Growing Green with Compost Tea

Sound Horticulture Assists Elzinga & Hoeksema’s Compost Tea Production Project

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Innovation is a buzz word we may have all heard one too many times, yet there is that particular instance that occurs now and then that truly merits the term. Consultant Alison Kutz-Troutman of Sound Horticulture has played an integral role in what greenhouse growers will certainly herald as innovative—Elzinga & Hoeksema (E&H) Greenhouses first commericial organic greenhouse built from the ground up.

Unveiled at their media event March 12, the E&H greenhouse features a dynamic compost tea delivery system producing 1,000 gallons per day. Kutz-Troutman is a key part of the team working with Mark Elzinga to see this project to fruition. She specified the Growing Solutions Compost Tea System500, having worked with the Eugene, Ore., manufacturer for more than 10 years, including her own use of a Compost Tea System for greenhouse production at Cascade Cuts in Bellingham, Wash.

Adding compost tea is a key fertility component to E&H’s new four-acre organic range. The delivery system uses variable frequency drive pumps and flow meters allowing the flow rate to be varied at any time during the production cycle, as the crop dictates. Kutz-Troutman notes that other ingredients such as kelp can be added to the system as well. “This is a great example of a nursery looking at the whole picture, from soil health to crop protection,” Kutz-Troutman said.

Sound Horticulture provides consultation to greenhouse and other organic and conventional growers in the areas of biological controls, compost teas, soil blending, and site specific design solutions. Alison Kutz-Troutman is a commercial grower with more than 25 years of experience including owner/operator of Cascade Cuts in Bellingham, Wash.

Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses, founded in 1962 in Portage, Mich., is one of southwest Michigan’s largest commercial greenhouses with five locations and more than 30 acres of actual production area in the Kalamazoo and Portage areas.

Growing Solutions Incorporated provides products for plant and soil health. For more information about the company and its products, visit www.growingsolutions.com.

CONTACT: Michael Alms, Growing Solutions, 541.343.8727

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