Plant handling is a major user of labor in the greenhouse and nursery industry. One to two cents is added anytime you handle a plant. For moving plants from a greenhouse to an outdoor growing area, wagons and trailers can be of considerable help. The following tips should help in making a selection:

Wagons

A wagon is generally considered a four-wheel drawn vehicle for carrying materials. There are many sizes from the small wagon that fits in the aisle between the benches to the tractor pulled farm wagon that is used for order picking in the nursery.

Select a size based on the materials to be carried and the restraints of the aisles or roadways. For retail sales, a small wagon that is easy to maneuver through the aisles of plants is desirable. Larger wagons that hold 10 to 15 flats or 80 to 120 1-gallon containers are convenient for picking plants from closely spaced growing beds.

The farm wagon running gear is standard for many nurseries throughout the U.S. The bed should be sized to fit the roadways and the tractors available. A common size is 8 feet wide by 16 feet long. It will carry about 500 1-gallon containers.

Pneumatic tires are better than solid or semi-pneumatic rubber as they cushion the load. The larger the diameter, the easier it is to move. Flotation tires should be used where the ground is soft.

The tongue can be fitted with either a handle or hitch. A clevis hitch is desirable for positive connection to the drawbar on the tractor. Multiple wagons can be pulled by connecting the tongue of one wagon to a hitch on the rear of the adjacent wagon.

A smooth deck surface such as sheet metal, diamond plate or plywood is best for loading and unloading containers. Be sure to protect any sharp edges.

To be able to carry more plants, especially flats and one-gallon containers, a wagon may be fitted with racks. Keep the height to within easy reach. Removable shelves allow for different size plants.

To eliminate one or more handlings, a wagon works well for transporting large movable production trays from the headhouse or greenhouse to an outdoor growing area (Fig. 1). Trays are rolled on rails onto the trailer and locked in place.

Where wagons will be used in tandem in narrow aisles, tracking wagons should be purchased. Both axles pivot and opposite ends of each axle are connected with a rod so that the trailer will follow the exact track of the towing vehicle. The turning radius is usually specified by the manufacturer.

Trailers

Trailers are usually considered to be a vehicle supported on one end by a towing vehicle, tractor or truck. Trailers are available in load-carrying capacities of 500 pounds to 20 tons or more. They can be designed for handling shipping carts that are loaded in the field and moved to the shipping area for loading onto the truck (Fig. 2). This can eliminate one or more handlings.

The bed should be sized for the equipment or material to be carried. Deck widths from 4 to 8 feet are available. Most manufacturers use steel decking. Diamond plate is good as it gives a rough surface for better traction. Plywood or planking is common on larger trailers. This should be treated for weatherability and have a good wear surface.

Small trailers are usually manufactured with the deck located just above the axle. This makes loading easier. The height may be between 14 to 17 inches, depending on the size of tires. Some trailers with wide decks usually have the wheels under the deck that raises it to 30 inches in height or more. To meet the maximum width requirements for vehicles, the wheels may be placed in wheel wells.

For highway travel, springs are desirable to provide a smooth ride. For slow speed farm use, springs are optional. Lights with flashers and direction signals are required for highway travel.

Trailers under 3 tons usually depend on the towing vehicle’s brakes to stop. Over 3 tons it is desirable to have brakes to assist the truck or tractor. Usually electric brakes are used. Electronic brake control that provides progressive pressure that prevents wheel lockup is available for some trailers.

In an industry where the only constant is change, growers are looking to improve current processes and even set new goals.

Valuable employees remain on the frontlines of cultivation facilities every day, but it often makes the most sense to entrust computers, sensors and smartphones to complete certain tasks, like the daily collecting and correlating of millions of data points, such as room temperature, relative humidity, and nutrient and water uptake. Plus, data collection typically isn’t your or your employees’ primary skillset. Even so, each variable in a cultivation operation generates volumes of data that could take days, even weeks, for a person to analyze and put to use.

This is where smart technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning come into play. IoT has become commonplace in manufacturing to monitor machine performance and output. Likewise, utilities companies are deploying sensing technologies to the grid to balance supply and demand and identify potential outages before they happen. Similar technologies can help transform the cannabis industry.

With IoT, CannabiDOL Consulting owner John Dol says head growers, directors of cultivation and assistant growers can connect their laptops or phones to greenhouses and grows all over the world to remotely monitor and respond to potential issues.

