Pest and disease
management
Baras said his move from Florida to Colorado required a change
in the way he produced greenhouse vegetable crops.
“In Florida there were no issues with powdery mildew on
lettuce,” he said. “Tomatoes were the crop more likely to have
problems with powdery mildew. In Colorado powdery mildew
is the major disease that we are dealing with so we have to be
really diligent. Sixty percent of what we produce is bibb lettuce.
It is susceptible to powdery mildew so it needs constant attention.
We use organic controls so applications have to be made when
the disease symptoms show up.
As The GrowHaus has added new customers, Baras has been
able to expand the product mix to include crops such as kale and
Swiss chard that are more resistant to or not susceptible to powdery
mildew.
“Diversifying our customer base that will buy a larger assortment
of crops will definitely help in reducing our pest and disease
issues,” he said. “We have one customer, 25 Farms, that makes
up food boxes and wants a variety of items, not just bibb lettuce.”
The GrowHaus has expanded its product
offerings to include a variety of crops, but
lettuce still makes up 60 percent of its total
production.
One problem that Baras left in Florida is insect control issues.
“Insects were a much bigger problem in Florida, primarily
whiteflies and aphids,” he said. “We do encounter aphids here,
but they are a much smaller concern.”
Adjusting to a
different production
system
When Baras was growing in Florida he was using an American
Hydroponics and Crop King nutrient film technique (NFT)
hydroponic system. The production system he is using at The
GrowHaus is a New Growing System (NGS) that was developed
in Spain. Baras said the NGS system is not commonly used
in the United States and is installed primarily in high tunnels
and not greenhouses. He said the NGS system was designed
to allow farmers to grow various crops. Tomatoes, cucumbers,
strawberries and lettuce can all be grown in the same base system
using different size plastic film channels.
Unlike an NFT system in which the water is constantly running,
the water in the NGS system is pulsed into the channels. Plants
in a NGS system are watered every 10 to 30 minutes for between
20 seconds to 1 minute.
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