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Finding a Niche
Vegetables Under Glassback to list

by Kitty Byrnes

Philip and Nancy Langston dream big and think small.

And they're making their dreams come true with thorough research, planning and hard work on 2-1/2 acres of leased property outside of San Luis Obispo. Their farm, SLO Grown Produce, supplies premium off-season vegetables for six local farmers’ markets.

The key to the Langstons’ success is their custom-designed greenhouse hydroponic operation which has developed from a question mark into reality over the last seven years.

Both Philip and Nancy grew up in urban Santa Clara without farm experience. But Philip had an interest in botany research and Nancy wanted to work beside her 'best friend.' The two met in junior college before Philip transferred to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, where he earned a degree in “applied botany”—crop science—in 1987.

“Coming from a non-agricultural background might have been an advantage for me,” Philip speculated. “I didn't have the experience, but I also didn't have preconceived notions. So I questioned everything.”

Working as field manager for Drakes Royal Farm during and after college, Philip picked up experience as he saw the farm go from chicken and egg production, using manure for field-grown crops, to converting a few chicken coops into greenhouses. Finally the operation went into packing and shipping vegetables.

Questions and Research Begin to Pay Off

With the help of SCORE, Service Corps of Retired Executives, a Small Business Administration program offered through the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, the Langstons worked their ideas into a business package they could take to lenders.

"Everyone told us we couldn't do it," Nancy recalled. "We got it from all sides." But in 1991 construction on the 21,000 sq. ft. Stuppy greenhouse began. And over the course of a year, with help from "whoever else showed up," these city kids built it themselves, saving $70,000 in construction costs.

Now after four years on the site, the Langstons and their crew—one full-time worker and two Cal Poly students—grow and market 1,000 cukes, 2,000 pounds of tomatoes and 100 pounds of basil weekly. They supply six farmers’ markets, four restaurants, two health food stores and two chain stores.

The cost of producing their extended season (December to June) greenhouse tomato crop is $3,200-$4,000 a month, half going for energy expenses. This is ten times the cost of growing the same variety outside during the normal season. But the Langstons get $2/lb. wholesale and $2.40-2.50/lb. retail for the off-season fruit, compared to 80¢ wholesale and $1 retail in the warm season. "And we haven't hit the upper end of the market," they report.

Nancy, SLO Grown’s “marketeer,” explained, “In these markets you have to provide a consistently good product from the very beginning or customers won't come back." She does a lot of talking, “for a shy person,” introducing the public to the seedless European cukes, the flavorful tomatoes that "keep well on the counter, because you never refrigerate tomatoes," and varieties of basil which include the large leaf Napoletano used in sandwiches and salads.

"We emphasize quality," she said. "And customers come back after comparing our stuff with other produce."

Their seed, often imported from Holland, is premium. Tomato seeds cost 20¢ and cucumbers 38¢ per seed. Varieties are selected for flavor and good performance in greenhouse culture, following the farm’s own variety trials. Seed is started in the Langston nursery in 4" net pots, which are later transplanted into five-gallon plastic grow bags.

Philip experimented with different planting media before settling on a peat-lite (peat, Pearlite and vermiculite) mix. "The biggest drawback with nutrient culture," he has learned, "is that without the soil there is no buffering capacity, so PH variations in irrigation water can affect nutrient uptake. The peat mix has a buffering effect and provides good pore space for rooting."

The Langstons watch the plants closely because nutritional needs can change quickly in hydroponic conditions. Leaf tissue analysis is done three times during the growing season and adjustments can be made through fertilizer concentrate injected into the irrigation system. "We have more control inside the greenhouse than we would have out in the field. We’ve learned by experience how to adjust for everything the plant needs."

Philip relies on his basic hydroponic textbook from Cal Poly for his "recipes." The technology has been around since the sixties but the hardware and techniques have changed. He follows research presented at conferences of the Hydroponic Society of America to see what's coming in the future, as well as information from suppliers in Florida, Canada, and Holland, where greenhouse growing is popular and highly evolved.

Learning About Biocontrol Under Glass

Pest control in the greenhouse is critical because everything is confined and intensified. Philip uses an IPM, bio-active approach focusing on prevention and control.

"There has never been a whole lot of "chemistry" for greenhouse vegetables," he says. "Most of the pesticide products are labeled for outdoor use only. A lot of conventional growers moan about what pesticides are being removed from the market, but we've always had to use other means to control pests."

Biological control relies on good management—correct identification of the pest, selection of the appropriate biological response, and precisely timed application. This spring Philip discovered a new mite on his tomatoes.

“It took three months to identify it as broad mite. They call it “broad” but it’s the smallest mite I ever saw,” he laughed, "and easy to miss. Then the Extension Service person who identified it said, “That can't be the problem. You don't find broad mite on greenhouse tomatoes.” ”

Nevertheless, they lost 1,000 plants and two months’ production. “You have to have a sense of humor,” Philip shrugs philosophically.

In his experience, biological control works 80% of the time. “It's clean and easy. Even though the products cost more initially, there are many hidden savings, such as time for worker reentry and paperwork.”

Because of the fast reproductive cycle in the greenhouse, aphids can become a major problem, but the Langstons get good control of melon aphid on cukes using lady bugs, lace wings, midges, predatory wasps, and hover flies, each released at critical points in the growing cycle. In spring, whitefly is controlled in the greenhouse with a predator wasp (Encarsia formosa), but the pest becomes less of a problem as the season continues.

The Langston’s site takes advantage of cool breezes from the ocean. It is inland enough to avoid the fog and capture as much sun as possible. But winter rains in California mean grey, overcast days causing botrytis or grey mold on tomatoes.

Philip is experimenting with a new biofungicide, a strain of bacteria that colonize leaf surfaces, for this problem. Variety selection and nutrient foliar spray helps control powdery mildew on cukes.

He keeps an eye on innovative biological products coming into the market, such as a new cinnamon oil fungicide that also shows promise against insects and a neem product that can be used without hurting predatory insects. "You pay a lot for predatory insects. You don't want to kill them off,” he reasons.

A big time-saver has been the use of bumblebees bred for greenhouse pollination, a chore previously done by hand. The bees are more effective, “and they work long hours, seven days a week,” Philip observes with a smile.

Although the greenhouse was designed to be naturally venting with drop walls and fully automated climate control, Philip and Nancy still find plenty to do. “Our busiest time is January to July, before local gardens come into production, but we are busy six days a week year-round,” he said, adding, "We do try to get a few days off in there someplace."

Are they complaining? No. Philip says, "There's nothing I'd rather do than work in the greenhouse with Nancy."

Working Together

Philip and Nancy Langston are both involved in every aspect of SLO Grown Produce, from planning to marketing. In fact, their friends rarely see them apart. Their pastor asked how they manage when they're not speaking. They wonder, too, because it's never happened.

Philip enjoyed agriculture in his studies and work during college and proposed the idea to Nancy. “I said, 'OK, but I don't want a lot of rusting machinery in the front yard.' Now I know why it's there: you're too busy to do anything else. My old Volkswagen sat here in our yard 'til someone came by and offered to buy it,” she recounts.

One of the couple’s biggest challenges was building the half-acre greenhouse. “I don't know how many trusses we put together. It got so boring we timed ourselves and tried to beat our own record,” she remembers. They got so efficient at assembling trusses that their greenhouse distributor reported that they beat a group of professionals at the task.

One problem, of course, is a tendency to talk shop. Now they’re planning a four-day vacation to Las Vegas, traveling with another “greenhouse couple.”

What if they're not as lucky in cards?

“No problem,” Philip assures me. “We work too hard for our money to gamble it away. I always ask myself, 'How many pounds of tomatoes or how many cukes will that take?' It puts things into perspective.”

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