled container system costs at least 100k to build. If you want to grow anything else then lettuce it can cost you 40k just for quality LED lights!! I like to compare it to cars, growing in your back garden is like your trusty old beat up car that just keeps working. A little greenhouse is like a nice car that you like to fix up yourself. A professional greenhouse, container farm or climate controlled room though, is like a race car that requires regular maintenance, and a MUCH higher operating cost. For maintenance think about (solenoid) valves, pumps, sensors, relays, air distribution socks, also things like LED lights, circulation fans, air conditioning pumps, actuators for ventilation slats, grow trays etc.. They dont last forever.. For operating cost: lights, climate inputs (like heating, cooling, (de)humidification), CO2 (we built sealed systems, so no outside air), nutrients (because clean (or even sterile) growing is highly recommended, and hydroponics saves on floor space). So who were our customers then? Not your regular farmer I can tell you. So, flower growers liked them for testing and breeding new varieties. Also biotech laboratories use them for all sorts of testing. But perhaps most obviously: seed growers! If you consider a kg of good tomato seeds is worth more then a kg of gold, then it starts to make sense doesn't it? We used to build these systems for some of the biggest seed growers in the world!
The reason the price spiked, is because the factory in Westborough had to shutdown for covid-19. This was contract manufacturing, and the contractor, laid off all the workers. You can't just tool up for that in a day. These take a warehouse sized facility and lean production to produce if you want to have ISO quality. The entire supply chain is disrupted, from the mini splits to the LEDS. Afterwards, Amazon robotics scooped up the space. The factories in china didn't have to shut down, and they didn't have to put the same amount of engineering because there was already an example to copy or get inspiration from.
Scam IS correct. Selling toilet paper for $500 a roll would also be a scam regardless the issue in the supply chain. I’ve seen many companies from manufacturers to retailers meet the challenges that COVID brought. Adaptability is one of life’s greatest achievements. Someone is getting scammed with these expensive container farms. It’s in our nature to seize the opportunities to scam others for personal benefit during times of adversity. Lumber, oil, commodities are led by scamming geniuses. Don’t be fooled by plausible explanations why a roll of tp could cost what a short cruise to Mexico does.
@@alexandermayerkirstein Then you might lump Apple's products in this category too.. the Chinese will definitely know that.. Personally it's ok to over price as long as the market is fair, ok and knows it's overpriced, people have preferences ..
@@iskandarsyah9624 I appreciate your point, if people are willing to pay then what’s the problem. There are times when people will pay grossly overpriced items when they are misled, or cornered into doing so, neither is moral and there are some laws that deal with such, i.e. profiteering, racketeering, anti-trust, etc. all of which could have people willing to pay high prices that are deemed illegal due to some unfair advantage. Somewhere something suspicious begs the reason these manufactured farms are absolutely ridiculously priced. I suppose instead of complaining I should be joining the ranks of those who sell these for so much. I do, however, as you supposed, group Apple products in the realm of unethical product marketing. Having people pay stupid sums of cash for a device that serves other interested parties far more than the consumer who paid the unreasonable price. Our phones are not ours. They do not act like our property, don’t remain as viable property and the profit of Apple comes more from selling our privacy than from making electronic devices. Your point is spot on. Thanks.
Another problem is the shape of the shipping container, within 10000 dollars (just the materials I do the labor myself)I build a 256 square feet warehouse from ground up. And it will never have the width and length portion like the shipping container. The super skinny shape simply make the operation so hard! No point.
@@abstractedaway there is also the downside of having to build a stair / elevator / etc to get at the ones above ground level unfortunately, I’m sure it gets old pretty quick having to arrange them in height instead of width if you can
Exactly, shipping containers are 8ft wide, now you lose about a foot of that with insulation, down to 7ft, now subtract 2ft for the walking aisle... down to 5 ft of grow space... You lose 10 ft off the ends for the other stuff, so 30 x 5 x4(layers) gives you 600sq ft growing area. A typical market gardener grows beds that are 50ft x 30inches... so 125sqft. This entire shipping container that costs $180,000 is the equivalent of 5 beds... The math is terrible for them and the ROI is easily over 10 years even if nothing breaks. If you want to do urban farms, just rent a warehouse.
Here's an update on the cost of 40' refer units. I get them for $2900 from the leasing companies. Currently Jacksonville. I've been growing spirulina in my two containers for nearly two years. They do require 100 amp service, much more than a hydro farm but an excellent 100k+/year income. Good topic here.
I thought he was going to say that shipping container farms are a bad idea but they're such a good idea that we need them to be affordable to take off. This technology has to happen on a large scale. We can save millions of animal lives by not farming outdoors, we can reduce the use of pesticides, reduce travel emissions, save vast amounts of farmland that we can reforest and have fresher food
I love this idea, but a container is too big for my backyard. I was thinking it would be nice if you could make one that would fit inside a shed. Then it won't be an eye sore, will be enough space to grow enough to feed my family but also not take up too much room. Do you think it would be big enough? Most people in suburbs can't fit a whole 40ft container in their backyard. I live in the northeast so it would be nice to be able to grow year round.
You 100% could start in a 8ftx8ft shed! If you were just growing for your family or very small farmers market business, just focus your efforts on expensive produce that takes up less space, ie don't grow squash in there 😀, I'm starting in a insulated 13ftx12ft space, focusing on specific peppers, and harder to find produce for our ethnic restaurants in Northern alberta. My start up price: free shed, insulation and wiring $600, 4x mars hydro 1000w LED (Actual consumption 140w) $676, pvc hydro ponics pipe system $250, kratky bin system for peppers $12/bin expanded as I need. Ive been buying this setup piece by piece for 6 months as I can. I also grow in a small green house and garden. :)
@@jeffp366 that sounds amazing and perfect. I would love to see pictures of that set up! How do you insulate it? Is it a fire hazard with the hot grow lights?
@@postscript123 I'm using 3 inch durofoam with foil side pointed inside. The lights are suspended from the ceiling and only put off about 100w of heat which means their warm to the touch but not hot enough burn anything.
I think you are under estimating the amount of power you will need to run the system. My back of the envelope calculation, with 200W/m^2 of illumination and 110m^2 (~1200sq ft) of coverage, the light requirements of the plants will be 22kW. I think by the time you factor in losses and the heat pump (which is going to have to be sized to sink the heat from the lights), such a system might need 400A service or better at 120VAC.
