Greenhouse Technology Network Claimed

Greenhouse Technology Network is a Niagara College-led consortium of three institutions supporting the research and development needs of the greenhouse industry through applied research projects. The objective of the GTN is to bring together greenhouse and technology businesses with research institutions to advance development and adoption of new technologies.

Greenhouse Technology Network Optimizing Production with Technology:

Creating value for customers and success for growers.

• Applied genomics, propagation
• Growing trials
• Measurement & Analysis of Greenhouse Environments (water, air, soil,
• growing media, lighting, nutrients, screening)
• Pollination Services
• Packing & Packaging Systems

Greenhouse Technology Network Value-Added Sustainability through Technology:

Meeting the needs of the planet and people by solving tough problems.

• Controlled Environment Agriculture
• Addressing Food Security, Food Safety
• Growing systems and configurations​
• Robotics and Automated planting, harvesting​
• Energy Management​
• Technical Complexities​
• Remote and urban growing​

Greenhouse Technology Network Growing Business using Technology:

Investing in systems to serve supply chains, capture and use real time data, and support decisions.

• Consumer Insights, Market Research​
• Data Management, Mining​
• Development of Local Varieties​
• Workforce Development​
• AI, iOT, Industry 4.0​
• Smart systems​

SUCCESS STORIES of Greenhouse Technology Network

Evaluation of leachate from selected biochar blend rates with commercial greenhouse media: Biochar has been proven to be beneficial to agricultural operations by capturing nutrients in the soil and providing these nutrients back to the crops. Before biochar is to be used successfully as a soilless greenhouse media enhancement, its blend rate must first be determined, and this is why Walker tapped into HESIC’s expertise to help investigate this innovation challenge : Click for Read More

Evaluating the effects of biochar-amended media on fertilization and growth of basil and gerberas in a greenhouse setting: Before biochar is to be used successfully as a soilless greenhouse media enhancement, its blend rate must first be determined, and this is why Walker tapped into HESIC’s expertise to help investigate this innovation challenge. : Click for Read More

The future of automation: building a mushroom harvesting virtual environment: Sinopa Energy Inc. partnered with Agriculture at UWindsor to develop the model to simulate the current state in the mushroom farm, investigate a potential future fully automated state, and collaborative scenarios. : Click for Read More

Assessing the performance of a novel climate optimization software in commercial ontario floral and cucumber GreenHouses: The novel climate optimization software developed by 360 Energy Inc. utilizes the data generated from the climate control system that is currently installed within the greenhouse. A collaborative research project between HESIC and 360 Energy Inc. involved two participating commercial greenhouses that systematically evaluated this proprietary software. Read more to learn about the team’s solution : Click for Read More

Market research gives niagara greenhouse company confidence to launch successful new product: Although relationships exist in the greenhouse building market, GGS requires market research to understand the feasibility of this market and the steps to take to enter it. They turned to Niagara College’s Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre team to identify their key markets : Click for Read More

Using research to advance understanding of a novel soil amendment from a canadian small business: IZC wanted to understand zeolite-based NEREA® substrate with respect to labour, economics and plant growth. They turned to Niagara College to compare the growth of basil with NEREA® as an amendment through a course-based project : Click for Read More

Evaluating a novel indoor compost product as an organic fertilizer to grow diverse crops in a greenhouse: The objective of Phase 1 of this project was to evaluate the potential of the product of VCycene’s intelligent composting device to be classified as a mature compost, as per the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment‘s (CCME) Guidelines for Compost Quality. Niagara College’s Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation Centre (HESIC) team generated, and subsequently evaluated, product from alpha versions of VCycene’s composting device : Click for Read More

Boosting efficiency in plant growth through hydroponic media substitute: Challenge: Business needed to understand the extent to which nutrient levels may be reduced in leachate from NEREA® media blends Solution: Research trials conducted using blends of peat moss, NEREA® and raw zeolite and examined nutrient content in leachate for basil plants Impact: Data from research helps business make important: Click for Read More

Market research lays the foundation for promoting new vermichar and biochar products: To understand how Terra Optima Labs can best position themselves in the market, Niagara College’s Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre completed secondary research to uncover key insights of the horticulture and greenhouse industry: Click for Read More

