Hi-Tech Flower Farming

It's poetry in motion
She turned her tender eyes to me
As deep as any ocean
As sweet as any harmony
But she blinded me with science
"She blinded me with science!"

                                                         -Thomas Dolby

A perfect row of lilies. The space between the crates disappears and they are all the same height.

You may think of flower growing as a quaint, contemplative stress free occupation.  Perhaps as you kneel in your garden planting your fall bulbs you experience this kind of sensation. The reality of a flower farm is very different.  It’s actually surprisingly stressful to bring a gorgeous greenhouse of lilies or tulips to harvest. There are pitfalls all over the place, however, at Sun Valley we have invested in the technology to make sure the risks that we face are minimized.

Baby tulips, with drip lines running across the crates.

Get ready to have your mind blown; mine is still reeling at what our growers can do from their smart phones. It is kind of like Star Trek with really amazing flowers.

Tanner checking on recently planted tulips.

For years, Sun Valley has had state of the art equipment in the greenhouses measuring key data points. Ten years ago when a greenhouse got too chilly, a beeper clipped to someone’s belt or propped up on their bedside table went off.  Then you had to get to the farm or call someone at the farm and make sure the situation was corrected. Are you old enough to remember what a “beeper” is?

I recently walked the greenhouses with our head grower Tim Crockenberg, and our newest grower on the Sun Valley team, Tanner Allen. Tim and Tanner proceeded to show me the awesome technology our farm utilizes every day.

From his smart phone, Tanner can monitor and actually make changes in the greenhouse environment from anywhere in cell phone range. What they are capable of doing is remarkable.

The data points we are constantly monitoring include:

• Power: Are there any surges or outages?

• Climate: Any high or low temperature alerts?

• Greenhouse vents: Opened or closed?

• Irrigation: Proper amount of water for the flowers and soil moisture levels?

• Water: PH Level.

• Water Electro-conductivity: Salt content of the water, which points to the plant’s absorption of nutrients.

These devices measure atmospheric conditions.

The growers can see what all these data points are doing nearly row by row, however, they can also make corrections and changes remotely. So that need to call someone at the farm, or to come to the farm yourself to make changes to ensure the crops are in the ideal environmental doesn’t exist anymore.  Our growers could be traveling 200 miles from the farm and see that a bed of tulips isn’t getting enough water, and through their phone they can simply increase the irrigation rate. 

Using smart phone to monitor our crops and conditions.

Of course, if something jams or a certain valve gets closed by accident, Tim, Tanner, Gerrit or Lane will be headed to the farm to fix the problem.

Another aspect of the farm that is constantly monitored is the possibility of frost.  Around the farm we have frost monitors. When they hit a certain temperature, sprinklers automatically start spraying water on the hoop houses. Water has to release heat to freeze, so the tops of the hoop houses freeze over, and inside the hoop house stays nice and toasty…a few degrees above freezing.

Technology in farming has advanced at a staggering rate. The fact that it may look like Tanner is playing on Facebook, when really he is watering a row of thirsty lilies and remotely correcting a temperature imbalance in the tulips is amazing.  However, there are some time tested technologies we still embrace here on the farm. 

Great shot taken last week by David Aronovici

  To infinity and beyond!