Metrocrops is an innovative urban high density farming initiative focused on growing salad greens using custom hydroponic expertise and proprietary LED lighting technology. MetroCrops will solve some of the limitations of conventional farming by growing indoors in climate controlled environments and make use of the large inventory of under utilized, affordable, industrial buildings in cities. This initiative will provide new high quality, year round, urban, non-outsourcable, green jobs.
Growing under the lights
A mix of baby salad greens growing under MetroCrops grow lights. The lights have been optimized for ideal plant growth as well as energy efficiency.
Metrocrops grow lights
The USDA Advanced Research Station (ARS) at Beltsville, MD has purchased several MetroCrops grow lights. Prior to using these lights for their own lettuce phytonutrient research, the USDA ARS researchers calibrated and quantified the lights extensively. At the Beltsville, MD facility the lights were precisely measured for energy output and wavelength of the light output and were then calibrated for drift due to temperature.
Baby Mesclun Mix
A hydroponic tray of mesclun mix grown at the MetroCrops Research Laboratory in Storrs, Connecticut. These plants are only 16 days old. When this photograph was taken it was the first time these plants had "seen" sunlight.
Baby greens in daylight.
A close up of 16 day old baby greens. The dark color is indicative of the high phytonutrient content of MetroCrops grown salad greens.
