Heaton ’s Nursery , locate in Queensland , begin out as a hobby 40 old age ago in 1976 . They are a longstanding and valued client of Powerplants . Odin Franssen , Powerplants ' Queensland Sales Representative , visited the nursery and spoke with Peter Heaton himself to see how the automation & labor - saving equipment is helping their operation and improving plant quality and output .
Background"Because it was the LXX , we did fern and medal . We stayed with fern because they were tough to grow and not many people mature them , and they have been hard to farm for the last 40 years , we ’re still struggling . But because we did ferns and not many other the great unwashed did them , we had to be a second inventive about how we turn them . As far as I know , we were the first people in Australia to dehumidify a shed . Around 2000 , we started develop ferns under lights in a completely artificial environs . And we have used screen basically ever since they come out , " says Peter .
ScreensBy installing and using screen alone , Heatons was able-bodied to arrive at about a 30 % increase in their turnover and production sentence .
" I recollect screen are , certainly for us , one of the biggest improvements we ever made and the dehumidifiers . Basically the more we can control the surround the well it is . The fern do n’t wield most spray , so we just could n’t spray to fix thing , we actually had to control the environment , " explains Peter .
Automation & labour - saving equipmentHeaton ’s has always tried to keep up with the in style technology and to do so , they visit Europe every 3 to 4 years . Their glasshouse eventually grew in size of it , to a dot where it made sense to start utilizing mechanisation and childbed - saving equipment . " And its ' been outstanding ever since ! " say Peter .
The first equipment they leverage was a Javo Standard and Javo Ecobasic Potting machine . They do anthuriums on the Javo Standard and fern on the Ecobasic . Peter adds " value for money , I think that Ecobasic is just fantastic . It ’s an inviolable ripper . "
The potting machines made a significant difference when they part diversifying to bigger and smaller line , 55 and 165 , they double or even quadrupled the numeral of plants per person compare to pot by hand . Potting fail from being a major part of their output during the week to a minor job they can fit in whenever they desire rather than having to schedule the hebdomad around potting .
After adding the potting machines , they then built a shed big enough to break away pot folks and soften belts in . The addition of buffer belts and passel forks has allowed them to pass twenty-four hour period deserving of work and pack order doubly as fast .
They are able to wad orders and restack the baby’s room at the same time , what used to take five day to pot , restack , and gang orders now only takes 2 days . And they are able to restack , weed , clean , and check for insect all at the same time .
Auerbach Tray WasherWhat used to be a problem that no one wanted to do and took hours using a hose can now be done in just 1 hour with two people . Anyone is quite glad to do it and the tray are clean better with the high - pressure urine .
Da Ros SeederHeaton ’s Nursery tested out a unexampled method of placing fertiliser prills in cellphone trays , compared to premixing or using liquid fertiliser . They commence off doing it manually to see how it worked and with hopeful result , they sum up a Da Ros LS7 - 2 Seeder to their operation .
" Doing it manually was never a recollective - terminal figure option . By having the seeder work , think that we could actually do it that way , " says Peter . This method allows them to better control the fertiliser amount and fix , result in expert and more consistent ontogenesis across all of the plants .
" All of our fertiliser is where we want it . Around the root of the plant … Not only do we get twice as good a timber plant , but it ’s also half the employment and last twice as long . "
Da Ros Irrigation BoomsHeaton ’s has 2 Da Ros Irrigation Booms that have allowed them to salve water and be more exact when lacrimation .
" The best matter about them is that you’re able to water the edges without watering the rest of them . It ’s the undecomposed affair . you may just rick them on and water the edge … The more exact your watering organization , the more pronounced your edge result is . Not only is it really coherent , but you may also work them on and off as you need . If [ you ] wanted to hook them up to a atmospheric condition station , you could . But you could just go down and water the edges or the whole wad , or that section you just potted . There ’s no rationality for heap to go through a watering burrow because you could just irrigate that fossa you just pot . It ’s more the versatility with it than anything else . "
Overall designThe overall design and layout of equipment have puzzle out well for Heaton ’s Nursery , they just care they built a bigger shed .
" If we did it again , we would make the shed bigger . The braggy problem is the shed is too small , the pattern worked out really well . There ’s no such matter as a shed that is prominent enough . The shed is always too little no matter how big they are … But realistically we fit everything and more in the sheds than we expect to , to start with . It ’s just grow too fast . If we had a big shed , I do n’t think we would really change the design anyway . "
A lot of prison term and effort was put into thoughtfully designing the layout and selecting equipment for Heaton ’s Nursery so as to maximize the benefits .
" The shed was designed around the screens , which was then designed around the pot forks , which made a difference to the buffer belt table , which then made a difference to the shed that the buffer belt went in , it all link up in . "
For more information : Powerplants03 8795 7750[email protected]www.powerplants.com.au
