Ontario Plants has officially opened a new 13-acre, high-tech greenhouse facility at Glencoe in southwestern Ontario. This year’s greenhouse tour, in conjunction with the Canadian Greenhouse Conference, made a stop. 

This new facility prioritizes world-class biosecurity, quality assurance and sustainability, ensuring young plants can thrive and ultimately supply consumers with nutritious, flavourful produce. Speed doors ensure an optimal growing environment and the facility has safety-certified cleaning stations, comprehensive pest management and rigorous monitoring by in-house food safety experts and entomologists. 

Mathieu van der Sande, CEO of Ontario Plants, said: “The new 13-acre greenhouse at Glencoe is a game-changer for Ontario Plants and most importantly for our customers. Ontario Plants has evolved to focus squarely on producing high-quality young plants and the Glencoe facility demonstrates this growing excellence. We now have two high-tech greenhouse facilities – at Glencoe and St. Thomas – meaning greater flexibility to meet customer demand for young, healthy and productive plants.”

More than 90 per cent of rainwater from Glencoe’s roof will be captured and reused in the greenhouse. Energy efficiency is improved by using 2800 hybrid LED/ HPS lights, the Dalsem Air semi-closed system and renewable energy from heat pumps and a planned six-acre solar installation. 

Ontario Plants now produces young plants under a total of 49 acres of glass across two locations, Glencoe and St Thomas, with 36 more acres of state-of-the-art greenhouses under development.

Source:  Ontario Plants Propagation October 9, 2024 news release