Aquaponics greenhouse tour winter update

Some growers require a significant and immediate return from their investment. Others are primarily motivated by creating business that supports their community with fresh local food, and are less concerned about the financial return. Whatever your priorities are, it is crucial to evaluate your expected financial return, and diligently create a business plan. If you need assistance in fleshing out the details of a business plan, we recommend utilizing one of the many courses across the country that are tailored to aquaponic greenhouse businesses.

Simply search commercial aquaponics course and you will find a long list of possibilities. An idea of returns is important to flesh out early on, as this will greatly impact the scale of your commercial greenhouse. Typically, larger operations are more geared toward profits, due to their greater volume and economies of scale. Large-scale commercial growers must be fairly large in order to achieve the volume required by chain retailers and to compete at scale.

Being large, of course, introduces a much higher level of risk, which is why we see many commercial aquaponics greenhouse growers selling produce in local markets from a small or midsize greenhouse.

After answering the questions above, you should have a rough picture of your ideal aquaponics greenhouse business. Do you want to fund and manage a small-scale year-round greenhouse on your own?

Or, do you want to get financing and run a large-scale aquaponics farm with a team of growers? Or are you somewhere in between — taking out some loans from friends and family, hiring out some of the work while relying on your own experience to operate and run a commercial aquaponics greenhouse? When commercial aquaponics entrepreneurs approach us at Ceres, they usually fall into one of these categories, each of which has pros and cons.

To summarize:. Typical grower : Growers who are new to aquaponics, often creating a small starter greenhouse to gain experience, possibly expanding to a larger operation later. Usually self-funded, these greenhouses do not generate significant profits but can feed friends and family, or supplement a small CSA with year-round produce. Typical grower : Growers are often entrepreneurs with some aquaponics or commercial greenhouse experience.

They want to expand to building a sustainable, community-oriented business. The greenhouse is often managed by a few employees, with the owner often having a hands-on or managerial role and often have second jobs.

Many growers find supplementary income from non-growing operations, such as consulting, events, classes, etc. A larger greenhouse allows for greater production and a more financially stable business.

Markets are typically local restaurants and farmers markets. More commonly, the owner is an investor probably one of several. Greenhouses are more advanced and automated, and run by an organized team one or more head growers, and several laborers. Outlets for the products are large-scale retailers and food distributors. In these cases, the operation is competing with large-scale hydroponic growers along with all the other commercial produce.

The size imposes a much greater financial risk. But with increased risk, comes the potential for greater returns. Want to learn more or have additional questions? I'm buying another heater to keep the water a bit warmer, and we have a small space heater in there to help the plants and koi fish to survive the winter. The mint growing in the ground is still thriving, and it's definitely not cold inside the greenhouse.

My next step is to build a solids lifting overflow, and a radial flow filter from a 5-gallon bucket. Then I'll hook them up to the IBC tank, draining into the gallon sump tank. Then I'll add a stronger pump which will pump water to both grow beds. I'm hoping to get all this done by spring so we have a fully assembled system by then. Check out the video:. Wednesday, November 12, Aquaponics Greenhouse Tour. The greenhouse is pretty much complete. It gets a bit hot in there in the middle of the day, so I'm hoping I won't need to install any ventilation or anything.

I still want to install the sump tank, and second grow bed, but I need to build a solids filter and solids lifting overflow first. Check it out. Learn More. Watch us on YouTube!

Aquaponic Greenhouses For Sale Aquaponics is a system of soil-less growing that uses fish to create a fertilizer that can be recycled continuously throughout the growing system. Hydroponic Solar Greenhouses Hydroponics is a system of soil-less growing that relies on a combination of nutrients and water. Access Greenhouse Related Brochures. Aquaponic Greenhouse Blog Posts. February 11, Read Article. Can I Feed my Family of 4 with a Greenhouse? April 29, September 4, Free Resources on Commercial Aquaponic Greenhouses.

February 19, Finance Your Greenhouse. Looking for financial help? We can help you find funding for your greenhouse project. Aquaponic Greenhouse Frequently Asked Questions.