Advanced Growing Systems Start Here.

A new greenhouse on campus doesn’t look like a greenhouse at all. It’s a 40-foot-long shipping container filled with cutting-edge, high-tech equipment that will help UC Davis usher in a new frontier in hydroponic agriculture. “We’ve begun a research, teaching and outreach initiative on indoor vertical agriculture,” said Gail Taylor, professor and chair of the Department of Plant Sciences. “We want to train the next generation of farmers to have skills in engineering, computer science and plants to develop innovative solutions for food security.” From the outside, the 320-square-foot facility resembles the shipping containers you see trundling down the highway. Inside, it contains a complete hydroponic growing system unlike any other on campus. Rows of vertically hung panels can be filled with plants such as lettuce, herbs and hearty greens illuminated by the glow of iridescent LED grow lights.

A class of undergraduates walks through the vertical greenhouse, wearing glasses to view the lighted panels.