Still Tomatos ?, Not bad, Not bad at all - another 2-3 years
Ruben Houweling holds a recently grafted tomato plant. ‘The plan is for this existing facility to convert to cannabis over a two- to three-year period,’ says the general manager of Houweling Nurseries. JENE Houweling Nurseries is retrofitting its entire 2.2-million-square-foot (50-acre) greenhouse complex in Delta in partnership with the cannabis multinational Agraflora Organics to grow medicinal and recreational weed.
But it is looking for a site to build a similarly massive greenhouse operation to stay in the tomato business, said general manager Ruben Houweling.
The retrofit and licensing process is being done in stages, which allows Houweling to continue to produce tomatoes and retain staff.
“The plan is for this existing facility to convert to cannabis over a two- to three-year period,” he said. “There is also an opportunity for us to provide young cannabis plants to other growers.”