A “Bright” Future · A “Bright” Future. Reader Service Number 200. Reader Service Number 201. ... long-term opportunity. Take for example the question of sustainable peat

Lean Flow helpscannabisgrowers, too

PAGE 14

The basics ofcannabis

PAGE 30

New York City-based hydroponic grower BrightFarms on expansion, retaining

employees and what “local” means

February 2018 CONTROLLED ENV I RONMENT AGR ICULTURE

Growing strawberriesyear-round—Whichones are the best?

PAGE 16

A “Bright” Future

Reader Service Number 200


Jennifer PolanzMANAGING EDITOR-AT-LARGEfeedback: [email protected]

4

As I write this, Canadians and Americans are beingwarned not to eat romaine lettuce due to an E. coli out-break. Canadian officials identified romaine lettuce asthe cause of the outbreak there, but U.S. officials werestill investigating. By the time you read this, the mys-tery may have been solved, but food safety is and al-ways will be a major barrier in growing edible productsof any kind for the public. We’re working on more sto-ries coming up that will address these issues, but fornow, you can turn to page 10 to see how New York City-based BrightFarms works to reduce the potential forfood safety issues in all its hydroponic greenhouses.

Despite their best efforts, they did have a recent re-call in the Chicagoland market and you can find outhow they gracefully handled that, too (spoiler alert, thepositive test was actually for a harmless strain of E. coli,not the one that can cause illness).

In that BrightFarms story, you also can read howCEO Paul Lightfoot was able to marry his passion(healthy eating in a sustainable way that employs peo-ple with a living wage) with a commercial enterprise

that’s on track for great expansion in thecoming years. It’s the ultimate story of seeingand seizing an opportunity, with a little helpfrom enthusiastic investors.

On a different front, just days after Califor-nia’s enormous recreational industry becamelegit, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions re-scinded Obama-era memos allowing leniencyfor states that chose to legalize recreationalmarijuana, instead reaffirming prior enforce-ment efforts. What does it mean? That’s stillyet to be determined, but it’s one more barrierthat has to be negotiated.

That said, we see the increasing interestamong growers in the U.S. and Canada relat-ing to medicinal and recreational marijuana(also called cannabis, pot, ganja, weed, insert amillion other nicknames here). That’s whywe’ve tapped Dr. Brian Corr, a greenhouseconsultant with decades of experience towrite a cannabis-related story for us in eachInside Grower, plus an every-other-monthcolumn in GrowerTalks (see his first one inthe January issue). He’s been advisingcannabis operations for three years and un-derstands the business, as well as the hort ofit all. You can read his first article on page 30.

In some cases, a barrier can result in along-term opportunity. Take for example the question ofsustainable peat and management of peat bogs aroundthe globe. Some were being depleted too quickly, butNorth American industry groups recognized the issueand created guidelines for managing peat properly. Youcan read about that opportunity on page 20.

And sometimes crops become an opportunity, likegreenhouse strawberries. But the barrier is in gettingthem to produce when people want them (i.e., rightnow). Freelance technical writer Dave Kuack tacklesthat topic for us on page 16.

Here’s wishing you the ability to see your opportuni-ties in 2018 and remove any barriers that stand in theway of your success.

This issue of Inside Grower is all aboutopportunity. But opportunity, while exciting,is a tricky business because it always comeswith barriers. It takes a creative mind, hardwork and sometimes a little luck to break

down those barriers on the way to success.

Barriers to Opportunity

From Your Editor

5

editorial

EDITOR Chris [email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer ZurkoMANAGING EDITOR-AT-LARGE Jennifer Polanz

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jennifer D. White

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DEPARTMENTS 4 | From Your Editor6 | Insider34 | New Products

FEATURES 10 | A “Bright” Future | Story by Jennifer Polanz, Photos by Jennifer Zurko

Greens hydroponic grower BrightFarms has an ambitious mission toprovide local, healthy (and tasty) offerings to customers while providing aliving wage for its employees.

14 | Transitioning to the Big Leagues | by Mike Henderson & Dan GraceA cannabis company uses Lean Flow to move from warehouse togreenhouse for more productivity and bigger yields.

16 | The Berry Best | by David KuackBy combining June-bearing and everbearing varieties, growers canproduce strawberries during periods of premium pricing.

20 | For Peat’s Sake | by Lesley SykesThe case for Responsibly Managed Peatlands certification.

22 | Growers’ Choice | by Anne Bennett-CiagliaWhich system is the right one for your lettuce production?

26 | Using BCAs Right | by Tami Van GaalFive common CEA pests and how to prevent them.

30 | Cannabis Crash Course | by Dr. Brian CorrWith a very limited selection of plant protection products and limitationson access to banking and insurance, it’s clear cannabis production isn’t aseasy as growing weeds.

CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE

February 2018

ON THE COVERBrightFarms, LLC, has three hydroponic

greenhouse locations, including a fourth in theworks. This photo was taken at the Rochelle,

Illinois, facility. We spoke to CEO Paul Lightfoot totalk about their customers, employees and what

“local” means. Photo by Jennifer Zurko.

6

Insider

New Operations in the WorksIt’s been a challenge keeping up with the announcementsof all the new facilities cropping up across the UnitedStates. Between greenhouse veg and herb operations, andindoor vertical farms, they're being announced almostweekly. Here are a couple we’ve caught wind of recently:l Prairie Produce Farm LLC, a sister company of DelFresco Produce and Sunrite Greenhouse in Canada, isplanning a $30 million, 35-acre hydroponic facility inPleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, according to local newsreports. The first phase will be 15.3 acres and is expectedto be completed sometime in 2018. It will providetomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries to localgrocers and distribution centers.lGotham Greens is looking to build a $12.2 million,95,000-sq. ft. greenhouse in Providence, Rhode Island, ona vacant lot that once housed a GE light bulb factory, ac-cording to the Providence Journal. To sweeten the deal,the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation approved $2.2million in tax credits to encourage the development.l Ceres Greens announced plans to open Vermont’s firstvertical indoor farm in Barre, Vermont, according toVermont Business Magazine. The 12,500-sq. ft. space isset to open in January 2018 and grow leafy greens andherbs for the local market. One of the founders, JacobIsham, is a disabled veteran who took part in theVeterans to Farmers program in Colorado and hopes toemploy and train veterans at the Barre facility.l BrightFarms is building a 160,000-sq. ft. greenhousefacility in Wilmington, Ohio (near Cincinnati andDayton), to grow leafy greens and herbs. That shouldopen in the early summer of 2018, and I talked with CEOPaul Lightfoot recently about that addition and theBrightFarms operation as a whole. (Read more aboutBrightFarms on page 10.)

WhiteflyBiocontrolOptionsNeed help withwhiteflies? The

ATTRA may have some beneficial infor-mation about biocontrols. The ATTRA isa sustainable agriculture program devel-oped by the National Center for Appro-priate Technology (NCAT). It recentlyreleased a tip sheet on eliminatingwhiteflies through botanical pesticides.Check it out and see if it could help inyour operation by visiting attra.ncat.org.The download is free.

New LED Series for Vertical FarmsFluence Bioengineering, Inc. recently launched three new horti-culture lighting solutions for large vertical farms. The new Flu-ence RAZR Series is built for a wide range of applications, fromfull-cycle cultivation of leafy greens and microgreens to youngplant propagation of vegetable, ornamental and cannabis crops.

“The new Fluence RAZR solutions are purpose-built to addressthe unique challenges and opportunities associated with verticalfarming,” says Randy Johnson, co-founder and CTO at Fluence.“Every design consideration that went into the new RAZR Series,from the thin form-factor to modular daisy-chain configuration, ispredicated on increasing our vertical farming customers’ outputswhile reducing their inputs.”

The three options are:

lRAZR4 Array (pictured)—Ideal for full-cycle leafy green, basil,strawberry and culinary herb production, as well as early-stagevegetative growth for vegetables, ornamentals and cannabis cultivation.lRAZR3 Array—Ideal for full-cycle leafy green and microgreenproduction, along with propagation of vegetable, ornamental andcannabis crops.lRAZR2 Array—Ideal for tissue culture, seedlings andcutting/cloning propagation, along with ornamental plugs andstarter pots.

Each system is designed and built in Austin, Texas. Find outmore about each system athttps://fluence.science/technology/razr.

New NFT System Available in U.S.The Finnish company Green Automation has brought its well-developed,fully automated hydroponic NFT system to the United States. The systemwas developed more than 10 years ago in Helsinki, Finland, and now Green

Automation systems are running inMassachusetts, New Hampshire, New York andIllinois. The operations vary in size from 1 to 3

acres, and can produce more than 1 ton of lettuce per acre per day.“With feet on the ground now here in the U.S., where more than ever the

end customer seeks nutritious, locally produced fresh food, the timing is per-fect. Consumers are more exacting about consuming food that is producednaturally, without pesticides and on a year-round basis,” says Tero Rapila, co-founder and CEO of Green Automation Export. “Our fully automated and in-clusive seed-to-harvest system not only uses 95% less water than traditionalfield farming, but can achieve tremendous product yield for a fraction of thelabor costs.”

