PROFILE: HUMPHRIS NURSERY
Humphris keep growing with new state-of-the-art greenhouse By Matt Ross Some growers are content to keep doing what they do, what they’ve always done, and doing it well. And there’s nothing wrong with that. For Barry Humphris, owner of Humphris Nursery, he wants to push the envelope, to challenge himself and his team to have a crack. Inspired by trips to Europe to see how they do things and the scale on which they do it.
that exactly fit his requirements,” said Simon Gomme, Director of Powerplants.
“It’s eye opening to visit the European growers and witness the size of their operations and the efficiency of their systems.
The outcome is a greenhouse designed for flexibility, space utilisation and low running costs.
The culture of the European consumer, where plants are viewed as a regular purchase, creates a demand to grow on an epic scale.,” said Barry.
On entry you’re blown away by the size of it, it covers one hectare. It’s five metres in height which provides a buffer for the plants from the outside environment. There are one kilometre of conveyor belts and side shifting ebb and flow benches which allows potting and dispatch to happen simultaneously anywhere at any time. It’s double skinned with plastic, delivering outstanding insulation for the plants.
And so, having acquired 200 acres of farmland in Woori Yallock, a small village in the Yarra Valley, they commissioned a state-of-the-art French manufactured (Richel), Dutch designed, greenhouse. Crucially they engaged Powerplants from the outset to advise them on design and specifications of the greenhouse. “Too often growers will contact us having already purchased a greenhouse and we then have to look to provide retrofit suggestions. Barry engaged us from the outset which meant we could assist him to achieve a custom-built greenhouse
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GROUNDSWELL OCTOBER 2021
It’s double ridged venting, fogging systems, heating and fans, are all controlled by Priva compass using a tablet or phone; all of which means Barry can be enjoying a beer at home whilst monitoring and controlling the heating and cooling. And all those features have been achieved whilst preserving a 92 per cent space utilisation, it’s a big house that packs a lot in, large walkways don’t generate any income.