Love simple tech and love the idea of under cutting the bad guys.insulation could be done with strawbales on the outside walls on the cheap no lost space inside also no condensation problem on inside of containers
I was thinking of a geodesic dome myself with grow towers to maximise output while saving space. It would require a portable power station before actually implementing the build otherwise I might end up the creek when these brown outs and black outs occurr. I'm a northern hemisphere resident so aquaponics is out of the question since Winters can be severe. Perhaps Kimble should take a page out of his brother's play book and sell low but sell quantity. Look at the pound stretcher shops in the U.K you can buy for a single pound/dollar but how many people leave poundstretcher with only one item? People leave with big bags of items. Food for thought. Thanks for the video and thanks for listening.
People can rent their backyard to these shipping container farmers, especially for growing and packaging fresh medical ingrediencies seasonally. In this way, we actually help save more natural habitats for the environment.
Ok so couple things. A lighting alone is 5-10 easy.. container is 15k now and shipping that container cost 20k now. So we’re at 35k without anything in it. The price on Alibaba are not real price msg them and find out . Your 40k budget is not even close unless its total DIY and very limited on output
The cost to ship to US from China is 4 to 8 dollars a kilo. Without import and inspection taxes. A container weight is roughly 3750 kilos. Meaning 15k at the minimum for importing a China made food container, If no weight is added. If we estimate the full build with everything included in the shipping container, it adds 1,000 lbs. The cost is now ~$16820. A container will cost around 40k at the bare minimum to import. Now honestly I do believe a hydroponic farm in a container isn't efficient enough to attempt. The system still requires adding stuff to the water and the cost of that alone doesn't help to pay for the unit.
Really enjoy your delivery as well the wholesome value in your content. You explain things simply and effectively. Thank you for all you do to make this world a better place.
I think you have the right idea. But you could do this in a 350 square feet room, just put one of the greenhouses from your videos inside this room. Then put the equipment you just mentioned. It can be done.
It boggles my mind that people are paying so much for these. They are selling these containers as if they represent 3 acres of prime real-estate. It's a supply and demand thing. As long as they have high demand they will price them as such. The difference between America and China is labor cost and quality control.
Commenting a little bit after this video was posted, this guy clearly didn't do much research on the farms themselves. He doesn't use any statistics to back up how profitable the units actually are. I personally operate a Freight Farm and that segment showed almost exclusively pictures from different farming units. He says something about how many levels of plant growth there are and there are 0, it's all done on vertical walls in a freight farm. I do back up most of what he's saying, the units are ridiculously expensive and not easy to make your money back on. That doesn't change that there are many farmers doing very well, and the units contain a lot more complicated technology than he makes them out to.
When I first looked into freight farms, only a couple of years ago, the container was around 50k. Then I retouched base with them and the price went up insane.
Get an older house with a full unfinished basement for less than 100k. 30k in hydroponics should get you three times the area. AND you get to live in it with your family!
Great video!! Holey shit, $139K converting it to Canadian as you did a bit later is the cost of a nice house with a small back yard. Isolated communities does make since where a town's budget can pay for something like this and sell the food locally. My question now is, Assuming you already have the land available, why not build a Good green house yourself?
You are way off base! There are way more aspects to this than your mentioned! Yes, the price has gone through the roof, but many factors go into a successful grow-out system. Also, the fact that you recommend Alibaba is an insult because it's a Chines base company and every dollar we give them is the worst it is for us! If anything it should be American built. I have a background in Hydroponics and have also built out 2 separate farms. 1 was a Talipia intensive recirculating green water system that was 354,000 gallons and average production was 30 tons every 4 months and also a shrimp farm with 4 greenhouses and a 50 pond system. You should present yourself better and present accurate information.
The commercial value prospects of container cultivation systems are limited. The inherent high energy consumption is an inevitable problem. Plants must photosynthesize. Artificial light sources are a necessary condition. Except for some extreme environments, such as the north and south poles, such areas and special areas that cannot provide sunlight resources. Occasionally, there is not much market. The so-called plant factories are maintained by burning money. Once the capital chain is broken, the plant factories will be wiped out. Those who advocate the large-scale commercialization of plant factories are not only crooks or crooks.
as for as EVs , my choice is the ford lightning , expensive YES , but has a lot of features that just about justifies ( some what ) its cost ; especially the ability to act as a limited power supply for your home in an emergency 🤠
@@SimpleTek but the cyber truck does not have the amount of space nor the capabilities of the lightning ; put a shell over the bed and you have a good off road/camping vehicle and in worse scenario the lightning can serve as a micro home
I see this more as a seed starter or micro greens. Other than that, no space to scale up! Thats my opinion and how I see it. There might be a few you could on the vertical gardening like tomato's etc. Between the price and the fact, you can't scale, and I'm not talking about adding more I'm talking about the efficacies of a unit.
Simple. Buy your own shipping container and try and create the same thing. If you can do it cheaper good for you, if you can't go with Freight Farms but don't call it a scam just because you don't like price. That's not a scam. You just aren't their market. Maybe you can find a walmart version. It's a business dude.
Why not lease them for under 2k per month so more people can afford them if they don’t like it just send it back easy and not had spend 40k to 180k on something they can’t resell it for a profit
@@SimpleTek got shipping container on facebook marketplace, he had to paint and insulate it drywall had electric ran to it, and all the other stuff he already had he works in hvac for a living
Ontario CANADA here, what is your opinion on bringing these in from Alibaba, any more information you have come across since posting this? Im interested in creative a food market, that has portable potential, Vs. output of production in a greenhouse vertical gardening systems....
I was looking at some Used aeroponic growing containers for under 70k they claim 500 heads of lettuce a year. Roi was 13 months to pay unit off if you can build a greenhouse it is way cheaper
Of course, no one should pay that much and buy these systems. All they get is an idea. With your own means, you can produce it for yourself much, much cheaper, from waste materials and with the method of collecting second hand in the hydroponic system. Just buy the idea for free.
let's say you get a container farm made in china shipped your prob around $30,000 if the container farm was priced at about $20k. Most businesses need around let's say 60% markup that's a good middle ground for markup which is often between 30% and 100% your retail would be $48,000. As for being made in the USA/Canada the driving price of retail/production costs would be the cost of labor.
The second you said you were a big fan of Elon Musk ik this video was clickbait. Overpricing is shitty, but if it leads to more research and better products its far from a scam.
I looked into the shipping container farms, the first thing that kills this idea was that my county zoning board. A lot of urban areas would ban this in the backyard because it violates the zoning code….
Then the code needs to change. If this is what the community needs, get petition signed, go to town meetings, and the ordinance change. Get the vote. This shortage is real. Obesity is real. We need to change, to eat better. So ordinance can be change if the real need is there to serve the general community.