IoT Brings Real-Time Visibility

In short, IoT involves the use of physical objects embedded with sensors that collect and relay information via the internet.

A climate control system in a grow room or greenhouse takes measurements from sensors that measure conditions such as temperature, humidity, lighting, fans/airflow and CO₂ levels—and sometimes substrate pH and electrical conductivity (EC), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), Dol says. Information transferred via sensors to the climate control system, then to head growers off-site, demonstrates IoT use in cultivation.

Real-time access to data is critical for head growers on the go because it allows them to make remote changes to their climate control systems when certain parameters get out of hand, Dol says. They can set alarm parameters so their systems will alert them if something is wrong. Then, they can log into the systems from their phones, laptops, or either—depending on the systems—using their passwords. The systems log who made changes and when.

“For a grower managing multiple sites, this can be a key differentiator to effectively be ‘on site,’” Dol says.

In expressing the importance of IoT, Dol provides an example where an HVAC company could be servicing a grow room. When they finish, they forget to turn the unit back on. “When the lights come on the next morning, all of a sudden your room is at 100 degrees,” he says. If you are receiving real-time data, this can be prevented.

Cultivators also can give permission to other key decision makers, including consultants, Dol says. “Maybe I can only look at the climate side of things; or maybe I can look at climate and irrigation; or maybe I can look at climate, irrigation and heating,” Dol says. “Or they can set me up so I can also make changes.” However, as making those adjustments is the grower’s responsibility, Dol recommends against relying on consultants to make changes when possible.

Many developments in grow optimization came from the ornamental and produce greenhouse industries, the latter of which Dol worked in from the early 1990s until he joined the cannabis industry about four years ago.

For the most part, head growers have more opportunities to use IoT in greenhouses than grow rooms, Dol says. “In the greenhouses, you have to control more things,” he says. “Therefore, it’s more sophisticated and more widespread throughout the greenhouse. In a greenhouse, you have screens, you have ventilation both on one side of the peak and on the other side of the peak.”

That said, many IoT systems are in use in grow rooms, he says. Some outdoor growers use them, too, to respond to data from weather stations, and monitor and adjust irrigation.

“There are very sophisticated systems, and then there are some systems that only tell you, ‘Okay, it’s this warm, you’ve got this humidity, you’ve got this VPD and your lights are on,’ ” Dol says. “It can be that simple, too.”

As it stands, IoT has its limitations, Dol says, noting that AI and machine learning present future opportunities for cultivation. He points out that teams from around the world are conducting trials to autonomously grow tomatoes using AI. “The teams only have access to the climate computer,” he says. “They can’t physically go into the facility.”

A ‘Single Source of … Truth’

Redbud Roots, a vertically integrated cannabis company that operates more than 50,000 square feet of canopy in Buchanan, Mich., uses multiple types of sensors, including environmental control sensors, HVAC climate sensors and canopy sensors to collect and correlate climate and light data. Employees then manually correlate that data and create rules. “One of the challenges we see is determining a single source of climate truth,” David Frankfater, the company’s chief technology officer, wrote in an email to Cannabis Business Times.

One rule that employees set is the timing of dehumidifiers to react accordingly to separate environmental adjustments. “We have a rule to drive the humidity down in the rooms before the humidity spikes at lights out when the plants release more moisture,” Frankfater says. “This rule engages a second sensor trigger ... two hours before lights out. All of these rules rely on data collected from IoT sensors, and dehumidifiers run until the desired humidity setpoint is reached.”

Redbud Roots uses wireless sensors that provide data to “mitigate microclimates and enable growers to make changes via an app that affect light, temperature and humidity levels,” Frankfater says.

The company’s 88 employees include cultivation technicians who use “traditional farming sensors” to measure the pH of water and soil. In addition, Frankfater says, employees look for “the development of microbials microscopically during the last four weeks of flowering.”

On the cultivation side, Redbud Roots’ technology helps the company grow crops with added precision and improve employee productivity, Frankfater says. Employees also can work shorter days because of it. Information technology has also enabled the business to communicate information to its customers and to Michigan regulators.

When communicating with regulators, Redbud shares a “virtual flow” of its inventory and workflow “from seed to sale.” The cultivator uses a handheld device with a Radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader that utilizes IoT to locate and track plants.

