Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

[Kiwi Phil]

Turin:
I am a Hydroponic Herb Grower. My operation is nowhere near a large as the one you work for.
Because I only have 8,000m2 of land (2 acres) I have managed to condense my growing area to about 2,500m2. Had I done it the ?normal way? the growing area would cover about 27,000m2. So it is very compact. (actually I am 2 storey/levels high.....don't laugh....it works).

I have a lot of questions to ask of you, so if you don?t mind, here is the 1st one.

You grow in ?substrata?. So is that ?in ground??
Do you grow your crop all year round, and if so how do you grow ?out of natural season?.
I don?t need to know how to increase light levels, as we have plenty of that all the time.

What I am interested in is: to get plants to grow in cold seasons, do you heat your tunnels or do you heat the substrata.

I ask this because my Basil crop slows up in winter due to either the cold or diminishing light levels. (it is covered with cloche frames with 200um clear hort plastic, but open ended.)
I suspect it is the cold because growth does not come away after the shortest day, but it does come away with rising day temperatures with spring.

IF it is temperature then is it in the substrata or around the plant growth itself?
Being hydroponic I wonder if I raise the temperature of the water I circulate to the plants, then will I increase/promote growth.
You see I can raise water temperature very easily and cheaply by installing a simple Solar system, because we have continual sunlight and lowest winter day temperature is 18-20C, to raise say 10,000L of water 3-5 degrees is very easy.

Cheers
Phillip

 

[rwise]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

if you raise the water temp that will affectively raise the temp around the plant/s also and well worth a try, might need to close the ends up though. I do not grow useing Hydroponics, but the old fashond way

Hydroponic Herb Grower that'll get you hard time here, oh wait you said basil

 

[Turin]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

Substraat is an rockwool perlite gravel or something else but not just the soil that would be cold ground as we call it.
Thats the same you do I diddnt know the word.

We grow in a greenhouse we heat it during colder seasons the for heating we use a verry large heater, quete similar to a central heater in youre house.
Who heats water and produses CO2.
The CO2 we use again for frutelising (plants breath in CO2) the hot water go's tru pipes laying on the ground, we use the pipes also as a rail for transport that a 2 in one.
We use liquid frutaliser that we feed the plants tru hoses.
We dont grow year round. becouse of the light and the plants need to be replaced that takes a month or so.
The greenhouse needs to be cleand also every season.


What I am interested in is: to get plants to grow in cold seasons, do you heat your tunnels or do you heat the substrata

you speek about tunnels but we grow in an aluminum and glass greenhouse.
thats a great diffirent.
using tube rail system for example.
So we have no tunnels, just one large space to heat.

you will probebley using air heaters, the ones who look like jet engine's

You see I can raise water temperature very easily and cheaply by installing a simple Solar system, because we have continual sunlight and lowest winter day temperature is 18-20C, to raise say 10,000L of water 3-5 degrees is very easy.


Yu could use it,but not heat the water were youre plants are in (probaly just burn the roots) better heat water and let it circulate tru youre green house like central heating in a house.

temprature conditons are more likely to slow down your growth, than light conditons.
becouse it can be verry light on a winters day but freezing cold.
If you can heat you have a big advantage.

(actually I am 2 storey/levels high.....don't laugh....it works).

By doing this youre ight conditions wont be verry optimal during cold season I think.

But probably there's more light than in the cold Holland.

Hope you got some awnsers feel free to ask many many more.
Put some pictures if you have them on the forum i can see wath you have.
Trie to get hold of an diggi cam my self and put some pictures to.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

This is the operation Turin.
I will post reply to your last letter seperately.

I have 12 of these tables.
Each is 12m long.
Each is double decker.

This is the 2nd part.
These tables are 42m long.
Uncovered as Mint etc gets powdery mildew if covered.

This is some Basil.
Basil makes up 32% od my sales.
It is on the top deck....get leggy if underneath....not enough light.

