2/20/12 - Virginia’s Pride Garden Club

On Feb. 8, some members of the Virginia’s Pride Garden Club and a member of the Evening Primrose Garden Club toured Kurios Hydroponic Farm located in Moncks Corner.

Kurios is owned and operated by Wes and Juanita Melling.  They have owned and operated the greenhouse for 12 years. The Mellings grow tomatoes, cucumbers, butter lettuce and basil. They sell some produce to the public, but most of their product is sold to restaurants in the Charleston historical district. 

All plants are germinated from seed by the Mellings. The seedlings are then planted in perlite and the water is piped through the containers. Perlite is a bacteria-free medium; it doesn’t promote weeds or insects.

The greenhouse contains 1,440 tomato plants. The tomatoes get fed every twenty minutes for two minutes with nutrient enriched water. All but one variety of the tomatoes are hybrids.  The Mellings grow and harvest one variety of cherry tomato, an heirloom called “Black Cherry.” The tomatoes are harvested every three days yielding four to five hundred pounds a week.  During the month of April, they were harvesting 1,800 pounds a week.

The butter lettuce is grown in a small plug that is in an oblong container that can be opened from the top. Just like the tomatoes, the lettuce is fed nutrient enriched water. When the lettuce is ready to harvest, the container is opened and the lettuce is cut at the base of the root system, cleaned and packaged. The Mellings sell 600 heads of butter lettuce a week and plant 600 butter lettuce seedlings a week.

The cucumbers are also grown the same way as the tomatoes. When they reach maturity, they are harvested and wrapped for selling.

A bumble bee hive sits in the middle of the greenhouse. These bees pollinate all of the plants within the greenhouse.

Wes explained that “hydroponic” means water working and that the Dutch were the first to use hydroponics before WWII.

This is a worthwhile tour for any garden club or any individual that loves gardening and fresh produce. 

Kurios Farm is located at 354 Kurios Lane in  Moncks Corner.