My backyard is my backyard so the zone police can suck it. Make it appear like a shed or a patio party area. Stand up to govt as they are taking things too far
People do not want to be do it your self type people they just want to pay up and have it turn key. Plus a lot of hours go into making designing and researching these big projects. Trial and error to what works and what don't..Dollar wise designers have to eat their mistakes.... And then it all has to be installed. Shipped delivered setup. I'm building or at least pushing to get one built in my back yard. I have the $2000 40 ft shipping container I have the $4000 solar system. so far today. This is with no $ value added to myself for labor designing planning shagging and ordering parts. I'd be willing to pay $80,000 plus for turnkey if I had the money....
These high convoluted 'tech' people give this space a bad impression. MANY people use hydro and this setup successfully, but there some companies that are over complicating a simple process which is farming (simple as in it's over teched, farming isn't simple)
What your talking about is the beauty of capitalism when it works. I would argue that it's good that the big players are overpriced as it is attracts copycats. For this I see no artificial barriers of entry such as patents. This is perfect for copycats to streamline but along the way some of the companies are going to produce junk products while the quality overpriceed companies are going to come down in price. For this I think the best companies are going to produce kits and systems where the customer purchases their own container. The customer can do it themself or hire the company to send an on site technician to install.
@@SimpleTek after the second generation, using hydroponics, the plants begin reducing seed production and eventually stop. This is why high pot production is hydroponics. That way, you produce more bud and no seed.
Could you make a video of deep water hydroponics in greenhouses? mabe using solar panels, and storing the energy (as heat) inn the water? using insulated long tanks and the floating rafts as insulation to keep the plant roots warm in the water at night when the air in greenhouse is colder at night. if there is litle evaporation because of the floating rafts, there could be less energy lost...
Wished you had the amount of money for a complete setup. Because you could spend several thousands just for lightning, The expensive one have a CO2 tank. There is a lot of work involve to build a complete unit. Of course if you do it yourself, it would be cheaper, but we want to compare apple to apple, so we need an electrician and you probably need a plumber (CO2 tank plus all tubing)
You leave some important details out. The freight farm system is almost completely automated and its all connected to your phone. I don't disagree they are overpriced but there is a lot of engineering and R&D. You aren't going to build one out of alibaba components that works half as well or is nearly as nice or lasts as long.
Nobody is saying what the real issue is here and that's the waste water. Yeah what comes of that? How many gallons of un-use-able, toxic water is flushed down the drain already . This is just an Easy Bake Oven kit they sell to grown children.
Well, yeah. Hydroponics works by force feeding nurients by passing the ph osmosis barrier. You do it by setting the plants in the nutrient water or spray it on the roots. The plants take up different amounts at different grow levels. So you have to change it. That water is toxic and can't be used for anything else. So let's say you use a small system that uses 100gal per week, ,per week and has to be dumped down the drain. Not to mention you have to wash the system out before you begin each nutrient cycle. That another 100gal each week.
Remember the old Star Trek Trouble with Tribbles. Well the Tribbles had eaten the wheat supplies and died because there were no nutrients in the food. Hydroponic food is the same thing. There's very little nutrient in it. Maybe a cow's stomachs can do something with those leaves but not people.
@@SimpleTek Have you ever sprayed the lawn or garden with that waste. I'm 71 and everybody says that but does anybody try that. I'll save you the trouble, no it will kill your lawn and garden right away. So remember you creating that waste every week. That's why everybody turns to the drain. Out of sight out of mind.
It is a pity that you did not look into the thermal issues and the electricity consumption and cost. Plants need 7 photons with the right frequency (color) for one photosyntetic reaction to make one sugar molecule. So there is a hard coupling between energy input and biomass that can not be optimized away. This energy has to come frome somewhere. Where does it come from? Photovolatics you say? So lets make a simple calculation: The best solar panels have an efficiency of ~25%. The very best LED lights have an effciency of ~50%. Then you need a converter and have some conversion and transport losses. Lets say that that amounts to ~20-30%. Summing it up you are looking at a factor of one to ten ( 0.25 x 0.5 * (1 - 0.2)). So for every acre of growing space yo need ten acres of solar panels somewhere else. Why not use that space with a simple tek foil greenhouse hydropinic setup in the first place?
There's too many "little guys" that need help grow a good idea without lining the RICHEST Man in the world, Elon Musk's pockets, that are already FULL! I thought LED lighting wasnt the ideal lighting, which is SUNLIGHT, which is FREE!!!
I'm 4 minutes into this video of 13 minutes and I'm still waiting for Mr. Simple Tek to reveal what is the "elephant in the room". If it was not that I'm reading the newspaper while he talks I would have switched to another video by the 1 minute mark...
@@SimpleTek 😅 guilty as charged!!! I watched till the end though, I liked it but I never subscribe, I do not like notifications. But please next time do not tease that much, short intros work great, the development of the idea is what's interesting. The video picked up pace and interest by the 6 minute or so, from the moment you started speaking about the exorbitant prices and you put on the screen the cost of the individual components. Cheers!
@@peterklass7244 unfortunately you’ll see more and more creators on RUclips stretching their videos out for 2 reasons. RUclips rewards watchtime with more views and longer videos get extra commercials so they make more money. To make videos shorter means less traffic, which is less revenue AND less revenue per click because of less ads shown in shorter videos. These days the way RUclips works anyone making videos under 8 mins is just working for free or way less income.
With 138000 dollars I can make a greenhouse the size of 1 acres equipped with the acuaphonics and produce half of what they Claim to produce per square foot the only difference the area of production do your math
That idea definitely has merit. They must be selling them to someone for $80-130K or they wouldn't be making them. Probably a better $ target might be in the $40-50K range.
the only good plant for container plants are sadly not legal in my country if you know what i mean . i have sean many such "FARMS" even in containers diggt under ground.
I mean... What are you thinking about Elon these days? This idea would be much more interesting as do it yourself with a Chinese greenhouse facing south and earth sheltered containers with climate battery heating
Mini split heat pumps are very high maintenance in those conditions with plants and high humidity situations. Eventually they grow mass amount of mold in them because of the very very poor quality of filtration on mini splits . They are merv4 at best. Mini splits need deep cleaning every year in those conditions when in a normal residential environment they will most likely go 5 to 8 years before their first deep clean..... good luck with that.
@@SimpleTek I know way more than you will ever know about mini splits. I'm an HVAC tech that installed and serviced thousands of them. I have multi zone systems and VRF system I have service and installed. So before you open your mouth and stick your foot in it maybe you should do a little research on how they are serviced.
@@SimpleTek a true grow house or grow room should have AGronomic IQ systems installed or Dectron system for precised and priority humidity control . So when it comes to grow buildings that's how it's done properly. Not with mini splits which is a cheap bandaid way of doing it.
Great video, but when it comes to making money, I'm gonna have to go with the scammers on this one. I don't know what it is that drives them to set the prices so high, but I'm sure they know the math and the market better than I possibly could. They are probably making money, even if its off of selling green offsets like Tesla. Thats not a slam on Tesla, but there ways to make money at business that have nothing to do with the products you are marketing.
