Leafy Greens Production in High Tunnels

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Leafy Greens Production in High Tunnels

• Ted Carey
• K-State Research and Extension
• tcarey_at_ksu.edu
• www.hightunnels.org

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An unabashed promotion of high tunnels

• With some words of caution
• Profitable production
• Practice makes perfect (with luck)

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What is a high tunnel?
California desert
No Yes? Yes?
Harnois 30 x 96 double layer poly Eliot
Colemans farm, Maine
Leavenworth, KS
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High Tunnel (hoophouse) A poly-covered
greenhouse with relatively low input for
environmental control. (relatively low cost)
30 x 96 Gothic Zimmermans, Versailles, MO
30? X 96 Quonset with stove FarmTek Versailles,
MO
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High tunnel variations
Solar powered roll-down sideprotects crops from
cold wind. Bryan Boeckmann, MO
Inexpensive field houses can be very
productive St. Isidore Farm, MO
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Fresh, local greens can be profitable
Salad mix
Microgreens
Heads
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Leafy greens

• Lettuce
• Endive escarole
• Spinach
• Collards
• Kale
• Chard
• Mustard
• Arugula
• Cress

• Turnips
• Pac choi
• Asian greens
• Corn salad/mache
• Specialty greens
• Claytonia
• Minutina
• Purslane
• etc.

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Cool season greens tolerate cold winter
temperatures
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Berenice
Galactic
Simpson Elite
Deer tongue
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Direct seeded can be very productive
Arugula
Mustard Red Giant
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Claytonia Miners lettuce is among the most
cold tolerant
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Spinach and kale are more cold tolerant than
lettuce
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High tunnel trials January, 2006
Row cover over spinach
Salad mix trial
Broccoli too late
Cover crop
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Why bother to grow in a high tunnel?

• Season extension in the market earlier and for
  longer at better prices
• Crop protection quality and productivity is
  often superior due to protection from weather
  extremes, diseases and pests.
• High tunnels provide partial environmental
  control. The benefits will depend on the season.

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Winter production can be goodSoil almost never
freezes under row cover in tunnels
Olathe - December, 2003
Inside
Outside
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Summer spinach production

• 39 shade
• Sprinkler irrigation

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Sometimes theres no advantage to growing in a
high tunnel
Olathe June, 2003
Outside
Inside
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For winter harvest, time of planting is critical
Planted 10/5
January 5, 2006
Planted 11/9
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Winter varieties

• Asia Greens Tokyo Bekana, Tatsoi, Kyona Mizuna
• Arugula
• Claytonia
• Lettuce Tango, Dark Red Lollo, Galactic
• Mustard Red Giant
• Spinach Space, Tyee

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Cultivars - Summer

• Oakleaf lettuce - Cocarde
• Romaine lettuce Jericho, Green Forest
• Butterhead - Ermosa
• Grand Rapids Simpson Elite, Red Sails
• Spinach Tyee, Coho

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Simple implements for the hoophouse gardener
4- row pin point seeder
Earth fork
Wheel hoe
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Simple implements for the hoophouse
Tilther run by electric drill
Greens harvester
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(No Transcript)
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Irrigation
Sprinkler vs. drip irrigation
Drip saves water but gets in the way
Hanging sprinklers are ideal
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Fertilization

• Greens need plenty of available N
• - Can split application
• Compost is excellent, but beware of possible
  salt build-up with animal manures and
  composts.

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Pest problems

• High tunnels are amenable to biological control
  practices
• Worms Bt
• Aphids lady bugs
• Flea beetles row cover

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Disease problems

• Mostly moisture related
• Improve ventilation, plant spacing
• Compost
• Solarization

Rhizoctonia on spinach
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Lettuce spaced too close
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Weed control

• Stale seedbed method for densely planted greens
• Prepare seed bed, let weeds germinate, cultivate
  shallowly 1 or more times
• Plant crop after weed seed bank is used
• Hoeing for transplants space properly

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Postharvest handling and marketing
Perry-winkle Farm, North Carolina
Dane County Farmers Mkt, Madison, WI.
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Information sources

• Growers
• Websites (hightunnels, Noble Found, Penn State,
  etc.)
• Listservs (hightunnels, market farming)
• Books (Grower manuals, extension pubs)
• Magazines (Growing for Market)
• Conferences (Great Plains Veg., HIS, etc.)

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Recommended Publications

• Eliot Coleman. Winter harvest manual
• Hoophouse Handbook. Growing for market.
• Walking to Spring. Paul and Alison Wiediger. Au
  Naturel Farm, 3298 Fairview Church Road, Smiths
  Grove, KY 42171
• Implementation of a BioControl Program for Insect
  Control in High Tunnels. 2005. Center for
  Plasticulture, Dept. of Horticulture, 103 Tyson
  Building, The Pennsylvania State University,
  University Park, PA 16802. 10.
• Growing for Market. Monthly magazine.www.growingf
  ormarket.com