News and Updates

The slower greenhouse season has given me a chance to plan for the next few months. With my extra time on hand, I have been able to put together some new and exciting things to grow in the greenhouse! We also have some new projects happening around here that will be fun for us in 2019, so without any more time being wasted let’s get into it:

New Leafy Greens

One aspect of farming that is often overlooked is the quality of source water being used for crop production. For many greenhouse growers, winter provides a break to clean up and analyze data after a long growing season. Having a sample of your source water analyzed from time to time provides important information for realizing patterns and planning for the next growing season.

Results from a water analysis provide the following information:

When the hail started falling in Grinnell, Kansas, there were plenty of disappointed people looking toward Dan and Carol Buck’s 4B Farms. That’s because their CropKing greenhouse wasn’t just standing — it was unpierced, none of the ice shards came close to cutting into his facility.

“I had a lot of big farmers watching me, thinking that first hail storm would be the end of my greenhouse,” Dan said.

Back to school means that the changing of the seasons is coming near. For greenhouse growers, maintenance is a key component to success, helping you get the last push of the cool season crops or if you will be growing through the winter. This is the perfect time to make a checklist of things that should be checked before the snow files (at least for us in Northeast Ohio!). I put four items on the top of my list that should never be taken for granted no matter where you are located.

CropKing Inc. hosts its two-day Introductory Grower Workshop for current and future greenhouse produce growers in Lodi, Ohio. The workshop features classroom lectures, as well as some hands-on work in the greenhouse.

Here are some takeaways Produce Grower gathered from a visit to a recent Grower Workshop.

CropKing Inc., based out of Lodi, OH is pleased to announce that Jake Emling has joined the team in the role of Horticulturist.

Jake grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where his love of the outdoors and nature started. To pursue this passion, he attended Michigan State University and received both a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Horticulture. While at MSU, Jake conducted research on various fruit crops in intensive growing systems. Additionally, he has experience working in the fertilizer industry, and with grower education, entomology and greenhouses.

CropKing Inc., based out of Lodi, OH is pleased to announce the addition of Nick Greens to the CropKing team, in the role of horticulturist/consultant.

Nick Greens started his growing career in 2002 as an apprentice grower for a hydroponics shop. Nick worked through several cycles/harvests in San Diego before venturing out on his own. In 2007, Nick moved to Humboldt County, California to work as an assistant grower for a collective of green houses, where he began experimenting with a vortex brewer to develop several recipes for compost teas. 

In an extremely close vote Nov. 1, the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board made a decision on a controversial issue: can hydroponically grown crops be certified organic? The answer, by an 8-7 margin, was yes. With the vote out of the way, the NOSB will now have to make recommendations on how the hydroponic industry can be governed under the organic label. However, as both organic and hydroponic agriculture adjust to the board’s decision, a simple question looms in the air, “Is organic the best path forward for hydroponically grown crops?”

Many produce growers view greenhouse structures and hydroponic growing methods as improvements upon the volatile elements of working outdoors in soil. These structures and systems provide growers with the ability to control environmental factors and produce consistent yields year-round.

CropKing is offering a 100 percent biodegradable organic media option — 60 percent peat, 30 percent coco and 10 percent perlite — wrapped in Ellepot membrane, says Dante D’Avello, a CropKing tech who comes from an aquatic biology background.

Many customers in the market desire organic media options, D’Avello says. CropKing has seen a continued demand from producers who want to be certified organic, for an organic option that works well in NFT and other hydroponic production systems.