What do you think about the price some of these companies are charging for Shipping container greenhouse farms?
Overpriced, yeah. But not a Scam.
I’m doing my job to make affordable container homes & affordable container housing available to the communities who need it most
@@enriquemolina6169 shipping container houses are thash . they are just scam invited by the used container industrie 1
Did Elon sell his first electric vehicles for a modest price? NO
Great idea as a concept! Now, lets apply the most important research tool I learned in college! The KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid!😁😁😁
Relieved to learn that the scam is only that they’re overpriced.
That’s good!
Me too! Lol we have one on the way. I was like "oh snap what have we done!?" Lol
But this is chemical agriculture with all the négative aspects of it
@@kingdav5794 I work in one and let me tell you these things are expensive, ecological disasters, and maintenance nightmares. The up keep to keep them clean and pest free is heinous. Eventually they admit you will need pesticides. The dependance is brutal.
@@Nonamebrand168 Hi just curious if you received your Growcer and how is it going. We would like to connect with other communities that have them. I work in one and it ridiculous.
I was expecting this video to say the container farms didn't work but instead, it is just that the non-DIY version is too expensive. This is really interesting since the application I'm looking for is to use it to grow my own food. Rather than specializing in just one food crop, I'd rather build something that could do 10 at once. The reason for doing this is to make sure they can be grown year-round regardless of what is happening outside, needing little or hopefully no pesticides, and don't need to worry about deer or squirrels getting into the garden.
Has anyone looked into this? Let's say your target crops are:
vegetables:
cabbage, spinach, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, kale,
berries:
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
Which are suitable or this and which could be grown together.
Good questions
They don’t work. I had one and the plants rot from water leaking over them. Total mess
Not an expert in any way but my AG professor was asked about this sort of farming and leafy greens are best, root veggies are decent and everything else is "probably not a good idea". But its been 5 months, if this has worked out, would love to know!
Non diy is more exspensive.
But its done for you so you start straight away plus its tax deductible
The hit to ROI is not just electricity and financing that $180k debt
It's also regular purchase of hydroponic chemicals -this adds up fast
My farm partner and i looked into this and it was 8 years to break even assuming we sold everything, paid ourselves minimum wage and worked 40hrs a week
...and that nothing went wrong, for 8 years
I laughed at how much they wanted to see the produce for - like food grown hydroponically in a trailer will sell more than food from a local greenhouse......
It isn't viable at $180k. We have therefore priced it at $26,900+shipping, ex works India, and will be glad to offer further discounts if we have more quantity. The product must almost compete with the open field crops, while offering better quality, pesticide free produce.
how did you go? post covid do you think its more feasible
If you have multiple units on your farm, you also don't need the prep & water storage for each unit. Each container with with the prep & water storage could service 4 containers for single level (including itself) or 8 if you stack upwards. Smaller prep area would be all you need in each, to gather harvest or have prepared trays/plugs before set out.
Maximising growth area.
These work well, the issue is what some companies are charging for them
@@SimpleTek Agreed. At the price point you mentioned, they would be economical & per unit faster to pay off, so you can GET the ROI.
2-3 years to pay off a $139k unit, are they talking about growing drugs or are they just insane?
@@elenidemos they probably are, but there are companies that openly make containers geared towards growing cannabis, and they go for like $60k, pretty far below that price point
@@thomasflores7817 👍. Just thought to state what I did, to show ways of maximizing your growing space. If you have more then a single unit, you don't require a "prep" or "water" area in each unit, what ever your price point.
The container farm builders are pricing relative to buying a conventional two acre farm, that's who they think their competitor is. Imagine two acres of California or two acres in downtown LA/NY/Chicago (many are setting them up in back alleys or parked on side streets). Then their pricing seems like a great deal. They are also targeted at buyers who are directly selling to restaurants and perhaps medicinal smokers, both of which willing pay top cash for convenience products.
scam
You don't think there are delivery operations that can deliver same day salad greens to NYC from eastern PA and NY state? They aren't competing on land, they are competing on the product. Also these things aren't producing 2 acres of crops, they are producing 1/5th of an acre of crops. In Eastern PA, you can get an acre of farmland for around $4k and doing salad greens on an acre of land (producing 5x's as much product) would cost you another thousand or two in infrastructure (post harvest processing). And I would LOVE any example of the city of new york allowing a shipping container to sit permanently in an alley.
hey bro you got any excel sheets on this data and profitability etc?
@@RR-et6zp what "crop" data do you need ? let me know I will send it across.
Technology has value. A system that takes the guesswork and human error out of a sustainable farm that's growing hundreds of pounds of produce annually that's safe to sale to the public.
I used to work for a company that built container farms and climate controlled rooms! I can tell you right away that in most cases those systems are not economically viable. It's not just the investment there's also alot of maintenance involved with systems like this. I don't think the price is a scam, because a good sealed climate controlled container system costs at least 100k to build. If you want to grow anything else then lettuce it can cost you 40k just for quality LED lights!!
I like to compare it to cars, growing in your back garden is like your trusty old beat up car that just keeps working. A little greenhouse is like a nice car that you like to fix up yourself. A professional greenhouse, container farm or climate controlled room though, is like a race car that requires regular maintenance, and a MUCH higher operating cost. For maintenance think about (solenoid) valves, pumps, sensors, relays, air distribution socks, also things like LED lights, circulation fans, air conditioning pumps, actuators for ventilation slats, grow trays etc.. They dont last forever..
For operating cost: lights, climate inputs (like heating, cooling, (de)humidification), CO2 (we built sealed systems, so no outside air), nutrients (because clean (or even sterile) growing is highly recommended, and hydroponics saves on floor space).
So who were our customers then? Not your regular farmer I can tell you. So, flower growers liked them for testing and breeding new varieties. Also biotech laboratories use them for all sorts of testing. But perhaps most obviously: seed growers! If you consider a kg of good tomato seeds is worth more then a kg of gold, then it starts to make sense doesn't it? We used to build these systems for some of the biggest seed growers in the world!
Interesting background
Scam is not the right title, overpriced yes.
you ARE correct.
The reason the price spiked, is because the factory in Westborough had to shutdown for covid-19. This was contract manufacturing, and the contractor, laid off all the workers. You can't just tool up for that in a day. These take a warehouse sized facility and lean production to produce if you want to have ISO quality. The entire supply chain is disrupted, from the mini splits to the LEDS. Afterwards, Amazon robotics scooped up the space. The factories in china didn't have to shut down, and they didn't have to put the same amount of engineering because there was already an example to copy or get inspiration from.
