Rising energy and production costs in commercial greenhouses means that more than ever, growers need to do all they can to operate more efficiently. One way growers are doing this is by installing energy curtain systems in their greenhouses.
It’s always exciting when the warmer weather arrives but it’s also an incredibly hectic time for commercial greenhouse growers. Here are five ways to prepare for spring that will help to make your busy season run more smoothly.
Horizontal Air Flow (HAF) fans and their sisters (HVF) High Velocity Fans are essential parts of a greenhouse heating and cooling system. HAF Fans and HVF Fans are also known as circulating fans.
Structure maintenance and planning involves more than just new construction projects and a focus on expansion. Often the best dollar value for a grower is in retrofitting and modernizing existing greenhouse structures.
Here is a list of potential solutions to common problems that greenhouse growers can resolve by improving existing structures:
With so much business being done online, it’s important to make your presence known to customers through strategic digital marketing techniques. Try these tips for making the most out of your digital marketing:
1. Online promotion of Your Garden Center
Choosing the right bench for your crop if vital to plant quality and further reducing labor costs. GGS has been designing, improving, manufacturing, and building quality benches for growers for over 35 years. Here are a few options:
During every busy shipping season you invariably run into issues that would have been eliminated had a little spring cleaning taken place. The spring cleaning referred to here encompasses more than just a “cleaning” perspective, it also involves planning ahead and taking care of business concerns so they don’t interfere with the busy season.
Although we have generally experienced a milder winter so far, in the new year we can expect the weather to turn much colder and field crop farmers are likely to be looking for solutions to help protect their yields.
High Tunnels like the GGS Crop Protector are used by growers for this very reason. Though not a load bearing house ( ie. It is not designed to hold snow or support a crop ), these crop protectors are designed to cover crops in shoulder seasons when frost damage can dramatically affect a farmer’s bottom line.
There is a current trend that has caused more and more commercial greenhouse growers to switch their oil and propane powered boilers to biomass systems. The factors that are leading to such changes are simple: in areas where natural gas is not accessible, the options of oil, propane or electricity to heat a commercial greenhouse are becoming far too expensive, in some cases there is a biomass supply close to the greenhouse location, and there has been growing government incentive toward sustainability.
The holiday season is just around the corner. If you operate a retail garden center/nursery, this is a great opportunity to get shoppers in the spirit by coming up with a creative Christmas display. Here are some examples of past garden center displays we’ve come across.