Modernizing greenhouse environmental controls
Source: HD.com
Growers are currently balancing rising labor costs, increasing automation, AI-driven decision making, energy efficiency targets, and the need for greater operational consistency across sites. Argus Control Systems will host a discussion on this topic at Cultivate '26 in Columbus.
The session, titled "Considering the Next Step in Greenhouse Control: A Fireside Chat for Growers," will take place on the Cultivate Live! Stage at Cultivate '26 in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, July 14, from 9:30 AM to 10:00 AM.
The conversation will address questions greenhouse operators commonly face, including how to modernize operations without introducing risk, where advanced controls provide meaningful value versus unnecessary complexity, how to balance scalability, standardization, and flexibility across an operation, and what future-proofing means in practice for a greenhouse environment. Jeff Neff, Senior Technical Lead at Argus Control Systems, will share insights drawn from more than three decades of experience helping growers develop environmental control strategies across operations of varying sizes.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