Scam IS correct. Selling toilet paper for $500 a roll would also be a scam regardless the issue in the supply chain. I’ve seen many companies from manufacturers to retailers meet the challenges that COVID brought. Adaptability is one of life’s greatest achievements. Someone is getting scammed with these expensive container farms. It’s in our nature to seize the opportunities to scam others for personal benefit during times of adversity. Lumber, oil, commodities are led by scamming geniuses. Don’t be fooled by plausible explanations why a roll of tp could cost what a short cruise to Mexico does.
@@alexandermayerkirstein Then you might lump Apple's products in this category too.. the Chinese will definitely know that..
Personally it's ok to over price as long as the market is fair, ok and knows it's overpriced, people have preferences ..
@@iskandarsyah9624 I appreciate your point, if people are willing to pay then what’s the problem. There are times when people will pay grossly overpriced items when they are misled, or cornered into doing so, neither is moral and there are some laws that deal with such, i.e. profiteering, racketeering, anti-trust, etc. all of which could have people willing to pay high prices that are deemed illegal due to some unfair advantage. Somewhere something suspicious begs the reason these manufactured farms are absolutely ridiculously priced. I suppose instead of complaining I should be joining the ranks of those who sell these for so much. I do, however, as you supposed, group Apple products in the realm of unethical product marketing. Having people pay stupid sums of cash for a device that serves other interested parties far more than the consumer who paid the unreasonable price. Our phones are not ours. They do not act like our property, don’t remain as viable property and the profit of Apple comes more from selling our privacy than from making electronic devices. Your point is spot on. Thanks.
Another problem is the shape of the shipping container, within 10000 dollars (just the materials I do the labor myself)I build a 256 square feet warehouse from ground up. And it will never have the width and length portion like the shipping container. The super skinny shape simply make the operation so hard! No point.
yep
Yes, but they're good at vertical load bearing, so use them like pillars with storage space!
@@abstractedaway there is also the downside of having to build a stair / elevator / etc to get at the ones above ground level unfortunately, I’m sure it gets old pretty quick having to arrange them in height instead of width if you can
Exactly, shipping containers are 8ft wide, now you lose about a foot of that with insulation, down to 7ft, now subtract 2ft for the walking aisle... down to 5 ft of grow space... You lose 10 ft off the ends for the other stuff, so 30 x 5 x4(layers) gives you 600sq ft growing area. A typical market gardener grows beds that are 50ft x 30inches... so 125sqft. This entire shipping container that costs $180,000 is the equivalent of 5 beds... The math is terrible for them and the ROI is easily over 10 years even if nothing breaks. If you want to do urban farms, just rent a warehouse.
S C are desired bcoz they can be shipped easily. No other benefit.
Here's an update on the cost of 40' refer units. I get them for $2900 from the leasing companies. Currently Jacksonville. I've been growing spirulina in my two containers for nearly two years. They do require 100 amp service, much more than a hydro farm but an excellent 100k+/year income. Good topic here.
Let's talk more about this. I need some containers.
my point exactly!
hi could you talk me through this id like to hear more in detail of how to set up ect im from the uk would appreciate it thanks
@@IBBZ650 what is ect?
@@babaluto think they meant etcetera.
I thought he was going to say that shipping container farms are a bad idea but they're such a good idea that we need them to be affordable to take off. This technology has to happen on a large scale. We can save millions of animal lives by not farming outdoors, we can reduce the use of pesticides, reduce travel emissions, save vast amounts of farmland that we can reforest and have fresher food
Thank you
The University of North Texas uses them to feed ALL their students!
interesting
I love this idea, but a container is too big for my backyard. I was thinking it would be nice if you could make one that would fit inside a shed. Then it won't be an eye sore, will be enough space to grow enough to feed my family but also not take up too much room. Do you think it would be big enough? Most people in suburbs can't fit a whole 40ft container in their backyard. I live in the northeast so it would be nice to be able to grow year round.
Great idea! you just buy the parts and put it together!!! That's what my RUclips channel is all about - check out other videos in the archives!!!
You 100% could start in a 8ftx8ft shed! If you were just growing for your family or very small farmers market business, just focus your efforts on expensive produce that takes up less space, ie don't grow squash in there 😀, I'm starting in a insulated 13ftx12ft space, focusing on specific peppers, and harder to find produce for our ethnic restaurants in Northern alberta. My start up price: free shed, insulation and wiring $600, 4x mars hydro 1000w LED (Actual consumption 140w) $676, pvc hydro ponics pipe system $250, kratky bin system for peppers $12/bin expanded as I need. Ive been buying this setup piece by piece for 6 months as I can. I also grow in a small green house and garden. :)
@@jeffp366 that sounds amazing and perfect. I would love to see pictures of that set up! How do you insulate it? Is it a fire hazard with the hot grow lights?
@@postscript123 I'm using 3 inch durofoam with foil side pointed inside. The lights are suspended from the ceiling and only put off about 100w of heat which means their warm to the touch but not hot enough burn anything.
The units I design, built and operate are 10ft x 10ft and yield quite a bit of produce.
Making shed hydroponics would be a great idea!
I think you are under estimating the amount of power you will need to run the system. My back of the envelope calculation, with 200W/m^2 of illumination and 110m^2 (~1200sq ft) of coverage, the light requirements of the plants will be 22kW. I think by the time you factor in losses and the heat pump (which is going to have to be sized to sink the heat from the lights), such a system might need 400A service or better at 120VAC.
LED?
@@SimpleTek Yeah, in my experience growing full sized plants needs at minimum 100-300W per square meter of growing space with LEDs.
Love simple tech and love the idea of under cutting the bad guys.insulation could be done with strawbales on the outside walls on the cheap no lost space inside also no condensation problem on inside of containers
Thank you for the kind words
I was thinking of a geodesic dome myself with grow towers to maximise output while saving space. It would require a portable power station before actually implementing the build otherwise I might end up the creek when these brown outs and black outs occurr. I'm a northern hemisphere resident so aquaponics is out of the question since Winters can be severe. Perhaps Kimble should take a page out of his brother's play book and sell low but sell quantity. Look at the pound stretcher shops in the U.K you can buy for a single pound/dollar but how many people leave poundstretcher with only one item? People leave with big bags of items. Food for thought. Thanks for the video and thanks for listening.
People can rent their backyard to these shipping container farmers, especially for growing and packaging fresh medical ingrediencies seasonally. In this way, we actually help save more natural habitats for the environment.
that's an option
Thats not a bad price if if it comes with a warranty.
Does any one know of a design and material list for a DIY unit?
