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How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week

To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process”

Bowery Farming uses technology to prioritize accessibility and sustainability in their produce growing operations

To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process” says chief science officer Henry Sztul. “Our goal is actually to have as few people walking around our plants as possible.”

Bowery Farming is a network of vertical farms working to reengineer the growing process. Using a system of light and watering technology, Bowery is able to use 95 percent less water than a traditional outdoor farm, zero pesticides and chemicals, and grow food that tastes as good as anyone else’s. 

Bowery Farming uses vertical farm-specific seeds that are optimized for flavor instead of insect resistance and durability. Seeds are mechanically pressed into trays of soil, and sent out into growing positions, or racks within the building that have their own lighting and watering systems. Each tray gets its own QR code so that they can be monitored and assigned a customized plan for water and light until they’re ready to be harvested.

Irving Fain, Bowery Farming’s founder and CEO contemplates the prediction from the United Nations that 70 to 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in and around cities in the next 30 years. “Figuring out ‘how do you feed and how do you provide fresh food to urban environments both more efficiently as well as more sustainably?’ is a very important question today, and an even more important question in the years to come.”

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A New Tool Can Help Tell The Story Behind Your Plants

The site offers information about the UF/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ (UF/IFAS) Plant Breeding program, which includes ornamentals, fresh produce, and more

Posted by Brian Sparks

August 23, 2020

There’s a story behind every plant consumers might find in a garden center or on a supermarket shelf. Now, a new website developed by plant breeders at the University of Florida (UF) is helping to tell that story.

The site offers information about the UF/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ (UF/IFAS) Plant Breeding program, which includes ornamentals, fresh produce, and more.

“The overall goal of the website is to provide a comprehensive information hub for plant breeding at UF/IFAS,” says Vance Whitaker, Associate Professor at UF/IFAS and Chair of the UF/IFAS Plant Breeders Working Group. Whitaker has bred new strawberry varieties from the fields and labs at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) in Balm, FL.

“This includes information on our new interdepartmental graduate degree program, which will go online in fall 2021, plant-breeding research from faculty who genetically improve more than 50 plant species, and the real-world impact of the plant varieties we develop.”

When it comes to ornamentals, home and property owners often enhance their landscapes with the beautiful lantana. However, some of the plant’s varieties may escape yards, spread to areas where they shouldn’t go, and cross-pollinate Florida’s native lantana.

That’s why, in 2004, the head of the Tampa Bay Wholesale Growers Association asked UF/IFAS plant scientist Zhanao Deng if he could breed sterile, non-invasive lantana plants.

In response, Deng has developed three varieties that satisfy nursery managers, retailers, and consumers. ‘Bloomify Red’, ‘Bloomify Rose’, and ‘Luscious Red Zone Royale’ don’t produce fruit and seeds, don’t spread, and don’t cross-pollinate Florida’s native lantana, Lantana depressa, says Deng, a Professor of Environmental Horticulture at the UF/IFAS GCREC.

“Growers, landscapers, and gardeners like these sterile lantana varieties,” Deng says. “They have become a desirable replacement of the fertile, invasive types. More varieties with these characteristics are being developed.”

Source and Photo Courtesy of Greenhouse Grower

Brian D. Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and GreenhouseGrower.com. See all author stories here.

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