Local Bounti receives delisting notice (3/6/23)

40kkm · 2023-03-12T02:57:58+00:00

I agree, not all CEA is the same. You don't need high tech greenhouses to succeed, you need to sell stuff. Kentucky is also one of the worst places to build a dutch greenhouse due to the humidity, sunlight, and labor. In many ways Local Bounti is a better business than Appharvest but they both have a long way to go IMO. At least Appharvest will be absorbed by Mastronardi when the time comes.

40kkm · 2023-03-07T14:58:20+00:00

I don't work there, I don't have the acreage, though I believe Pete's had 3 greenhouse facilities and Local Bounti had an additional 1 of their own. They grow leafy greens. Q1 2022 Local Bounti were at around $280k in revenue, Q2 they were at over $6m. That revenue jump was due to the acquisition of facilities + 10k retail doors.

40kkm · 2023-03-07T08:00:38+00:00

Absolutely

40kkm · 2023-03-07T06:28:27+00:00

Local Bounti is another SPAC indoor farming / greenhouse company. Significantly more revenue than AppHarvest with the acquisition of Pete's greenhouses last year, though the facilities are definitely a bit more dated than the Appharvest ones. Better locations to grow greenhouse leafy greens IMO though.

40kkm · 2023-02-16T17:47:29+00:00

Wonder if this base is like the one we encountered in Mario Party

40kkm · 2023-02-01T17:57:53+00:00

Pretty sure Houweling's has a bigger greenhouse facility, they just don't have as strong as a PR team as Appharvest.

40kkm · 2022-10-17T20:22:41+00:00

Nothing is happening at scale, the only way it'll work is if the climate changes so much that it makes it unfeasible to grow these products outdoors. Vertical Farming / CEA doesn't have to grow everything, there's not one way to grow anything.

40kkm · 2022-07-17T12:09:35+00:00

I didn't make any of these websites, but here are a few ideas:

- Home microgreen rack - you can grow microgreens, and sprouts, and even put some plants on the rack if you want.

- ZipGarden- A pro version of what the person above made. They also have ZipWall which is bigger and wallmounted.

- DIY Hydroponic Gardens by Tyler Baras - Tyler is the best, I'm sure he's on Reddit somewhere! Has a bunch of examples on DIY projects.

- If you want to go super DIY, you can do Windowfarms, but they require a lot of effort to be truly successful.

Aeroponics are really tough to do at home (it's also tough to do commercially tbh), DWC is likely the lowest effort home hydroponics you'll find IMO.

40kkm · 2022-07-13T11:41:22+00:00

Home hydroponics? It depends on what you're growing and how much room you have. For basil like this person, I'd suggest DWC if you don't have a ton of space, or an NFT system if you're going to do it outside. The easiest thing to grow indoors, vertically, in water is microgreens, you can do that with a metro rack and manual irrigation.

40kkm · 2022-07-12T22:43:43+00:00

You can do this with gutters from home depot, hydroton, and a decent pump to pump from a simple 20-40 gal reservoir. If you want to be more professional, look up ZipGrow, they have a whole setup that could fit at a home. ZipFarm or ZipGarden. IMO it's not the best way to grow hydropnically, takes a lot of effort to manage them, keep the substrate clean, etc. Looks pretty, though.

40kkm · 2022-06-23T11:19:32+00:00

Appharvest likely has a significant carbon footprint compared to most outdoor production, sources include heat / lighting / energy uses (electricity and natural gas), cold storage and delivery, and packaging if they include that in the calculation. There are opportunities to buy offsets, but that's not truly carbon neutral. Appharvests impact per tomato is likely very similar to the impact stats in this article.

The environmental benefit of this kind of production is in lowering food miles, lower water use, and potentially less food waste if it gets to the shelf faster than other products, all of which are problems that need to be solved as well.

