Hydroponic Conference 2010 Speakers

Dr. Robert Hansen, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Research Scientist of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster, Ohio will be speaking concerning his continuing experiments with Hydroponic Lettuce Production based on an NFT Growing System designed and developed by Cropking.  Dr. Hansen will discuss the impact and resulting possible increase in production by implimenting some of his research findings inthe greenhouse. Learn more here

Aaron Buzza is one of our featured speakers at our fall conference.  Mr. Buzza is a teacher at an educational farm for hi-schoolers grades 9-12.  His specialty is teaching the students to operate and grow hydroponic produce, and  to promote the locally grown produce to the community.  Marketing what they grow, informing the local public and selling to local outlets is what he does on a daily basis, and he will share what he does and how he does it with our conference attendees.  Mr. Buzza will teach you his methods and practices which will enable you to reach your buying public, so you can sell more of what you grow.

Dr. Mohyuddin Mirza has worked with hydroponic and other growers for years in Canada. He will discuss Temperature, Tomatoes and Total Yields and Diagnosing Problems. Optimal temperature control is vital for top production.

Temperature affects all processes of tomato crop from seed germination to fruit ripening. It affects photosynthesis during the day time and assimilate translocation at night time. By understanding the importance of day temperature, night temperature, 24 hours average temperature, differentials temperature, temperature ramping from day to night and night to day, you will be able to improve tomato production. Dr. Mirza will also explain the relationship between temperature and relative humidity and diseases.

With 31 years of experience in diagnosing greenhouse vegetable problems from root zone to top zone, Dr. Mirza believes that it is not his Forte (strong point). Every year the same problems appear with a different dimension and force you to learn. It is not only that you can diagnose problems, but also the problem should be diagnosed early and measures should be taken to solve the problem without sacrificing production. He will review problems with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce.

John Wolf of Koppert Biological will speak on the use of beneficials in the greenhouse crop for the control of insects and mites. He will share some the approaches a grower needs while operating a successful beneficial program within the greenhouse.

Knowing what to expect and how to handle and treat the bumblebees is another topic that John will discuss. Bumblebees are used by many tomato growers as pollinators. Koppert raises bumblebees and ships them almost all over the country to greenhouse and field growers. John will have a few things to say about bringing them into the greenhouse and keeping them happy and productive.

Many hydroponic growers use beneficials because their customers in their local marketing area prefer produce grown without the use of chemical pesticides. The successful long term use of beneficials is a learning experience for the grower. Important techniques for successful beneficial use will be discussed and explained.

J.C. Meneley, Ph.D., AgBio Inc. will speak about how to control or suppression of many root rot and wilt pathogenic fungi with the fungicide Mycostop. Mycostop has been shown to increase plant vigor and yields even in the absence of obvious root pathogen activity. Dr. Meneley will also discuss the effectiveness of insect traps and lures.

Phil Johnson has a BSc Honors Degree in Horticulture from Pershore College in  the UK, in which he specialized in glasshouse crop production. Following his degree, Phil worked as a grower manager for Humber VHB for seven years, responsible for 9ha of hydroponic glasshouse tomatoes. Phil joined Grodan in January 2003 as a Technical Advisor in the UK. He moved to New Zealand in October 2004 to provide Crop Technical Support for Grodan customers growing a wide range of crops in both Australia and New Zealand. In October 2008, Phil took on the responsibility of Canadian Business Manager for Grodan North America. Phil will speak on the features and advantages of rockwool as a growing media for hydroponic growing. Phil will focus on the starting of tomatoe and lettuce seedlings.

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