At retail, including at its Williamsburg provisioning center that it opened in January to serve medical patients, Redbud Roots uses various programs to advertise and fulfill orders.

“Information technology’s key deliverable is visibility,” Frankfater says. “Visibility and insight are required to quickly identify and solve problems, to reduce costs and above all, to enhance end-user experience and business productivity.”

AI Enables Smart Growing

The power of AI and machine learning is playing a more significant role in cultivation. AI allows machines to learn from data to perform specific tasks. Machine learning is a subset of AI that allows computers to learn from past trends. An example of machine learning in the consumer world could be a streaming music or video service that recommends certain songs or movies based on past listening or viewing experience.

In the cannabis industry, AI and machine learning technology are becoming more common in cultivation facilities, says Andrew Lange, president of Ascendant Management and chief technical officer at Agrios Global Holdings. Agrios provides management and consulting services, equipment and facility leasing to licensed growers, while Ascendant provides buildouts, and engineering and design services.

“Depending on what you’re attempting to analyze, AI has the ability to detect and identify patterns and outliers in real time,” Lange says. “The computer will start to learn from your data. That’s machine learning. It can look at all these data points over the course of a harvest, and then input all of your yield metrics, and it can learn from the outcomes. You can do it again and again and again, and the computer is monitoring it each time.”

In addition, AI and machine learning can improve pest and disease scouting by putting “eyes” on plants all the time, Lange says, rather than cultivators having to rely on the subjectivity of employees and trusting that they will scout as diligently as they should. Another process that Lange currently doesn’t use, but is exploring, is using AI and “volumetric cameras.” Although these cameras largely resemble 2D cameras, growers can combine three or more of them to provide 3D imaging that can measure plant volume and predict yields. “It does always require multiple sensors to [create] that 3D image that the data is based on,” Lange says.

Using AI, cultivation facilities can sort through data they otherwise wouldn’t be able to, Lange says. For example, AI helps him manage multiple grow rooms in a 70,000-square-foot Washington facility. Every day at the operation, sensors used in cultivation and to monitor mechanical systems collect about 100 million data points—including 32 environmental points measured every two seconds. These points measure levels of temperature, relative humidity, VPD, CO₂, airflow, pressure and more.

“But data points [alone aren’t] really useful,” Lange says. “You have to be able to correlate that data. You have to be able to analyze it effectively. It used to be you would utilize data analysts … then we’re getting into trending software. Now comes AI. AI is really taking that data, looking at it in real time and giving you real-time answers, instead of having to fully analyze everything every time you do a grow. You’re getting faster results, faster data.”

AI then takes information—humidity measurements, for instance—and quickly adjusts levels to create better growing conditions, Lange says.

“It’s able to comprehend the data, analyze it and make changes in real time to affect our environmental outcomes—[it] could be more toward [the] target with less spikes,” he says. “Essentially, you’re just trying to lower any curves inside that data set, so you can utilize the technology to do things like that.”

AI can “identify patterns or anomalies” in data that sensors and IoT technology provide to growers, he says, adding, “This ability can help reduce downtime, lower operational costs and increase production.”

Patrick Williams is senior editor for Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary magazines.

As the eldest of three siblings, Donald Blew has always had an innate knack for leadership and responsibility. That hasn’t changed much, given his presidential status at Centerton Nursery in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Like many operations, management has been in the family for multiple generations and in Donald’s case, he leads the third.

Generational growth

Nearly 50 years ago, Centerton only consisted of 9 acres of land that were purchased by Donald’s grandparents, Ray and Marlene. That property was home to fewer than a dozen small greenhouses that held a few azaleas and rhododendrons, along with a 10- by 10-foot hut, otherwise known as the office. In 1977, Donald’s father Denny joined the company after graduating college. Now in its fifth decade of business, the nursery is operated by Donald and his two younger siblings, Robert (Bob) and Amy.

Currently, Centerton sits on 3 million square feet under plastic and has around 190 greenhouses that were drawn and built by Donald himself. The nursery now grows broadleaf evergreens, flowering shrubs, perennials and a full line of edibles (vegetables and herbs) — more than the few azaleas and rhododendrons it once had — and sells 10 specially crafted brands, along with many others.

