While roaming the aisles at this year’s Cultivate’21 in Columbus, Ohio, I found a couple of cool new products for CEA growers. But, first, a few thoughts about the trade show—it was well-attended considering the travel restrictions still in place for Europe and Canada. Attendees had money in their pockets and were ready to spend it, based on some of the conversations I had with exhibitors. And the supply chain is still fairly jacked (in technical terms) and depending on what the product is, delays could continue through early next year. Now, for the new products.

MycoApply EndoThrive from Mycorrhizal Applications is a new concentrated liquid formulation that contains multiple types of endomycorrhizae in a non-aqueous liquid carrier. That means it can be pushed through drip tape, emitters and even mixed into fertilizer stock tanks. According to Sales Manager Blair Busenbark, the carrier protects the mycorrhizae so they're not damaged during the distribution process. He adds that if it’s being used in hydroponic growing, the mycorrhizae need sufficient oxygen.

Just as a refresher, mycorrhizae colonize the root system of many plants, branching out to bring more nutrients and water to the plant (CLICK HERE for more on how it works). This product comes in a 1-pint container that equals 200 gallons of drench in a greenhouse or application on 80 acres of turf.

Green-Tek, a greenhouse coverings and equipment provider in the U.S., is supporting Israeli company TapKit’s entry into the U.S. market to provide a turnkey solution for hydroponic leafy greens growing. The parent company, Teshuva Agricultural Projects, has been providing large-scale hydroponic systems to growers in Latin America and Southeast Asia, and in the last three year’s they created the TapKit subsidiary to produce 5,000 sq. ft. for commercial systems.

The kit includes the poly greenhouse, the NFT system, irrigation and fertilization system, packing tables, refrigerators and other equipment necessary to begin production. The company also has an app, says CEO Avner Shohet, which guides new growers through the whole process, and includes troubleshooting FAQs. The model is designed to grow leafy greens, microgreens and herbs, and Avner says growers can produce up to 125,000 heads of lettuce or 250,000 herbs or a combination of both with the 5,000 sq. ft. system.

CEO Avner Shohet with the TapKit system at Cultivate’21.

I stopped by the Hydrofarm booth and they filled me in on the new Phantom PhotoBio LED lights they're carrying that have been introduced within the last year, and the VP model, which was just rolled out last month.

The PhotoBio VP is specifically designed for vertical farming and is a modular, high-efficiency LED system. The modular design allows growers to link and power multiple fixtures from a single power input. These are ideal for vertical farming and propagation.

 
The Phantom PhotoBio VP vertical farm LED lights showcased by distributor Hydrofarm at Cultivate’21.

Other options in the PhotoBio lineup are the PhotoBio T toplight for greenhouse and indoor applications; PhotoBio MX with ultra-wide bars to deliver high light levels while allowing air circulation; and PhotoBio TX with a slim design to minimize sun interference in greenhouses.

It happens rarely, but it still happens: CEA leafy greens grower BrightFarms issued a voluntary recall of leafy greens from its Rochelle, Illinois, growing operation on July 15 due to the potential for salmonella contamination.

According to information on the FDA website: “Interview data and shopper card records show that six people ate or bought multiple types of BrightFarms brand salad products before they got sick. FDA conducted a traceback investigation and identified the farm in Rochelle, Illinois, as the likely source of the BrightFarms brand salad bought by people who became ill.”

 
Sunny Crunch from the Rochelle, Illinois, greenhouse was one of nine products voluntarily recalled by BrightFarms. 

The recall includes nine types of packaged leafy greens purchased from multiple retailers in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana. Additional retailers may be affected, and consumers are being encouraged to discard or return the affected products. The recall only affects the listed products grown at the Rochelle location, not any of BrightFarms’ other growing facilities and not other products grown at Rochelle.

In what I think is a wise move, BrightFarms has been transparent on the website about the recall, and includes an FAQ for consumers about it. You can find that HERE.

I have two webinars to put on your radar—one that’s coming up super fast and the other that’s next week.

