Cultivate’17 Sessions to Focus on Greenhouse Edibles
This year AmericanHort’s Cultivate’17 aims to answer greenhouse growers’ questions on growing greenhouse edibles with several different focused educational sessions. 
Cultivate’17 will take place July 15-18, in Columbus Ohio.
Here’s what is on the menu for growing edibles:
Growing Practices for Safe Edibles — John Erwin: Edible plants are increasingly part of the product mix of nearly every greenhouse and ornamental crop producer. How you grow those crops must be different than non-edible ornamental crops. Erwin will go over how media choices, fertilization, greenhouse temperature and lighting, and pest and disease management differ when growing edible crops — and why those differences matter.
Containerized Herb Production: Research & Application — Christopher Currey and Lloyd Traven: Culinary herbs continue to increase in popularity among consumers and producers alike. Whether you’re looking to get started with containerized herbs or are looking to improve your current production, Currey and Traven will be sharing extensive knowledge for best practices — from the research and production side of the bench. Get tips, tricks, and key knowledge on everything from propagation to marketing.
Vertical Farming Coming to a City Near You? — Henry Gordon Smith: With a rapid increase in the number of vertical farming operations worldwide, it seems like this might be a viable market to get into. Learn what all the hype is about, technical examples of different vertical farming systems, potential business models, and key factors in success and failure. Also participate in a discussion on why vertical farming might not be the next mainstream agricultural innovation that some claim it to be.
LED Lighting for Fruits, Flowers, and More — Douglas Marlow, John Bonner, Kathleen Baughman and Phil Tiemstra: Cut through the clutter and decipher fact from fiction. A panel of your peers — four growers doing what you do every day with the same goal of efficiency and profitability — will share information about growing under LEDs. Representing a variety of crops including ornamental, high-wire vegetable, herbs, lettuce, and leafy greens, the growers will discuss what they learned from their experiences with LEDs. Walk away from the session with practical information and an understanding of things to consider as you move towards adoption of LED technology for your greenhouse operation.
Edible Ornamentals: A Look at Production Techniques — John Erwin: We are growing edible ornamental crops for sale individually but also in combination with flowering ornamentals. Scarlet kale, rainbow chard, tricolor sage, and purple basil, for example, are increasingly part of our product mixes. How do we grow these with ornamentals? When should we grow them separately, and when do we grow them together? Can we use the same fertilizers and pesticides? Are there growth regulators that we can use on both? John will answer these questions and more.
In addition to insightful, implementable ideas found in the 100+ professional development sessions, greenhouse growers can explore hundreds of vendors who offer pest management products, energy solutions, greenhouse environmental controls, soil and soil amendments, and more.
New Cultivate’17 vendors who are eager to debut greenhouse products and services include: Barone Gardens LLC, Forcefield,Kamps Greenhouses Inc., Mabre, Normist, OSRAM, Richel Group, Sawyer Nursery, Shandong Glass Technology Industrial Co Ltd, and Tidwell Nurseries Inc.
Greenhouse growers and staff can begin exploring the plentiful opportunities at Cultivate17.org/Greenhouse and register at Cultivate17.org/Reg.
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