You have reached your limit of 5 free stories. A story preview is shown instead.
To view more stories
(If your subscription is current,
click here to Login or Register.)
Garden Towers Boost Production 800 Percent
You can raise two acres of plants on just a quarter acre of land with new Verti-Gro garden towers. The hydroponics tower system was designed for greenhouse and pick-your-own operators who wanted to do more in a limited area. Now homeowners can get the same benefits.
"We have about 100 commercial growers using th
..........
You must sign in, subscribe or renew to see the page.
You must sign in, subscribe or renew to see the flip-book
Garden Towers Boost Production 800 Percent FARM HOME Food 27-3-20 You can raise two acres of plants on just a quarter acre of land with new Verti-Gro garden towers. The hydroponics tower system was designed for greenhouse and pick-your-own operators who wanted to do more in a limited area. Now homeowners can get the same benefits.
"We have about 100 commercial growers using this system," reports Tim Carpenter, the brain behind Verti-Gro. "About half are out-of-doors. They can grow 30,000 plants in 1,200 pots stacked 4 to 5 high, all on a quarter acre."
Carpenter claims that plants produce faster, too. Strawberries will bear fruit in six weeks in the spring and eight in the fall.
The Verti-Gro kits consist of stackable pots, a swivel plate, premixed growing media, a 4 to 6-month supply of fertilizer, a pump, timer and drip irrigation system, and detailed instructions. Larger systems require a nutrient reservoir. Kits don't include the low-cost electrical conduit pipe used to support the stacks off the ground. Carpenter notes that it would cost more to ship than purchased off the shelf.
"The indoor unit takes about 10 minutes to set up, and the outdoor unit about an hour," says Carpenter.
The supplied growing media is perlite and vermiculite. He reports that organic growers often substitute a perlite and compost mix. With hydroponics, the organic producer doesn't have to wait to get fields certified. All that is needed are organic inputs.
Kits range from a single stack for $159.95 to $499.95 for a four-stack kit. Components are also sold separately. Tomato towers are higher and only two pots per stack, as the tomatoes hang down rather than growing up.
"Peppers do phenomenally well," says Carpenter. "Tomatoes just keep producing if they are trimmed. We would expect 20 to 30-lbs. per plant from two plants per pot."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tim Carpenter, Verti-Gro, Inc., 15000 S.E. U.S. Hwy 441, Summerfield, Fla. 34491 (ph 800 955-6757; fax 352 347-9877; email: info@vertigro.com; website: www.vertigro.com).
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click
here to register with your account number.
