It all started when looking for equipment for the new greenhouse they were building in 2017. Hugh bumped into this watering solution and the same year, they trialed it and then installed it in their entire new area. In the years that followed, they continued installing the system named ‘OASIS by Control Dekk’ on their existing lines with the future plan to have it installed on all lines. This is the story of annual plant grower Hugh Kurtz of Kurtz Farms in Cheshire (CT), USA. “The system is saving me a lot of time, effort and as a result money.”
From manual to automated – but still labor intensive
Kurtz is currently one of the third generation owners of the greenhouse that his grandfather started in the 1940s. They grow everything from hanging baskets to pot plants and mostly supply to the New England area. Watering the plants is an important task and used to require a lot of time and knowledge. Over the years it changed, and watering became more and more automated. “Back in the days, we watered the baskets by hand, then we started using a tubing system, and finally a cable conveyor system.” However, still, even with all the improvements in the watering systems, the process required a lot of labor to check then water the baskets. “We needed to check if it did its work well, as each basket received the same amount of water, regardless of the individual plant’s needs. When they are in a hot spot in the greenhouse, for example, they need more water. For this reason, we still had to weigh the pots manually every day to check if they have enough or too much water.”
Read the full Floral Daily article here.