What advantage one has with a growing structure such as a greenhouse. Tobacco growers use their greenhouses for approximately 3 months and allow them to sit empty for 9 months. It seems senseless that Kentuckians are satisfied to let California, Florida, or any other state continue to dominate the vegetable market in this state. My goal IS NOT to get tobacco farmers to stop growing tobacco in their greenhouses. My goal IS to help tobacco growers realize that their houses can be used to grow other crops when they are not growing tobacco.
Growers can diversify their crop productiohn and increase their income.
With slight modification in the float bed system, greenhouse tobacco growers can shift gears and start growing other crops with basically the same equipment and style of growing that they currently use. Innovation and change can be benefical but does not have to be expensive. In the typical float bed system, the plants are in trays floating in the water and the cells of the trays are saturated with water constantly. The tobacco plants seem to do well in this type of environment, however, most plants do not like a constantly saturated soil. Often seed will not germinate, or the plant will not grow normally due to root, stem and leaf diseases.