Tero says the system addresses field harvest issues like labor, water-short-ages and efficiency. For more, visit http://greenautomation.com/us.

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Hydro and Aquaponics In, Aeroponics OutIn early November, the National Organics Standards Board narrowly ruledto continue to allow the organic label for farms growing products usingthe hydroponic and aquaponics methods. The board voted 8-7 againstbanning those two methods, while they approved banning aeroponics

from organic labeling.The issue has been a contentious one and we’ve received sev-

eral passionate emails and comments arguing both sides. We'llcontinue to watch and report as the NOSB talks about labeling

requirements for these growers. In the meantime, traditional organicfarmers are threatening to leave the USDA program over the vote.

In a story by Business Insider, a Vermont organic tomato farmer toldthem: “The National Organic Program has failed at the very thing it wascreated to do: creating trust and transparency between organic farmersand eaters. After a publicized series of failures in defending organic in-tegrity, the Organic Program's Advisory Board decision to embrace hydro-ponic production as the ‘new organic’ is the final straw.”

On the other side, hydroponic supporters, like the Recirculating FarmsCoalition, are calling this vote a victory for the advance of technology andsustainability.

“By siding with current science and recognizing that existing law pur-posely leaves the door open for various farming methods, the NOSB issending a critical message that sustainability and innovation are valuablein U.S. agriculture,” says Executive Director of Recirculating Farms Coali-tion Marianne Cufone in a statement on the organization’s website.“These goals are at the center of the nationwide local food movement andspur growth of urban and rural farms alike by a wide range of people. In-clusiveness is important in our food system.”

At the PMA Fresh Summit, Nature-Fresh Farms announced theyreached a deal with a seed companyto sell the tiny snacking tomatoTomberry in the U.S., Canada andMexico. Eminent Seeds NL has cre-ated what NatureFresh calls, “TheWorld’s Smallest Tomato,” at 0.5 to 1cm in diameter with an average fruitweight of 1 to 2 grams.

“The Tomberry is unique in sizeand has caught the interest of ourretail partners,” says Matt Quiring,executive retail sales manager forNatureFresh. “The snacking trend inNorth America has exploded and we

continue to search for new items that will help grow our snacking cate-gory. This pearl-sized fruit’s unique size is something hard to miss andeven more difficult to pass by without picking up.

“Once a consumer tries them, we are confident that they will be com-ing back for more. Visually, it is candy to the eyes. From a sensory stand-point, we can back that up.”

Tomberry will be grown in the Leamington, Ontario, greenhouse start-ing in spring 2018, and launched with its own packaging and branding.

Teeny Tiny Tomatoes

A “Smart” GreenhouseA new solar greenhouse at UC Santa Cruz hassuccessfully produced its first crops of toma-toes and cucumbers that were just as healthyas those raised in a conventional greenhouse,according to researchers at the university.

“We have demonstrated that ‘smart green-houses’ can capture solar energy for electric-

ity withoutreducing plantgrowth, which ispretty exciting,”

says Michael Loik, professor of environmentalstudies at UC Santa Cruz, in a release issuedby the university.

The greenhouse is a pretty unique-lookingfacility and uses Wavelength-Selective Photo-voltaic Systems (WSPVs) rather than the tra-ditional photovoltaic systems. Researcherssay it generates electricity more efficientlyand at less cost than the traditional systems.

According to the university, it works likethis: “These greenhouses are outfitted withtransparent roof panels embedded with abright magenta luminescent dye that absorbslight and transfers energy to narrow photo-voltaic strips, where electricity is produced.”

While the WSPV system does absorb someof the blue and green wavelengths of light, re-searchers say, it lets the rest through, whichallows the plants to grow. Based on the re-search conducted, about 80% of the plants (20varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, lemons,limes, peppers, strawberries and basil) werenot affected at all and the other 20% grew bet-ter. They also noticed a small water savingswith the “smart” greenhouse.

More “Smart” TechSometimes you wish your plants could talk toyou and tell you if something ails them. A newtechnology from a Brazilian company comesclose to that by allowing a grower to scan aplant’s leaf with a scanner and within secondsevaluate the plant’s macro and micronutrientsin search of deficiencies.

“The solution, called SMART, involves aportable Near Infrared (NIR) scanner and amobile app,” according to the press release.“SMART is neither a chemical wet lab nor is itintended to replace one. It is an alert tool thatallows prompt identification of the nutritionalstatus of a plant, to quickly identify potentialdeficiencies well before symptoms arise.”

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Insider

New Bactericide & Fungicide forCannabis GrowersProcidic2 from Greenspire Global Inc. is abactericide and fungicide specifically de-

veloped for cannabisand hemp grown in-doors or in openfields, and will be dis-

tributed by Helena Chemical Co.“Procidic2’s ingredients allow crops to

grow the healthy, natural way,” says SteveKnauss, President of Greenspire Global."What sets Procidic2 apart is its formula;there are no added stressors to crops.”

It can be used for management of vari-ous diseases, including powdery mildew,bud rot and root rot. According to a re-lease from Greenspire, the product workssystemically and on contact, as it’s rap-idly absorbed into the plant and movestoward the apex, allowing new tissues tobe free of infection and reducing the riskof future growth of bacteria and fungi.They recommend using it as a preventa-tive or at the first sign of disease.

It’s available in 1-gal. containers andcan be applied via regularly scheduledspray programs or in tank mixes with noREI. Procidic2 has even been approvedunder the Washington State Departmentof Agriculture organic food program foruse in organic production.

Does CEA Growing Make Sense?That’s a very simplistic take, but the basic question that Neil Mattson, associateprofessor of Horticulture at Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Sci-

ence hopes to answer with a new three-year project.Neil has written multiple times for us in this supplement

and we reached out to him upon hearing the news that Cor-nell was awarded a $2.4 million grant from the National Sci-ence Foundation to study multiple aspects of controlledenvironment agriculture. All told, there are six projects in-cluded in the grant funding. Neil says some initial resultswill be available about a year after the project begins.

“There are several aspects of this grant, which will resultin information helpful to CEA growers,” he explains. “Even

though we focus on CEA in metropolitan areas as our research topic, there willbe excellent implications for all CEA growers. Some examples: 1) A ‘food sys-tems’ analysis of how select metropolitan areas are currently sourcing produceitems (where it is coming from geographically) and what market/distributionchannels are being used; 2) A greater understanding of the water and energyfootprint (how much water and energy) different types of CEA operations use;3) More work (in collaboration with my colleagues at Rensselaer PolytechnicInstitute) on how CO2 enrichment affects plant nutrient density and how light-ing strategies can be used to increase plant nutrient density in leafy greens,and we’ll be comparing these to field-grown crops as well; 4) We’ll be surveyingcurrent CEA practitioners to learn about the different job skills they are lookingfor in employees and gaining a greater understanding of how employees arecurrently being trained and is this sufficient to their needs, as well as develop-ing online curriculum to fill in some identified gaps.”

In essence, the studies will help researchers to troubleshoot any specific is-sues that CEA growing presents and then come up with solutions for those tomake it more effective.

“At this point we’re not sure how ‘scalable’ different types of CEA (green-houses, plant factories, vertical farms [i.e., sky scraper farms]) are based ontheir economics, as well as their energy and water use—is it realistic that a citycould produce a large share of their fresh vegetables within their own bound-aries? And if so, is it environmentally responsible?” Neil notes. “By understand-ing the pinch points, we hope to guide development of strategies to overcomethese problems when possible or help inform sustainable/realistic urban CEA.”

We’ll stay in touch with Neil as the studies progress to provide updates asthey’re available.

The Importance of BiotypeWhiteflies can be a frustrating pest to get rid of and American-Hort’s research arm, Horticulture Research Institute (HRI), recently released some information that could help growers ofall types figure out how to better combat whiteflies.

The document, called “Whitefly: What’s Your (Bio) Type?” references poinsettias, but it’s helpful infor-mation for leafy green, herb and veggie grow-ers, as well. It homes in on one particularwhitefly: Sweet Potato whitefly, or Bemisiatabaci, and the two types that growers areseeing, B and Q.

“Biotype B can be controlled using regular methods and evensome biologicals. Fortunately, B is the most common biotype inthe U.S. Biotype Q, on the other hand, is resistant to many

classes of insecticides, such as some insect growth regulators,pyrethroids and some neonicotinoids,” the document states.

That’s why it’s important to know your type because somecombinations of insecticides encourage a shift from a mix of Band Q to only Q, which is harder to eradicate, says Dr. LanceOsborne, a researcher from the University of Florida whostudied the efficacy of insecticide rotations along with Dr. CindyMcKenzie of USDA-ARS. “That being said, the populations arestill manageable with the tools we have,” he adds.

Read the full document by visiting http://americanhort.org/HRI/Research, which includes new pesticides to help combatBiotype Q. However, please double-check the ability to use them on edible crops before proceeding. Also, find out more information about Lance’s and Cindy’s studies here:http://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/bemisia/bemisia.htm.


