On October 22, The Plant Company hosted the grand opening of its new greenhouse in Virginia, bringing its total under cover growing space to 10 acres. With the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, the 5-acre greenhouse expansion came to an end. The first plants moved into the new greenhouse in the last week of August and except for the last finishing touches, the project is now complete. "This expansion enables us to effectively double our annual output, allowing us to better serve customers with the high-quality leafjoy product they've grown to love," says The Plant Company team.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony
In summer 2023, they decided to expand in order to meet increased demand for leafjoy® houseplants, especially the fast-growing leafjoy littles line, as well as products that provide instant gratification like the H2O and Terraform Terrarium products, the team shares. To this end, they partnered with Erfgoed and the GreenV group. During the expansion project, Erfgoed was responsible for the irrigation system and water filtration unit.
The Plant Company worked extensively with the GreenV group, specifically HT Verboom and Prins USA to design an internal logistics system that would serve their needs today but also into the future, accounting for expansion and automation. Once that footprint and approach was clear, they worked with the GreenV companies on designing the overall greenhouse, heating system, electrical needs and irrigation equipment, as well as the vertical rooting chamber.
Co-owner Frank Paul with the leafjoy range
At The Plant Company, they believe that the new facility increases operations and more efficiently uses space, allowing for more automation. "The new facility is laid out in such a way that work can be done more efficiently and ergonomically. In total, the new greenhouse allows us to be about 20% more efficient with labor, partly thanks to automated spray booms and automated internal transport systems for peak efficiency. Further, it also allows for more precise watering for liners and enables us to concentrate the handling of plants like sticking, sorting and shipping in a concentrated area."
Moreover, The Plant Company highlights that the new greenhouse is designed to save energy, saying: "It also has a high-efficiency heating system and two energy curtains, as well IIVO climate software which is the leading software solution in the CEA space. Additionally, we installed PAR Perfect shade curtains, double energy curtains and full LED in some of the greenhouse compartments. We also included a vertical 3-layer rooting chamber from Green Simplicity, 100% recirculation of irrigation water, and CO2 injection coming from a high efficiency boiler system."
All in all, the company is happy to finish the project with these results. "The expansion positions The Plant Company for the future with the ideal infrastructure to continue to expand both the liner and finished side of the business."
For more information:
The Plant Company
www.theplantcompany.com