Vertical farming is all about how high you can go, how you can repurpose the space you have in ways you never thought possible before.

But what sometimes gets lost in these conversations about vertical farming is the horizontal. To take advantage of all that high-density mobile grow rack systems like Montel’s GROW&ROLL have to offer, to truly maximize your space and your yield, always remember that it’s just as much about growing out as it is about growing up. 

Whether you’re cultivating leafy greens, herbs, mushrooms, or cannabis, both the vertical and horizontal axes must work together to optimize space in grow rooms and reliably produce the healthiest crops month after month, year after year.

WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT VERTICAL FARMING

We’ve spoken a lot about how multi-tier vertical farming benefits indoor growers, but it never hurts to go over the basics.

 First and foremost, vertical farming capitalizes on the space you have, not the space you wish you had. Growing two, three, four times more plants without an inch of additional space is only limited by your imagination. 

Montel’s mobile vertical farming racks can outfit your grow op with ventilation, lighting, and watering systems built right into each mobile carriage—no wasted power or resources, no plants missing out on what they need to thrive. And because of its collapsible design, mobile racking for indoor farms lower the risk of unauthorized handling, chemical contamination, or spreading disease.

HERE’S WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT HORIZONTAL FARMING

We’ll take vertical farming out of the picture for a moment—how does horizontal farming contribute to the goals of high-density mobile racking for indoor grow ops?

 Let’s look at rolling benches, another popular mobile racking option for indoor farmers. Traditional rolling benches leave about seven inches between each bench, enough room to slip a hand between to shift one bench open. Sure, that’s lost space, but it isn’t that much, right?

Actually, when the goal is to maximize canopy yield with only the space you have, it absolutely is.

Montel’s mobile benches were designed with special handles that don’t require the gap between benches. The result of this small change? You can fit sixteen Montel benches in the space needed for fourteen traditional benches. That’s two more benches of plants, two more benches of crop, and two more benches of profit. 

Even when the conversation in agriculture focuses on the vertical in vertical farming, Montel always remembers the horizontal.