Horticulture

How does your garden grow?

Greenleaf, a local medical cannabis producer, donated eight hydroponic grow tables to Reynolds horticulture program at The Kitchens. Crops are beginning to come up, and so are questions about what a grow table is, and what it does.

Hydroponic flood tables, also referred to as grow trays or plant trays, are a means for holding plants in a hydroponic, self-watering system. They generally work in tandem with a stand or rolling bench, with the hydroponic reservoir underneath.

Most tables feature a single submersible pump placed in the reservoir and operated on a timer to periodically flood the plants. After the flood cycle is complete, the pump shuts off and the nutrient solution flows back into the reservoir through the pump by way of gravity.

It's springtime and David Seward, Karin Stretchko, and all of the horticulture program students are seriously up to their knees in plants. They were gracious enough to take time to answer a few questions on a rainy afternoon. 

What are you growing in the tables at The Kitchens?  

Right now at The Kitchens, lettuces and kale. There are more products being produced at the Goochland Campus that have been growing longer. In Goochland assorted greens, vegetables, cucumbers, parsley, and a couple of other herbs are coming up.

Who will be using what is grown at The Kitchens? 

The material at the Kitchens will go to the Culinary program. In Goochland, vegetables and plants go to students, and the Goochland Cares Food bank.  We had a meeting with Kristen Holt, and will soon begin sharing harvests with Reynolds Food Pantries for our students.

Is the grow time different than in the ground?  

I’d say the grow time is shorter in the hydroponics set up since it doesn’t slow up with weather conditions.

How are the tables regulated? What happens if the power goes off?  

The floating system we are using at The Kitchens would be fine for a while with no power. The only things needing electricity would be the heaters/fans in the greenhouse itself, and the air stones used to provide oxygen to the water solution they are floating in.

Will you be expanding the program?  

We may add a couple of tables at The Kitchens, and in Goochland. In general we do plan to expand our Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) offerings.  We are also working on a ground bed at The Kitchens, which means we are creating a raised bed to be in the greenhouse, where we can grow other crops.