@@JohnNoe-hf9zx let me know if you find one
Ok so couple things. A lighting alone is 5-10 easy.. container is 15k now and shipping that container cost 20k now. So we’re at 35k without anything in it. The price on Alibaba are not real price msg them and find out . Your 40k budget is not even close unless its total DIY and very limited on output
The cost to ship to US from China is 4 to 8 dollars a kilo. Without import and inspection taxes. A container weight is roughly 3750 kilos. Meaning 15k at the minimum for importing a China made food container, If no weight is added. If we estimate the full build with everything included in the shipping container, it adds 1,000 lbs. The cost is now ~$16820. A container will cost around 40k at the bare minimum to import. Now honestly I do believe a hydroponic farm in a container isn't efficient enough to attempt. The system still requires adding stuff to the water and the cost of that alone doesn't help to pay for the unit.
Shipping costs went crazy but they are slowly coming back down
Really enjoy your delivery as well the wholesome value in your content. You explain things simply and effectively. Thank you for all you do to make this world a better place.
I appreciate that!
They should make it see through to get light. They want it for weed
Good point
Do you actually know the prices of produce on a rez?
Good point, it’s high but after the pandemic it’s crazy in many places
I think you have the right idea. But you could do this in a 350 square feet room, just put one of the greenhouses from your videos inside this room. Then put the equipment you just mentioned. It can be done.
yep!!!!!! but that would be 30 sq feet LARGER!!!!!!! shipping containers are only 320 sq feet
It boggles my mind that people are paying so much for these.
They are selling these containers as if they represent 3 acres of prime real-estate.
It's a supply and demand thing.
As long as they have high demand they will price them as such.
The difference between America and China is labor cost and quality control.
I throw sugar snap pea seeds in the dirt then eat them all summer. I don't need electricity for them.
Ok
Why can't I just set this up in my basement? I'm thinking 50 square feet should provide more than enough through the winter.
Exactly!
I looked into food box truck mushroom farms. Dude wanted 235 k for it. I couldn’t believe after looking into it and finding a video on u tube.
Make it yourself!!!! 1/5 that easy
Commenting a little bit after this video was posted, this guy clearly didn't do much research on the farms themselves. He doesn't use any statistics to back up how profitable the units actually are. I personally operate a Freight Farm and that segment showed almost exclusively pictures from different farming units. He says something about how many levels of plant growth there are and there are 0, it's all done on vertical walls in a freight farm. I do back up most of what he's saying, the units are ridiculously expensive and not easy to make your money back on. That doesn't change that there are many farmers doing very well, and the units contain a lot more complicated technology than he makes them out to.
Well said
Container price from China to EastCoast is $10,500 right now.
everything construction is up at the moment
When I first looked into freight farms, only a couple of years ago, the container was around 50k. Then I retouched base with them and the price went up insane.
Thanks for the history!!!!! $50,000 is high but doable - $139,000 is insane
Factory had to shutdown for Covid.
@@SimpleTek $26,900+shipping, ex works India. with all the bells and whistles. fully automatic.
@@jaishetty8586 that’s fabulous!!!!
@@jaishetty8586
Sir where have u purchased container from..Pls guide
Get an older house with a full unfinished basement for less than 100k. 30k in hydroponics should get you three times the area. AND you get to live in it with your family!
Humidity might be an issue
@@SimpleTek
Definitely! Cover the basement in plastic sheets like Dexter and plan on ventilation. A serious grow could use a dehumidifier.
@@varietasVeritas good ideas
@@SimpleTek
Thank you. I am looking forward to watching your video on compost heating.
@@varietasVeritas I will be doing more but there is one in the archives
Great video!!
Holey shit, $139K converting it to Canadian as you did a bit later is the cost of a nice house with a small back yard.
Isolated communities does make since where a town's budget can pay for something like this and sell the food locally.
My question now is, Assuming you already have the land available, why not build a Good green house yourself?
I've built a few! building more
@@SimpleTek That's pretty cool.
I’M ACTUALLY DOING THIS!
Thank you for speaking up!
you're welcome!
Good stuff! Are you still on it?
Usually, those who can't do, criticize.
@@kening95 that’s mostly true about commenters like you, who can’t do a video
You are way off base! There are way more aspects to this than your mentioned! Yes, the price has gone through the roof, but many factors go into a successful grow-out system. Also, the fact that you recommend Alibaba is an insult because it's a Chines base company and every dollar we give them is the worst it is for us! If anything it should be American built. I have a background in Hydroponics and have also built out 2 separate farms. 1 was a Talipia intensive recirculating green water system that was 354,000 gallons and average production was 30 tons every 4 months and also a shrimp farm with 4 greenhouses and a 50 pond system. You should present yourself better and present accurate information.
I’m betting the majority of components you used came from China or had Chinese parts in them
The commercial value prospects of container cultivation systems are limited. The inherent high energy consumption is an inevitable problem. Plants must photosynthesize. Artificial light sources are a necessary condition. Except for some extreme environments, such as the north and south poles, such areas and special areas that cannot provide sunlight resources. Occasionally, there is not much market. The so-called plant factories are maintained by burning money. Once the capital chain is broken, the plant factories will be wiped out. Those who advocate the large-scale commercialization of plant factories are not only crooks or crooks.
ok
Nothing quite like shock and disbelief as a substitute for hard accounting data.
yep
as for as EVs , my choice is the ford lightning , expensive YES , but has a lot of features that just about justifies ( some what )
its cost ; especially the ability to act as a limited power supply for your home in an emergency
🤠
I have an order in for a cybertruck.
Their technology is 10 years ahead of the big 3
@@SimpleTek but the cyber truck does not have the amount of space nor the capabilities of the lightning ;
put a shell over the bed and you have a good off road/camping vehicle and in worse scenario the
lightning can serve as a micro home
@@x_lonewolf_x have you actually compared specs?
500+ mike range
1400lbs tow capacity
Tesla charging network
Bulletproof
Whatver. Its a brilliant idea. No duh we should all learn to grow our own, but we all dont have the time or hardiness zone
:)
I see this more as a seed starter or micro greens. Other than that, no space to scale up! Thats my opinion and how I see it. There might be a few you could on the vertical gardening like tomato's etc. Between the price and the fact, you can't scale, and I'm not talking about adding more I'm talking about the efficacies of a unit.
makes sense
Meanwhile, the “non-vegetable” farmers are lining up as his door waiting to pay $80k, faster than he can pump them out.
#WhereGOODExistsSoDoesevil
Ok
Simple. Buy your own shipping container and try and create the same thing. If you can do it cheaper good for you, if you can't go with Freight Farms but don't call it a scam just because you don't like price. That's not a scam. You just aren't their market. Maybe you can find a walmart version. It's a business dude.
scam
The volume of your voice goes from a near whisper to a near shout. I'd like to be able to set the volume at one place and leave it there.
noted
Correct it is a rectangle put where you want it.
