Dave Bishop has been in the greenhouse industry for 32 years with “no plans of stopping.” As the current regional sales manager at Atlas Greenhouse and board member of the National Greenhouse Manufacturing Association, his years of experience has given him extensive knowledge of the dos and don’ts of greenhouse structures, especially when it’s time to upgrade.

“Like all things, especially with structures, if you don’t maintain something and do upgrades, it’s going to start deteriorating and effect your process,” he says.

One aspect greenhouse deterioration can affect is lighting. According to Bishop, a certain percentage of light is lost each year, which affects the amount of lighting that is going inside the greenhouse. If a greenhouse needs to be updated, the lack of light will “greatly” affect the crops.

The second reason for maintaining a greenhouse, according to Bishop, is for climate control, which produces a better plant.

“Those are the two main things to manage in the greenhouse,” he says. “Beyond that, it’s just simple maintenance and upgrades to keep your greenhouse functioning properly. Just like you would your own house, there are certain things that need to happen on a yearly basis to keep it going correctly.”

Bishop says the first step to upgrading is checking the market to see what new coverings have been developed, whether it is polyfilm or polycarbonate. But coverings should be crop-specific.

The second step, he says, is looking at ways to improve evaporative cooling by creating an experience and better airflow.

“A lot of the times, the customer simply doesn’t know, and they’ve trusted a greenhouse salesperson to tell them what they need,” he says. “But if they’re not getting the adequate air flow, that’s one of the huge keys in a greenhouse, so they should seek more opinions because light and airflow are the most important thing.”

While upgrading is mandatory for all growers, Bishop says structures are not one-size-fits-all. They are tailored for growers based off budget, what is being grown and how often they are being used.

In recent years, Atlas has dedicated its time to research and development. More specifically, it has updated the cannabis and hemp line since that has become more common. This line includes hybrid greenhouses that can either use normal evaporative cooling during certain parts of the year, and chilled water systems or HVAC during summer months.

Atlas has also incorporated “positive pressure,” which means putting air right underneath the plant level. Per Bishop’s insight, this pressure decreases humidity in a house which is important since humidity is the biggest battle, especially with cannabis plants.

While Atlas has a range of structures, Bishop says there is no one common greenhouse.

“Since Atlas has been around since the mid-1980s, we have a very strong following and a very loyal customer base that are still doing a lot of older structures. They’re using the same structures because they’re tried and true and have been so for years. But with our new customers, we are definitely selling the newer structures.”

Even though Bishop says other companies make similar structures, it is his belief that they cannot match Atlas’ experience and customer service. Because of this, he recommends growers interested in a new structure work with the company.

“Atlas has a good reputation at doing business,” Bishop says. “They do business the right way. They stand behind their products and take care of their customers. Anyone can give you a structure, but it really boils down to who you’re working with, and the company that’s standing behind it. Atlas is a good choice.”

“Our customers purchase from Quick Plug because of our reputation, the range in products we produce, the breadth of our technology, and our customer service,” says Eric Waterman, national sales manager for Quick Plug.

Quick Plug produces both ready-to-use trays and loose plugs that can be used in a variety of deep-water culture (DWC) and nutrient film technique (NFT) applications. The plugs are produced from the highest quality peat and coir sources combined with a foaming binder that creates pore space and holds the growing media intact throughout the crop cycle.

“The use of a binder is very important to hydroponic growers,” according to Waterman, “as loss of substrate particles in the channels, trays and ponds can clog screens increasing maintenance and system cleaning requirements that directly impact the bottom line.”

In addition, unlike other substrates that are more chemically inert, peat and coir retain their pH balance and require less monitoring.

Photo courtesy of  Quick Plug

Customers report improved rooting times and crop yields with Quick Plugs as their media substrate. Zachary Unruh of Stonecreek Hydroponics states, “For the last five years we have produced approximately 20,000 heads of lettuce a week, year-round, using both thin-film and deep-water culture methods. We trialed a number of products. Quick Plug gave us the best results overall. I believe Quick Plug has sped our process up by at least a week, increasing our profitability.”

For most hydroponic applications, ready-to-use trays are the most used format which integrate well with automated seeders and plug dislodging equipment. However, there are also loose plug products for those commercial growers that re-use their own trays. Quick Plug works with growers to source the trays and plugs that fit their system’s needs.

