2 January 2014: LEDs were a trending topic in 2014; CambridgeHOK successfully completed the first top lighting and interlighting installation for Melrow Salads hosted by Flavourfresh at their Lansdale Nurseries. The combination of Philips' new top lighting LED module together with the already proven interlighting module was combined for the first time in a commercial installation.
6 January 2014: Riococo coir hydroponics saved a Mexican family greenhouse: Soluciones en Horticultura, a grape tomato producer in Celaya, Guanajuato was experiencing many problems with nematodes in their soil. Grower Guadalupe Salinas was about to throw in the towel and close his entire greenhouse operation. "We never thought about growing on hydroponics, because it seemed to be too expensive and way too complicated, but after all it is the best decision we have made by far."
6 January 2014: January 3rd 2014 is a day that some greenhouse growers in the Netherlands will never forget. At this day, a heavy wind storm damaged nurseries and greenhouses in Huissen, the Netherlands. As a result of this wind storm, a dutch greenhouse grower Albert Beijer lost an entire greenhouse complex. His plant nursery couldn't handle the heavy wind at that afternoon and collapsed. The total damage at the horticultural area of Huissen is estimated to be million of euros.
10 January 2014: A tomato growers that is solely focused on flavour?! In the competitive world of commercially grown vegetable production, it’s unusual to find a grower solely focused on creating the best flavour in their crop, without them being preoccupied with increasing production year on year. But flavour is exactly what motivates Walter Ross, owner of Farmhouse Tomatoes, Inc, based in Palm Beach County, Florida.
10 January 2014: This year has been a sad year for the Dutch rose sector. In January month, the first Dutch rose grower Saris was filed bankruptcy. The 4.8 hectare large Dutch rose grower Saris in Venlo is bankrupt. The nursery employed 26 workers and 33 part time workers. Bad pricing and high costs were the reason for the bankruptcy. Also increased competition with rose growers in Ethiopia and Kenya appeared to be detrimental.
13 January 2014: Emerald Coast Growers founders and long-term industry members Dave and Wyona Babikow have officially retired from the business as of December 2013. “He turned his passion into a thriving business of grasses and perennials”,says son Paul D. Babikow. Paul now owns the company together with daughter-in-law Maureen Babikow and siblings; Mark Babikow, Cheri Markowitz, Bonnie Mietling and brother-in-law Albert Mueller.
16 January 2014: On January 9, Backyard Farms announced that they had overcome their 'growing pains', ready to meet strongest demand of the year. Backyard Farms, the Maine-based tomato producer emerged triumphantly in 2014. A whitefly infestation, followed by propagated plants that did not meet quality standards, led to a full re-replant, setting them back six weeks. Tim Cunniff, Backyard’s VP of Sales, said to Hortidaily that the company upholds slightly higher standards than the industry standard and the re-planting decision was “a quality call in terms of what we wanted to do. “We started picking a little bit just around Christmas, then by the end of Christmas and the week of the New Year, we were in full production,” he said.
21 January 2014: Greenhouses in Motril, Spain were hit by snow and hail. No greenhouse collapsed, but at some companies snow and hail entered the greenhouse. At that time, no prediction could be made if the cucumber production would be affected by this happening.
24 January 2014: Flier Systems expanded its range of products by joining forces with the ISO Group based in Gameren, the Netherlands. Directors Piet Oomen of the ISO Group and Ard Flier of Flier Systems believe that combining forces of both companies will lead to higher levels of innovation and further international growth.
27 January 2014: Delta bylaw allowed co-generation power at greenhouses. Delta’s bylaws did not allow for co-generation facilities on agriculturally zoned land. The zoning amendment would follow recent land use standards adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture in May 2013.
27 January 2014: A parking garage roof converted to greenhouses went bankrupt in Vancouver. In this parking lot, the crops were laid out vertically to maximize production.
Unfortunately, just more that a year after it was launched, the company's had debts to 17 creditors at $3.4 million.