This is bottom deck....corriander on right.....grows well

This Basil and Mint, in winter, at size I sell it.
Cloche frames are open at ends. For 9 months of the year, if I close it, they get cooked and burn....sun is too feirce.....I have put a second cover of shadecloth over top, but they go leggy...so keep ends open to get air flow and reduce temperatures.
Must be covered though. If they get wet then I get black spot and it passes thru the crop in 2-3 days.


I grow in 50mm grow tubes, using potting mix. Sell them as plants to Supermarket chain for customer to cut and use (as they are living) or plant in garden etc.

I grow 60,000 plants at any time, for a rotation of about 5-6,000 per week.
Cheers
Phillip

 

[Turin]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

The light problem does not have to be solved.
I dont know how you get the plants if you grow them from seed, than you could trie to grow the smalest plants on the bottom layer and when they grow larger move them to the top layer.
Which brings me to my second point.
If you put large tube's under the bottom layer there seams to be enough space under it.
you could circulate hot water under it and so heating your entire "greenhouse''.
If you want to heat the water with sun light as you told me what you could do is buy a large isoated heat buffer tank.
use the solar panels to heat the water pump it to your buffer tank so you can heat your plant at night taking water from the buffer tank.
This has as advantage that the small plants and seedlings (as we call them) get more heat to grow. when they are larger and need to develop more leaves an so need more light you put them on te top layer (selling the ones on top if your climat alowes year round growt.

 

[Turin]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

Phil, my girlfriend uploaded some picutures I took yesterday.

This is the fruitaliser unit with computer.

This is the pathway were you can see the tube railways.

This is the heater.

This is the filter unit. It flters the incoming water from the basin.

This is the greenhouse! You see the basin up front.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

Turin,are you guys using the israeli made Amiad equipment in pumps and filters?
We used their gear in our irrigation of vineyards and cotton.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

%^&*# h-e-l-l Turin, I'm pleased I don't run my operation in your country. That is a big big heater, and I bet it takes some $'s to run.
Your climatic situation is probably the opposite to mine.
Very impressive operation.

Picture #1.
Are those red things your proportional dosing units?
Are they electric?
I use Dosatrons (blue) and they are hydrolic....never had to adjust them in 7yrs.
Are the 200L tanks behind the controller your 2 part concentrated fertilizer?
I have a pressure pump, activated by opening a solanoid, controlled by computer. As pump pulls water thru, the Dosatrons are activated.

Picture #2 & 3
Good looking crop, and nice clean shed too.
I understand now how the rails work.
I am familar with the rockwool blocks. One of my suppliers sells them, so see them in his catologue. A nice effecient way of growing.

Picture #5
I have a lot of questions to ask you of filtration, but will leave that till later.
Please to see you have the motorised back pack sprayer on wheels. Have not used one in yrs....very heavy, and noisy. I am using the standard 15L Solo backpack for the little we do.
I used a electric big zapper for the moths, but kept blocking up with dead ones. Now use the blue-light bug attractor with the fan and dish full of water underneath. Easy to clean, and very effective. Still have caterpillars tho (not so many) so spray with systemic incecticide (Rogor) early, so keeps them down and complys with 'with-holding' periods....stinks a lot though. I should really go back to endosulphen as found that very efficient.

Last Picture:
Now this is something we will HAVE to discuss at a later date. Water/filtration is something I have been struggling with for the past yr or more.
Your operation isn't using slow sand filtration is it??????

Anyway, I enjoyed those photos.
Thank you for taking the time to post them.
I will get back to you when I get some spare time.
Cheers
Phillip

 

[Turin]

Re: Turin: advice on Horticulture. No1.

Hi Phil Nice you noticed the filter it was installed the day i took the picture.
The day before we used 2 sand filters.

The heater Inpressive?
We have 2 of these bastards in every greenhouse.


the motorised back pack sprayer on wheels we only use that thing to spray bacteria to kill the catterpillars.

For the most plaige incekts we use biological solutions.
For spraying liquid insectisides we use a 380V electric pump and an device ill make a picture of.

Its friday now ill awnser the rest of youre questions monday im a bit drunk at the moment:redface::redface: