US (FL): Vertical farm grows more with less space and energy
With the door to the hotel's main restaurant – Latitude & Longitude – situated just outside the entrance to HyCube, the carbon footprint is practically negligible.
"We call it pick to plate," says Cristian Toma, "and this HyCube installation will cover most, if not all, of the hotel's needs for lettuce. We're talking well over 100,000 heads of lettuce being produced here per year, and 13,000 pounds of herbs, greens, and edible flowers."
At any time, the vertical stacks host between 15,000 and 25,000 plants depending on the variety, not counting microgreens and baby leaf greens.
An automated nutrient leaching system pumps a proprietary solution of more than 10 nutrients to feed the plants, and does so without discharging any waste. The HyCube's recirculating hydroponic systems use less than two gallons of water to produce one fully grown head of lettuce.
Read more at Orlando Weekly (Faiyaz Kara)