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The milestones for BrightFarms LLC, a New YorkCity-based hydroponic grower, are coming fast andfurious for a company that only raised its firstround of financing in 2011. Those milestones in-clude three established greenhouses in BucksCounty, Pennsylvania; Culpepper County, Virginia;and Rochelle, Illinois; and plans for a fourth to opensometime mid-year in Wilmington, Ohio (greaterCincinnati area).

The success of those operations in providingpesticide-free leafy greens and herbs to local gro-cers (we’ll talk more about local in a bit) have driventalks for a fast expansion plan. How fast? How about15 more greenhouses in three years across a goodchunk of the United States, according to Bright-Farms founder and CEO Paul Lightfoot.

“My official answer is not fast enough,” Paulsemi-jokes about the expansion plans, adding theybrought on Erik Lallum, vice president of construc-tion, to oversee the rapid development. “There is somuch demand for a local salad program in super-markets right now, there simply aren’t commercial-scale local salad programs. All the major saladproducers are structurally not local in almost all thecountry, and most of the existing local farms arenot really salad suppliers to supermarkets and theycan’t easily be.”

Therefore, there’s a niche to fill in grocery storesall over the country to supply the nutritious leafygreens and herbs that customers crave, and Paulwants his greenhouses to be nearby to fill it, not 250miles, 500 miles or even 1,000 miles away.

Cover Story

A “Bright”Greens hydroponic growerBrightFarms has an ambitiousmission to provide local, healthy(and tasty) offerings to customerswhile providing a living wage forits employees.

BrightFarms Head Grower Nick Chaney of the Rochelle, Illinois, greenhouseshows how leafy greens and herbs are started in a styrofoam raft system.

Story by JENNIFER POLANZ, photos by JENNIFER ZURKO

What IS local?That’s one of the questions that keeps Paul and his team up at night. Paul’s back-ground is in the food supply chain, and his personal passion is eating in a waythat’s healthy and good for the environment, which aren’t always congruous.

“I came up with this insight that maybe you could do partnerships with super-markets in a way that could create a network of commercial-scale greenhousefarms to bring local produce to consumers.”

The first greenhouse, a 56,000-sq. ft. facility in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, received financing in 2011 and was built by 2013, seeing profitability by summerof 2014. That stability helped attract partnerships with Giant Food to serve theWashington, D.C. metro area.

Since then, BrightFarms has established relationships with food retailers likeAlbertson’s (which has a presence under multiple brands in 35 U.S. states), Wal-mart, Ahold (which owns multiple brands, including Peapod, a delivery service)and Kroger (again, owner of multiple brands). Those four account for 60% of thegrocery stores in the U.S. and BrightFarms also partners with larger regionalplayers like Mariano’s in the Chicagoland area.

But Paul didn’t want the leafy greens to travel far to get to retail, so the plan isto have greenhouses strategically located to serve their markets. That’s why thegreenhouse that serves lower Wisconsin and the Chicagoland area is located in

Future

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Rochelle. Think of its market as a wide megaphone, with the greenhouse asthe mouthpiece.

Still, the conundrum is how far is too far? What constitutes local? “We haveto be honest and say it’s what people believe. It’s authentic for consumers sowe don’t really know yet,” Paul says. “We know that it’s different in the North-east compared to the Midwest; we know that it’s different sometimes frommarket to market, so when we grow we’re asking and learning. We don’t havea hard-and-fast rule.”

The power of listeningAs the definition of local changes, so does some of the product mix offered.There’s a stable of base SKUs company-wide: baby kale, spinach, arugula andspring mix, but every greenhouse talks to their partners to answer the demandfor their consumers.

Case in point: the Rochelle greenhouse, currently under the direction ofHead Grower Nick Chaney. This 160,000-sq. ft. greenhouse located smack inthe middle of farm fields is filled with spinach, lettuce and kale mixes, andbasil. We recently visited the greenhouse to get the lowdown from Nick onhow the greenhouse operates and what his relationships are like with his retail partners.

Forward ProgressHydroponic growing is a specific subset ofhorticulture, and it takes a skilled grower to deftlynavigate multiple crops and react to day-to-daychallenges. BrightFarms CEO Paul Lightfoot iskeenly aware of what it takes to make hisgreenhouses successful. “Generally, we end up moving a grower into the

market,” he says. “We just can’t count on themarket to produce enough of what we need, sowe’re just starting to hire tons of people early intheir careers and we’re making them apprenticesand assistants in our existing greenhouses.”That way, the apprentices—who many times are

hired right out of college or within a couple ofyears after—receive upwards of 12 to 18 months ofexperience on the ground. For example, Rochelle,Illinois, greenhouse Head Grower Nick Chaneyspent two years there and will be moving in Marchto head up the new Wilmington, Ohio, facility(Nick’s originally from Ohio, so it works out nicely).At that time, the next assistant in line will move upat the Rochelle location.The other part of the people equation is a labor

shortage agriculture-wide. Paul’s solution (and oneof the company’s founding missions) is to pay allemployees a living wage and provide health carecoverage. “We think in many ways that’s not at the

leadership level, that’s at the crop level, and sincewe’re an organization that’s mission-driven andhas a social purpose, one of our tenets of ourculture is we pay everybody a living wage from thefirst hour of their first day,” he explains. “We’realways paying more than the other ag jobs. So notonly are we getting better people and betterproductivity, but we’re not subject to that sameshortage.”

The plants are grown under HPS supplemental lighting. The crop rotation times range from 23days for basil to just 11 days for kale in the summer. n Inset: Here, clamshells of the kale mix arewaiting for final packing. BrightFarms CEO Paul Lightfoot says he would like to explore differentmeans for packing the leafy greens beyond the clamshell.

One of his high-end regional retailers, Mariano’s,asked BrightFarms for more basil varieties becausetheir customers were loving it. Within weeks, Nick hadseeded multiple trials for Mariano’s people to trial.Within a few more weeks, new varieties of basil wereon the shelves. “That fast feedback loop is almost un-heard of,” Paul says.

Another example is how the “Sunny Crunch” wasborn. It’s a green leaf/iceberg hybrid that has thecrunch of iceberg with the nutritional value of greenleaf. “They asked us for innovation, and we came to-gether and brainstormed,” Nick says of the process.

He continues to look for ways to fill niches for hiscustomers, like the possibility of growing microgreensfor pea shoot and wheat grass smoothies. The green-house has already differentiated itself with offeringslike a custom blend of kale that includes Siberian, Lacinato, Red and Russian kale.

“We’re the only ones that have the kale blend, differ-ent types of basil and different lettuce blends,” Nickadds. u

In the greenhousePart of the success of BrightFarms may be attributed to theautomation used to reduce the amount of touches for em-ployees, of which there are 35 at the Rochelle location, in-cluding drivers. Plants are seeded by machines, and oncethe proprietary reusable foam hydroponic raft splashesdown into the water, an employee monitors, but doesn’ttouch anything until it comes out of the greenhouse on aconveyor belt heading for harvesting (and only then to pivotthe raft onto another conveyor). Harvesting is all done bymachine, as well. A Priva environmental control systemregulates the curtains, vents, fans and boiler.

When it comes to the growing process, all BrightFarmsgreenhouses follow an IPM program that doesn’t involvepesticides. It’s part of the company’s mission and it’s on allthe packaging—which can make the job of grower a littletrickier than in a traditional greenhouse. In fact, it’s why theforay into tomatoes didn’t quite work out. It’s also whygrowing healthy, sturdy plants from the beginning is so important.

“We feel very strongly about the plant above the raft, butalso below the raft,” Nick says of the root systems and thehealthy ecosystem that’s needed in the water. “I’ve been re-searching organisms to go into the water to consumePythium that will be tolerant of what’s added to the pond,”he adds, noting Pythium is his main battle when it comes tohis spinach crop.

12


The importance of cleanlinessIt’s clear upon entering the Rochelle facility that food safety is of theutmost importance and is taken very seriously. Before we could tourthe greenhouse, we had to don hairnets (men with longer beardsalso wear beard nets) and wash our hands thoroughly. We steppedthrough the first door into a footbath and there were several morestationed throughout the greenhouse. Workers wear arm sleevesand aprons, as well.

The vast majority of the harvesting and cooling process is auto-mated, as well as packing for some of the SKUs so employees onlyminimally handle the produce before it gets loaded onto trucks andshipped out within 24 hours of leaving the raft. Consequently, thatprocess allows BrightFarms to have product on the shelf that’sabout a week fresher than the traditional salad offerings from Cali-fornia farms that go through processing facilities and long-haultrucking.

BrightFarms recently had a recall at the Rochelle facility, but intalking with Nick further about it, the removal of assorted leafygreens from the shelves was more out of an abundance of caution.Initially testing showed E. coli, but not a specific strain. The recallwas ordered and then later it was determined to be a different strainthat would not result in illness (not the 0157:H7 strain). He addsthey’re in the process of going through a Safe Quality Food Institutecertification to assure a rigorous food management system.

