G’s Fresh, based at Barway, near Ely in Cambridgeshire, produces lettuce and other salad crops, and has a large standard greenhouse which is used to propagate seedlings for planting out into the field.
Ben Barnes from the firm is exploring two key questions: Can the efficiency of the propagation facility be increased to get a more homogenous crop; and is it feasible to produce baby leaf crops during the winter at an affordable price?
And he hopes answers can be found via Smart Prop, a project looking at increasing growth and making stronger plants so they transplant better back into the field, and Winter Grow, a pre-commercial trial exploring winter growing.