There was a collective gasp upon entering the brand new, 4ha hi-tech snacking tomato greenhouse called Bunya Fresh, during the Protected Cropping Australia farm tours on July 10th 2019.
Eighty fellow growers and greenhouse allied trade were guided through the ultimate and ideal environment for the one-month-old winter crop of tomatoes on the Australian, Queensland Sunshine Coast.
Like proud parents, owner Julian Long and his adult children, Sean, Ryan and Storm showed off their impeccable state of the art facility and crop to the captivated group.
Eighty conference delegates toured Bunya Fresh on Australia's Sunshine Coast
AIS Greenworks together with their Dutch partner Stolze, designed and installed the entire project apart from the Richel greenhouse structure which was built by Apex Greenhouses.
The team from AIS Greenworks were likewise proud to showcase their products, expertise and talents. Henry Bosman, David Franklin, Jeroen van Loon and Saskia Blanch were on hand to explain the systems and engineering involved.
Growing Systems
Hanging gutters were rolled onsite to support the crop, irrigation and fertigation systems and to create a 23,975 m long, seamless collection of the water and nutrient run-off from the Grodan rockwool growing media.
The root zone EC, WC and temperature is measured at intermittent points with probes from a Grodan GroSens MultiSensor to ensure crop uniformity.
The closed-loop nutrient recycling system channels back through a series of storage and treatment tanks. The excess nutrient solution is then measured, recalibrated and buffered back into the ideal nutrient recipe by a Priva fertigation controller for the hungry, active crop without wasting a drop, dollar or resource.
Climate Systems
Horizontal airflow fans circulate the CO2 enriched atmosphere amongst the manicured leaves, latent with fruit to follow next month. The CO2 is distributed by tubing under the gutters and supplied by a 5mg gas boiler in the boiler room and eight liquid LP Gas tanks outside.
High pressure fogging is used to cool and humidify the greenhouse climate, by flash evaporating billions of tiny water particles at up to 1,000 psi. Filtered water flows through a network of stainless steel and thermoplastic mainlines and laterals. Five-micron fog droplets are then emitted through brass and stainless steel anti-drip nozzles.
Since 2005, Julian Long has commissioned AIS Greenworks to design, project-manage and install each of his three greenhouses totalling 8.4 hectares, with a fourth and further 4ha to follow in 2022.
L- R Henry Bosman (AIS Greenworks), Folco Faber (Apex Greenhouses), Saskia Blanch (AIS Greenworks), Julien Fitte (Richel Group), Julian Long (Bunya Fresh), Jeroen van Loon (AIS Greenworks) and David Frankin (AIS Greenworks) are proud of their team effort in their latest 4ha controlled environment for snacking tomatoes.
Family Traditions
Bunya Fresh, AIS Greenworks and Stolze are each family-owned businesses with a loyal customer base and returning clients. Their fundamental aim is to ensure complete customer satisfaction, from concept to completion, as well as after-sales service.
For more information:
AIS Greenworks
1300 763 141
sales@aisgreenworks.com
www.aisgreenworks.com.au