Leading manufacturer of horticultural and agricultural buildings, Redpath Greenhouses Australia, which is exhibiting at Hort Connections in Melbourne, says many outdoor growers are starting to look at indoor growing as a bit of insurance, especially with the extreme weather conditions in Australia and New Zealand.
"We have had a good response here (at Hort Connections)," Director & Sales Manager Brian Clark said. "We do greenhouses for anything basically, right through to animal shelters. We do greenhouses for fruit and vegetable production, and medicinal cannabis production is a big thing at the moment as well, and nursery production - we can basically make the greenhouse to suit whatever crop you want to do, and wherever the crop is. That obviously determines the features the greenhouses have."
Based in Bendigo in Victoria, the company has constructed greenhouses in nearly all parts of Australia, and New Zealand. Mr Clark adds that most buildings have a standard frame, but the specifics are designed to suit the individual companies growing requirements.
"For example, a quick easy modification is, if we are building in a colder climate, you would be looking at double skinning for the insulation value," he said. "While if we are building in the tropics, it's more rain protection and maybe shade cloth or roll-up cloth on the sides. You can have single or double vent depending on how hot it gets. So, it really depends, and we provide a lot of options. We have a couple of different diffusion levels in the plastic, and definitely when you get into the hotter climates, they want more diffused plastic. Whereas the southern states might want the clear plastic."
Redpath also specialise in environmental and ventilation equipment for the monitoring and control of indoor crops. It stocks a range of horticultural films and fabrics including commercial grade greenhouse plastics, shadecloth, weedmatting, reflective orchard matting, and overhead energy screening, which can be altered to suit the customers' needs.
"I have worked for Redpath for 15 years now, and we lean heavily on the New Zealand side of the company, who have been going for a long time now" Mr Clark said. "All our Greenhouses are designed to suit the harsh conditions in New Zealand and we have had Greenhouses survive cyclones and snow - so we make the greenhouses to survive and we expect a life span over 25 years."
The company has seven staff members, and the operations are mostly based in the factory in Bendigo.
Visit Redpath Greenhouses in booth 308 at Hort Connections.