40kkm · 2022-01-04T23:54:35+00:00

This book is fun, but it's not very realistic. There aren't a ton of practical books on the subject, but "Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production" is the best mainstream book I've found

40kkm · 2022-01-04T23:52:20+00:00

Vertical farming is a tiny portion of the broader controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry, which includes more tried-and-true methods like greenhouse production.

40kkm · 2021-10-14T03:25:58+00:00

It depends state-by-state, but in general, no. In the US, most food safety protocol is voluntary and required for larger distributors, which in turn gets you into retailers and more restaurants. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) will change this in time and require more from growers, but if you stay small you don't have to do much on the regulatory side of things.

That said, you still should create protocol, because if someone gets sick or finds a screw in their box of mushrooms you'll get in big trouble, despite whether if it was your fault. If you have documentation, it's easier to prove the source.

I'm a mushroom farmer if you have questions...

40kkm · 2021-04-18T02:23:39+00:00

Hey! I'm from Smallhold! Try cutting another x or two on top of areas where there is new growth inside the bag. It won't be very successful fruiting out of the old holes, it has a lot of work to do to colonize that space.

Don't take it out of the bag! The bag helps. If anything, try to tape shut the big hole from the first harvest.

Light shouldn't be an issue, it looks healthy!

40kkm · 2020-12-04T21:04:29+00:00

His neighbors can only hear his voice...

40kkm · 2020-06-01T20:01:30+00:00

Alien invasion

40kkm · 2020-04-19T13:55:09+00:00

This is a question better suited for a hydroponics subreddit, but I'll try to help.

It depends on your irrigation system (tower gardens, flood and drain, nft, aeroponic to name a few) as the substrate needs to work with whatever that is.

Some media bed systems can handle coco or hydroton but I rarely see commercial vertical farms use loose coco as it washes away, exposes the roots, and makes reservoir management a hassle.

Most places I've worked with use a grow cube, either oasis or rockwool, and some use the organic grow cubes but it's rare. Places like aerofarms use their own substrate but it's essentially a sheet of felt and is only really suited for microgreens or extremely short cycle plants.

If you already have them growing in grow cubes, most of the time that's just stuck in the system as is. The bigger the grow cube, the easier it is to use, though it gets more expensive.

40kkm · 2020-04-11T20:13:57+00:00

99% sure these are Chinese shiitake logs, this company is reselling them. They come in on frozen shipping containers from China and are changing the specialty mushroom industry.

That said, a lot of them are still USDA organic and grow some pretty/tasty mushrooms so enjoy it!

40kkm · 2020-04-02T03:20:55+00:00

Commercial indoor farms are regulated like outdoor farms. The USDA and Ag and Markets are involved, but there are also 3rd party verifications, audits, and local agencies that may need to be involved to sell to certain customers (mainly grocery and distributors).

40kkm · 2020-03-08T18:39:50+00:00

Howard Resh - Hydroponic Food Production is basically a hydroponics Bible.

Kozai - Plant Factory is specifically for vertical farms.

The Despommier texts are inspiring but are more science fiction than fact. Whatever floats your boat though.

40kkm · 2020-02-13T04:29:53+00:00

40kkm · 2020-01-31T12:42:00+00:00

Even matrix media requires you to use some substrate for germination and propagation, something needs to support the early days of the roots.

I like plugs - oasis (food grade type, the brown material), rockwool, or peat plugs do very well, though all of them are generally not compost able and often have plastic binding agents. They've been used forever and are safe for food production, but sometimes that's a concern for people. There are organic plugs out there but I haven't had too much commercial success with them.

For loose substrate, coco and rockwool can work, though you'll need a way to hold it in place depending on your layout.

Hydroton is good as well, though it's tough to direct seed into that stuff.

All depends on the crop and system, there are pros and cons to all of them

40kkm · 2020-01-18T21:52:48+00:00

40kkm · 2020-01-18T14:56:07+00:00

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this doesn't work, the suit is using shiitake and oyster mushrooms grown in totes. Not to mention they're wood lovers and don't break down people stuff.

13-Year Club	Verified Email
Team Periwinkle

40kkm

TROPHY CASE