Vertical farming comes with unique costs, like weird labor & equipment costs. What do vertical farming costs look like in stacked and vertical production?
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/nf24pt7
In this video, Dr. Nate shows you the ratios of growing space to total space for three kinds of vertical farming.
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This vertical system is extremely impressive. I wonder could you do a video talking about the "Ferris wheel" method. This solves the air flow and accessibility problems for taller horizontal systems.
I think that this vertical plane system is without doubt the best for leafy crops and some fruiting bodies which make up many of the high yield and turnover cash crops. However I have seen similar rack systems however with (slightly) diagonally stacked horizontal growing lanes. This still uses the same principle however I think it could be superior for growing some crops like root vegetables and sprouts have the highest yeild in wide "grassy" trays.
So in conclusion this vertical system is AMAZING!! It looks extremely profitable as leafy greens are some of the best hydroponic crops to take to market. However i think that you shouldn't rule out all forms of horizontal farming as it could be more effective for certain crops and niche markets.
There are a lot of problems and assumptions with this video, but I'll only address one since the others all kind of stem from that.
Starting at 9:40, it looks like your racks really only have 32 sq.ft. of growing area per side. If your racks are 6" wide and have a 6" gap, then your growing area is really only 8x4x2, for a total of 64 sq.ft. yes? Honestly it's less than that because you're not able to maximize your yield out of that rack since it's taken up by housing.
When you consider the yield you're getting out of that space, the labor costs involved in taking down each rack to harvest it and replant it, this system doesn't seem any more efficient than horizontal. I'd be really interested to see a comparison between how much produce you're harvesting vs a grower like aerofarms.
thanks
11:25 you are not beating the ratio, doing the maths right you end up with 2+2/3 or 2.66 in both cases.
what are your spacing assumptions in a naturally lit greenhouse environment? how many rows deep can you go etc?
It's really crazy dr. Nate!!
I may be a couple months late to the party, but your answers to Maxim helped me a lot. I don't think you answered an important earlier question regarding plant sites per SF which speaks to the a key tenant: Yield. So, by literal example, how many lettuce heads per SF in your vertical plane vs typical (or various) horizontal systems?
Will the vertical plane production system work in the Greenhouse without the lighting system?
just one flaw to me is the aisle space of 4 sqf is shared with the space opposite hence this should be 16 and not 32 ?
Insanely awesome!! this is what i was working on !! you just cleared the few ambiguous thoughts i had! great work !! Subscribed!! :)
what would help is make a video showing how you made your vertical rails.
HI @Bright Agrotech the video was really nice i would like to know how to build such a tower system
:)
Why does this video not have more views! great information. I'm always looking for calculations and proof of methods for me to be convinced, and i'll say that this convinced me. I can't wait to start growing with this method.
Hey @scapest (Maxim) in response to your 3 questions:
1. Plants orient using primarily via gravitropism and phototropism. With many plants phototropism overrules gravitropism (as it should, to ensure the plant’s survival). So we’re not cancelling gravity, we’re offering a more compelling biological incentive to orient the way we want them to. You can’t tell the difference between a head of bok choi produced in our system and that produced in a field, except ours is probably more nutritious and flavorful.
2. Same as a horizontal system. The efficiency of light delivery isn’t impacted.
3. Sure, but microgreens require dedicated systems no matter what. i.e. they guys growing stacked horizontal lettuce can’t just turn that system around and grow microgreens. Microgreens will always be grown in a system that is designed for them. Vertical plane systems for general crops will always be able to grow anything that a stacked horizontal system can grow.
I have three problems with this system. 1. Nobody cancels gravity meaning leafy greens will get deformed. If you sell your produce to restaurants then it probably wouldn't matter that much how it looks; however, if you sell it to grocery stores then you may have a problem. 2. Maths sounds good here, but what I didn't hear is that how many harvests would you get using vertical plane compare to horizontal plane. How much light exposure do plants get with this system and how evenly the light covers the growing area? 3. Also, vertical plane system limits farmers with what plants they can grow. Obviously, this system is limited to growing plants such as lettuce; however, you won't be able to grow microgreens, for instance.
Where's the follow-up video you promised us at 16:28 ? :-)
Thanks for the video…Very interesting. If you go off of pure floor space then the ratios are in favor of vertical plane. you can't argue with that. I'd be interested to see the same comparison but using plant density per ft2 of floor space. They may be the same but it seems like you can place plants in a more dense pattern in a horizontal plane I'm also not convinced with your assumption with labor costs on horizontal systems. Horizontal plane ,hydroponic system are very automated and there aren't a lot of moving parts and there isn't a lot of maintenance once the plants are in place. Now… there is some added labor for planting and harvesting, but you don't have to harvest on those layers for some plants. you can bring your rafts down quickly and work on the ground. I'm not saying horizontal is superior to vertical plane, just saying there's a lot other variables. (and you probably address them in other videos). Keep up the good work!!!
Your talking about a stationary horizontal racks. What if the horizontal racks were on a moving oval like carpet at a Home depot. Full cycle twice a day. Would that cure the height restriction and put everything at standing level?
Thanks for answering a question I have been asking for ages. Great videos btw!
Great rant Nate! I always knew vertical farming is the way to go. This video fills in the "holes" on the vertical vs. horizontal argument. Good stuff!