In one of our blogs, we listed five surprising crops you can grow in a container farm.
Now, we have five more for you!
Lettuces, herbs and other leafy greens are the most common choices for container farmers.
As a result, it can be hard to know what else a container farm can grow.
In this article, you’ll learn about more surprising crops you can grow in a container farm.
Grapes
Grapes have thick, woody stems and grow a few feet tall. So, you might not think they’d grow well inside a shipping container.
That’s what makes this crop so surprising!
But with the right setup inside, a container farm is a useful tool for growing grapes.
For example, pinot noir grapes are tricky to grow since they have specific environmental needs.
A container farm’s controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology can replicate those needs.
This helps vineyards and wineries have better success with tricky varieties like pinot noir.
Succulents
You might not think succulents grow well in a hydroponic container farm, since they don’t need much water to grow.
But you’d be wrong!
Succulents grow quite well in hydroponic systems, as long as their growing medium isn’t constantly wet.
This means they work great in low water systems, like the nutrient film technique, which passes a thin film of nutrient solution constantly through the roots.
Succulents from the echeveria and sempervivum families grow best in hydroponic systems.
Since succulents are adapted to soil with few nutrients in it, mix a weaker nutrient solution than you would for a leafy crop for best results.
Houseplants
Most people don’t think of houseplants as crops.
But they have to come from somewhere!
Houseplants have always been common, but they’ve recently become a hot trend for younger generations.
Plus, many varieties of houseplants are easy to propagate and sell for quite a bit of money.
This makes houseplants pretty profitable!
To grow houseplants in a container farm, just make sure you pick varieties with similar environmental needs.
That way you can use the CEA technology to fit the environment to all of your crops.
Bamboo
Unlike other plants, bamboo is hard to overwater.
This makes it a great fit for hydroponics!
Bamboo grows quickly and can grow to be 75 feet tall, so you might not think of it as something to grow in a container farm.
But smaller varieties, like Lucky Bamboo, can easily be grown to maturity in a container farm.
Alternatively, you can start your bamboo in the container farm and sell it before it outgrows the system.
Plus, Lucky Bamboo needs fewer nutrients than many other plants, so it can survive off very weak nutrient solution!
Bonsai Trees
Bonsai trees have a reputation for being hard to grow.
For one thing, they need to be kept in climates similar to their native one.
Luckily, container farms can mimic those environments, allowing the farmer to grow special varieties that may not be common in their area.
Plus, they grow well in hydroponic systems!
Bonsai trees can be quite expensive, depending on the age and type.
This is because they take at least three years to be ready for their signature styling.
But if you have the patience, growing Bonsai trees can be quite profitable.
To learn more about what a container farm can do, call us at 602-753-3469 or visit our website.
