According to Michele Pavano of P.TRE, the gutter system is an effective solution that many growers underestimate. It is the first step to raise the greenhouse operation to a higher level.
The numerous benefits to growing with gutters is widely known, particularly in tomato production, but gutters usually mean more consistent irrigation, total water recirculation, good airflow beneath the crop, uniform drainage, and not to mention a more practical picking height for workers.
Installed and maintained correctly, gutters significantly improve efficiency within a greenhouse and as a consequence, a good grower will be able to produce a better crop and bigger yields because of them.
Italian family firm P.TRE was already well established as a long-standing wire and sheet metal company when they turned their hand to producing horticulture gutter systems a few years ago.
Originally supplying metals to the automotive industry and indirectly to the likes of Fiat, Opel and BMW, the company has since branched out and set up P.TRE Green Line, making gutters for hydroponic greenhouses throughout Europe.
P.TRE initially began supplying gutters for Italian growers producing strawberry, tomato and cucumber crops, but in the last five years, more than half their business now comes from producing and supplying gutters throughout Europe for vegetable, salads and soft fruit production; and rose and gerbera cultivation.
“This [gutter business] is very important to us, and in about five years it will be about 60% of our business,” says the company’s Business Manager, Michele Pavano.
In spite of their success Michele freely acknowledges he is still relatively new to the horticultural business, and is self-effacing when asked about the importance of gutters in hydroponic growing. He clearly feels more comfortable deferring this question to people who’ve been in the business longer than he has.
“I am one of the last to arrive in the market with gutter systems, and I want to be a professor, I don’t want to be a teacher, so I am learning a little bit more every year, but the big gutter producers from Holland know all the advantages already,” says Pavano with typical modestly.
P.TRE can install their gutters in two ways; either delivered to the greenhouse in segments and then assembled on site, or (the more efficient process) of having it produced entirely on site. The second option means they can lay lengths of gutter in one piece - to the exact required length - eradicating the issues of joints between sections, which can sometimes result in water losses.
Pavano says that customer satisfaction and showing a healthy respect for his competitors are very important, and with that in mind he won’t be drawn on what crop they are most in demand for except to acknowledge that, “it depends on the country.”
“In Europe, i.e. Germany and France it is strawberries but in Eastern Europe there is a lot of growth in tomatoes,” he says. “As a company we like to help growers anywhere, we look forward to design custom made solutions for them, because not every greenhouse is the same. For us it is a challenge to find the right system, each time.”
For more information:P-TRE
Michele Pavano
m.pavano@ptre.it
www.ptregreenline.it