Waterman strongly believes that that the world of hydroponics is rapidly evolving. ”There is increasing needs for food safety compliance and certifications beyond just composability and organic certifications,” he says. In this regard, Quick Plug has been at the forefront of supporting growers with third party audits for food safety. Quick Plug places a priority at anticipating hydroponic grower’s evolving needs for product certification and testing.

Learn more at quickplug.global or contact E.Waterman@quickplug.global.

Bonnie Plants in Union Springs, Alabama, is a massive, modern farming operation, growing over 300 varieties of vegetables, flowers, and herbs across 70 sites throughout the country. Its plants, all grown in greenhouses, are ubiquitous in the gardening sections at Home Depot, Walmart, Lowe’s, and nearly 5,000 independent garden centers nationwide, according to the company.

Two years ago, according to VP of Operations Ken Andrews, the giant producer was looking at streamlining some SOPs in its production processes. After a quick glance around at the various sticking and transplanting robot options on the market, they linked up with hort tech outfit TTA USA (McMinnville, TN) to explore automating Bonnies’ transplanting lines.

“We installed our first TTA transplanter back in Fall of 2019, and we have since expanded on that initial investment to include installing 8 additional transplanters throughout our operations,” he says.

Specifically, Bonnie leverages TTA’s Pack Planter 1450 S and the Pack Planter 2230 S, along with the wireless connectivity capability offered by TTA, to more efficiently deploy labor throughout its growing operations.

So far, so good, according to the VP.

“We’re reducing our reliance on transplanting labor, and we are also seeing an improvement in survivability, as well as shorter grow times, which we believe is likely due to the technology helping us reduce the level of plant stress at transplant,” Andrews says.

Prior to signing on with TTA, Bonnie, like most, relied solely on human transplanters to get its plants out of plugs, into disposable pots and ready for retail. That labor pool is rapidly shrinking, according to Andrews, as well as becoming exponentially more expensive as many states have adopted $15 farm worker minimum wage legislation (New York, California, etc.) in recent years.

Going forward, the plant giant will continue working with TTA to streamline its production processes where it makes sense, so it can keep delivering the inexpensive-yet-quality plants consumers have come to expect when they see that familiar green and yellow branding.

“As we move into 2021, we are focusing on becoming more efficient and consistent in our overall operations throughout our production facilities,” Andrews says. “By partnering with TTA, we are able to streamline our production process and improve our overall efficiency - while at the same time increasing production.”

Across half a million acres of production space, Emerald Coast Growers (ECG) owner Paul Babikow estimates that 60 to 70% of its greenhouses were developed and built by Atlas Greenhouse.

“We’ve been gradually shifting from hoop houses to more efficient gutter-connected, high-wall houses,” he says. “This provides more cost-effective heating during the winter months, and better control of air movement during the hot, humid months.”

ECG propagates ornamental grass and perennial liners, as well as various native plants, across two sites in the Florida panhandle and another up in the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country outside Lancaster.

Obviously, those are two very different growing climates. The certainty in producing a consistent, well-performing crop that Atlas Greenhouse provides makes working with the builder an easy choice for Babikow and Emerald Coast Growers. In fact, the grower just recently opened the doors on a new 2-acre perennial facility, designed and built by Atlas.

“The structure includes a gathering/loading headhouse on the west end and perennial production houses on the east end with two 1-acre gutter blocks in between,” Babikow says. “This new setup provides us with an efficient flow of product from sticking to shipping and the high walls allow for improved air flow and ultimately a better environment for perennial growing.”

And a better growing environment means a better season financially for ECG, as well as happier customers who are more likely to buy again.

Yet, there is a multitude of active greenhouse structures companies in the industry today. So how did ECG come to choose Atlas as its main commercial partner on so many of these projects?

“Convenient southeast location, service and the quality of structure made Atlas an easy choice for our greenhouse needs,” Babikow says.

That easy choice came into play again recently when ECG got started on a new project for an extended headhouse to connect their new perennial facility with four older gutter-connected blocks to improve their material handling.

Babikow says that this latest ongoing project requires a bit of ingenuity from the Atlas team, who have been very hands-on through the entire process, including multiple in-person site visits.

“This install requires connectivity to some non-Atlas structures, as well as Atlas houses,” he says. “After 30 years in business, we have a bit of a mix of old and new structures, with a need to make everything work together the best that we can. Atlas, for its part, has been an essential part of that effort.”