The Blew brothers also co-own BlewLine Nursery, a bareroot daylily and shrub hub that was founded by their grandfather in the early 1990s to mitigate the unreliability of finding bareroot perennials. In 2006, they purchased the property with Bob serving as president and Donald as vice president and expanded the offerings to more than 100 varieties of bareroot shrubs. In 2016, they began selling through the Star Roses & Plants brand.

Organically driven

While working at two nurseries may sound like a heavy workload, it’s virtually all Donald knows.

“I grew up on one end of the nursery, so I had a really big playground,” Donald says. “I even keep a picture here on my desk of me at 3 years old, loading a truck with my dad. That was always what I wanted to do — come back and run the nursery.”

After high school, both Bob and Amy went to college to pursue other careers. Amy majored in communications at Loyola Marymount University and Bob majored in agriculture business at Penn State University. And while Donald studied agriculture business as well, he attended Delaware Valley University with specific plans of applying his knowledge to the nursery. This wasn’t by choice but was a requirement by Donald’s grandfather who determined it a prerequisite to running the business. His grandfather had to practically “force him” to go, but it was Daniel Seik, an independent salesman for Centerton and decades-long friend of the Blew family, who suggested the major.

“I recommended it to him because with working alongside his grandfather and dad, he was already familiar with plant identification. He probably even knew more about the plants than his professors,” Daniel says. “But school gave him the background of business.”

Daniel says he’s known Donald since he was about 12, and although his siblings grew up on the nursery as well, Donald had an intuitive attraction for the business. Some natural qualities he has, according to Daniel, are “common sense” and the ability to “solve problems and figure things out,” much like his grandfather. He also says Donald was “curious” and “always designing things.”

“Even though he doesn’t have an engineering degree, he’s definitely an engineer,” says Amy Ordog, who is five years younger than Donald.

When he began their Stone Cottage Farm — a line dedicated to lavender — Donald built the facility and designed rolling benches just from looking at other places. He also designed their potting machines, water boom, water tunnel, trimming machines and greenhouses, and has replicated concepts he’s seen from his trips to Europe. Amy says every time they attend a trade show, they ask Donald to replicate something and he’ll respond with, “Yep, I’ll get it done!”

From employees to family

Amy also describes Donald as “humble” and “hands-on,” and uses his interaction with their employees as an example.

“He knows every single person who works here — all 120 of them — and that makes me proud because there are other companies who don’t know who’s working for them,” she says. “He knows everybody’s first and last name and is the one who actually hands out checks.”

He also implemented a generous employee production bonus where employees receive a bonus for their daily accomplishments, on top of their hourly wages. But the biggest bonus he gives is in the employees’ evaluation three times a year.

“It’s just another way to say, ‘Hey, we’re all working together,’” Donald says. “It’s about the company and if the company does good, we all do good.”

Centerton also has a low employee turnover rate and treats everyone like family. Not only is the nursery run by a generation of siblings, it’s also operated by about 30 employees who were originally hired by Ray decades ago. Donald even said the original secretary his grandfather hired worked for 38 years before retiring just a few years ago.

A future of promise

Both Bob and Amy say they are proud to be Donald’s siblings and work alongside him while continuing the legacy their grandfather began. Daniel says Donald is the “ideal” person to lead the family operation, and work in the horticulture business.

“I think he’s the kind of people we need in the industry,” Daniel says. “He’s the kind of person who will try stuff and share his knowledge with others. He actually encourages people to share their knowledge for the greater good of the industry. He’s honest, hardworking, has a good heart, is a very good teacher and I think with the combination of everything, he’ll be a very good leader in the industry for a number of years.”

As for Donald and his plans for the future, he wants the nursery to continue evolving as it has every year.

“I think we’re set up right. Each year we say, ‘This is our best year ever,’ until we do better the next year. We’re on the younger side; we’re hungry. We’re ready to make moves and put the time in,” Donald says. “We’ve got a really good team of people here on board with us and they look forward to our next chapter too, and that’s really what it’s about for us.”

Easter lily bulbs are dug from fields in California and Oregon and are prepared for distribution across the country to be received by growers in mid-October. But what then? Easter lilies have to be cooled in order to develop flowers. There are different strategies to cool Easter lily bulbs, each with advantages and disadvantages. Thankfully, there is also an insurance policy for bulbs that aren’t sufficiently cooled. This article is going to review how to cool Easter lily bulbs to produce flowering plants in the greenhouse.