If you can't do it with you're own hands then what odds are of success
DIY for the win!
So, it's not a SCAM in the sense it doesn't work - it's just that they're overpriced...in your opinion?
yep
Why not lease them for under 2k per month so more people can afford them if they don’t like it just send it back easy and not had spend 40k to 180k on something they can’t resell it for a profit
that means it has to make $5-6,000 a month to pay out $2000 in a lease
loock at heat pumps on alibaba . there are 18000BTU`s for under 150 dolars
wow
my buddy made one for under 10,000 and thats including everything just built it hisself
Sweet
@@SimpleTek got shipping container on facebook marketplace, he had to paint and insulate it drywall had electric ran to it, and all the other stuff he already had he works in hvac for a living
Ontario CANADA here, what is your opinion on bringing these in from Alibaba, any more information you have come across since posting this? Im interested in creative a food market, that has portable potential, Vs. output of production in a greenhouse vertical gardening systems....
I like the idea!
I was looking at some Used aeroponic growing containers for under 70k they claim 500 heads of lettuce a year. Roi was 13 months to pay unit off if you can build a greenhouse it is way cheaper
you can build a shipping container way cheaper too!
Of course, no one should pay that much and buy these systems. All they get is an idea. With your own means, you can produce it for yourself much, much cheaper, from waste materials and with the method of collecting second hand in the hydroponic system. Just buy the idea for free.
Well said
let's say you get a container farm made in china shipped your prob around $30,000 if the container farm was priced at about $20k. Most businesses need around let's say 60% markup that's a good middle ground for markup which is often between 30% and 100% your retail would be $48,000.
As for being made in the USA/Canada the driving price of retail/production costs would be the cost of labor.
My pricing was before the pandemic
@@SimpleTek fair $48k is still a much better retail then what the companies that do it want.
@@rusticfox4283 true
The second you said you were a big fan of Elon Musk ik this video was clickbait. Overpricing is shitty, but if it leads to more research and better products its far from a scam.
True
I looked into the shipping container farms, the first thing that kills this idea was that my county zoning board. A lot of urban areas would ban this in the backyard because it violates the zoning code….
good point
Then the code needs to change. If this is what the community needs, get petition signed, go to town meetings, and the ordinance change. Get the vote. This shortage is real. Obesity is real. We need to change, to eat better. So ordinance can be change if the real need is there to serve the general community.
My backyard is my backyard so the zone police can suck it. Make it appear like a shed or a patio party area. Stand up to govt as they are taking things too far
try building on the roof top
Which country?
now it is 2024. any updates on the market and availability.l Love the idea and the great use of land. LET'S GO! all the best sw fla neal
@@nealhere wooohooo
People do not want to be do it your self type people they just want to pay up and have it turn key. Plus a lot of hours go into making designing and researching these big projects. Trial and error to what works and what don't..Dollar wise designers have to eat their mistakes.... And then it all has to be installed. Shipped delivered setup. I'm building or at least pushing to get one built in my back yard. I have the $2000 40 ft shipping container I have the $4000 solar system. so far today. This is with no $ value added to myself for labor designing planning shagging and ordering parts. I'd be willing to pay $80,000 plus for turnkey if I had the money....
Some people have the money, some don’t
These high convoluted 'tech' people give this space a bad impression. MANY people use hydro and this setup successfully, but there some companies that are over complicating a simple process which is farming (simple as in it's over teched, farming isn't simple)
well said
What your talking about is the beauty of capitalism when it works. I would argue that it's good that the big players are overpriced as it is attracts copycats. For this I see no artificial barriers of entry such as patents. This is perfect for copycats to streamline but along the way some of the companies are going to produce junk products while the quality overpriceed companies are going to come down in price. For this I think the best companies are going to produce kits and systems where the customer purchases their own container. The customer can do it themself or hire the company to send an on site technician to install.
There's a point where you can't buy the product and make any money
Also u get alot of support from the company, in ur business. I would take the over price anyway due to quality
Yeah I was looking at 1 from South Africa
It wasn't as expensive, but just wondering if it was the not a scam
if the price is right they work
Hydroponics = no seed production
Which increases your production cost
why would there be no seed production?
@@SimpleTek after the second generation, using hydroponics, the plants begin reducing seed production and eventually stop. This is why high pot production is hydroponics. That way, you produce more bud and no seed.
@@mattbranham1105 what do you mean? in fruit bearing plants that would mean less fruit
@@superskeptical4182 no. Fruits get bigger. I don't know why or the math equation, I just know from experience, no seeds at or around 2 generation.
@@mattbranham1105 Plants that grow in hydroponics are exactly the same as those that grow in soil. There is no problem to get seeds.
Ripping off native communities in Canada is really ugly 😞
Yep
How healthy is food grown with hydroponics versus grown in living soil?
depends on what you put in hydroponically....I prefer soil though
much much healthier.
Could you make a video of deep water hydroponics in greenhouses? mabe using solar panels, and storing the energy (as heat) inn the water? using insulated long tanks and the floating rafts as insulation to keep the plant roots warm in the water at night when the air in greenhouse is colder at night. if there is litle evaporation because of the floating rafts, there could be less energy lost...
coming soon!
@@SimpleTek looking forward to it
6:33 half of floor for foot
ok
Wished you had the amount of money for a complete setup. Because you could spend several thousands just for lightning, The expensive one have a CO2 tank. There is a lot of work involve to build a complete unit. Of course if you do it yourself, it would be cheaper, but we want to compare apple to apple, so we need an electrician and you probably need a plumber (CO2 tank plus all tubing)
you can buy them complete on alibaba for $20,000
@@SimpleTek ok. Even with shipping it will never go to 80K (just assuming, I never ordered a container from China).
@@yvesinformel221 exactly!!!!
You leave some important details out. The freight farm system is almost completely automated and its all connected to your phone. I don't disagree they are overpriced but there is a lot of engineering and R&D. You aren't going to build one out of alibaba components that works half as well or is nearly as nice or lasts as long.
Most of their components are sourced from the same factories as alibaba
It is a scam coz u could literally make a prettier greenhouse with solar panels for a fraction of that price.
And pretty is important, cause you gotta work in it and who wants to work in a shipping container
Over, over.......priced!!!!😂
Nobody is saying what the real issue is here and that's the waste water. Yeah what comes of that? How many gallons of un-use-able, toxic water is flushed down the drain already . This is just an Easy Bake Oven kit they sell to grown children.
Toxic water????
Well, yeah. Hydroponics works by force feeding nurients by passing the ph osmosis barrier. You do it by setting the plants in the nutrient water or spray it on the roots. The plants take up different amounts at different grow levels. So you have to change it. That water is toxic and can't be used for anything else. So let's say you use a small system that uses 100gal per week, ,per week and has to be dumped down the drain. Not to mention you have to wash the system out before you begin each nutrient cycle. That another 100gal each week.
