These little chefs are making a big difference.
Hort Americas is excited to see our GrowRacks being put to such good use. We are proud to have community partners like the Green Bronx Machine.
Continue reading Green Bronx Machine making a difference in young students
The Organic Produce Network and Nielsen report sales of organic fresh produce items approached $5 billion in 2017, an 8 percent increase from the previous year. Nearly 2 billion pounds of organic produce were sold in grocery stores last year, which is a 10 percent volume increase from 2016.
At U.S. retail stores, sales of organic fresh vegetables were $2.4 billion. Organic fresh fruit sales exceeded $1.6 billion. Sales of nearly $1 billion in organic value-added produce items brought total sales to $4.8 billion in 2017.
In 2017 organic packaged salad was again the leading organic fresh produce item, approaching $1 billion in sales. Packaged salad still accounts for one in five organic dollars.
Topping the sales in organic fruit were berry crops, which saw a 22 percent increase in volume sales. Organic berry sales, which include strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, topped $586 million in 2017.
http://www.organicproducenetwork.com/article/384/nielsen-and-opn-announce-organic-fresh-produce-retail-sales-reach-nearly-5-billion-in-2017
High temperatures and high light levels, especially during the summer can have negative effects on ornamental and vegetable crops produced in protected structures, including greenhouses. An economical way for growers to reduce light and temperature levels is by applying shading products to greenhouse glazing materials.
Continue reading What are the benefits of applying greenhouse shading products?
USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has released its Request for Applications (RFA) for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). OREI grants provide crucial support to the organic industry by funding research, education, and extension projects to improve and advance organic agriculture.
A total of $17.6 million is expected to be available for projects designated in OREI’s eight legislatively defined purposes (including the biological, physical and social sciences) in fiscal year (FY) 2018. All applications for consideration are to be submitted by March 1, 2018.
NIFA has identified nine priority areas for FY 2018, including a new priority focused specifically on policy. This new priority area is intended for projects that “identify marketing, policy, and other socioeconomic barriers to the expansion of organic agriculture in the United States and develop strategies to address them. Lobbying and advocacy activities do not fit under this priority.”
Continue reading What’s the future of conventional agriculture? Does it include vertical farming?
Continue reading Dissolved oxygen improves plant growth, reduces crop time
Hort Americas is excited to announce that it has been appointed the exclusive distributor of the Moleaer Inc. nanoBoost Nanobubble Generator. The generator delivers a supplementary source of dissolved oxygen that can significantly increase plant growth, improve size uniformity, reduce stress and prevent root diseases under extreme production conditions. It is ideally suited for horticultural applications including hydroponics, greenhouse irrigation and pond management.
Continue reading Nanobubbler generator delivers dissolved oxygen for improved plant growth
New York City Council has passed legislation that requires the Department of City Planning to develop a comprehensive urban agriculture plan that addresses land use policy and other issues to promote the expansion of urban agriculture in the city. The department would be required to deliver this plan to the mayor and the speaker of the council by July 1, 2018.
Continue reading New York City Council passes urban agriculture bill
PRESS RELEASE – LOS ANGELES
Moleaer Inc., the leading manufacturer of industrial scale nanobubble generators, expands its innovative product line with the new nanoBoost Nanobubble Generator, ideally suited for applications such as hydroponics, pond management, and irrigation.
Continue reading What are the optimum nutrient levels for hydroponic edible crops?
Continue reading Hort Americas attends 2017 Philly Indoor-Ag Con
Continue reading Breeding crops for controlled environment production
By Kyle Barnett
The AVF Summit in Washington D.C was a great event to get a very eclectic group of people together that all want the same thing: to feed people and grow food sustainably as we move into a future that is rapidly growing and urbanizing.
Continue reading GLASE consortium aims to improve greenhouse energy efficiency
Most growers using traditional hydroponic substrates transplant lettuce and leafy greens seedlings as soon as the roots reach the bottom of the plugs. This usually takes from seven to 10 days.
Continue reading The impact of transplanting times, light exposure on hydroponic crop production
By Victor Loaiza, on behalf of Hort Americas
Continue reading Nutrient guidelines for hydroponic tomato production
Hort Americas is now offering OSRAM’s ZELION HL300 series of horticultural LED fixtures including controls and accessories. One of main advantages of the fixtures is they are controllable allowing users to adjust both the light intensity (light quantity) and the spectrum (light quality).
Continue reading Hort Americas offers OSRAM horticultural LED lights
Many growers of ornamental plants including annuals and perennials traditionally use a peat-based substrate such as 70 percent peat, 30 percent perlite. The growers, who produce these crops in containers, will often use the same substrates if they expand their crop offerings to include hydroponically-grown edible crops, including lettuces and leafy greens.
Bell peppers grown in greenhouse hydroponic systems follow similar environmental requirements as tomatoes and eggplants. It is a common production practice to leave all the leaves on the pepper plants. This creates very tall walls of foliage that slightly affect the plants’ nutritional requirements.
Continue reading Nutrient recipe for hydroponic greenhouse bell peppers
Continue reading Are you maintaining the proper oxygen levels in your hydroponic production system?
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