Southern Citrus Nurseries Using Hoop Houses for Reduced Costs, Easier Harvest
by RYAN MILEJCZAK
Florida has one of the most unique climates in the U.S., with plenty of heat, tons of humidity, and distinct wet and dry seasons. Though the Florida climate is ideal for growing many different kinds of crops, growers around the state are experimenting with ways to make farming some crops easier and more economical.
That’s exactly what Tommy Thayer, owner of Southern Citrus Nurseries in Dundee, is doing. He’s a fifth-generation citrus grower, and in addition to citrus, his operation also grows blueberries and strawberries. This past year, to optimize their strawberry cultivation, Southern Citrus Nurseries began growing them in hoop houses.
“We wanted to venture out of citrus a little bit. We’re fifth-generation citrus growers, and we were just trying to figure out our next play. Citrus is always going to be there, but from a land standpoint, we have less and less these days, so we need to figure out how to grow some of our veggies and berries in hoop houses,” Thayer explains.
For those not familiar, a hoop house is essentially a type of greenhouse, also known as a polytunnel. It takes the form of a long tunnel made from steel and covered with polyethylene. Like a normal greenhouse, they heat up due to solar radiation, and the structure retains that heat. Equipment in the tunnel can be used to control temperature, humidity, and ventilation.
“Typically, strawberries are grown in-ground,” explains Thayer. “They’re usually bedded and fumigated, grown on plastic with a drip inside the bed.”
Compared to traditional methods, growing in hoop houses has several benefits, such as not requiring fumigation and reduced labor costs as the berries are easier to harvest.
“In the hoop house, we suspend strawberries from the roof, about five feet above ground level. We also grow the strawberries in coconut coir, which we can use for two seasons,” says Thayer. “I think the biggest difference is that we don’t need to fumigate. We’re also able to control the atmosphere more than in the field, and I’d say quality is a touch better than in the field.”
As they continue to optimize their strawberry cultivation, Southern Citrus Nurseries is experimenting in various ways, such as better fertilizing the plants.
“We got the new system just this last year, so we’re still knocking the bugs out,” he says. “After a fertigation cycle, we can analyze what the plant picks up from what we inject, which we do 8 to 12 times a day. We can catch the leachate and analyze it to tell what the plants are and aren’t utilizing. We can get feedback within 20 seconds of the cycle, and from there we can increase or decrease the plant’s uptake.”
Southern Citrus is also working to make harvesting more efficient.
“We really thought we could beat the curve on harvesting because people don’t need to bend over or crawl on the ground to pick berries. We thought we would be really cheap in the field, but we’re not. So that’s one thing we’re trying to overcome,” Thayer says.
One of the biggest positives so far is the reduced costs. While using hoop houses has higher startup costs, it can provide savings in the long term.
“When growing in the field, it costs about $12,000 to $13,000 per acre each season to irrigate, prep the land, plant, etc. In the hoop house, it’s much cheaper. The biggest cost is the coconut coir, which costs us about $3,500 an acre, and field prep is much cheaper because you just have to hook it up. All told, we spend about $5,000 per acre, so we save over 50 percent compared to growing in the field,” Thayer says.
Mark Greeff, vice president and general manager of the Eastern region for Driscoll’s, says Thayer and his team are leading the way in embracing new strawberry production systems commercially in Florida.
“As the industry faces further challenges with regards to urbanization, soil fumigation, and disease management, moving production out of the soil and into a raised substrate format allows the grower to have more control, further mitigate risks, and reduce water and fertilizer use while enhancing picking speeds,” Greeff says. In addition, it provides an improved experience for the team picking the berries.
This kind of outside-the-box thinking is needed, Greef says.
“While this system continues to be fully validated for further commercial expansion in Florida, it is critical that we embrace opportunities that potentially provide more reliable quality and supply to the markets.”
Despite the kinks still to be worked out, Thayer still feels positive about the future.
“We’ve had some struggles, of course, and we’re a small operation,” he says.
“I think that if we can get around 3,000 flats to the acre, which would be our current goal, we can really do something with this. We’re already seeing increasing popularity of hoop houses, especially up north. Canada has really gone crazy over it. I think we’ll see more and more hoop houses and greenhouse grown vegetables and fruit moving forward.”
