Replanting and overseas travel

Our staff members have been busy on both sides of the equator this week. Our new trainee -  Michael McLachlan, and staff member Doug Oldaker worked hard with De Ruiter staff members Aart Slobb and Josip Balint to replant our number one compartment last Friday. All plant material was propagated and grafted by Trandos Hydroponic Growers who once again proved their mastery of the propagation process by supplying some high quality plants

 The 'Winter' crop gets established.

The plants are currently sitting on the Grodan slabs as we exert a generative influence on them. They will be placed on the planting holes in approximately two weeks time. We have a mixture of varieties as part of the De Ruiter trialing program which brings its own set of challenges to the growing process.

 Our trainee, Michael, is getting a taste for heights as he undertakes the task of stringing! This is now Michael's third week with us and he is already proving himself to be a valuable asset to the staff.

 New Trainee Michael in action

Staff member Tony Bundock has been in Vietnam as part of an International project with Chisholm. The project itself has been developing a training agreement with the Vietnamese Government to introduce Australian vocational qualifications in to the workforce in Vietnam. The project saw Tony working with Simon Gazia of industry partner Lab Tech Training, to investigate current training and production facilities. Plant propagation by tissue culture in Vietnam is a popular method and a course has now been devised that will train students in both Laboratory technology techniques as well as modern growing and greenhouse techniques.

 Tissue culture in Da Lat - Vietnam

All parties were required to collaborate and reach an agreed training course which was signed off by the Vietnamese Government. The next stage of the project will see fifteen Vietnamese teachers coming to Melbourne in May to undertake specialized training in both the laboratory technology and controlled environment growing areas.

 Tony Bundock and Simon Gazia with members of the Vietnamese Trade Congress

What a busy week!

We have had  pretty full on week in terms of training and activity at the National Precision Growing Centre.

Our Certificate 3 students completed the cleaning of Compartment one and the Grodan slabs have been laid out in preparation for wetting up and planting of our 'Winter' crop next week.

Cleaned and ready to go!

As you can see, the students have made a fantastic job of cleaning up the house, and they will be involved in the planting out process next week.

On Tuesday we hosted 11 industry participants for a full days training in our 'Introduction to Commercial Tomato Production' course. The day was a very fast paced day of training and was designed to be a 'knowledge grab' for all of the students. Each participant also went home with a USB brimming with information to assist them in developing their knowledge after the course.

Owing to the strong demand for this course we are now planning a further course next month - dates will be advertised the week after next.

We also had a visit from Grodan propagation adviser Hans van Herk who conducted a seminar on Tomato propagation on Wednesday evening. This was a really informative session and was greatly appreciated by the delegates that attended.

Finally, our glasshouse manager is off on his travels again, and this time Tony Bundock will be visiting Vietnam as part of a large training program that Chisholm Institute are developing with the Vietnamese government. Tony will be away for a week and will be leaving the replanting exercise to staff member Colin Bednarz and the Certificate three students - we are in safe hands!  

Practical (and not so glamorous) training!

Our new Certificate 3 Horticulture students started their course this week, and were hard at work on day four.

This week we have started clearing out our 'Winter' Tomato crop in preparation for re planting. The cleaning out operation is a little earlier than usual but this is to allow us to make some exciting new changes within the compartment - more on this as it develops!

All of the students were enthusiastic participants in this particularly dirty job, but they will get to do the 'fun' side of planting and establishing the new crop. 

The next stage is to wash the compartment from top to bottom as we enter the sterilization phase of the operation.

 

Making a start...

 Getting there.....

 

Happy band of workers....

Introduction to Commercial Tomato Crop Production

 

Our training year is now up and running and one of the first courses we are proud to announce is the 'Introduction to Commercial Crop Production' course.

This course is designed for the new entrant or 'novice' grower who wants to get to the basics of growing a Tomato crop.

The course has a theoretical and practical component and is ideal for those who want to broaden their knowledge.

There are limited places for this course, so if you wish to participate, please contact Tony Bundock via e mail or phone.

Welcome to the New Year!

2014 promises to be a very interesting year for us here at the National Precision Growing Centre with a raft of new initiatives to assist the industry in training.

Priva training will be one of our major focusses this year, with our Priva endorsed trainer - Tony Bundock - compiling a busy schedule of both on and off campus events.

Our popular 'Introduction to Computerised Climate Management' courses will be running throughout the year at the Cranbourne Campus, and we will also be running courses for more specialised users of Priva products.

