YOUR INDUSTRY
‘THE LETTUCE MAN’ Words by Claire Ashton
Ian Kerr, ‘The Lettuce Man’
Situated just off State Highway 1 in between Karapiro Lake and the Whitehall Quarry, you will find Ian Kerr. When we meet, he doesn’t have a card to swap, as everyone simply knows him as ‘The Lettuce Man’. The way Ian got into lettuce was all very serendipitous, as when he and his family purchased the property, there were growing houses but no hydroponic equipment. After talking with a plant broker about growing beans, and doing a bit of research, Ian discovered “a bit of a fire sale” on some hydroponic gear up in Dargaville. Forty-eight hours later it was all his. Since starting the business in 2006, on average he has 15,000 head of lettuce growing at any given time. Mesculin is very popular and other crops grown include a range of Asian greens, tomatoes, capsicum and herbs. Ian says, “It seems like stating the obvious, but the secret to good hydroponics is good quality water.” Ian’s 60-acre property has a bore, is near two rivers and has an artesian water supply, and the pH of the water is sampled and sent off for regular testing. In saying that though, Ian’s hydroponics set-up, like most, is not a big user of water, which is one of its advantages. Other than water, fish fertiliser is the only other ingredient used in growing. The water works for him in another way too – a small waterfall supplies power on the property. 38
NZGROWER : APRIL 2021
He plants seasonally and doesn’t use spray as Ian says, “as soon as you use spray you upset the whole equilibrium.” However, being spray-free means there are other factors to contend with, such as pests. What Ian does plant is a sacrificial or decoy crop of mesculin oriental mix outside alongside the greenhouse, and this means the commercial crops inside the greenhouses suffer less from the crops’ main pests, the white cabbage butterfly and aphids. There are so many white butterfly around this summer that Ian decided not to plant cabbages at all. He was also advised years ago to plant near the bush, as native bush provides a diverse range of predators for the pests which attack crops. The biggest threat in hydroponics is root disease, so to ensure protection against this, Ian has strict hygiene protocols in the growing sheds, and diligently waterblasts each area as the crops are grown, picked, and rotated. He gets most of his seeds from Kings Seeds and grows all the seedlings on the property using his own trays. When he delivers he supplies extra trays so he is not bringing external trays back onto the property from a buyer or store, and still immediately sanitises the trays upon their return. This closed ecosystem helps to protect against any disease being introduced. He also packs his own produce on-site and delivers in cardboard boxes. Ian admits to being risk-averse – prevention is better than cure. The lettuces are sold with roots on, which he considers a ‘value add’ and it gives them a good shelf life and means they are alive, fresh, and with the buyer within 48 hours.
