Organic Greenhouse & Nursery Management

Hector L. Fajardo
Gold King Farm Systems & Garden Center
13-14 January 2006
BSU Closed Gym, La Trinidad, Benguet
 The Greenhouse Industry
• Mixture of small, family-run tunnels to some 1000 to 4000 sqm units for cut flower, vegetable and others.
Few corporation-run using state of art technology.
• Dramatic yield increases for tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers during past 7-8 years.
• Leading greenhouse vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers and culinary herbs such as basil,
sage, and rosemary.
• Increasing demand worldwide for organically-grown and pesticide-free early produce

• How Can Small Producers Compete

• Growing organic may bring 10 – 30% premium in the market.
• Small growers provide consumers prefer vegetables grown with minimum pesticides.
• Growing public are informed of values of organic produce: fresher, tastes better, healthier.
• Need year-round production to keep profitability. Like raise crops other than vegetables, like bedding
plants and poinsettias for spring.
• Must find niche markets, like salad greens.
• Coops of small growers can provide better market niche and market strenght.

• Organic Greenhouse Production

• Definition: excludes use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulators. Farmers rely on crp
rotation, crop residues, ani animal manures, legumes, green manures, organic wastes to supply plant ant
nutrients.
• Organic certification by an accepted certifier provide marketability.
• Need to develop acceptable sources of organic fertilizers able to supply same level nutrients as synthetic.
 Sources of Organic Fertilizers

• Products derived from algae and seaweed

• Bat guano and fish waste
• Crab-shell meal,blood meal, feather meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal
• Distiller’s dried grains.
• Other organic wastes from the agri-food industry.

• Application of Liquid Fertilizer

• Fertigation – liquid fertilizer applied throughirrigation lines - is common greenhouse
practice.
• Nitrogen and phosphorus are applied through fertigation.

• Soil vs. Soilless Greenhouse Culture

• Soil culture: vegetables are grown in native soil or loamy soil brought inside.
• Organic fertilizers, soil amendments and compost are applied.
• Soilless medium: Can be done via hydroponics or with an organic substrate.
• Soil contamination and toxicity sets in abused soils due to acidity, pesticide residues,etc.
• Soil disinfection includes steam, electrical heat and biological control.
• Non-herbicidal weed-control inside the greenhouse include hand hoeing, steam
pasteurization, mulching(fabric, plastic,or organic mulches)
• Soilless system advantage is easier control of disease problems.
 Soilless Culture Methods for Greenhouse Farming

• Bag culture has become the preferred method because it is easy to establish and manage
• In bag culture, pants are grown in a soilless medium contained I lay-flat or upright p-e
bags andfed with liquid fertilizer through drip irrigation lines.
• Media can be peat/vermiculite, sawdust, rockwool, rice hulls, pine bark, peanut hulls.
• Adopting bag culture will require specially formulated potting mixes or mix their own.