The vertical farming industry is currently geared towards producing leafy green vegetables, but why? From what makes the most sense financially to the characteristics of leafy green vegetables themselves, there are a few good reasons why lettuces, herbs, and the like are the gold standard for hydroponic crops.
Ultimately, these crops are usually fast and easy to grow at reliable volumes while giving you the most return on investment.
For your customers, locally grown greens are superior to imported ones because leafy greens don’t keep well. You’ve seen wilted leaves on grocery store shelves, right? Or even in your fridge when you forget to make that salad.
A shorter supply chain (made possible by localized production) is more noticeable in crops like leafy greens compared to other crops like root vegetables. We hear it all the time from growers - their customers marvel at how long their Growcer-grown produce lasts and praise its superior shelf life.
Even within leafy greens, Growcer’s R&D team has preferences on which varieties we like to grow because of how our Osiris farm is set up. Yes - small differences can make a big impact.
The What
Since October 2020, R&D investigated a wide range of crops in the leafy greens category to see what grows best in Growcer’s Osiris farm.
It’s important for us to study yields using our particular farm setup because not all modular farms are the same. Some farms are built in containers, and some farms use different types of hydroponic growing methods.
By growing plants in a replica of one of our customer’s farms, we can better assure you of the quality and yields you can expect on your own farm.
Read the complete article at thegrowcer.ca