In Edmonton, Alberta, a former cannabis facility has been reimagined as one of the country’s most advanced vertical strawberry farms. Behind its high-density productivity and sustainable practices is AllSet, the autonomous fertigation system from Nourish Labs.
Featured in Orchard & Vine Magazine July 2024 Innovation Issue profiles GroHERE’s groundbreaking vertical strawberry farm and highlights how Nourish Labs’ AllSet fertigation system is helping power their success.
A High-Density Vision for Fresh, Local Strawberries
GroHERE’s 36,000-square-foot facility once produced cannabis—but today, it’s engineered for strawberries. With eight stacked rooms, each over 15 feet tall, the farm grows up to five times more produce per square foot than traditional greenhouses. Their goal? To deliver one million pounds of sweet, Alberta-grown strawberries annually—an ambitious step toward reducing Canada’s reliance on imported fruit.
But scaling a high-tech vertical farm requires more than just lights and space. That’s where Nourish Labs steps in.
Feeding with Precision: The AllSet Advantage
GroHERE selected AllSet, Nourish Labs’ fully automated fertigation platform, to power their vertical farming system. This system is designed to deliver millilitre-precise blends of nutrients, tailored to crop needs in real time. It eliminates manual mixing, minimizes waste, and ensures optimal plant health across every layer of their stacked farm.
Originally engineered for high-value cannabis crops, AllSet has evolved into a crop-agnostic, scalable solution. Its autonomous control of nutrient dosing and irrigation helps GroHERE achieve:
Labour cost savings through full automation
Reliable, consistent yields via pH-balanced, crop-specific formulas
Environmental sustainability with minimal water and nutrient runoff
Precision Farming Meets Recycled Infrastructure
One of GroHERE’s greatest strengths is its smart reuse of legacy cannabis HVAC systems. By leveraging these existing systems, they maintain ideal day/night temperatures—essential for strawberry sweetness and firmness—without the high cost of a new build. The decision to invest in climate control, paired with AllSet’s automated fertigation, reflects a deep commitment to controlled-environment precision.
A New Era of Local Food Systems
Canada imports more than 33 million pounds of strawberries into Alberta alone each year. With vertical farming and smart automation, farms like GroHERE are flipping that script—producing local fruit year-round with less land, water, and fertilizer.
At Nourish Labs, we’re proud to be part of that transformation. Whether you grow strawberries, greens, or grapes, AllSet gives you control, precision, and peace of mind in every drop.
GroHERE’s transformation from a cannabis facility to a high-efficiency vertical strawberry farm is a model for the future of sustainable, tech-enabled agriculture. With Nourish Labs’ AllSet fertigation platform at its core, the farm is redefining what’s possible for controlled-environment fruit production in Canada.
This article was adapted from “Vertically HIGH on Strawberries,” originally published in the July 2024 issue of Orchard & Vine Magazine.
