October 21, 2024
Chance meeting leads to improved fertilizer application, higher yields
Paul and Mark Russo, Adelaide Hydro Fresh, grow more than two million heads of lettuce and basil each year.
An unwavering commitment to quality has helped to convert a Northern Adelaide Plains market garden into one of the state's largest hydroponic vegetable producers.
Angelo and Gianna Russo, together with sons, Mark and Paul and their families, grow more than two million heads of lettuce and basil each year to supply national supermarkets, along with the Adelaide and Melbourne Markets.
Adelaide Hydro Fresh is based on a four-hectare property at Virginia which hosts 2.8 hectares of greenhouses used to grow basil year-round.
Smaller amounts of speciality leafy vegetables, including endive and exquisite bunch lines, are grown on outdoor tables.
A second, large-scale outdoor system on a 32ha property at Angle Vale is used to grow green oak, red oak, duo oak, green coral, red coral, butter, mignonette and baby cos lettuce.
The property also hosts field crops of cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi and lucerne.
All told, the two farms have a total hydroponic capacity of almost 500,000 plants.
Every aspect of production, harvesting and handling is focussed on plant health, growth rates and quality.
"We are particularly focussed on shelf life," sales manager Mark Russo said.
"We want to grow quality produce that customers want to buy again and again because it presents well, tastes good and is something that is going to last when they get home.
Yara agronomist and regional manager Paul Eitzen inspects a young lettuce with Adelaide Hydro Fresh's Mark Russo.
Angelo and Gianna Russo started out growing lettuce, cauliflowers, cabbage, potatoes and onions at Virginia 50 years ago.
"Mum and dad used to supply the old East End market, as well as running a wholesale business before moving into the new markets at Pooraka," Mark said.
"In 1985, one of Angelos customers encouraged him to give hydroponics a try.
"Mum and dad built a small system, then another and it just took off from there.
"At one stage, there was so much hydroponic lettuce on the market that we were turning systems off.
"We started experimenting how to grow basil hydroponically in the greenhouse year-round.
"It took us a couple of years to figure it out but we perfected it and decided to get into basil.
"We needed more greenhouses to produce during winter, so that meant we needed more outside tables for the lettuce.
"Eventually, we had no more room at our home property, but we had orders we wanted to fill, so we started to construct the outdoor hydroponic system at Angle Vale about five years ago."
Paul was the driving force for the new build, organising everything from levelling ground to digging trenches, building the sheds and systems and installing tanks and pipe work while still managing day-to-day operations at the home farm.
At the same time, Mark concentrated on building up the business in their market store at Pooraka.
The Angle Vale facility now has nine systems, each comprising two bays of benches.
Each table has eight Pacer Profile Hydro gullies that hold the produce they grow.
"We have spent years tinkering with gullies, shapes, sizes and everything in between, the angle of the benches, hole spacing and diameter and even the profile of the gulley to optimise water flow, and in turn, the health and growth of our plants," Mark said.
Paul and Mark Russo, Adelaide Hydro Fresh apply some 40 years of knowledge about nutrition, plant spacing, filtration, hygiene, what works and what doesn't into their hydroponic business.
"It's taken a lot of time and love to get this right.
"You can tell when you've got everything right by the colour, the frame and roots of the plants - they just blossom."
Nutrient solutions are pre-mixed in 1000-litre shuttles and then transferred to the pump stations, where they are decanted into separate holding tanks which are automatically fed into a recirculation tank.
An electric pump effortlessly circulates between 3000 to 8000L of nutrient solution through the system at any one time, depending on crop stage and season.
Nutrient, pH and flow levels are constantly monitored and adjusted according to crop stage and the weather.
The Russos have relied heavily on Yara agronomist (now regional manager) Paul Eitzen for nutritional advice for almost 20 years.
"I met Paul by chance when he called into my fertiliser supplier across the road," Mark said.
"We started talking about some challenges we were facing and he seemed to have all the answers.
"We have to grow a quality product that's better than the rest, so it makes sense to go with a quality manufacturer like Yara." Mark Russo, Adelaide Hydro Fresh,SA"A few weeks later, I asked him to come out and have a look and we have never looked back."
The nutrition program is based on the premium water-soluble fertilisers, YaraTera Kristalon Scarlet and YaraTera Calcinit, which are ideal for use in nutrient film technology (NFT) hydroponic systems.
The former is a blended NPK formulation that delivers a balanced blend of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; together with the secondary and micronutrients, magnesium, sulphur, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, boron and molybdenum.
The latter is a calcium nitrate fertiliser that delivers a fast-acting source of plant-available nitrogen and strength-building calcium.
Levels of individual nutrients are "topped up" using YaraTera Rexolin water-soluble chelated micronutrients.
"We use Yara because of the quality of their fertilisers and the advice we get from Paul," Mark said.
"All YaraTera products mix completely and you don't get stuff in the bottom of the tank.
"We have to grow a quality product that's better than the rest, so it makes sense to go with a quality manufacturer like Yara.
"With Yara, you know exactly what's in these products, where they came from and that everything's been done right."
Each circuit is equipped with a Azud Helix automatic filter system.
"One of our biggest problems is potting mix," Mark said.
"If the seedling's root system is not well developed when we plant out, the potting mix washes into the system and causes all sorts of problems.
"Any blockage in the filter reduces water pressure, which means less water and nutrients can get to the plants.
"The automatic filter system allows us to get on with other jobs or even leave the farm for a couple of days without having to check the filters every hour."
The Angle Vale facility features concrete roadways for easy and efficient operation year-round.
"The concrete might seem a bit over the top but hydroponics is more labour intensive than you think," Mark said.
"We can grow a crop between three and eight weeks, depending on the season.
Mark Russo, Adelaide Hydro Fresh says the colour, frame and roots of the plants are a good indicator the growing system is working correctly.
"We can be planting and harvesting up to 70,000 plants a week during summer, so there's a lot of vehicle movement.
"If we get 50 millimetres of rain, it's impossible to move around without the concrete, plus there's less wear and tear on the machinery and our bodies.
"With the exception of laser levelling and the electrics, we have done everything ourselves - trenchwork, formwork, construction and plumbing."
The plan is to double the size of the Angle Vale operation to 20 systems within five years.
"We've got 40 years of knowledge about nutrition, plant spacing, filtration, hygiene, what works and what doesn't and that's going to give us the leverage to grow," Mark said.
"It's been a collective learning between dad, mum, my brother and myself - no one had the 'big plan' or all the answers."
