How We Grow
Our high-tech facility allows us to grow 2.5 acres of food an a small footprint, and do it in a sustainable way with minimal impact on the environment.
Hydroponics is the process of placing a plant’s roots in a nutrient rich solution rather than soil.
Growing food in a hydroponic farm and using cutting edge technology to control climate and lighting allows us to change how we engage with food cultivation. This technological advance frees us from relying on the land beneath our feet and allows us to grow our food any time, anywhere.
Unlike traditional farms, we grow our produce vertically indoors. This allows us to maximize our space and grow in any season. With this format, we can grow up to 2.5 acres’ worth of nutritionally dense crops in a single 320 square foot container.
Maximizing space is why we focus on producing lettuce, leafy greens, microgreens, and herbs. These crops are harvested in their entirety. This allows us to maximize our output from our electricity and water, making container farming more sustainable.
Technologies
Our container farms use multiple sophisticated hydroponic growing systems to make our process water-efficient and reliable. This high-tech container can grow up to 13,000 plants with only 5 gallons of water a day.
Our plants start as seeds in the ebb-and-flow hydroponic system. They are sprouted in sponge-like peat moss grow plugs before they are moved into two horizontal troughs, where they stay throughout the sprout and seedling stages. During these weeks, our plants receive nutrient-rich water on a regular schedule. The solution — filled with minerals found in healthy soil — is transported into the shallow troughs, filling just enough to saturate the roots. The water is drained after a few minutes and is recycled.
Once the plants are mature, they are placed onto our vertical farming system. Arranging our young plants vertically, we are able to take advantage of gravity in our drip irrigation hydroponic system. The nutrient-rich solution is plumbed to emitters at the top of the 88 plant panels and released on a regular schedule. A wicking material is used to draw the solution to the plant’s roots, and any water that isn’t used is recirculated back into the system.
All of these systems are contained in a climate-controlled container, with light provided by powerful LED lamps. All of these systems are monitored remotely, using IoT sensors that are packed into every system. This allows us to ensure that the entire process remains constant, allowing us to provide the highest quality products, every time.