8 Greenhouse Tech Updates You Can Learn More About
September 27, 2019 
The 2019 Canadian Greenhouse Conference, which takes place Oct. 9-10 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, features a wide range of educational sessions for attendees. Many of these presentations will be focused on the latest developments in greenhouse technology.
Here’s a closer look at what you can expect. Click here to learn more or to register for the event.
Latest Developments in Lighting Greenhouse Vegetables
In this presentation, Dr. Xiuming Hao of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada will discuss a newly discovered strategy which allows for injury-free production of greenhouse tomatoes with continuous lighting. Hao will also discuss proper climate control and crop management strategies under various light sources and the development a year-round greenhouse pepper production system that has achieved very high yield.
Irrigation Strategies in Relation to Light
This presentation outlines current thought processes and practical examples when it comes to structuring your irrigation strategy relative to light, and how Grodan is taking the first pragmatic steps towards data driven steering of WC and EC in the root zone with its e-Gro platform.
How to Use Daily Light Intervals
Daily light intervals (DLI) are a very useful measurement that will help you to manage light in your greenhouses. Many plant growth, yield, and flowering responses are tightly linked with the DLI delivered to the greenhouse crop. Knowing your DLI allows you to provide supplemental lighting when it will be most effective and not use it when it is less useful (and more costly). Similarly, shading during the summer can be more strategically utilized when the DLI is known. This session will explain the concept of DLI, how to measure it, and how to interpret your measurements in order to adjust your light management strategy to optimize plant growth and productivity.
A New Landscape for Innovation
Growers today face many challenges. We also have a special mission: to serve the most discriminating consumers in history, with a dwindling labor pool and ever-decreasing margins. How on earth will we do it? With technology. Jim Sulecki of Meister Media Worldwide (publisher of Greenhouse Grower magazine) will offer a quick look at the innovations that are most posed to transform your operation.
Balancing Act: Prioritizing your Automation Investments
How do we reinvest our hard-earned dollars in the right way to assure best ROI? Stan Vander Waal shares lessons learned at Rainbow Greenhouses in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Greenhouses: Opportunities and Challenges
Kenneth Tran of Microsoft Research discusses promising applications of AI in the greenhouse and subsequent challenges.
Preparing for AI: Data Collection and Management
Data collection practices vary among farms, and even among data sources. From pens and clipboards in the hands of scouts, climate computers and historical yield data, to computer vision systems on packing lines, data is generated everywhere, on farms of all sizes and levels of technology. There are many factors affecting the efficient and meaningful management of this continually growing pool of information. Before it can be put to use, it must first be prepared for meaningful and accurate interpretation, whether that interpretation is carried out by a computer or the grower.
Plant-Centered Greenhouse Climate
Don’t heat your greenhouses to maintain a given temperature; heat your greenhouse with the aim to supply sufficient energy to the plant. Lack of plant-available energy reduces the quality of our crops, and it can even lead plants to experience the floral equivalent of a heart attack. Managing the supply of energy to plants is not as simple as adjusting a thermostat. Instead, it requires a plant centered perspective of greenhouse climate. This presentation by Albert Grimm of Jeffery’s Greenhouses offers pointers to some of the key elements, which allow growers to improve the health of crops and manage the development of greenhouse plants.
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