The right gutter profile depends on your crop, substrate format, and drainage requirements. Key factors are gutter width (to fit your slabs or pots), drain channel design (to keep substrate and leafs out of the recirculation system), load capacity (especially for heavy crops like tomato), and coating (for cleaning resistance and long service life). Tomato growers typically use hanging growing gutters such as the GM-07HD. Pepper and aubergine often use similar profiles with adjusted irrigation. Cucumber requires gutters with high drainage capacity due to the crop's high water uptake. Contact our team to discuss the right specification for your situation.
A complete greenhouse vegetable growing system consists of six main components: growing gutters (to carry the substrate and crop), drip irrigation (to deliver water and nutrients to each plant), suspensions or floor supports (to hold the gutters at the correct working height), gable systems (to support gutter ends at the greenhouse edges), drain trays (to collect and return drain water), and end caps with finishing hardware. These components are designed to work together: the gutter profile determines the suspension spacing, the irrigation type, and the drain tray configuration. Ordering them as a matched system from one supplier reduces the risk of misaligned specifications.
In many cases, yes. Gutter profiles designed for high-wire tomato cultivation can also be used for pepper and aubergine. However, the irrigation layout, dripper spacing, and drain capacity may need to be adjusted per crop. It is worth reviewing the specification if you plan to switch crops, especially if water uptake or substrate format changes.
Service life depends on the steel grade, coating quality, and cleaning regime. A high-quality coated gutter like those with MS-150 coating is designed for long-term use and comes with a 10-year coating warranty. In practice, well-maintained gutters can remain in service well beyond the warranty period. If your cleaning regime is less intensive, you can also choose our MS-35 coating which comes with a warranty of 6 years.
Examples include lettuce, arugula, spinach, pak choi, basil, coriander, parsley, mint, dill and chives. These crops share a shallow, fast-developing root system that performs well in nutrient-rich water without the need for a substrate. Their short cultivation cycles also make them well suited to continuous production planning.
In DWC, the roots are continuously suspended in oxygen-rich nutrient water. In container systems, plants often grow in a substrate or container, where water and nutrients are supplied either periodically or continuously. The main practical difference is in root environment and irrigation management: DWC requires careful monitoring of oxygen levels and nutrient concentration, while container systems give the grower more control over water delivery timing and volume.
Leafy greens are usually grown at around 1.2–1.8 mS/cm. Herbs such as basil can often tolerate slightly higher levels, around 1.6–2.2 mS/cm. These ranges serve as a practical starting point; the right value depends on the growth stage, water temperature, and the specific variety being grown. Monitoring EC alongside pH gives the most reliable picture of nutrient uptake.
A pH of 5.5–6.5 is generally suitable. A stable pH helps keep nutrients available for plant uptake. In practice, most growers aim for the middle of that range, around 5.8–6.2, since nutrient availability drops off at the extremes. Regular monitoring is essential, as pH in recirculating systems can shift quickly depending on crop load and water temperature.