SBIR-STTR Award

Small-scale hydroponic greenhouse farmers rely on current products to maximize their production potential. The highest selling commercial hydroponic systems for leafy green crops and strawberry production are known as horizontal Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) systems. Though these systems are proven to be efficient and profitable, they limit the grower to a production capacity based on a 2D plane resulting in "dead-space" along the side-walls of their greenhouses. The Cascading Water Disbursement Tower (CWDT) created by the PI is a unique vertical NFT tower that can be integrated into greenhouse production to utilize the created dead-space when using horizontal hydroponic systems. The product is light, efficient, one-component, and holds up to fifteen plants per tower. The SBIR Phase I will prove the products overall feasibility when integrated with existing horizontal systems. Since the product cannot be made by hand, a 3D printer will be used to produce up to 50 apparatuses to integrate into the research greenhouse at North Arkansas College. The college currently has horizontal NFT systems growing leafy greens making it the perfect scenario to conduct this research. If the product is proven feasible, it could increase existing hydroponic producer's production by up to 30%. This means that a hydroponic producer could have a means to scale up production without further investment into infrastructure resulting in up to $100,000 worth of savings. The apparatus is not limited to the commercial grower, but can be used by anyone who wishes to install a vertical hydroponic tower in an area that gets partial sun. The research conducted will prove its feasibility, perfect the design to become manufacture-friendly, and provide accurate data on its true potential to increase production in greenhouse dead-space. The apparatuses will be 3D printed and installed into constructed wall and ground mounts to hold the towers in place. Once installed, data on harvest dates, plant size, and plant densities will be collected at the time of harvest and throughout the growing process. The results will be used to market the efficiency of the product toward existing hydroponic system producers to gain support in manufacturing the product. GSS Group LLC is looking to patent the design and utility of the product and license it to hydroponic product manufactures. The ultimate goal of this project is to create the first "true" and integrate-ablevertical NFT tower on the market. This product was designed with the current small scale hydroponic farmer in mind. These farmers have made a dedication to producing high quality specialty products with sustainable methods. They should not be limited in product selections due to the competitive nature of current system producers. This product should disrupt the current hydroponic product market and force competitors to invest in further product development to enable small farmers to maximize production potential in greenhouses. Hydroponic systems should be designed to be easily integrate-able with other systems to allow for product diversification within the same grow space. Like the CWDT, they should also be designed for easy cleaning, harvesting, and transplanting.

Despite a growing demand hydroponic production methodologies are still relatively new andpose financial risks for the small to mid-size farms struggling to become profitable enterprises.Hydroponic farm equipment such as controlled environment agriculture (CEA) greenhouses andhydroponic systems are very expensive. For example the foundation structure and installationcosts for a standard gutter-connected CEA greenhouse (50'Wx100'Lx10'H) is $20/sq.ft. or$100000 total. The majority of hydroponic producers grow crops (especially leafy greens) withNutrient Film Technique (NFT) and Deep-Water-Culture (DWC) types. The major disadvantageof these systems is the inevitable "dead-space" or unusable production space created along theside-walls and connection bays of CEA greenhouses. Instead of spending an average of $100000to construct an additional greenhouse or bay the farm operation can spend less than $14700 toincrease plant sites by 12% and annual revenues by around $11000 ($367.9 million in additionaldomestic leafy green sales).Phase II efforts will culminate in a low-cost hydroponic tower system designed for small andmid-sized hydroponic farmers looking to scale-up production with minimal investment. GSSGroup's patent-pending Cascading Water Disbursement Tower or CWDT a hydroponicapparatus is unlike other vertical hydroponic tower systems in its ability to add value to existingfarm operations and balance up-front investment against long-term operating costs to achieve thebest overall value .The CWDT technology was designed to be an efficient tool to maximizeproduction capacity for existing hydroponic producers of various lettuces herbs andstrawberries. The design uses the same irrigation methods as NFT systems to reduce time spenton installation/ integration. In addition the vertical hydroponic tower is "stack-able" to allowgrowers the ability to custom fit the towers to their current operations. The CWDT offers animproved alternative to competitor vertical hydroponic towers marketed today. Most verticalhydroponic towers today are bulky heavy and are composed of multiple components that mustbe cleaned after each harvest cycle (every 14-30 days).Phase II objectives will focus on researching and testing a prototype of each CWDT system'scomponents to create a final-stage-prototype of the CWDT Stack-Unit irrigation/drainage andmounting frame. The commercial end-product will be inexpensive to produce/ ship and saveusers 30% of time spent on daily system maintenance tasks (transplanting harvesting &cleaning).