The first is one yours truly is hosting, with my retailer cap on, for the Green Profit side of the biz. My expert guests are Sam Kirkland of Epicor and Petitti Garden Centers President AJ Petitti talking about “Inventory Management in 2021.”

This wide-ranging webinar will cover the last half of 2021 and how retailers are using that newly found cash flow from excellent sales in 2020 and 2021, as well as forecasting for 2022. Whether you’re a grower, retailer or allied trade, you won’t want to miss what they’re talking about. And just for the record, AJ successfully predicted their company’s growth from last year to this year, so he’s one to listen to.

The webinar is tomorrow, Thursday, July 22, starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern/Noon Central. Register for this FREE event at www.growertalks.com/webinars.

The second is hosted by the GLASE consortium and features Dr. Murat Kacira, director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) at the University of Arizona, presenting “Optimizing Resource Use Efficiency in CEA Systems.” Murat will highlight real-time sensing, monitoring and climate control strategies to increase resource efficiency in CEA systems. The event kicks off at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Thursday, July 29. CLICK HERE to register.

From my colleague Jen Zurko at GrowerTalks, who runs our D.C./legislative beat:

Registration is now open to attend AmericanHort’s 2021 Impact Washington Summit, being held September 20-22 in Washington, D.C. The summit will feature a program of subject matter experts, Congressional champions for the industry, and meetings with lawmakers to discuss important issues impacting the green industry and participants’ own business.

 
Be in the room where it happens this September!

Delivering this year’s keynote is Bob Worsley, former Republican State Senator (AZ), entrepreneur, innovator and author who’ll deliver remarks on the challenges of the current political divide and how it affects efforts for comprehensive immigration reform.

For more information and to register, go to americanhort.org/impact-washington-summit or contact hello@americanhort.org or (614) 487-1117.

Profile Products, the people who brought you HydraFiber, has teamed up with coir producer FibreDust to bring you a new pre-blended mix that combines coir and engineered fibers into one ready-to-use block. The FibreDust HydraFiber Block provides 80 cu. ft. of compressed material per pallet.

“This sustainable combination of coir and HydraFiber in one product will be a game changer for growers and blenders by eliminating the challenge of trying to separately source and blend the materials onsite,” said Jennifer Neujahr, director of business development for HydraFiber. “Growers will be able to easily reap the benefits of both raw materials in a convenient, all-in-one, high-yield product.”

Other benefits include:

• An EC that’s half of conventional coir
• 65% lower potassium than 100% coir
• One-third of the sodium in 100% coir
• Lower salt content compared to 100% coir

The blocks arrive compressed and can be used as stand-alone material or mixed into other substrates. CLICK HERE to find out more.

If you stopped by the GrowerTalks/Green Profit booth at Cultivate’21, you may have seen them in person: the new, 19^th Edition of the Ball RedBook!

They've officially arrived and are available for purchase through IPG Books at www.ballredbook.com.

Haven’t heard of the RedBook? It’s the horticulture industry’s oldest continuously published reference book, first published by Ball Horticultural founder George J. Ball, in 1932. The editions have grown in size and scope for each new iteration, and now there are two volumes. This edition’s editors worked with 96 industry experts in academia, breeding, crop production and equipment manufacturing, each of whom lent their many years of experience to the project.

What’s in the RedBooks? “Volume 1: Greenhouse Structures, Equipment, and Technology” includes the most detailed, current technology and crop production information available, adding robotics, controlled-environment agriculture, LED lighting, cannabis greenhouses and artificial intelligence to the already vast collection of topics.

“Volume 2: Crop Culture and Production” has expanded to include more than 200 crops, as well as all of the factors of plant growth needed to understand the technical and cultural aspect of plant production. Some of what’s new includes new hybrid geraniums and begonias, Sunfinity-type helianthus and an expanded section on SunPatiens. There’s also a detailed, all-inclusive section on hemp/cannabis.

You can order a single volume or the two-volume set.