“Every day we scrub things down and test to make sure,” Nicksays. “It’s as crucial for the health of our customers and of ourplants.”

Cover Story


Here’s how Dark Heart improved all of their processes in each ofthese categories:

Data collectionThe process flow shows what process steps are used to take the prod-uct from beginning to end. Dark Heart collected processes flow for allproduction products. For example:

Work and grow times at each process were collected so they couldbe used to calculate the number of people and machines that wouldbe required for current and future requirements. Annual demand foreach product and growth was projected, so they could determine thespace requirement throughout the year.

Calculationsl Takt time (the average time between the start of production of oneunit and the start of production of the next unit) was calculated andis the key Lean Flow design driver. It determines the rate at whicheach process needs to produce to meet the customer demand in theavailable work time (without running overtime). lWeighted standard time calculations look at every product that’sutilized at a process and, based on demand and work time, identifiesthe weighted average. l Resource requirements are calculated and identify the number ofpeople, machines and storage space required to produce products fortoday and future volume.

14

Efficiency

Dark Heart Nursery is California’s largest and most well-respected provider of young cannabis plants—or clones,as they’re called in the cannabis industry. For the last 10years, they’ve been serving the medical cannabis industryby providing premium quality plants to growers through-out the state.

Dark Heart currently operates out of a high-tech,20,000-sq. ft. indoor production facility in Oakland andthat facility isn’t nearly able to keep up with customerdemand, especially during the spring season. As such,they’re working to develop a new modern greenhousefacility in which to grow their business.

At the same time, California’s cannabis industry isgoing through monumental change. Beginning in 2018,the state is implementing new regulations and openingthe market for recreational cannabis sales. They expectthose changes will lead to increased opportunities andstronger competition in their part of the industry. Ulti-mately, they believe this will lead to lower prices and in-creased pressure to improve efficiency.

In preparation for these changing dynamics, DarkHeart has begun to increase their focus on improving op-erational efficiency. It was for that reason they startedworking with FlowVision to improve existing workflowsand design production systems for their new greenhousefacility. Lean Flow techniques have been successfully im-plemented across all industries, and especially in theGreen Industry. FlowVision has helped hundreds of grow-ers become more profitable and they’re now beginning tohelp cannabis cultivators do the same.

Taking the first stepIn 2016, FlowVision was contacted by Dan Grace, Presi-dent and CEO of Dark Heart. Dan wanted to begin imple-menting Lean Flow in his current warehouse facility,knowing that eventually he would build a greenhouse.

The first step was an eight-hour Lean Flow Trainingworkshop that focused on Dark Heart’s specific processes.During the workshop, the Dark Heart employees learnedthe Lean Flow tools used to design a very efficient nurs-ery. They learned how to use the tools and appliedthem to their business. Those tools are in four maincategories: Data Collection, Calculations, Designand Implementation.

Transitioning to the Big LeaguesA cannabis company uses Lean Flow to move from warehouse to greenhouse for more productivity and bigger yields.

by MIKE HENDERSON & DAN GRACE

Prune Slice Stick Bridge Pull Ship

Lean Flow helped Dark HeartNursery improveproductivity in their

progressive sticking linewith three steps of the process: Pruning …

15

An example of the three calculations may look as follows:l Takt time—If you need to stick 10,000 products per day tomeet your customer demands and you work eight hours perday (28,800 seconds) you would need to stick one unit every2.88 seconds (28,800 seconds ÷ 10,000 units).l Weighted standard time—To keep this example easy, let’ssay all sticking took five seconds, regardless of what plantyou were sticking.l Resource requirements—If sticking is all manual work, thenumber of people we need in sticking is 1.74 people (5second work time ÷ 2.88 second takt time).

In a Lean Flow facility, these calculations aren’t just usedfor facility design at capacity. Lean Flow customers usethem every day to determine the number of people, ma-chines and space requirements throughout the season,which allows them to increase productivity by more than30% by staffing processes appropriately.

DesignAfter the resources have been calculated, block diagrams arecreated to develop a non-scaled view of how material shouldflow through the factory using blocks to represent peopleand machine resources. The final facility design is mucheasier after you complete a block diagram because you nowknow what the best flow of material is without the biasedview of equipment constraints.

Flexible employees are an important part of a Lean Flowfacility. Whether you’re setting up a progressive sticking lineor improving your employee utilization by designing a ship-ping “supermarket,” teaching employees multiple jobs willimprove a nursery’s efficiency. By using these Lean Flowtools, Dark Heart can use the above steps and lay out theirnew greenhouse to get the best flow and resource utilization.

After the design is in place, it’s time to create the actionplan to implement Lean Flow. Every task needs to have a re-sponsible person and a completion date assigned to it. Tokeep the project on track there needs to be, at minimum, aweekly review of all tasks.

ImplementationDark Heart wanted to test their newly learned skills in somepilot areas. They first set up a progressive trimming line forclones where three operators would pass a tray of plants downa line and each person would trim approximately one third ofthe tray. If one person got behind, the other people would sharethe work. If someone got ahead, they would do more. The goalwas to work as a team and share the workload.

In the past Dark Heart would have one person trim the en-tire tray. The productivity improvement was shocking—50% in-crease in productivity (one third more output with the samenumber of people).

The second progressive line that was tested was for thePrune Slice Stick processes. This progressive lineyielded a 26% improvement in productivity, plus higher yieldsince sticking is done seconds after the pruning takes place.The payback for the workshop and consulting was less thanthree months.

Dan said, “We have found FlowVision’s approach effective inpart because it focuses on highly practical solutions. Most oftheir recommendations focus on simple changes in workflowand rudimentary equipment. Their focus is on optimizing thepeople, equipment and facilities that you already have.”

MIKE HENDERSON is Founding Partner and Owner of FlowVision and DAN GRACE is president and CEO of Dark Heart Nursery in Oakland, California.

… slicing … … and progressive sticking.

Operation 1 Operation 2 Operation 3IPK stands for “In-Process Kanban,” which is a communication signal that tells eachemployee when to build products at their workstation and when not to build. This way,they all work in tandem and the line is balanced.

16

Production

Trying to decide which strawberry varieties to grow in a con-trolled environment production system can be a challenge forgrowers using field-bred varieties. Mark Kroggel, lecturer at OhioState University, said growers can produce strawberries nearlyyear-round by combining greenhouse and field production.

JUNE-BEARING VARIETIESTraditional strawberries grown for field production are referredto as June-bearing varieties and are short-day plants.

“These plants require certain photoperiods to begin flowerinitiation, just like poinsettias,” Mark said. “The strawberry plantsare transplanted into the field and develop vegetatively duringlate summer and early fall.”

The critical photoperiod when flower initiation begins variesbetween varieties, he explained. Many of the short-day varietiesstart to initiate flowers when there are 12 to 13 hours of daylight.Flower initiation occurs within the plant crowns.

During the winter, the plants go dormant. In spring, the flow-ers, which have already initiated during the previous fall, openand bear fruit. In the early spring as additional growth occurs,the plants continue to initiate and produce flowers until thatcritical 12 to 13-hour photoperiod is exceeded as days get longer.Once the critical photoperiod is exceeded, the plants don’t initi-ate any more flowers.

GREENHOUSE-GROWN SHORT-DAY VARIETIESWhen short-day strawberry varieties are grown in a greenhouse,the winter dormancy period is eliminated.

“In the fall, instead of letting the plants go dormant, they canbe kept actively growing in a greenhouse using temperature andnutrition,” Mark said. “A June-bearing, short-day variety that’splanted in August in the greenhouse is going to grow vegeta-tively until the fall when days are short enough to initiate flowers.”

Flower initiation takes place over a period of about 30 days. Itthen takes about 30 days from flower initiation until flowers ap-pear. And then it takes another 30 days from the time of flower-ing until fruit is produced. From the beginning of flowerinitiation, it takes 90 days before fruit is ready to harvest.

Using the natural photoperiod, a grower could plant strawber-ries in a greenhouse during late summer and early fall to pro-duce a crop by Christmas. Starting in late September, the plantsreceive 12 hours of natural daylight, Mark said. It takes severalweeks for the plants to initiate flowers. Then, in October, there’sabout four weeks of flower development. In November, fromflower to fruit takes another four weeks. In December, the fruitripens.

In trials at the University of Arizona with June-bearing orshort-day varieties, once days start to exceed 12 hours of day-light in April, the plants stop initiating flowers. June is the end offruiting.

“We’ve found that six months of fruit production has been theoptimal production limit for any strawberry variety in the green-house,” Mark said. “Aside from short-day plants having a limitedflowering season, the substrate usually starts to break down andthe plants start to lose their vigor.”

This applies to both short-day and everbearing varieties, saidMark. The fruit quality can also begin to suffer if the greenhousecan’t be cooled adequately as summer approaches. If night tem-peratures aren’t lower than 60F (15C), the fruit respires too muchand fruit quality is reduced.

