As the days get longer and hotter, the lime coating is thickened. And when the days get shorter and cooler, the lime is allowed to wear away through wind and rain, until the following Spring when the shading process starts again. The plastic coverings are replaced every 4 years. At the height of summer, dark weedmat is used over the seedling greenhouse to better control the hours of darkness. Cooper points to heating the air as an inefficient way to heat a greenhouse in winter.
Warm air rises and is lost to the plants below.
Using high-pressure fibreglass pipes manufactured locally for the oilfield industry, Cooper plans to construct distribution lines to supply warm water heating to the root zone, where it is needed most. The Lettuce Five greenhouses are dedicated to lettuce, which are grown in round fibreglass pipes using classic NFT techniques. They are the same fibreglass pipes found in the oilfield industry. One greenhouse is dedicated to seedlings. Seeds are started in oasis cubes, then transplanted into the NFT nursery system.