Cooling requirements

In order to form flowers, Easter lilies require a period of cold temperatures, or vernalization. Once the requirements for vernalization have been satisfied, Easter lily flowers can form. However, if the cold period is insufficient and vernalization requirements are not met, then flowers will not develop. And there is no consumer demand for vegetative Easter lilies! Cooling Easter lilies is imperative to produce a flowering plant. So what does it take to satisfy the vernalization requirements of Easter lilies? Six weeks at 40 to 45 F, with 41° F being a common target temperature. Once they have received this treatment, Easter lilies can form flowers by the end of January, while shoots are emerging and elongating. This cold treatment can be provided to Easter lilies in two different methods, each with their own distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Controlled-temperature forcing

Controlled-temperature forcing (CTF), also referred to as “pot cooling”, is providing vernalization to Easter lily bulbs that are already potted and rooted into containers. Uncooled bulbs are received, potted up, then grown at 60 to 62° F for three weeks to establish roots. After this, the containers with rooted-in bulbs are cooled for 6 weeks at 40 to 45° F, with 41° F being a common target temperature.

For root development, plants are usually placed in a greenhouse after they are potted up. One challenge that can arise during November, when Easter lilies are rooting for CTF, and poinsettia crops are in full swing, is the question, “Is there sufficient bench space?” The requirement for space for rooting potted Easter lilies can conflict with poinsettias on the greenhouse bench if both crops are grown. However, some growers have space in hallways, headhouses, and other spaces where racks of potted lilies can be rooted as long as appropriate temperatures are provided.

Using CTF to cool Easter lily bulbs can produce high quality plants, and this approach should be taken for premium finished lilies. However, the primary drawback is the space and infrastructure required. Coolers are the most common approach for its predictable temperature management. While some growers attempt cooling potted Easter lilies in the greenhouse, it can be too difficult to maintain consistently cool target air temperatures with the solar radiation. If there are other ways that coolers used to chill CTF lilies can be used at other times of the year for other crops, it can helps justify the investment.

Case-cooling

Case-cooling, as the name implies, is providing the vernalization to Easter lily bulbs that remain in the cases they are stored and shipped in. Once the bulbs have received 6 weeks of cooling, they are potted up for rooting and are rooted as described above (3 weeks at 60 to 62° F)

Like CTF, case cooling uses coolers for the vernalization period; however, unlike CTF, the cooler space requirement is much less for case-cooled bulbs. Although the number of bulbs per case ranges from 100 bulbs (grade 10+) to 300 bulbs per case (grade 6/7), there is no space requirement for pots filled with substrate. In addition to cooler space efficiency, case-cooled Easter lilies also reduces space conflicts with poinsettia crops, unlike CTF. An additional opportunity to reduce steps in production is possible when purchasing pre-cooled bulbs from suppliers. These bulbs are provided with a case cooling, then sent to growers for finishing. While there is an additional cost associated with this, it further simplifies production.

Weeds serve as a refuge for insects, supporting pests that can infest crops and transmit viruses. Weeds can also serve as host plants and carry diseases.

Although case cooling can be an extremely space efficient method of production, it can affect the quality of the final product. Compared to lilies cooled using CTF, case-cooled bulbs may not have quite as high a flower count and the bottom or basal leaves do not elongate as much (sometimes referred to as a “palm tree” shape).

Insurance lighting for insufficient cooling

For a variety of reasons, Easter lilies may not receive the full 6 weeks of cooling at 41° F, in both case cooling or CTF forcing methods. Fortunately, lighting can be used to compensate for insufficient cooling. “Insurance lighting” is the use of photoperiodic lighting to create long day conditions for Easter lilies until flower initiation is complete at the end of January. Either low-intensity (=2 µmol·m–2·s–1 at plant height) day-extension lighting or night-interruption lighting are effective in creating long days for lilies. A general recommendation is that one week of insurance lighting can make up for one week of missed cooling. Note that insurance lighting does not act as a complete substitute for cooling; it can compensate for only a couple missed weeks at most.

Take-home message

With the arrival of the harvest of field-grown Easter lily bulbs, take the time to review your Easter lily production plans to review your cooling strategy. Whether CTF or case cooling, successful cooling is one of the most important steps for programming and forcing Easter lilies.