he greenhouse industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years or so. The techniques and technologies that have been applied in that period of time has grown exponentially. This has come about because of increased consumer demand and the high cost of shipping produce from far off lands.

The two main environmental variables that have to be closely monitored in the greenhouses are heat and humidity. At Veg Gro these variables are monitored by sensors in the greenhouses that relay the information back to a computer that in turn decides what action to take based on the information that the sensors give them.

Computers are also responsible for the feeding of the plants. Since our vegetables are grown hydroponically, this means that the plants sit in a composite mixture that's only purpose is to hold the roots of the plants and to absorb the nutrient rich water that gets delivered to each pack that holds two individual plants. A network of hoses are run to each and every one of these packs and the nutrients are piped in at timed intervals that are programmed into the computer.

Once tomato plants start to blossom they need to be pollinated for the the plant to bear any tomatoes. This is when the hardest workers of the greenhouse are brought in to accomplish this important task. The bees are housed in box hives that are placed strategically throughout the greenhouse.

These hives have controls on them to regulate the amount of bees released. Depending on the growing cycle of the plants more bees are released from these hives. Some bees will work until they are exhausted and collapse on the greenhouse floor before they can make it back to the hive!

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