Diverting liquid biodigestate from waste and turning it into a consumer product: The team members at Bayview are proud to grow plants using innovative and environmentally sustainable methods. They continuously develop business practices and utilize new technologies that help reduce/re-use waste while generating renewable energy. It’s for these reasons that they reached out to Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) to discuss their latest innovation challenge: Click for Read More

New pao tau is growing research-backed orchids for the masses: While orchids are commonly grown in bark-based substrates, New Pao Tau is taking an innovative approach by using newer substrates with better water holding and release capacity than the typical bark-based substrates. Vineland Research and Innovation was able to take on this research project to help Michael and the New Pao Tau team identify the substrate best suited for the consumer market and find a solution that would result in increased customer satisfaction: Click for Read More

Greenhouse technologies support untapped local food sources and crop improvements: Fiddleheads are a nutritious and delicious spring delicacy in Ontario, but they are only available for a few weeks each year. The young leaves of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris L. Todaro), fiddleheads are harvested from wild populations of ostrich ferns which limits availability, market growth, and research opportunities. Norcliff Farms Inc. turned to the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF) to investigate: Click for Read More

New vermichar technology top performer when compared against soluble chemical fertilizer: Terra Optima Labs Inc. (Terra Optima) has created a circular system which can divert food wastes from landfills and process it into natural soil amendments, fertilizers, and food, using natural organisms. They turned to the Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation (HESIC) team to help them run reliable growth trials: Click for Read More

A ‘FITBITt’ for plants, earthone turned to bcic to fill the gap in marketing: While many people love plants and spend good money on them, we may not all be plant experts. You might find yourself asking yourself, when did I water that plant last? Does it need more light? Should I add more soil? That’s why Sidhanth (Sid) Pereira, Founder & Head of Product at EarthOne, knew the market needed a product like this. While Sid was confident in his product, but knew, to be successful, they were going to need someone to help them with marketing. That’s where the Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre (BCIC) came in to help to give them the direction they needed: Click for Read More

Recycling used stonewool creates revenue for growers and lessens environmental impact: Grodan, a manufacturer of stone wool, also known as mineral wool used in commercial greenhouse production, recognized the need to expand current reuse opportunities for its products, and to make these recycling opportunities more readily available in North America : Click for Read More

Phytotoxicity assessment of sodium for lettuce grown in nerea®-based hydroponics: Niagara College’s (NC) Horticultural & Environmental Science Innovation Centre (HESIC) ran parallel crops of lettuce that were grown in a hydroponic Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system in NEREA® and standard Oasis® rockwool at the NC greenhouse located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, with the goal being to determine sodium concentration in both hydroponic solutions and the edible portion of lettuce: Click for Read More

Evaluation of the effects of the weight of zeolite in peat moss-based media and the corresponding shipping logistics of potted plant products: IZC looked to Niagara College’s Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation Centre (HESIC) team to determine if a new soil amendment was going to impact international shipping and handling of plants. The HESIC team created multiple zeolite-peat moss blend ratios and determined dry and wet weights of plants potted in several different pots with zeolite-containing media: Click for Read More

Preliminary evaluation of the performance of zeolite-based nerea® as a hydroponic media substitute for commercial production of leafy greens in canada: A small-scale trial on leafy greens, specifically lettuce, in Niagara College’s greenhouse hydroponic system, was performed using NEREA® as substrate embedded with nutrients. NEREA® acted as a hydroponic substrate substitution for rockwool media: Click for Read More

Evaluation of leachate over time from selected rates of nerea® blended with peat moss: IZ approached Niagara College’s Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation Centre (HESIC) team to create multiple NEREA® and peat moss blend ratios to examine the nutrient content of leachate over time. They wanted to understand whether nutrient content within the leachate was affected by the presence of peat moss: Click for Read More

Evaluation of the performance of zeolite-based nerea® as a media amendment for commercial production of basil in Canada: IZ reached out to Niagara College’s Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation Centre (HESIC) team to work together to assess the performance of NEREA® as a provider of a short-term crop’s complete nutritional requirements. A small-scale trial was performed at the NC Teaching Greenhouse comparing germination and performance of Ocimum basilicum (basil) across a range of percentages of NEREA® blended with sphagnum peat moss: Click for Read More

Related News in GCTD:  Grower Day