New technology at the Enjoy Centre will allow growers to fine tune the amount of heat, light and nutrients individual plants receive, variables more or less added manually at the current Hole’s Greenhouses & Gardens facility.
It’s called the Argus system and it works hand-in-hand with a new flood floor on the greenhouse’s upper level.
This highly computerized system has the ability to test nutrient levels in individual plants so growers know how much of a certain nutrient is needed to get optimal growth out of each crop.
Weather permitting, the sprawling flood floor will use rainwater collected from the roof of the greenhouse.
“We’ll add any nutrients that we have to with our computerized system, flood the floor, the plants will absorb the water that they need, then it’s drained back and stored back in the system,” explained Jim Hole, co-owner of the Enjoy Centre.
Hole said the system can then determine how much of the nutrients have been absorbed by the plants and will tell the grower what is needed for the next batch.
“It will do everything to control all the parameters needed for proper plant growth,” Hole said, adding that the system can also test for sunlight and humidity.
An ultra-violet water treatment system allows collected rainwater to be used for toilets and urinals in the facility, as well as for watering the landscape outside.
Above the flood floor, hanging baskets rotate automatically in a large loop to a test station where growers can check water levels.
It’s one of several features at the new facility that Hole and his brother Bill have borrowed from the Dutch, who are known for their greenhouses.
“I think their limited land base has forced them to be more efficient,” said Hole.
“They’re very focused on how to get the most out of their greenhouses.”
He said any heat rising from the lower level will be used to heat the greenhouse on the upper level. Greenhouse windows have been fitted with heat-retention curtains that can be opened automatically, along with the windows themselves, to help control the temperature inside.
Hole said this reduces heat loss 25 to 40 per cent.
“It’s a better environment for the plants. It’s very uniform heating so you don’t get hot and cold spots,” he said.
He said their current facility lacks the mechanical gear needed to accommodate the Argus’ control system.
“You need to have a facility that can utilize the sophistication,” Hole said.
With the new system replacing work that was previously done by hand, Hole said fewer staff will be required in the new greenhouse, but more staff will be needed for the rest of the centre, which includes a wine store, spa, restaurant, café and deli.
“What happens is you get people who are more highly trained, they’ll require more knowledge of the crops,” he said.
This is especially true for the greenhouse’s use of biological controls, which involve using certain insects for pest control as an alternative to spraying.
While bio controls are used at the current facility, Hole said they will be expanded at the new greenhouse.
“If you look at a spider mite that likes to attack plants, I bring in a predatory mite. The predatory mite eats out the spider mite, eats it and kills it, so you’re not spraying so much,” he said.
At the current facility, Hole said he uses 20 different insects to control pests in the greenhouse.
“It requires another level of knowledge. It’s quite sophisticated,” he said.
The new Enjoy Centre will also have a travelator, a moving walkway between the upper and lower levels.
The facility is scheduled to open March 1.
