The last time I spoke to John Oram, he was rolling out blueprints for greenhouses on the table in the conference room of his East Oakland warehouse.

That was in December, and Oram was ready to start building greenhouses for the six cannabis businesses his company is incubating as part of Oakland’s equity program.

But construction has moved slower than your uncle after eating his second plateful at Thanksgiving dinner.

Oram is the CEO of Bloom Innovations, a horticulture consulting and management firm. Bloom distributes cannabis products — seeds, flowers, concentrates, infused edibles and more — under the brand name Nug, a Bloom subsidiary.

Last week, Oram told me that the greenhouses won’t be ready for cultivation until the end of October because there have been repeated delays with building permits and inspections by the city of Oakland.

“It took a while to get through the city process,” Oram said. “Certainly, there were some bumps in the road that I had to iron out to make (Greg Minor, an assistant city administrator) know we were committed to (the equity program) and still moving forward, but once we did that, we got through the building department relatively smoothly.”

After talking to several equity applicants, I’ve learned that some aren’t getting the help they need to get their businesses off the ground, which was the point of the equity program.

The cannabis market is up and running, and some equity applicants fear they’re falling behind.

Oakland reserved half of its cannabis permits for equity applicants. To qualify for the equity program, applicants had to be city residents earning less than 80 percent of the average city income. And they had to either live in a specified high-crime zone for at least 10 of the past 20 years or have been convicted of a cannabis crime in Oakland after Nov. 5, 1996.

General applicants like Oram were moved to the front of the permit line if they “incubated” equity applicants by providing 1,000 square feet of free business space.

The six businesses that Nug is incubating will eventually have 1,200 square feet of space in automated greenhouses that will be equipped with augmented lighting and an irrigation system on a lot in East Oakland.

Last week, I wrote about the delay in the funding the city promised equity applicants. The relationship between general and equity applicants was supposed to solve the biggest problem equity businesses faced: access to real estate. But I’ve been told equity applicants are having trouble simply finding general applicants to incubate them.

General applicants must have the resources to renovate buildings to code. And then they must have the patience to wait on the city for approval to let tenants move in.

“What I’m hearing from most people is that very few equity people have been able to sign the deal with their incubators,” Alexis Bronson, an equity business owner, told me.

And even when they do find partnerships, it’s taking longer than expected to get into their spaces.

Bronson, who is one of the people Oram is incubating, specializes in clone plants and seeds. As Bronson waits, he’s continued cultivating out of his garage, something he’s been doing since he was evicted from an East Oakland warehouse about two years ago.

At the height of his business, he was selling about 4,500 clones per month out of an East Oakland warehouse, earning more than $30,000 a month. He’s holding on until he can get into a greenhouse.

“I don’t have any space,” Bronson said. “It hurts me, because I had a lot of business built up. I haven’t been able to get my traction, and I’m struggling over here.”

Sabir Al-Mansur, another equity business owner, told me that he also didn’t see many relationships forming between general and equity applicants.

“I don’t know too many equity applicants that have a viable general partner right now besides myself and the folks that I deal with,” he said. “And the likelihood of finding viable generals, it’s very difficult.”

Al-Mansur will have space in the Oakland Cannery, an East Oakland warehouse on San Leandro Street that is being renovated. While he waits, Al-Mansur has been identifying vendors and distributors to work with whenever he’s in position to operate. He doesn’t expect that to happen until the first of the year.

Still, Al-Mansur said he’s supportive of the equity program.

“Because the program worked, and it’s working for me,” he said. “It’s just a positive for me.”

Even with the troubles he’s had getting the greenhouses permitted and built, Oram remains positive and supportive of the equity program.

He meets with his equity partners every other week. Two office trailers have been set up on the lot of his warehouse so Bronson and others can have a place to plan their businesses and work on their state applications. The businesses have access to Oram’s attorney, who provides legal guidance.

But that’s not generating revenue for their businesses, which is the point of the equity program.

Oram said he’s working on co-branding opportunities, where the equity partners can take a product produced by Nug and package and distribute it so they can at least have a revenue stream.

And, perhaps most importantly, they can start putting products on shelves.

“It’s a land grab out there for shelf space and brand awareness,” Oram said. “And if they wait too long — let’s say it takes them another six months before they get their space and takes them another three months to bring a product to market — they’re going to be behind in the brand game.”

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr