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Industry Profile

Apex Greenhouses Sales Manager Peter Holwerda

 

Apex Greenhouses Sales Manager Peter Holwerda,

Approaching Thirty Years’ Service to the NZ Greenhouse Industry and Still Going Strong

 

This November Peter Holwerda will celebrate thirty years’ service with Apex Greenhouses, formally known as Faber Greenhouses.  In that time Peter has led a professional team that has revolutionised the greenhouse building industry in New Zealand and Australia.  This article recognises his enormous contribution to the growing industry.

 

The Early Years

In 1953 Peter’s parents immigrated to New Zealand from Holland.  Peter was born three years later in Thames.  Peter’s parents were dairy famers and he began his farming journey on a property in Turua.  After some years the family moved to a dairy farm in Waiuku.  Peter went to Waiuku College.  When he was seventeen an opportunity arose to work at the local National Bank.   Peter worked there for three and a half years.  At the age of twenty he decided to do his overseas experience in Europe, basing himself in Holland.

When Peter returned to New Zealand he secured a job in the Finance industry, in Auckland, and a few years later married and purchased a house in Papakura.  In 1981 Peter and his wife decided they wanted to try dairy farming, so they sold their house in Papakura and purchased a herd of cows.  They were able to secure a share milking job on a farm in Waiuku.  For the next seven years his life revolved around dairy farming and growing his family, with the arrival of his three sons.  After seven years of milking a new opportunity arose so the decision was made to end farming, sell the herd and move to work in the building trade.  Throughout this time Peter built his family home in Waiuku. 

 

Fabers

In early 1988, soon after Peter had started his new building career, he was approached by friend of the family Leo Faber, who asked if he would like a job working for his company in the greenhouse building industry.  The package offered to Peter was too good to turn down and the rest, as they say, is history.  Today his job role is that of Sales Manager, but throughout the thirty years involved with Apex, he’s been involved in all aspects of the management including becoming the General Manager in 1992.   Peter fondly remembers the time when Leo went on holiday for six weeks in 1990. He took the opportunity to make up spread sheets and changed the accounts from the old-fashioned manual system to a computerised system.  His knowledge in the banking and finance industry was a great advantage for the company.

 

Technology Progression

Technology has changed a significant amount in the last thirty years. Leo was the first to introduce the Venlo Greenhouses to New Zealand.  It started at a height of 2.7 meters to the gutter then went up to 3 meters then 4 meters in 1995. Today, Apex Greenhouses will build up to a gutter height limit of 7 meters!  Structures have changed from steel to a lot of aluminium extrusion and now there has even been the clever development of truss posts. The type of glass available has evolved from float glass to low iron and diffused glass.  A big change in glass occurred when the toughened glass (safety glass) was introduced 12 or so years ago.  Shade/energy screens have been around for twenty five years but they are now becoming more popular for their energy saving potential.

During Peter’s tenure Apex has evolved from building glasshouses and plastic houses to now supplying the market with a few different designs and their very own retractable roof system.  They are also able to provide turn key developments.  Peter said “We are always following trends in Holland, in glass, new equipment and greenhouse design. Peter thinks there is constant demand to move towards automation and labour saving.

The truss post enables even spacing of hanging gutters.

 

Growing the Business Internationally

In the early 2000’s the opportunity to grow the business and move into the Australian market presented itself.  Peter would travel to Australia every eight weeks, for three or four days, forming relationships that would see the company become what is now- a significant supplier of greenhouses and equipment into the Australian market.  Apex have also built greenhouses in Taiwan and Fiji, and are now receiving enquires from as far a field as India. 

 

The New Zealand Market

During the past 3 decades, Peter estimates he has been involved with building greenhouses that would cover more than two hundred and fifty hectares.  They involve a diverse array of growers, mainly vegetable and flower growers, but this is expanding to other areas like nurseries and Botanic Gardens.  The company has built greenhouses’ from Kaitia to Invercargill.  His most recent role as Sales Manager allows him to spend more time with his customers, he particularly enjoys this and working with all the different growers, cultures and building strong, trusting working relationships.

 

Hobbies

These days, outside of the building industry, Peter is a keen hot rod car enthusiast and is a member of the Waiuku Hot Rod Club.  He loves to go cruising and work on his cars.

 

Life

Peter has had some extremely difficult personal issues to endure, including eleven months away from work dealing with his own ill health, just a few years after the sad passing of his wife in 2007. Considering all life has given him he has always been extremely professional and committed to his work and customers.   Although he is not a grower he has been an integral cog in the growing wheel. He is held in high regard amongst all the greenhouse growers he has helped over the past three decades.    There is no thought of retirement and no desire to work for any other company, “It’s been a crazy ride, even when its quiet its busy but essentially we are still building greenhouse businesses like we were thirty years ago”.  Long may it continue.

This classic 1932 Ford Tudor Sedan is part of Peters collection.  Below is his 1953 Chevy pickup.

Peter will celebrate thirty years service this November. 

 

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Categories
Events/Announcements

Mystery Creek Fieldays Report

Mystery Creek Fieldays Report

Is There a Future in Farming?

 

I always enjoy an annual trip to Fieldays. It brings back fond memories of my upbringing on a dairy farm.  It is great to see how this event continues to grow and be so successful.    It is incredibly hard to visit all 1400 exhibitors in one day, to have a really thorough look in detail at everything.  I was glad to see there was some promotion of Horticulture, but it mainly related to outdoor crops. 

As I was busy marching up and down the aisles in the main pavilion, disguised in my shorts and beanie, I overheard someone asking an exhibitor “is there a future in farming?”   I felt my eyebrows raise and a frown come across my face.  I found that question intriguing and it played on my mind all day.  I could’ve dismissed the comment, but I could not help be curious to the potential reason why a person would have that impression, and would even contemplate there not being a future in farming.   Is this the perception that the non-farmers, in the urban community have? Really?

 

Almost immediately after my ease dropping, eye brow raising moment of the day I saw a banner at a stand opposite promoting British and Irish farming.  I could not have scripted this better.  The main slogan on the banner was ‘The world will need 60% more food by 2050’.  The next part of the banner read ‘Global food production is changing. The UK is investing in the future of agriculture by backing innovation.’  This says it all and should have in itself answered the question “is there a future in farming”.

This year it took me nearly three hours to get to Fieldays. In previous years the journey took two hours, it appears to take longer every year.  The carparks were bursting at the seams and the entire Fieldays was alive with activity.  There were people of all ages packed in throughout the showgrounds.  The exhibits and products on display were as good, if not better than I have ever seen, testament to that was people carrying numerous bags filled with goodies on the long walk back to their cars.  The atmosphere was great, I was concerned the current issue of M Bovis would have a negative effect on Fieldays, there is a lot of talk about it but it appears farmers are just ‘getting on with it’ and will solve this problem in time and get back to business. 

On our return journey home north, we avoided the Huntly traffic jam by taking a detour around Taupiri towards Orini before joining State Highway 1 at Ohinewai.  If you want to see some breath-taking, beautiful dairy farming land I suggest you take this route one day.   After attending Fieldays, and then driving past these farms the only conclusion I came to was YES, absolutely there is a future for farming. It will evolve and possibly look different in the next twenty to thirty years but it will definitely be there. The British Banner, the growing enormity of the national Fieldays event, and the evident support of the farming community and the huge investment around that is testament to my conclusion.  In my opinion, it is as positive and as interesting as ever.  Well done to the Mystery Creek Fieldays organisers, again you have delivered a magnificent, truly iconic event and should be congratulated.  I will be back to pay my $30 again next year.

From a horticulture point of view, it is still very obvious to me that I don’t believe we have really even scratched the surface with what we are capable of achieving.  Fieldays gave me great confidence that the need for the covered crop industry to grow is imperative.  It would have been nice to have had more of a horticulture flavour/presence at Mystery Creek but in essence this is an agriculture event.  Possibly we should take learnings and perhaps a leaf out of the events book.  Possibly we should have a horticulture Fieldays of our own?

 

It was great to see Sir John Key mixing with the general public, shaking hands and taking photos.

 

It was certainly impressive to see the carparks full for as far as the eye could see.

 

The Tractors were out in full force, I can’t wait to take my boys to see this when they are old enough.

 

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Categories
Greenhouse News Technical

Yellow Stems on Tomatoes

Yellow Stems on Tomatoes

Why does this happen? Should we investigate better control solutions?

 

This question was sent to me last week from one of New Zealand’s most experienced tomato growers, “How about some conclusions on yellow stems in old crops at this time of the year?”

It is quite astonishing that yellow stems (as some of us refer to them as), which slowly kill the plants, is still such an issue today.  If this forum cannot figure out the answer I would suggest some serious research needs to be considered and commissioned.

 

What I know:

I had the yellow stem issue when I started growing over twenty years ago.  At that time a consultant described the yellowing and dying back of the stems to me as Dry Stem Bacteriosis.  The photos in this article and what Dry Stem Bacteriosis is could be two different things, only testing and scientific input can confirm.

Yellow stems seem to occur in crops approximately nine months and older, generally in the winter period.  In my early years as a grower I planted on the shortest day, by April or May the following year it was more than likely I would see patches of yellow stem. I assumed these plants were naturally coming to the end of their life cycle.  It was always worse if the old trusses were not removed from the plant.  As the old truss dies back, and goes yellow, it would then travel into the stem towards the root system.  Another observation I made was if these stems came into direct contact with good stems the yellowing would rapidly transfer to the other stems.  It is impossible for stems not to touch and overlap, so it was always important to bite the bullet and remove the plants as soon as the yellowing was visible to prevent it, from the assumption I made, spreading.

When I cut open the stems of infected plants I would see the pith was a brown colour and an obvious sign of some type of tissue decay/dieback.

Contributing Factors:

In my early growing years, I was a very vegetative grower, essentially my stems were fat and my plant had big long leaves. It was suggested that this could have been a contributing factor and when the plant became older the fatness and softness of the stem potentially made it more vulnerable to yellow stem.   When I did start to grow more generative/balanced crops the percentage of yellow stems definitely reduced.  At that time, I had also begun cutting trusses, so the fact I was growing generative might not have been the magic solution but a helping hand.   I say that because even in the strong generative plants I still came across issues with yellow stem from time to time.

If the yellow stems are bacterial, then the only solution is to reduce the risk of contamination.  Therefore, hygiene throughout your entire crop cycle, from start to finish, should be of high importance.  If it is fungal then alternative treatment should be considered.  Unfortunately I cannot give a conclusive answer to the question posed to me, I do believe research has an important role to play in unlocking this mystery.

 

Control possibilities:

1, Grow strong generative crops.

2, Cut old trusses out shortly after picking the fruit of the truss.

3, Always clean your equipment with regular dipping of tools into disinfectant.

4, Irrigation control/reduction.

5, Remove identified infected plants immediately to reduce the risk of potential spread.

 

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Categories
Technical

The Big Chill

The Big Chill

Strong Vegetative Plants at Risk of Disease

 

You may have noticed it has become quite wet and cool.  We haven’t had a seriously cold winter for a few years but this year could be one.  A temperature was recorded of -1.8 at the top of the Bombay hills on the morning of the 25th of May.

I have heard, from chatting with various people, that the poor weather has coincided with increased disease pressure and increased fungicide usage.  It is a concern as these diseases could be reduced or even in some cases prevented.  There a few reasons why I think this happens. One contributing factor may be that crops were not heated sufficiently in autumn.  Not heating in the autumn, as well as over friendly irrigation, will potentially cause plants to become vegetative. This will cause the issues some growers are facing currently.   During March and April light levels are still very good and it is relatively warm, it may seem pointless to prune fruit (tomatoes) but if you did not prune adequately, 6-8 weeks ago, your plants will now be carrying too much load for the light we currently have and still trying to set fruit currently whilst under extreme pressure.  This will add unnecessary stress to your plants. Growers that have a ‘fat stem’ and large leaf index are extremely prone to increased fungus pressure.  It is a misconception to think a fat stem with a large leaf is a sign of healthy plant.  It is a sign of a strong plant.  You may have heard me compare this type of plant to a sumo wrestler!  A sumo wrestler is extremely strong and powerful but will probably not live past the age of 35! In comparison a tomato plant picking past its 9th truss.  It is ok for short crops but for long cropping it is a big no in my book.

Recently I came across a crop I can only describe as eye popping and thought provoking, the grower could not believe my excitement and enthusiasm for a plant that in his eyes looked less than desirable.  However, it was one of those moments that contribute to my love for this industry. To better explain, the crop was very old and close to having its heads pinched.  The plant was thin and there was inconsistency in fruit size.  However, a very good percentage of the plants were like long-distance runners, small but strong, fit and full of endurance.  The leaf length was moderate and the leaf colour was a deep dark green.  This particular crop was one of two greenhouses on the site.  The other greenhouse (house 2) had recently started picking, the stems had become very large and the leaf very long and wide and the fruit size was extremely big for the variety.    The old plants (house 1) looked very healthy and were almost totally free of any disease.  House 2 was completely contrasting, and an indication of how strong vegetative plants even with high fruit load will time and time again get you into trouble.   

In my early years as a grower I definitely preferred the ‘sumo wrestler’ plant and it took me a long time to figure out, with experience and some very good advice, that there are better options.  It takes trusting in others ideas and experiences and then making the necessary adjustments.  Using crop registration and setting plant targets is key.   I like a plant somewhere in the middle, a strong plant which has its fruit load per m2 balanced in relation to light.  

The crop, that was older but free of disease, was the perfect illustration of a tomato plant that could be used for understanding the change of direction you could make and certainly gives confidence there is room for improvement.  There is no risk in growing a plant to its potential.  Plants will give you signals when it is reaching its limitations, the trick is to interpret the data and try your best to guide long cropping plants through their marathon, ensuring as many plants as possible reach the finish line, while maintaining strong production.

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Categories
Greenhouse News

Cucumbers in High Demand

Cucumbers in High Demand

Telegraph Cucumbers up to $ 5 each!

 

It does not take long for the cold and dreary weather to cause a massive slowdown in growth.  I have been informed that 18-inch telegraph cucumbers reached up to $5 each recently!  I have never heard of this before.  There is not a shortage of cucumbers plants growing in greenhouses at the moment, it appears at normal levels but possibly more crops are either just finishing or have recently been re-planted. 

Planting in May and June is always tough for cucumber growers, as the plants grow significantly slower than other times of the year.  The ideal time to plant a winter crop of cucumbers is in late March or early April to make sure you are picking by the first week of May.  Grow and build the young plant in adequate light and pick the initial load off the plant before the days become too short.  This is not always possible as there needs to be a continuity of supply to the market.  However, some growers have multiple growing areas making their production planning easier.

There are a couple of things that could be done to prevent a ‘shortage’ happening at this time of the year.  I like the idea of receiving advanced plants from your nursery all year round but especially from March until September.  It might be a little harder, and take a little longer, to plant but the reduced time from planting to picking can be very rewarding.  The extra returns could far outweigh the initial cost.   The energy saving is also very important.  Using a comparison, the speed from picking with a 45cm plant to a 60cm plant is roughly 8-10 days (that is being conservative), so an extra 8-10 days of heating, means one more week for picking in your crop cycle.

The bigger plants, you receive from the nursery, have other benefits. They are stronger, have a larger roots system, and are better established on a substrate in the greenhouse.  Nurseries now have supplementary lighting -which has created another massive benefit for the grower.  Growers are taking delivery of plants that are as strong in the winter as they are when they receive them in the summer.  This is incredibly advantageous.

I appreciate there is some reluctance to purchase bigger plants.  Apart from it being financially rewarding it would also contribute to reducing the shortage of produce the market is currently experiencing.   If there was more produce then yes, the price would be lower per cucumber, but we would have that continuity of supply and not be facing a slowdown in the market. 

Unlike outdoor growers, indoor growers do have the luxury of having crops protected, so it does raise the question; is this predicament we are in avoidable?  Yes, low light has an effect but cucumbers have never hit $5 before.    I understand, due to competition and the way the law works, that unfortunately growers don’t talk to each other, but it does lead to these holes and lack of cross over production, which will inevitably happen from time to time.  No one wins, not the public or the grower in the end.  I hope that the growers don’t get blamed in the media this week as they are just going about their business.   One suggestion I have is use bigger plants, then hopefully fewer of you will be out of production for long periods of time.

 I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Categories
Technical

Chlorosis in Tomatoes

Chlorosis in Tomatoes

Chlorosis is caused by iron deficiency.

 

Symptoms for iron deficiency in plants: The most obvious symptom of iron deficiency in plants is commonly called leaf chlorosis. This is where the leaves of the plant turn yellow, but the veins of the leaves stay green. Typically, leaf chlorosis will start at the tips of new growth in the plant and will eventually work its way to older leaves as the deficiency gets worse.

What does iron do for plants? Iron is a nutrient that all plants need to function. Many of the vital functions of the plant, like enzyme and chlorophyll production, nitrogen fixing, development and metabolism are all dependent on iron. Without iron, the plant simply cannot function as well as it should.

If iron is added in the form of a chelate then you should have enough iron in your substrate.  If you do have Chlorosis then the plant is struggling to access the iron, in some cases the PH around the rootzone is too high therefore blocking the iron availability.  Another cause could be that your substrate is too wet.  NFT systems commonly have issues with Chlorosis and need ways of aerating their feeding systems.  Not only will a substrate, which is too wet, cause a deficiency like Chlorosis but also cause root disease, especially at this time of the year. Too much phosphorous can also block the uptake of iron by the plant and cause Leaf Chlorosis.

Altering PH around the rootzone and changing the water content of substrate is relatively straight forward. Using additional very small amounts of ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulphate to your fertilizer solution can help reduce the PH around the rootzone.   I have always been advised to have 5.8-6 PH on and similar coming off or around the rootzone.  If your PH is high in your runoff don’t be surprised to see the reduction nutrient uptake like iron.  If your substrate is too wet then reducing irrigation frequency and stopping earlier should have a positive response but if you already have a root issue this could take a period of time.  If salt build up occurs in the substrate then on a sunny day, in the late morning, run an extra cycle or two to reduce it.

The Quick Fix,

Many years ago, a consultant suggested I use an Iron and Manganese drench.  This was carried out just like a normal drench.  The idea is that Iron and Manganese would be forced up the plant.  I can only comment on the results I witnessed.  Within twenty-four to forty-eight hours you could see the symptoms reduce and within three to five days I could hardly even tell I had an issue.  It was quite astounding.   To my knowledge it had no adverse effects to the plants. 

The quick fix did work for me but further investigation should be carried out to understand why you had symptoms of Chlorosis in the first instance.  Then have a long-term strategy to reduce the chances of getting such symptoms.  Chlorosis is one of those deficiencies which will periodically crop up.  It often happened to me, but the trick was to react quickly and make the appropriate changes.  The more experience you have the easier it is to deal with.  However, if you do nothing then it will potentially reduce your production potential.

If you do wish for more information please contact me for further advice.

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Categories
Industry Profile

The Quiet Achiever Stephen Hadley

The Quiet Achiever Stephen Hadley

Nursery Manager and Head Grower of Vegetables for Gellert Nurseries

 

If you are a NZ greenhouse vegetable grower there is a very good chance Stephen Hadley has grown plants for you.   Stephen has been working at Gellert Nurseries for nearly seventeen years.  His role is Nursery Manager and the Head Grower of Vegetables.  

Stephen was born in 1973 and has lived and worked in and around Pukekohe his entire life. He attended St Joseph’s Primary and Intermediate School before moving onto Pukekohe High School.  At the age of 13 Stephen’s mum helped him get a job with local tomato grower Noel McIsaac.   He worked there for one and a half hours after school and three hours on a Saturday.  By the time he had finished high school he knew he wanted to be in the horticulture industry so completed a ‘Certificate in Horticulture Practice’ at Carrington Polytechnic.  From there he was offered full time work with a well-known grower in the Pukekohe district at the time, Wayne Taylor.  Stephen worked for Wayne for four years before moving on to work for another well-known grower in the area Brian Nicklin.  Stephen worked at Brian’s tomato growing operation for two years before Brian, and several others, came together to build the first of the Status greenhouses in Tuakau.  Stephen worked at the original Harrisville site for two more years.

By now Stephen had been working with and growing tomatoes for twelve years.  An opportunity then arose in 1998 to become the head grower of a property in Hart Road, Pukekohe.   This property was growing around 9000 tomato plants.  Stephen relished the opportunity to take the next step in his career.  During this period Steve had built up a strong relationship with consultant Bryan Hart.  Bryan was aware that Gellert Nurseries owner, Steve Gellert, was looking for a nursery manager.  The rest as they say is history, Stephen was employed by Steve Gellert in August 2001.

Throughout the past seventeen years advancements in young plants, delivered to growers, has been remarkable.  Back then it was quite normal to receive tomato plants that would take eleven to twelve weeks to pick, now we take for granted that growers are having plants delivered to them that are already flowering and can be picked in six or seven weeks.  Grafting tomatoes has come a long way since the norm of single and double headed grafted plants.  For the past three years triple and quadruple headed grafted tomato plants have been developed for the commercial market.    Stephen was instrumental in developing the 60cm Cucumber plant.  Now we know that the 60cm plant has been a game changer for several growers and has added real value to their bottom lines.  Stephen has also been involved with growing advanced capsicums, eggplants and has been instrumental with kiwifruit and the grafted watermelon programmes.

These magnificant grafted eggplants are just one example of the advaced plants grown at Gellert Nurseries

 

I asked Stephen had they reached the limit of plant advancement?  He thinks that with the installation of the new supplementary lighting there are new possibilities “We are fortunate to work with our Dutch consultants from Van der Lugt Nurseries and use their experience of how to use the lights, which has taken the need for experimenting out of the equation.”   He thinks that the plants he grows are at a very advanced level but there is always room to improve.  “There are risks to achieve further advancements so the customer has to be involved with our processes”

Photo taken Monday 6th of June at 2.30pm showing the intensity of the supplementary lighting at Gellert Nurseries. 

 

 I wanted to know what some of the ongoing challenges he faced are “One of the biggest challenges is the constant changing of varieties, learning the new variety characteristics and to get the best out of them.”  Steve said this can often take a minimum of two seasons and by that time another new variety or seed batch arrives. “It is a continual learning process and that is part of what makes it challenging and exciting”. Stephen said the biggest challenge is constantly trying to improve outcomes for growers, “We know if they succeed we will as well, and that makes for a good ongoing working relationship.”

Stephen is the proud father of two sons and somehow juggles his work life and home life.  His passion for sport means he enjoys watching local sporting events.  In his youth he played left back for the Pukekohe Premier Soccer team.  He is very handy at tennis and played at a high level for his club.  Stephen is very keen to watch this year’s football world cup, he will be supporting Croatia as this is where his mum originates from.   Apart from all the sport, Steve loves reading and likes to spend time at the local library with his family.   It is a great time to relax and spend quality time together.

Stephen survives on very little sleep, he has been known to have less than 4 hours a night.   So next time your plants arrive at 6am, think of the guy who woke up at 1am to make sure the lights were turned on so your plants could be picked up, packed and loaded onto the truck ready for delivery. 

Stephen Hadley’s involvement in the development of growing advanced vegetable plants over the past seventeen years has possibly not seen him gain the accolades he deserves. His loyalty and dedication to his job and the industry is second to none.   Stephen Hadley is not the kind of guy after any notoriety, he continues to be the quiet achiever.

The above photo demonstrates the effect lighting has on shortening internodal space on cucumber plants.  Growers are planting mature plants, it means faster from planting to picking and has the added benefit of potentially extra fruit to the crop wire! Below are spaced cucumbers which have an excellent leaf size and colour.

Stephen’s constant analysis of every crop involves walking multiple times through the plants at all stages.  This photo also demonstrates the crane heating system.  By lowering the heating pipes closer to the crop, heating efficiency is achieved.  

Simply breath-taking gorgeous eggplants grown at Gellert Nurseries in the middle of the winter! 

 

An example at a grower’s property of a now mature quadruple headed grafted tomato plants stem.  These plants were grown for this customer by Stephen Hadley and the team at Gellert Nurseries.

 

 

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Categories
Energy Greenhouse News

Greenhouse Energy Use Update

Greenhouse Energy Use Update

2004 v 2018, Apples with Apples?

 

A 2018 report, for Tomatoes NZ and Vegetables NZ, has been prepared on Greenhouse Energy use by analysts from Agrilink.  The report is well written and the team at Agrilink need to be congratulated.  It is a great shame that only 56 growers responded to this survey compared to 355 back in 2004.  Unfortunately, for the team at Agrilink, they can only supply figures on the responses they receive.  There are a lot more than 56 greenhouse growers using some source of energy to heat their greenhouses currently. Possibly not 355, as there were back in 2004.  Two finding’s that caught my attention was energy consumption has increased by 5% but a 19% reduction of energy input per kilogram of standard tomatoes has occurred.

Personally I believe my energy use would have gone down per m2 dramatically from 2004 to 2015.  I was always high input when it came to energy.  In 2004 I would’ve been well above the average for energy use, and now I would be closer to the average in the 2018 report. During my most recent year of growing, in 2015, I had become more energy savvy (read my article last week on minimum and maximum pipes).  I used new ideas and techniques to enhance the use of the suns energy to manipulate the 24 hour temperature, rather than my boiler.  It is absolutely true in my mind that many growers have become much more efficient with energy use and its application. 

This report indicates a sharp rise in production per m2, I believe that is mostly to do with the improvement in the varieties and substrates, heating efficiency has an impact but mainly the variety has been the game changer if I am going to be honest. 

The report is about energy use and not cost per m2.  The cost of energy will contribute to how much energy a grower will use.   I was paying more for my energy per unit compared to a large operation.  It simply came down to scale.  That is one very large advantage that the bigger growing operations have over the smaller growers.  It was always interesting to know what the energy bill was at the end of each month and annually, let’s face it, that’s what I looked at first not unit usage.  My energy usage hardly wavered during the most recent three-year period I grew, I produced and earnt very similar amounts but my cost per m2 went from roughly $13.50 to $ 15.80 purely on the increase in energy cost. It would have been very easy to reduce my energy consumption further but there is a point this becomes detrimental to the productivity, then you suffer twice.   

In summation, and I have no figures to back this up, but I would suggest that a lot or most growers with heating capabilities have actually reduced energy consumption compared to 2004.  Energy is one of the larger expenses for growers and keeps rising, so I don’t think on average current growers, who were growing back in 2004, are using more energy per m2 today.  I wonder if there is a lot less non heated greenhouse respondents in the 2018 report compared to 2004 which would have brought down the average energy usage per m2 back then.  It shows the importance of everyone participating in such a report so the figures can be given more weight.  I like to think modern greenhouse growers are very responsible and more knowledgeable regarding energy efficiency, the numbers in the report are correct but because of the changing nature of the industry and the low respondents it poses more questions than answers.

I’m really interested to hear your views on this topic.

 

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Growerhttps://www.facebook.com/StefanGrower2grower/

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Greenhouse News

Organics in High Tech Greenhouses

Organics in High Tech Greenhouses

Could it work in NZ?

 

In 2007 I spent three months working in England, a great life and working experience for me.  Thanks to a familiar name in the industry, Andy Lee from Grodan, I was put in contact with Wight Salads who grew both conventional and organic greenhouse vegetables on the Isle of Wight.  I can honestly say the time I had on the Island was a game changer.  It is not until I reflect back I understand how important that period was for my personal development as a grower.  How they were growing was intriguing and quite different to what I was familiar with.

Twenty-four-hour temperatures and irrigation were similar, how they manipulated temperatures was different and one strategy, in particular, is something I still advocate with my consultancy. 

On arrival I had no idea what I would be introduced to, I thought I would be involved with tomatoes from the outset.  Instead I was given the responsibility of working in one of the older greenhouses.  This greenhouse, had just been planted with grafted eggplants and a small section of short green cucumbers.  This was a trial for one of the large supermarket chains.  I thought ok, great something different, lets do it, then when I actually entered the green house I realised quite quickly this was going to be very foreign to me!!  These weren’t just conventional grafted eggplants growing in substrate, they were grafted eggplants being grown in soil for organic production.  I felt out of my comfort zone.  At the time my perception, rightly or wrongly, was that organics was not sustainable.  However, I decided to get stuck in and give it a go. For the first two weeks I went about dropping strings and tying plants up, which in these old greenhouses was not fun.  The site, I was on, had 10 greenhouses, all but one of the other units were growing organic tomatoes, eight of those greenhouses were old structures with two modern greenhouses.

I had a fantastic manager, Ian, quickly we built a good relationship.  I was asked to start crop registration on the eggplants.  Eggplants are slow growing, so change each week is slow but never the less information collected would be the basis for future crops.  

Keeping up with the work load was manageable, so I began to do work in the other greenhouses.   I started to test for standard deviations in the irrigation across some of the greenhouses, collected soil samples, did crop registration in some of the tomato units and learnt how to complete workers peace rate reports.   There was never a dull moment.

It was the UK summer, and it was holiday season, Ian and one of the team leaders went on their summer break, so I was given the opportunity to oversee their roles.  As caretaker manager I was asked to attend a forecast production meeting. I would walk through each crop counting how many fruits I expected to be picked for the upcoming week and this would help the sales team.  It was very impressive the high level of accuracy each manager had developed for forecasting production.  Now that I had established myself each day became more and more interesting.

I was flown, by Wight Salads, to Portugal where they also had greenhouses growing organic tomatoes.  I attended meetings to discuss the project management structures for the proposed extension to be built.  I will never forget almost falling asleep in one of the meetings, I know it sounds bad but sitting in a room when it is 40 degrees outside trying to concentrate for 8 hours is actually quite tough.  I felt my eyes rolling in my head but at least I reminded them they would need crop wires 🙂 (Another story for another day but it was an extremely beneficial and memorable trip)

Growing organically in greenhouses used different techniques.  I was taught the importance of coring soil samples and carrying out manual moisture tests, basically you would squeeze the soil and if it crumbles in your hand it is too dry and if is too soft and squishy it was too wet.   Having this very basic information would help determine the wet and dry areas!  In a wet area, in one of the greenhouses the plant health had diminished, the irrigation was not reduced in time to reflect the issue. This caused the double whammy, unhealthy plants with wet feet.  If plants are not in good health and not transpiring correctly and irrigation is not reduced then a net increase in soil moisture content occurs causing more problems.  Plants were almost at the point of termination.  The solution, at that time, was to open up the plastic that covered the beds, lay the stems directly on top of the soil, then cover the stems with a homebrew of organic mulch.  The objective was to promote new root growth from the stems into the ground.  The trick was you had to manually water the mulch until roots had started to grow out of the stems. 

Prevention of disease was a key focus for Wight Salads, there were vigorous hygiene protocols.  One greenhouse was infected with Pepino Mosaic Virus, so when entering or leaving that greenhouse, full protective clothing (paper overalls, gloves and shoe covers) was required.  All greenhouses were fitted with hand gels, footbaths and changing facilities.

Pest’s such as leafminer and whitefly were a constant issue, but the UK and Europe do have the luxury of a large range of beneficial insects, we are not allowed to control insect pests with here in New Zealand, giving them a substantial advantage and adequate control!

Wight Salads did a great job growing and producing very acceptable quantities of organic produce compared to conventional growing. Yes, it did surprise me how successful it was.  I learnt so much in a short time and will forever be thankful for my time at Wight Salads.

Could growing organically here in New Zealand work with high tech commercial greenhouses?  Growing organically in greenhouses, or using the principals involved is not to be sniffed at.  It seems most other countries have access to a broad range of beneficial insects but we are very limited.  Until this issue in particular is resolved it would be very risky for large scale investment into high tech organic greenhouse production.  I would like to recommend it but unfortunately my gut feel is the chance of success compared to conventional methods is currently not worth the risk.  But never say never!

 

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/StefanGrower2grower/

Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Categories
Greenhouse News

Blight is Back, React and Prevent

Blight is Back, React and Prevent

 

Blight identified in a tomato crop

 

Be on the lookout for Blight.  A crop of tomatoes in the Pukekohe area had what I could determine was Late Blight.  It was a quick fix with a common known fungicide.   The Blight was first sighted underneath a gutter row, a common place for the start of many funguses.  The trick with Late Blight is to react immediately, its not named ‘plant destroyer’ for no reason. 

The weather is still warm and there has been no shortage of rain in the past few weeks.  Perfect conditions for Blight.  This, along with windy conditions, mean the spores can travel far and wide!   Unfortunately, unless you have used a preventative, then it will just be a matter of good fortune if you don’t get Early or Late Blight, (especially in or around Pukekohe).  Early Blight is not as destructive as Late Blight but never the less you need to be vigilant.

Prevention is key but that doesn’t help once you have Late Blight, especially seeing how it can severely affect your crop in less than 48 hours.  You can have the best hygiene in the world but if your vents are open nothing will prevent spores from entering your greenhouse.  However, good hygiene practices are extremely important.

Unfortunately, it is hard to pinpoint what products you can use that are biological or organic to eradicate Late Blight once you have it. Copper products could control or slow down Late Blight epidemics but full coverage of the plants is required.  The Phytophthora infestans sporulates can survive on top of or underneath leaf surfaces.  Is there a way of protecting your crops with biological products?  

There are conventional preventive fungicides available, as long as you can use these products, and not exceed MRL’s (maximum residue levels), then I would recommend using them until we have better understanding and availability of biological products.   Personally, biological is the direction I hope we are able to take as an industry.  However, we must not dismiss chemicals and need to make sure they are our safety net, especially if biological products can not quite keep funguses like Late Blight in check.   I am concerned that there might come a day the chemical fungicides will not work as well, so using biological in conjunction with chemicals could extend the life of certain chemicals we currently rely upon.  It is a discussion I would like to have with growers and receive their thoughts.  

 

I would really like to hear the feedback from growers on this subject.

 

Photo of what I predict is Late Blight,  The speed at which the Late Blight spreads is astounding. 

 

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/StefanGrower2grower/

Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower