Designing and Building Germination Chambers - A Case Study
Crystal Stewart-Courtens, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Seven growers from across Eastern NY were identified as having the need for germination chambers and a variety of different locations in which to trial them. These growers convened at a meeting with agriculture engineers and greenhouse experts to share the key components they needed in a germination chamber. Some of these components included:Cost-effective to build and maintainEasy to build and maintainMoveable Possible to light, for items like lettucePossible to cool, for use in greenhouses and in the summerModular, with ability to have different parts at different temperatures
Other needs, such as size,building material, and monitoring equipment type were extremely variable. However, understanding the underlying needs of most chambers was very helpful in informing the design process.
Based on this process, agricultural engineers started to create designs for the growers but ultimately growers created their own designs, with the support of Teresa and Crystal. Of the designs which were created, two seemed to offer wide appeal due to their cost-effectiveness, versatility, and the quality of the transplants grown.
Cold Spring Farm Germination Chamber (pdf; 1593KB)
Poughkeepsie Farm Project Chmber (pdf; 1306KB)
- Wooden frame chamber
Upcoming Events
Drinkwine Produce Twilight Meeting
September 16, 2024 : Drinkwine Produce Twilight Meeting
Ticonderoga, NY
Drinkwine Produce Twilight Meeting
Monday, September 16th 4-6 pm (rain or shine)
1512 Street Rd, Ticonderoga, NY 12883
Join us for discussions on high tunnel tomato production and sweet corn and pumpkin IPM at Drinkwine Produce in Ticonderoga. Henry Drinkwine will provide an overview of his practices for maintaining high yields of tomatoes, including pollination and soil fertility management. In the second half of the meeting, CCE specialist Chuck Bornt will review integrated pest management for sweet corn and pumpkins, with hands-on scouting and identification of key pests and diseases.
DEC Credits: 1.5 credits in categories 1A, 10, 23
Korona Produce Field Meeting
September 24, 2024 : Korona Produce Field Meeting
Amsterdam, NY
Korona Produce Field Meeting
September 24, 2024, 4-6pm
Korona Farm and Produce
1953 Co Rd 107, Amsterdam, NY 12010
(pull in by the cow pasture)
Join CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Vegetable Specialists Crystal Stewart-Courtens and Chuck Bornt for a field meeting to look at tarping for weed and pest control and cover crop termination in vegetable rotations, a pumpkin variety trial walk looking at new varieties, and cucurbit IPM practices.
This meeting is free and open to the public.
2 DEC credits available in categories 1A and 23
Questions? Reach out to Crystal Stewart-Courtens at cls263@cornell.edu or 518-775-0018