@@georgedavis6882 except maybe use that waster on an outside garden or grass???
Remember the old Star Trek Trouble with Tribbles. Well the Tribbles had eaten the wheat supplies and died because there were no nutrients in the food. Hydroponic food is the same thing. There's very little nutrient in it. Maybe a cow's stomachs can do something with those leaves but not people.
@@SimpleTek Have you ever sprayed the lawn or garden with that waste. I'm 71 and everybody says that but does anybody try that. I'll save you the trouble, no it will kill your lawn and garden right away. So remember you creating that waste every week. That's why everybody turns to the drain. Out of sight out of mind.
I smell money laundering . . .
ummmmm maybe.......?
@@SimpleTek a stupid response to a stupid comment.
You can make them cheap and have a lot of sales. many people will buy them.
I’m happy with my current occupation though
It is a pity that you did not look into the thermal issues and the electricity consumption and cost. Plants need 7 photons with the right frequency (color) for one photosyntetic reaction to make one sugar molecule. So there is a hard coupling between energy input and biomass that can not be optimized away.
This energy has to come frome somewhere. Where does it come from? Photovolatics you say? So lets make a simple calculation:
The best solar panels have an efficiency of ~25%. The very best LED lights have an effciency of ~50%. Then you need a converter and have some conversion and transport losses. Lets say that that amounts to ~20-30%. Summing it up you are looking at a factor of one to ten ( 0.25 x 0.5 * (1 - 0.2)).
So for every acre of growing space yo need ten acres of solar panels somewhere else.
Why not use that space with a simple tek foil greenhouse hydropinic setup in the first place?
interesting
Lol 139k it most have a gold floor
no kidding eh
There's too many "little guys" that need help grow a good idea without lining the RICHEST Man in the world, Elon Musk's pockets, that are already FULL! I thought LED lighting wasnt the ideal lighting, which is SUNLIGHT, which is FREE!!!
Well said
Great video! Now I need to learn how to mix the solution and where to buy! lol!
You can do it!
Simple Tek - have any of you guys thought about the health of eating greens without having had any REAL sun !!
is that an issue?
Why Shipping Container Farms are a bad deal...
:)
I'm 4 minutes into this video of 13 minutes and I'm still waiting for Mr. Simple Tek to reveal what is the "elephant in the room". If it was not that I'm reading the newspaper while he talks I would have switched to another video by the 1 minute mark...
I can't imagine you in a restaurant waiting 20 mins for a steak to be cooked.....
@@SimpleTek 😅 guilty as charged!!! I watched till the end though, I liked it but I never subscribe, I do not like notifications. But please next time do not tease that much, short intros work great, the development of the idea is what's interesting. The video picked up pace and interest by the 6 minute or so, from the moment you started speaking about the exorbitant prices and you put on the screen the cost of the individual components. Cheers!
@@peterklass7244 unfortunately you’ll see more and more creators on RUclips stretching their videos out for 2 reasons. RUclips rewards watchtime with more views and longer videos get extra commercials so they make more money. To make videos shorter means less traffic, which is less revenue AND less revenue per click because of less ads shown in shorter videos. These days the way RUclips works anyone making videos under 8 mins is just working for free or way less income.
there a scam til your hunger with no food
or build or buy one at 1/5 the cost
With 138000 dollars I can make a greenhouse the size of 1 acres equipped with the acuaphonics and produce half of what they
Claim to produce per square foot the only difference the area of production do your math
I totally agree
$3 per square inch
lol no kidding!!!!!
That idea definitely has merit. They must be selling them to someone for $80-130K or they wouldn't be making them. Probably a better $ target might be in the $40-50K range.
exactly
$26,900+shipping, ex works India.
I'm starting a vertical farm business in Vancouver, and I really appreciate your video. It really shows how it can be done for way less.
I wish you all the best!
Hi, I'd love to hear more about your vertical farm startup, can you point me to where I can learn more?
There's a chump born every day
exactly
the only good plant for container plants are sadly not legal in my country if you know what i mean .
i have sean many such "FARMS" even in containers diggt under ground.
this are totally legal
@@SimpleTek i Talk about dome special plants that make you high and going into jail if your friends and helpers show up and lock into the Container
What a rip off! I'm sure you can do a lot better in getting a real greenhouse with all the correct equipment.
exactly!!!!!!!
thanks for the info it was an eye opener. but buying from Alibaba is risky do to the shipping issues on all their products
Alibaba actually insures purchases to reduce risk
yeah lol not worth 130k.
yep
8⁄3475 of a foot per dollar
;)
3 10/49 intro
ok
It's embarrassing to see my product.
Which one is your product?
Why would you be afraid of them coming from china… everything is from china now plus it would come w the shipping containers 😂
not afraid of that?
I mean... What are you thinking about Elon these days? This idea would be much more interesting as do it yourself with a Chinese greenhouse facing south and earth sheltered containers with climate battery heating
Personally I think Elon needs to shut up. What he’s done outshines his personal political commentary
@@SimpleTek Just imagine if he had sunk $44 billion into fixing energy dependence with some proven solar models......
@@synocrat601 or geothermal
Great content.
Thank you for the kind words
there needed what is to come wake up you need it for the future no food but by them you better build alot
I have no idea what you are saying or asking?
Mini split heat pumps are very high maintenance in those conditions with plants and high humidity situations. Eventually they grow mass amount of mold in them because of the very very poor quality of filtration on mini splits . They are merv4 at best. Mini splits need deep cleaning every year in those conditions when in a normal residential environment they will most likely go 5 to 8 years before their first deep clean..... good luck with that.
I don’t think you even know how a mini split works
@@SimpleTek I know way more than you will ever know about mini splits. I'm an HVAC tech that installed and serviced thousands of them. I have multi zone systems and VRF system I have service and installed. So before you open your mouth and stick your foot in it maybe you should do a little research on how they are serviced.
@@SimpleTek a true grow house or grow room should have AGronomic IQ systems installed or Dectron system for precised and priority humidity control . So when it comes to grow buildings that's how it's done properly. Not with mini splits which is a cheap bandaid way of doing it.
@@pineychristian ok
@@pineychristian I find tells often know the least about it. Thus isn’t a union.
Great idea
Thank you! Cheers!
Great video, but when it comes to making money, I'm gonna have to go with the scammers on this one.
I don't know what it is that drives them to set the prices so high, but I'm sure they know the math and the market better than I possibly could.
They are probably making money, even if its off of selling green offsets like Tesla.
Thats not a slam on Tesla, but there ways to make money at business that have nothing to do with the products you are marketing.
lol, good point