New for this year are the 'Maximise your Maximiser' and 'Intelligent use of Integro (Connext)' courses. Dates for these courses will be appearing in the next two weeks so keep an eye on the blog site for further details!

So that we can service the wider industry, we will also be delivering these courses interstate. Our plan is to develop a number of 'roadshows' that will enable us to deliver this training in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. Past experience has shown us that many growers are keen to enter in to this specialised training but the costs of flying staff around the country make it financially impossible for many to attend. By taking the training to the clients we are looking to provide a more cost effective way of providing this service to growers.

As part of our commitment as a Priva training centre, we are also working closely with Priva NL to develop the Priva accreditation system. The concept behind this project is that many of us use Priva computers as part of our daily routines, but there is no benchmark to determine the level of skill that individuals have in using Priva products. By having an acccreditation process, industry practitioners will be able to have their skills recognised against an endorsed set of competency standards that will not only highlight their ability, but act as part of an 'industry passport' when applying for future career positions. 

On top of our Priva courses, we will also be looking to follow the 'roadshow' concept with a range of training inititiatives. These will include introductory courses for those growers who are new to the industry and want to start growing hydroponically. The courses will look at some of the basic elements of developing a Precision Growing approach to growing, and will highlight the potential benefits to growers who want to 'get out of the soil'.

Following on from the huge success of our Haifa Fertilizer seminar, we will also be developing training options with Haifa to take the seminar series on the road as well. This course is a real eye opener for any grower that wants to improve his or her ability in fertilizer management.

For new entrants to the industry, we are now taking enrolments for both our Certificate III and Certificate IV courses in Production Horticulture. Both of these courses have a high degree of focus on the commercial production of greenhouse vegetables, and students spend a large proportion of their time in practical applications to enable them to be 'job ready' at the end of the course.

We will be posting details of all these courses as they are finalised, but if you want any further information in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact Tony Bundock via e mail at tony.bundock@chisholm.edu.au

The steady stream of visitors.....

Part of the role of The National Precision Growing Centre is to educate both industry practitioners as well as the wider public in how precision growing is undertaken.

This week we had a diverse range of visitors from those with a hobby background in horticulture, right up to one of the leading exponents of precision growing.

We firstly welcomed 34 members of the Springvale Garden Club to observe first hand how a commercial glasshouse operates. The group recieved an explanation of both climate and irrigation management from staff member Tony Bundock, whilst our trainee Sara Nour, gave a guided tour around the crop growing area.

 

The group finished their tour with an opportunity to buy some of our wonderful fresh tomatoes!

At the other end of the scale, we welcomed Grodan's Andy Lee to Cranbourne this week as he tours Australian as part of his customer support program. As ever, Andy was a wealth of knowledge and gave us some great guidance in terms of crop and climate management strategies.

Andy Lee and Tony Bundock inspecting the crop

GRODAN introduces new wireless, multi-sensor measuring system for substrate growing

Based on professional growers’ needs for higher accuracy and reliability in monitoring water content (WC), electrical conductivity (EC) and temperature in substrates, GRODAN is now introducing a state-of-the-art innovation: the GroSens® wireless, multi-sensor measuring system.

When GRODAN asked its customers what challenges needed to be overcome to achieve precision irrigation, it quickly became apparent that there was a need to measure WC and EC more accurately and at multiple locations in the greenhouse. “The current WCM meters still work well and are used a lot; however in the past 15 years a lot of technological developments have taken place.” explains Vincent Deenen, Director Marketing and Development at GRODAN. “After intensive research, we have now designed a solution to precisely match the growers’ needs, the GroSens system”.

 

The newly introduced GroSens® system: making precision irrigation possible

The GroSens benefits The wireless GroSens system enables 24/7 real-time insight into the WC, EC and temperature of the stone wool substrate. It contains multiple sensors that are designed with double the number of measuring points compared to its predecessor, the WCM II. Based on statistically reliable trials, GroSens measures the WC and EC at least 5 times more accurately than existing Water Content Meters (WCM). The fact that there are multiple sensors, and thus more measurement points in the irrigation section, leads to more reliable and representative WC and EC figures. The wireless sensors allow tremendous flexibility in where you can measure in the greenhouse and they are easy to install. The GroSens system is modular; the basic set consists of 3 Sensors and can be extended with more Sensors, to suit each grower’s needs. In short, GroSens is an ideal measuring tool for growers who want to take Precision Growing to the next level.

 

“The GroSens system, in combination with GRODAN stone wool substrate products and advice, is the best way of achieving optimum results in production and cost savings. Launching this system is another step in the GRODAN Group’s strategy of making Precision Growing possible for growers,” concludes Deenen.

The patented GroSens system will be introduced to the market gradually and will eventually replace the current GRODAN WCM’s. For more information, please visit he GroSens page   

Just over two weeks until our IPM Masterclass - Thursday 14th November 2013

Following the success of our Fertilizer seminar, our next event on our seminar calender is the IPM Master Class with Dr Paul Horne.

The seminar is appropriate for anyone who is wanting to find out more about IPM, and offers you a great chance to source information from one of the countries leading experts on IPM - Dr Paul Horne.

Joining Paul will be Jessica Page, who is also a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the area of IPM.

The session promises to be of great interest, and to secure your position at this seminar, please contact Tony Bundock either via phone on 03 5990 7163 or e mail at tony.bundock@chisholm.edu.au

Haifa Fertilizer Seminar

Tuesday saw us co-hosting a seminar with Haifa Australia at our Cranbourne Campus, which focused on the use of soluble fertilizers in hydroponic growing.

 

The event was extremely well supported with over 35 delegates attending from a wide range of industry practitioners, and many of the delegates also came from Interstate -  with South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria all being represented.

The seminar focused on the technical aspects of fertiliser choice and in particular, the need to formulate recipes that not only meet specific fertilizer values, but also provide a 'balanced' recipe in terms of +ve and -ve ions.

 

Shaul Gilan

Haifa staff members, Shaul Gilan and Peter Anderson were the presenters and provided some challenging and thought provoking content for the delegates, whilst promoting a relaxed learning atmosphere.

Peter Anderson

The morning sessions culminated in some fairly hefty mathematical and chemical theory before the delegates were given a demonstration of the SMART software that has been developed to aid growers in formulating recipes.

In the afternoon the delegates moved to the glasshouse facility where their theoretical skills were once again challenged, along with some practical demonstrations of fertiliser mixing at differing water temperatures.

Delegates from DPI Bundoora check their maths!

The delegates were also able to take a first hand look at the fertigation system and water recycling systems utilised within the National Precision Growing Centre, to see best practise in action.

Following the success of this event in Melbourne, we are now looking to take the seminar 'on the road' and we are now making plans to showcase the seminar in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.

If you are interested in attending a future event in one of these states, we would invite you to express your interest by sending us an e mail via tony.bundock@chisholm.edu.au

Recycling of our Stonewool

At the recent Protected Cropping Australia Conference, Chisholm and Grodan held an informal meeting for growers to look at potential recycling options for growers who are using stonewool as a medium.

Whilst our European colleagues are well served in this area with Grodan recycling their product for producing bricks, the Australian market is hindered by the lack of critical mass of growers in localised areas. 

The meeting soon identified that whilst a Nationally based total solution would be great, the reality was that growers are seeing local solutions to recycle the product. And the recycling issue is not just limited to the stonewool, with growers looking for whole of enterprise solutions that will allow them to process crop trash as well.

On a more local level, we have been looking at how we might utilise our old stonewool slabs for a secondary use. Trainee Sara Nour and Diploma student Marcus Long have been looking at trials involving adding increased percentages of green matter to shredded stonewool with the aim of producing a composted green waste product with stone wool as an additive. These trials are in the early stages and we will be looking to publish their findings as time develops.

After we had removed the plastic, the initial issue was how to shred the slabs. We did investigate using a commercial tree chipper, but the trials with this style of machinery were varied to say the least! The action of the chipper was very aggressive and the dry slabs turned to dust - and blew away!, whilst slabs with a SMC of approx 30% or greater just clogged up the machine.

Our second attempt at shredding the product involved a more agricultural solution. Certificate 3 students Mark Lim, Robert Bounday, Graham Elsworth, Aaron Jackman and Di Lester have been involved in this process, and this saw them running a tractor mounted rotary hoe across the slabs with a PTO speed of 540 RPM. 

 

The rear shield was initially kept up to allow for a more open breaking process of the slabs and then lowered to mill the product.

The results were promising in that we were left with a fairly fine product that we now believe we can utilise as either a generic mulch for tress and shrub beds, or a potentially useful product that we can use in relation to 'vertical wall landscaping' as part of our Landscape students developing project.

 

So our 'local solution' seems to be working well in terms of processing, and we will keep you posted on the results of the 'secondary use' viability. 

For further information on any of the processes that we are experimenting with, feel free to contact us via e mail at tony.bundock@chisholm.edu.au