CIFT News

CIFT Hosts Enhanced Food Production Systems Seminar

Hoop House-Hydroponics 2

On February 25, 2008, CIFT hosted a seminar at its Toledo, Ohio headquarters on two enhanced food production systems, hoop houses and vertical hydroponic gardening. The featured speakers were Adam Montri of Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS), a non-profit organization promoting sustainable agriculture initiatives and Jerry Dicus of Earth Safe Hydroculture, a company specializing in hydroponic gardening systems and supplies.

Hoop House-Hydroponics 1

Adam Montri discussing hoop house design, construction and operation.

Adam Montri discussed his experiences operating hoop houses. Hoop houses are arched enclosures usually covered with a light transmitting plastic film. The are placed over the planting area to provide a controlled environment and an extended growing season, as well as, protection and enhance plant growth. Unlike greenhouses, hoop houses require very little energy usage as they use sunlight to maintain acceptable growing temperatures within the structure. Hoop house operation makes it possible to cultivate certain crops well beyond the customary growing seasons experienced in northern climates such as Northwestern Ohio.

Adam Montri's presentation included a discussion of the design, construction, and operation of hoop houses running at MIFFS. He provided insights into the types of material used in hoop house construction, the costs involved and the selection of plants suitable for hoop house cultivation throughout our four seasons.

Hoop House-Hydroponics 3

Jerry Dicus discussing advantages of vertical hydroponic gardening

Jerry Dicus discussed the benefits and advantages of growing plants using the Vertigro System, a vertical hydroponic system that uses growing space more efficiently by stacking growing pots and utilizing a gravity-fed plant nutrient delivery system. This arrangement can produce as much as an eight-to-one increase in yield over the same amount of space used in a conventional field. This makes it possible to cost-effectively large amounts of produce in small areas such as vacant city lots and unused parking lots or any growing area where space is at a premium.

Mr. Dicus discussed design and system layout considerations along with choice of container materials, growing medium, nutrient delivery system details, product costs, plant suitability and potential crop yields. He demonstrated the system using an full-sized five pot stacked system that he constructed onsite before the seminar commenced.

Please view the event video...

Video CameraHoop Houses - Mr. Adam Montri, Michigan Food & Farming Systems (MIFFS) discusses Hoop house design, construction and operation. (38 minutes)

Video CameraVertical Hydroponics - Mr. Jerry Dicus of Earth Safe Hydroculture discusses vertical hydroponics technology. (22 minutes)

For more information on hoop houses...

For more information on the Vertigro System and hydroponics ...

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