“I expect the typical crop life for winter production of green-house strawberries for most growers is going to be about sixmonths of fruit production,” he said.

FLOWER AND FRUIT INDUCTIONBecause of the lack of commercially available, actively growingstarter plants during the summer, Mark has produced his owntip runners in 38-cell plug trays or 2-in. tree bands. He said per-mission from patent holders is required to propagate protectedvarieties.

“We want to start growing the strawberries during the sum-mer, but this is a time of year that there are usually no starterplants available from most commercial propagators,” he said.“The very latest dormant runners are available is June. Conse-quently, we need to produce our own.”

These strawberry plantlets are stuck in a substrate andplaced on a mist bench until they’re rooted in. Rooting and accli-mation takes two to three weeks and the plants need severalmore weeks in the greenhouse to become established enough totransplant into a growing system. The plants are ready to betransplanted when they can be removed from the plug cells orpots with roots and substrate intact.

To produce fruit with short-day varieties during November,an artificial short-day treatment is necessary to initiate flowerswhen the natural daylength is longer than the flower-inducingdaylength. Mark said the high-density propagation stage is thebest time to do this. This short-day treatment consists of eighthours of daylight in the greenhouse and then the rooted, accli-mated plants are moved into a dark cooler for 16 hours at 60F(15C). This is the optimum temperature for flower induction.

“The plants are moved back and forth on carts between thecooler and the greenhouse,” Mark said. “It is labor intensive, butlarge numbers of plants can be moved relatively easily because

The Berry Best By combining June-bearing and everbearing varieties, growers can

produce strawberries during periods of premium pricing.

by DAVID KUACK

u

17

Counter-clockwise from above n The typical crop life for winter production of greenhouse strawberriesfor most growers is going to be about six months of fruit production. n Research conducted at theUniversity of Arizona found that six months of fruit production has been the optimal greenhouseproduction limit for any strawberry variety. n Because dormant strawberry runners aren’t availablefrom most commercial propagators after June, Mark Kroggel had to produce his own tip runners.Permission is required from patent holders to propagate protected varieties. n The cyclical productionof strawberry flowers and fruit can be accommodated by staggering planting dates and using differentvarieties that have varying production schedules.

Photos courtesy of Mark Kroggel, Ohio State University

18

Production


they are in a dense planting situation.They come out of the cooler at 8:00a.m., receive eight hours of light inthe greenhouse, and then at 4:00p.m. they are moved back into thecooler.”

Growers with rolling benchescould potentially move theplants back and forth between acooler and the greenhouses.

“For the short-day varieties we have grown in the green-house, it takes three to four weeks before flower initiation occursusing a short-day treatment,” he said. “Once initiation of flowerbuds is confirmed under a microscope, the short-day treatmentis no longer needed, as by that time natural short days are occurring.”

Mark said the 24-hour average temperature for strawberriesshouldn’t exceed 77F (25C) during short-day treatments, as hightemperatures can override the short-day treatment.

“If growers live in regions where the temperatures are coolenough to stay below the 77F daily average, they could probablypull black cloth to provide the required short-day conditions forflower initiation as an alternative to moving the plants into adark cooler,” he said. “As long as the plants are kept in that tem-perature range of 59 to 77F, pulling black cloth won’t be a prob-lem. Growers need to monitor the temperature under the cloth tobe sure not to exceed the 77F 24-hour average.”

GREENHOUSE-GROWN EVERBEARING VARIETIESMark said one of the issues with everbearing strawberry vari-eties is the terminology used to describe them.

“Everbearing varieties are often referred to as being day-neu-tral, but we don’t know of many actual day-neutral everbearingstrawberry plants,” he said. “Everbearing varieties tend to be fac-ultative long-day plants. They flower all the time, but if they’reprovided with a longer photoperiod, they produce more flowers.”

Mark said one of the ways to keep everbearing varieties flow-ering during the short days of winter is to provide them withphotoperiodic lighting.

“During the short days of winter, the everbearing varietiesbenefit from an extended photoperiod,” he said. “The plants onlyneed two to three micromoles, which is about 20 footcandles.We provide the plants with 12 to 14 hours of light using fluores-cent or incandescent lights.”

If short-day varieties are in the same growing space, caremust be taken not to provide a photoperiod long enough to stoptheir flower initiation. A 12-hour photoperiod is usually safe formost short-day varieties and will help the short-day types stayactive, as well as promote flowering in everbearing types.

TIMING STRAWBERRY PRODUCTIONFor growers using dormant runners or propagating their own tiprunners of everbearing varieties, flowers must be removed inorder to allow the plants to become established before producingfruit.

19


“These varieties naturally produce flowers as soon as theycan,” Mark said.

For a period of four to six weeks after planting into the pro-duction system, the flowers should be removed to allow the run-ners to develop roots and leaves, he explained. The plants needto have a good initial vegetative establishment period so theyhave well-established roots and leaves in order to support thefruit. By removing these flowers, some of the fruit is lost, but thisestablishment period is necessary.

Strawberry plants produce their first flush of fruit about onemonth after the flowers appear (short-day varieties) or the flow-ers are left on the plants (everbearing varieties).

“At some point after the first flush, the everbearing varietyplants tend to temporarily stop producing flowers,” Mark said.“There will be anywhere from a six-week to a two-month periodwhen no fruit is produced. That is a real issue with producingeverbearing varieties. Then there is a massive second flush offlowers and fruit.”

Mark said this cyclical production of flowers and fruit can beaccommodated by staggering planting dates and using differentvarieties that have varying production schedules.

“Really high-yielding everbearing varieties have less cyclicalproduction because they produce more crowns more often,” hesaid. “Unfortunately, we haven’t found a really high-yieldingeverbearing variety yet with really good flavor. The June-

bearing or short-day varieties have a more linear productioncycle and provide fruit during an everbearing low cycle.”

Mark said that he recommends that growers producinggreenhouse strawberries plant both June-bearing and everbear-ing varieties.

“With the short-day varieties, they begin flowering at somepoint either naturally or by being induced,” he said. “Theirweekly yields are fairly consistent and their cumulative yieldsare linear. The flower and fruit production of everbearing vari-eties tend to be cyclical over the season.

“But growers need to know how to manage both types. Beingable to produce fruit during November, December and January iscritical. This is the period when premium pricing occurs.”

For more: Mark Kroggel, Ohio State University, Department of Horticultureand Crop Science, Columbus, Ohio; (614) 292-3767; [email protected] used in this article first appeared in Urban Ag News Issue 10(http://urbanagnews.com/magazine/issue-10). For more information ongreenhouse strawberry production, check out: Hydroponic Strawberry Information Website, http://cals.arizona.edu/strawberry; Sustainable Hydroponic and Soilless Strawberry Production Systems,www.youtube.com/user/sustainablehydro.

DAVID KUACK is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas. He can be reached [email protected].

20

Growing Media

Peatlands around the world—from the Indonesian archipelago toremote reaches of the boreal north and the far southern hemi-sphere—have long been recognized as the source of valuable re-sources supporting commercial needs ranging from energygeneration to agricultural applications.

Simultaneously, peatlands perform vital eco-services, sup-porting a wide range of biodiversity, sequestering a large per-centage of the Earth’s terrestrial carbon, and serving as a naturalsource of fresh drinking water. And culturally, peatlands haveserved as invaluable repositories of archeological information,helping us piece together the mysteries of the past.

In pursuit of a sustainable development path, it’s not surpris-ing, therefore, that the use of peatland resources has come underscrutiny. In response to increasing degradation of peatlands, in-ternational agreements—starting with the Ramsar Conventionon Wetlands in 1971—have helped build consensus around theneed for peatland restoration and responsible management.Even so, to some, the idea of sustainability and the extraction ofpeat for commercial purposes may seem like a paradox.

Having worked with both the energy sectors and the peatmoss industry as a third-party certifier, our certification teamsat SCS Global Services recognize that not all peatland manage-ment systems have been created equal. As manager of SCS’s Re-sponsibly Managed Peatlands certification program forhorticultural peat moss, I’ve taken a deep dive to understandwhat it means to manage these types of peatlands in a responsi-ble manner. I wanted to take a moment here to share what I’velearned and discuss the importance of undertaking best man-agement practices.

Peatland uses and abuses Peat is a thick, muddy surface layer of organic matter consistingof decomposing vegetation such as mosses, shrubs and trees. Insome areas, peat deposits have been accumulating for thou-sands of years.

Peatlands can vary greatly in character and composition. Innorthern latitudes, Sphagnum mosses are one of the primarycomponents of peat, giving it unique properties for the horticul-tural sector. In total, peatlands occur on every continent andcover an estimated 3% of the Earth’s surface.

Peat has been used as a cooking and heating fuel for thou-sands of years. Beyond energy, people have found many otheruses for peat over the centuries, ranging from non-refrigeratedfood storage to tanning hides, mud baths and agricultural mois-ture retention.

In Europe, the population explosion of the 20th century, com-bined with the growing demand for electric power, led to large-scale peat extraction to fuel power plants. Peatlands were alsodrained to make room for agriculture, forestry and urban devel-opment. For example, Finland, home to nearly one-third of Eu-rope’s peatlands, carried out the world’s most extensive program

of drainage for forestry—approximately 300,000 hectares annu-ally during its peak in the 1970s.

Extraction of peat at rates far faster than it can accumulatehas led to significant damage and controversy. Today, peat isconsidered neither a renewable fuel source nor a fossil fuel, butsomething in between. In 2006, the International Panel on Cli-mate Change (IPCC) reclassified peat as a “slowly renewablefuel” in order to highlight its differences. While the use of peatfor power generation has declined significantly in Europe, somecountries still rely on peat as a relatively inexpensive heatingsource.

Peatlands in Southeast Asia have also been in the interna-tional spotlight due to a complex set of issues involving privateindustry, governments, smallholders and environmental groups.In Indonesia, for example, vast peatlands have been deforestedand drained for palm oil plantations. These drier conditionshave led to fires that destroy ecosystems and smolder formonths. Peat fires have contributed to Indonesia’s status as oneof the world’s top polluters. In 2016, Indonesia’s president set upthe Peatland Restoration Agency in an effort to restore and re-wet degraded areas.

In addition to these challenges, there’s growing recognitionthat peatland degradation is contributing measurably to climatechange. Peatland use typically involves lowering the water tablethrough drainage. The resulting decomposition of stored organicmatter has resulted in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Appro-priate water management is imperative for reducing GHG impacts.

On the other hand, one of the most cost-effective means ofcarbon sequestration is investment in peatland restoration. Ac-cording to the International Peatland Society, “In terms of GHGmanagement, the maintenance of large stores of carbon inundisturbed peatlands should be a priority.” As a result, peat ex-traction is strictly controlled today and an international consen-sus has emerged in support of the protection, restoration andresponsible management of peatlands.

The development of responsible management standardsIn North America, peat wasn’t a competitive fuel source as it wasin Europe, given the availability of oil, coal, natural gas and hy-droelectricity. However, the Sphagnum peat mosses that buildup and become compacted in peatlands are prized for horticul-tural applications. Horticultural peat moss is attractive to homegardeners and the commercial horticulture industry alike due toits function as a soil conditioner. Among its many benefits, peatmoss helps retain soil moisture, reduces compaction, functionsas a sterile planting medium and an effective seed starter, sup-ports soil aeration, adds substance to sandy soils, helps soilshold nutrients more effectively and increases absorbency.

For Peat’s Sake The case for Responsibly Managed Peatlands certification.

by LESLEY SYKES

21

The Canadian Sphagnum peat moss industry was specifi-cally created to supply peat moss for horticultural uses. Canadahas tremendous peat moss resources, estimated at over 113 mil-lion hectares. According to the Canadian Sphagnum Peat MossAssociation (CSPMA), of this area, just 0.03% of this land areahave been or is used for peat production—a tiny fraction of thequantity that’s naturally generated in undisturbed bogs. TheCanadian industry, along with universities and national andprovincial governments, has been proactive in research relatedto science-based restoration techniques and responsible man-agement practices.

In 2012, two of the leading industry groups, the CSPMA andthe Québec Peat Moss Producers Association (APTHQ), part-nered with SCS to develop the Responsibly Managed Peatlandcertification program. The voluntary program provides astreamlined set of management practices for operations inCanada and around the world. Through an annual third-partyassessment, participating companies can demonstrate theircommitment to responsibly managing peat resources and con-forming to relevant national and international laws.

As with any certification program that works from a holisticassessment framework, environmental, social and economic as-pects of peatland management are all considered. The programreinforces the eco-services provided by peatlands, includingthose related to biodiversity, hydrology and carbon sequestra-tion. It includes specific criteria for the restoration and rehabili-tation of peat bogs based on scientific research and site-specificcharacteristics.

The program also ensures socialbenefits to workers and local communi-ties, and brings economic benefits bycreating competitive advantages in themarketplace. Since its inception, theprogram has gained market share andhas earned a reputation as the leadingcertification system to ensure bestpractice management standards forpeatlands.

Earlier this year, SCS launched apublic consultation process to collectinput from stakeholders and update thestandard. SCS collected, analyzed andincorporated feedback from a numberof diverse parties, including academia,NGOs and private industry players. Thenew standard, scheduled for full imple-mentation in 2018, can be found on SCS’Responsibly Managed Peatlands web-page: www.scsglobalservices.com. In-terested parties can submit commentsto SCS on an ongoing basis by complet-ing the Stakeholder Review Form.

LESLEY SYKES is Manager of Sustainable Agriculturefor SCS Global Services. To find out more about theResponsibly Managed Peatlands certification program,contact her at [email protected] or call(510) 452-6823.

Top to bottom n Sphagnumsp., also known as “peatmoss.” Decayed Sphagnummoss is one of the maincomponents of peat. n Decayed peat moss. Thisform of peat is called “blondpeat moss” and is generallyyounger and more fibrousthan darker peat. n Boardwalk on a peatland. n Harvested peatland.

22

Growers’ Choice Which system is the right one for your lettuce production?

by ANNE BENNETT-CIAGLIA

Automation

u

The implementation of a growing sys-tem for production of year-round andpesticide-free fresh lettuce has clearlybeen driven by increased populationand consumer demand. The type ofsystem an operator and/or investor willultimately choose to meet this demand,however, depends on several factors,i.e., business objectives, available capi-tal, operating costs and yields that will provide sustainability as well asprofitability.

Prior to start-up of a greenhouse op-eration, or when expanding an alreadyestablished one, is the time to decidewhat type of growing system to installand if an automated system is the bestchoice to enable you to reach overallobjectives of your business plan.

Your optionsThere are three main hydroponic grow-ing systems available today:lNon-automatic hydroponic/Stationary NFT—Gutters arestationary and set to a certain distance from each other.

Manual steps: Substrate filling, seeding, transplanting, ad-justing of gutter distance, movement of gutters throughgreenhouse, harvesting and cleaning of gutters Growing area: Walkways are required to give access to theplants during the growing process. If using different guttertypes for each phase in the growing cycle, the growing areacan be utilized efficiently, but several rounds of transplantingwill be needed. Crops: Lettuce, herbs

l Fully automated hydroponic NFT—Fully automated system.No transplanting required, as seeded directly into narrowgutters. No manual labor needed in the greenhouse.

Manual steps: Every phase in the growing process is auto-mated—substrate filling, seeding, movement through thegreenhouse, transportation by conveyor belt to harvestingarea, harvesting and cleaning of gutters. Growing area: No walkways needed. Gutters are moved auto-matically through the greenhouse. The distance between thegutters is adjusted automatically, giving the plant just asmuch space as it needs in each phase. Crops: Baby leaf lettuce

l Floating rafts/Deep water culture—Plants are placed infloating cassettes in a pool of nutrient solution. The roots are inconstant contact with water.

Manual steps: Substrate filling, seeding,transplanting harvesting and cleaningof trays is done manually. Growing area: Access points needed fortransplanting, as plants are repeatedlytransplanted into a different raft to ad-just for the needed spacing. The plantsare typically moved/pushed automati-cally from germination area in green-house to the harvesting area during thegrowing process, minimizing need forwalkways. Crops: Lettuce, herbs or baby leaf lettuce

For your consideration The answer to the question of whichsystem to install depends on one keyfactor: efficiency. And the most impor-tant components to determining if effi-ciency can be achieved are yield andlabor. Each of the three methods for let-tuce production feature different yieldsper square foot, as well as the amount of

labor that will be necessary to operate the greenhouse. Yield (pounds of lettuce per square foot) in a greenhouse is

expensive when compared to the growing area in an open fieldand, therefore, must yield more to make it profitable. In addition,the more advanced and costly the system, the higher yield isneeded to achieve profitability. And the more expensive to buildand operate a greenhouse (i.e., heating and cooling, dependingon location), the more efficient the growing system needs to be.

If you’re in a perfect environment for lettuce production (landis inexpensive, no heating needed and labor is readily available),an investor doesn’t necessarily have to opt for the most ad-vanced growing system. However, if the location is such thatland is expensive and the climate requires significant energy forheating due to snow loads in winter and/or cooling in warmermonths, as well as the possible need for hurricane-proof struc-tures, the level of capital expenditure would require a morehighly advanced, efficient growing system.

One good metric to consider when choosing a growing a sys-tem for your greenhouse is the percentage of actual growingarea compared to the total greenhouse area (net grow area). Au-tomated and floating raft systems typically require little or nospace for walkways to access the plants during the growingcycle, which increases the net grow area. It’s not only importanthow large the net grow area, but also how efficiently it’s utilized,i.e., the spacing between the plants.

Most growing systems space the plant distance efficiently to-ward the end of the growing cycle. The space efficiency in the

Non-automatic hydroponic/Stationary NFT system.


24

Automation


early stages varies dramatically. Even after asmall plant has been transplanted from a seedlingtray to a growing gutter, it requires very littlespace compared to a mature plant, but the dis-tance between plants is often set and based on thespace needed for a fully-grown plant—leaving a lotof space unused during the initial growing phase.

To optimize the growing area, the principlemust always be to give the plant as little space aspossible, but as much as it needs for healthy grow-ing. Subsequently, to achieve this, the space be-tween the plants must be adjusted during thegrowing process. A fully automated growing sys-tem places the seedlings directly adjacent, and asthe plants grow, the distance between the plants isautomatically adjusted.

The second key component in the growing sys-tem decision-making process is labor. Labor, asmentioned above, has become a prohibitive factorfor many growers. The required labor to operate ahydroponic system varies significantly. Whilesome simple systems are operated completelymanually, the most advanced systems don’t re-quire any interaction with the plants.

Yield potential and labor are connected insome systems. For example, in a non-automaticgutter system, the space efficiency (thus yield)

could be increased significantly if workers could permanently adjust the gut-ter distances according to the constant growth in plant size. Yield per netgrowing area could come close to the yield of an automated system, but wouldrequire considerably more labor and a significant loss of space to enable man-ual access to the plants.

Additionally, transplanting is labor intense. Assume a non-automated sys-tem would have one transplanting stage from tray to channel and one addi-

A fully automated hydroponic NFT system.

25


tional transplanting stage to a larger channel as the plantsize increases. When analyzing the total labor cost for anysystem, we propose to look at three types of labor:l Direct growing system—The labor needed to operatethe actual growing system. This typically takes place inthe greenhouse (activities: transplanting, gutter/traymovement within the greenhouse, as well as to and fromthe greenhouse). l Plant processing and system processing labor—Harvesting, cutting, cleaning of growing equipment (traysand gutters), medium filling and seeding.l Supervision and maintenance—All activities notdirectly related to the growing operation system, such asmaintenance, repairs, system management andsupervision.

The labor needed for each category differs significantly,depending on the growing system used. Non-automatedwill require minimal maintenance of the growing system,but may need up to 10 workers per acre for medium filling,seeding, transplanting, cleaning and movement of guttersand trays.

The most advanced automated gutter system has auto-mated all steps and requires no workers in the direct grow-ing system and plant processing and system processing.The only labor needed is in supervision and grower expert-ise and maintenance.

If you’re considering switching systems or are just jumping intohydroponic growing, hopefully these guidelines will assist you inchoosing the right growing system for your crops and operation.

ANNE BENNETT-CIAGLIA is a freelance writer for Green Automation Americas LLC, which islocated in Wellington, Florida.

Floating rafts/deep water culture system.

26

Pest Management

Using BCAs Right Five common CEA pests and how to prevent them.

by TAMI VAN GAAL

Most growers producing edible and medicinalcrops utilize biological control agents (BCAs) aspart of their integrated pest management plans fora number of reasons. Top concerns include a desireto reduce chemical pesticide use, a lack of effectiveand allowed products for a specific crop, and a needto slow the development of resistance within a pestpopulation. The BCA species used will depend onthe target pests and the crop production methods.

Think of BCAs as a protective shield over thecrop. This shield is most effective if it’s in place be-fore the pests are present. Therefore, the best planswill call for a focus on prevention over curativecontrol, achieved by releasing BCAs at sowing,sticking or transplant, and continuing at regular in-tervals until the crop is harvested. Early preventionis especially important when there’s no effectivechemical control option available for a crop.

One of the biggest mistakes growers can makewhen utilizing BCAs is to delay the first releaseuntil the pest is present in the production space.Waiting becomes problematic for two reasons:First, delayed release risks establishment of thepest within the crop. Second, delivery of BCAs re-quires a little planning. With the exception of bene-ficial nematodes, BCAs can't be stored in advanceof use and most BCAs need to be ordered by mid-week for delivery the following week. The risk isthat if one waits until the pest is seen to orderBCAs, it’s possible that more than a week will passbefore the BCAs are delivered. It’s far better to orderin advance for known crop cycles. Some growersplace routine orders weeks or months in advance.Talk with your supplier to implement this practicefor your operation.

Now that we understand the need to focus onprevention when using BCAs, we can discuss thebest options for preventative use. BCAs generallyaren’t crop specific.

With a few exceptions, what works great inlettuce will also work great in tomatoes andcannabis crops. Remember that BCAs target insectand mite pests; these tiny warriors don’t sting orbite the people working in the crop.

Sachets provide great protection in medicinal marijuana.

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BCA Product How to Check Viability How to Store How to Release

Aphidius colemaniBlister packs

Select aphid mummies without exit holesfrom the blister pack. Place in aventilated, clear container at 70F (21C)away from direct light. Assess emergenceafter seven days by observing mummiesfor exit holes or counting adults.

Store unopened blisters out of directlight at 43 to 46F (6 to 8C) and releasewithin 18 hours of receipt.

Place opened blister packs in the cropcanopy (shaded from the light source) andallow the adults to emerge naturally.

Aphidius ervi Bulk mummies

See viability notes for A. colemani.Store unopened bottles out of directlight at 43 to 46F (6 to 8C) and releasewithin 18 hours of receipt.

Open the bottle in the production space toallow emerged adults to move into thecrop. Release late in the day or underreduced light levels in a shaded area.Replace the vented cap on the containerand store the bottle at room temperatureout direct light. Repeat the releases onceper day until all adults have emerged.

Dalotia coriariaaka Atheta coriaria Bulk larvae and adults

Scatter a small sample from the containeron white paper. Observe active movementin adults and larvae.

Store unopened containers in a darklocation at 50 to 60F (10 to 15.5C).Release within 48 hours of receipt.

Release late in the day or under reducedlight. Place small piles of 25 to 50 Dalotiawith the carrier on the surface of thepotting media, at various locations in thecrop to achieve the desired release rate.Alternatively, make piles directly on thegreenhouse floor or in pots of mediaunder benches. For breeder boxes,request the GGSPro bulletin.

Hypoaspis miles Bulk mites

Scatter a small sample on white paperand observe mite movement undermagnification.

Store at 50 to 60F (10 to 15.5C).Release within 24 hours of receipt.

Apply to growing media at end of day orunder low light conditions.

Amblyseius andersoni, A. cucumeris, A. swirskii and Neoseiulus californicusSachets

Option 1: Clip a sachet to a binder clip, setthe flat side of the clip on a sticky cardand watch for the mites to spread out onthe sticky card.

Option 2: Cut open the sachet, sprinklecontents on white paper and observeactivity under a microscope.

Crack open the box of sachets toprevent buildup of CO2 and heat. Storethe opened box out of direct lightunder moderate humidity attemperatures of 50 to 60F (10 to15.5C). for several days. Best if placedin crop within 18 hours of receipt.

For hook sachets, hang sachet in the cropcanopy, out of direct light. For sticksachets, simply insert the stick into themedia so the bottom of the sachet justbarely touches the media.

Neoseiulus fallacis Bulk mites

See H. miles. See H. miles.Rotate container to mix carrier and mitesuniformly, then sprinkle over crop foliage.

BCAs are living, breathing organisms,so it’s important to care for themproperly prior to and during release.

The table below details information regarding storage and release of somepopular BCAs that will help to maintain health and viability. Always unpackyour BCAs immediately upon arrival, verify viability and report concerns back toyour supplier as soon as possible.

AphidsParasitoid wasps are the primary preventative tool for aphidcontrol. A blend of two species of wasps, Aphidius colemani andA. ervi, is a perfect choice for prevention, providing protectionagainst a wide variety of small and large aphid species.

Aphidius ships as parasitized aphids, called aphid mummies.The adults will emerge after shipping and are simply releasedinto the crop. Release is particularly easy with A. colemaniblister packs.

Aphidius are effective in both greenhouse and warehousesituations, and are most commonly used with lettuce, leafygreens, herbs, peppers, medicinal marijuana and pharmaceuticaltobacco. Release rates start at five to 10 per 100 sq. ft.

Fungus gnatsFungus gnats are problematic in both greenhouses and ware-houses, impacting all crops. Prevention depends on the mediaused in production.

For universal prevention regardless of media used, turn to thepredatory beetle Dalotia coriaria (formerly known as Atheta cori-aria) and the predatory mite Hypoaspis miles. Both are releasedonce, early in the crop, and will establish in the productionspace. Dalotia can be also be sustained in breeding boxes, long-lasting colonies that are easily supported. Release Dalotia at arate of 25 to 50 per 100 sq. ft. and Hypoaspis at a rate of 1,000 to3,000 per 100 sq. ft. u

28

Pest Management

Spider mitesSpider mites are the scourge of anumber of CEA crops, includingstrawberries, cannabis, cucumbers,peppers and tomatoes. Prevention isworth its weight in gold and can beachieved with several species ofpredatory mites, including Amblyseiusandersoni, Neoseiulus californicus(formerly A. californicus) and N.fallacis. Choose andersoni or fallacisfor cooler conditions and californicusfor warmer conditions. For tomato andcannabis, the best choice is andersoni,as it also provides protection againstrusset mites, which are extremelydifficult to control once established in acrop.

The most efficient means ofproviding preventative control is to usecontrolled-release sachets, which arehung in the crop and replaced everyfour to six weeks (every four weeks inwarehouse applications or oncannabis). A. andersoni andcalifornicus are available in sachetform. Place sachets at 10 per 100 sq. ft.for most crops and a bit more densely(15 per 100 sq. ft.) for strongerprotection in cannabis. N. fallacis isavailable only in bulk form, requiringweekly releases to maintain theprotective shield. Release fallacis at arate of 100 to 150 per 100 sq. ft.

Thrips Thrips can attack all CEA crops, thoughthey’re less common on lettuces andleafy greens. Preventative control isbest achieved with predatory mites,either Amblyseius cucumeris orA. swirskii.

A. swirskii are more aggressivefeeders, but require higher tempera-tures, so their use is generally limited tosummer months in greenhouses.There’s one more limitation to considerfor swirskii: The oils in tomato tissuemake swirskii less effective.

Utilize sachets for efficient releasefor preventative programs. Stick sa-chets are especially nice for use inpropagation and young plant stages.Use mini sachets on hooks or sticks ata rate of 20 per 100 sq. ft.

WhitefliesWhiteflies are most problematic in solanaceous crops, including tomatoes and cucum-bers. Unlike other pests, BCA control of whiteflies generally starts at first sign of the pestinstead of on a preventative basis. Control relies on parasitoid wasps, including Eretmo-cerus eremicus and Encarsia formosa, and requires an active scouting program to assesspest and BCA populations at different leaf clusters on the crop.

Effective, preventative control of insect and mite pests can be achieved with BCAs inall CEA crops. Success simply requires a solid plan and a commitment to early release tobuild the protective shield. Contact your supplier to start a conversation around a person-alized BCA plan for your operation.

TAMI VAN GAAL is CEA Division Leader for Griffin. She can be reached at [email protected].

The tiny parasitoid Aphidius wasps keep aphids at bay.

Dalotia coriaria (formerly known as Atheta coriaria ) are nocturnal, predatory beetles that feed on fungus gnat larvae.


Cannabis Culture

Cannabis Crash Courseby DR. BRIAN CORR

This new article series will be featured in each issue ofInside Grower and will give an overview of cannabisproduction. Upcoming articles will include moreinformation on genetics, environmental control, cropnutrition, pests and other topics.

How difficult can it be to grow a weed? Well, actually it can bepretty difficult when you must grow it under stringent regula-tions, monitor growth at all times with security cameras, have aplant-by-plant inventory system, grow a product safe for humanconsumption, have a predictable harvest, sell into a regulatedmarket, maximize yield and make a profit. When you add to allthis a very limited selection of plant protection products andlimitations on access to banking and insurance, it’s clearcannabis production isn’t as easy as growing weeds.

CANNABIS, THE PLANTCannabis has been used by humans for about 10,000 years forfiber, food, oil, medicine and as a psychoactive drug. The plant isnative to Asia and India, but was carried throughout the world ashumans migrated from one place to another. Cannabis wasgrown for fiber in the earliest days of the United States byGeorge Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Cannabis grown for fiber, seed or oil is typically called hemp.Cannabis grown for medical or psychoactive purposes is usuallycalled marijuana, although there’s some blurring of these defini-tions. Both hemp and marijuana contain compounds calledcannabinoids, but cannabis is usually only considered mari-juana if the plant contains significant amounts of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound most associatedwith a cannabis “high.” Hemp, on theother hand, has little or no THC.

The cannabis plant is dioecious,which means male and femaleflowers are typically found onseparate plants. This is of no majorsignificance when grown for fiber,but when grown for medical orpsychoactive uses, female plants aredesired because the concentration ofcannabinoids is much higher infemale plants. Unless specialprocedures are followed, cannabisgrown from seed will produce abouthalf male plants and half femaleplants. The male plants would usuallybe culled out of marijuana production,which is labor intensive and wastesproduction space. This is one reasonmost marijuana is grown fromvegetatively propagated plants, toensure the plants in production areall female.

HOW IS MARIJUANA GROWN?As is fitting for a plant that’s been used by humans for 10,000years, there are many different ways to grow cannabis. Cannabisfor seed, oil and fiber (hemp) is grown in fields like any otherseed, oil or fiber crop, except the U.S. federal government andmany states have stringent restrictions on what can be grown.

Cannabis for medical or psychoactive use (marijuana) canalso be grown in the field, and often is in temperate regions if al-lowed by local regulations (or grown illegally). However, most ofthe marijuana grown in the U.S. and Canada is grown in con-trolled environments.

When marijuana was (and sometimes still is) grown illegally,it must be hidden. This usually resulted in producers growing in-side buildings using only artificial light. This method of produc-tion still is the leading method for state-legal marijuanaproduction in the U.S. However, greenhouse production is rap-idly increasing due to lower energy costs. I forecast greenhouseproduction will very soon exceed warehouse production.

Whether grown in a warehouse or a greenhouse, marijuanaproduction can be separated into three phases: propagation, veg-etative growth and flowering. The propagation and vegetativegrowth phases must be conducted under long days/short nightsto prevent flowering. Flowering occurs under short days/longnights.

Vegetative propagation involves harvesting cuttings (oftencalled clones) from mother stock plants and placing them in ahigh-humidity, long-day environment until roots develop. Oncewell-rooted, the plants are transplanted and grown under longdays until large enough to begin flower initiation. The length oftime under vegetative conditions impacts the final size of

30

Greenhouses used to grow cannabis often have metal sidewalls to block the view of the crop, blackout light for photoperiodcontrol and for security.

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Cannabis Culture

the plants—all things being equal, a long vegetative period re-sults in larger plants at harvest, while a shorter vegetative periodresults in smaller plants.

Initiation and development of flowers only occurs undershort days. The critical photoperiod for cannabis varies by culti-var/strain, but is typically less than a 13-hour day/11-hour night.Most producers use a 12/12 photoperiod to ensure flowering.

Warehouse-grown cannabis doesn’t need any special equip-ment to adjust the photoperiod. Lights are turned on for the ap-propriate length of time and turned off during the desired darkperiod. However, greenhouse-grown cannabis requires blackoutequipment to shorten the day/lengthen the night for floweringduring much of the year. Automated blackout cloth is pulledover the crop. Typically, the sidewalls of the greenhouse areopaque, often metal panels, which serve to block light and areoften required by regulation for security purposes.

CHALLENGES TO GROWING MARIJUANALike any crop, there can be problems during production ofcannabis. (Future articles in this space will address environ-mental requirements, disease and insect control, nutritional re-quirements and other challenges.)

Cannabis grows best and produces the highest yield withhigh light levels (daily light integral). In a warehouse grow, thisrequires large numbers of lights to generate enough light. Evenin a greenhouse, supplemental light is required in most parts ofthe world to have the best yields.

While there are over 100 diseases reported to affect cannabis,the most troublesome diseases of cannabis are powdery mildewand botrytis.

Similarly, there are multitudes of arthropod pests reported toaffect cannabis, but the most troublesome are various mites—both the familiar red spotted spider mites, but also eriophyidmites (e.g., russet mites) and tarsonemid mites (e.g., cyclamenand broad mites).

32


Even in a greenhouse, successful cannabis production requires significant amounts ofsupplemental lighting.

It’s important to recognize some of the most significant chal-lenges to cannabis production are those unique to growing ahighly regulated crop for human consumption.

Since the crop is harvested for human consumption, therecan be no harmful biological or physical contamination of thecrop. Most jurisdictions require testing of harvested marijuanabefore it can be sold. These tests usually include testing formolds and toxic metals. Since cannabis is a moderately activeaccumulator of heavy metals, any contamination of the growing

medium or fertilizer can be amplified in the harvested material. Simply meeting the requirements of the local regulations is

one of the biggest challenges when growing cannabis and thoseregulations vary from one location to another. What’s allowed inOntario may not be allowed in Oregon and what’s allowed inMaryland may not be allowed in Minnesota. In general, there arerequirements to secure the facility, which usually mean fencessurrounding the growing area, security cameras and alarms.There are often restrictions on who can be allowed into thegrowing area and under what circumstances. Bringing in anelectrician to do some new wiring is more difficult than it wouldbe if the facility was used to grow lettuce.

Finally, a significant challenge must be recognized—growing,processing or possessing marijuana is federally illegal in allparts of the United States, despite state laws contradicting fed-eral laws. Besides the legal risk to owners and employees of thebusiness, this means there are no EPA-registered pesticides formarijuana production (the EPA is a federal agency), and bankingand insurance are limited.

Cannabis is a crop, and like any crop, successful producersmust pay attention to cultural requirements, big and small, to besuccessful. Future articles will take one category of require-ments per article and provide critical details for success.

DR. BRIAN CORR is a consultant with over four decades of experience in the greenhouseindustry. He has advised legal cannabis producers for the last three years. You can reachhim at [email protected].

Powdery mildew is one of the most significant diseases of cannabis.

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34

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