"US: "Most advanced greenhouse in Nebraska"

Mulhall's progressive greenhouse in Gretna is combining plants and computers, and now a variety of plants are able to grow in the metro year-round.

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In a field along Gretna's Highway 6, the greenhouse stands out.

"We can do it right here, locally," Mulhall's grower Hannah Hennings said. "That's good for business." Mulhall's high-tech business involves hanging baskets above flower pots. "It senses the temperature, the humidity to wind speed, if there's rain or not, and it will react accordingly to that," Hennings said.

Hennings said the modern greenhouse is the most advanced in Nebraska. "We can manipulate this from our homes," Hennings said. "From my cell, I can open a window." Mulhall's staff members rotate the tens of thousands of plants accordingly, so they will get the right amount of water and sunshine. Fertilizing is also on a schedule.

Staff call this type of technology a game-changer, helping them with mundane tasks so that they can spend more time caring for each plant. "Plants definitely need human touch, human care," Mulhall's assistant grower Dana Leehy said. "A machine cannot go through and cut this back when it needs to be cut back."

Leehy picks the plants that are ready to go to gardens throughout the metro."I put my heart into every single one of these plants," Leehy said. "My touch, my everything." Staff said without this type of technology, they wouldn't be able to grow such a variety of plants.

"Otherwise we would have to bring in plants from further away," Hennings said. The greenhouse grows germinated seeds from all across the country, including states like Oklahoma and California. Their plants are available at its garden store at 120th Street and Maple Road.

Source: www.ketv.com