be able to save money by letting them 

 grow longer at a lower temperature." 

 Both sections have rolling benches — 

 galvanized mesh on aluminum 

 frames ('They increased our growing 

 area 33%"). 



The third compartment (kept at 60 

 degrees nights) is used for cut flower 

 production. There are two benches 

 of alstroemaria — an experiment that 

 isn't working out ("They may like it 

 cooler") — and a bench of iris, but the 

 rest of the house is filled with single- 

 stem snapdragons. Tom feels that 

 cut flowers is something he could 

 grow more of ("potted plants have 

 peaked.") and snaps is the cut flower 

 he can grow best. "Snaps can't be 

 shipped readily," Tom says. "Because 

 of their geotropic response. You lay a 

 cut snap down flat and in 30 minutes, 

 it will begin to curve upward." Tom 

 has a steady year-round market for 

 all the snaps he can grow. 



Productionis set up seasonally. There 

 are four groups and each group has 

 varieties that grow best in i ts season. 

 (One growing in November was 'Ap- 

 ple Blossom,' a tall spike of pink- 

 throated white florets.) When a 

 bench has been harvested, compost is 

 added to the soil, the soil steamed, 

 and the new crop planted. 



The benches are rolling benches 

 made of pressure-treated lumber. 

 Each bench has a 4 x 20 growing 

 area. They're on pipes laid on cross- 

 pieces fastened to concrete blocks 

 and are moved by turning an old 

 vent crank that fastens to a coupling 

 on the end of the 1 1/4" galvanized 

 pipe. They've held up well. After six 

 years, there's no sign of deteriora- 

 tion. Theonly mistake was using all 

 2x lumber — the benches are heavy 

 and it's awkward to move more than 

 four at a time. On newer benches, 

 Tom used 2x on ends and sides and Ix 

 for the base. They're lighter. 



Light is a major factor. As the days 

 get shorter, the plants grow more 

 slowly and the stem length gets long- 

 er. Some snaps in winter are over six 

 feet high. Flowering that takes six 

 weeks in July takes ten in January. 

 So Tom invested $1200 in 36 fflD 

 lights to use over his snaps. He feels 

 the investment was worthwhile — 

 the lights have cut a month off his 

 winter production time. But they've 

 changed the seasonal pattern and 

 have "totally negated any recommen- 



dations I've been given." As far as he 

 can tell, no research is being done. 

 So he's learning as he goes. 



While he's learning, he's increasing 

 the crop. A seventh house — a double- 

 poly separate from the rest of the 

 complex — was built a year ago spe- 

 cifically for snaps. The rolling 

 benches in this 30 x 96 house are 4 x 

 40, set up in two rows of three on 

 either side of a central aisle. The fur- 

 nace is designed so that the hot air 

 blows out the bottom (rather than 

 the top, which is usual) and flows 

 under the benches "where it does the 

 most good." Supplemental carbon di- 

 oxide is used during the winter 

 months. 



Will he build more snap houses? 

 "Probably not — but not because the 

 market isn't there, but because I've 

 about reached the limits of my 

 water and power supplies." 



The water is good here — it comes 

 from a 640-foot artesian well at 

 twelve gallons a minute. This is 

 stored at the end of the snaps in the 

 middle house in a 5000-gallon steel 

 tank once used for water storage at 

 a golf course in Stoneham, Mass. 

 (Its mate is outside, used to store oil. ) 

 The water tank has its advantages — 

 "it gives us a good start in the morn- 



J Snapdragons and iris 

 in the cut flower house 



February/March 1991 19 



