Company: AgroSci
Location: Hollywood, Fla.
Tropical plants abound at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, Fla. The hotel features 17 varieties of subcanopy tropical plants in the green walls, which are watered by two systems of irrigation, ensuring the plants receive the proper amounts of moisture.
The small outdoor green wall is irrigated by a basic drip irrigation system using an inline emitter system to water each pot individually. The system is cycled by a Hunter controller and monitored by a weather sensor.
The indoor green wall is irrigated using a system Chris Pianta, CEO of AgroSci, calls aerogation.
Each plant on the indoor green walls — which makes up about 7,000 square feet inside the hotel and casino — is housed within its own pot, which has a nozzle connected to a tank containing water and slightly pressurized air.
“The water is delivered in the form of highly humidified air,” Pianta says. “And once in the root zone, it is distributed through the media using Profile porous ceramic to hold the moisture in the soil mix while keeping the air porosity consistent.”
Blower fans provide the air feed, while a specialized nozzle moves the water and air into the soil mix and root zone.
There are about 17 different varieties of subcanopy tropical plant materials used in the green walls at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, each housed in its own pot.
Each plant receives the same amount of moisture due to the aerogation system, which, according to AgroSci CEO Chris Pianta, keeps the soil consistently moist, but never too damp.
There was a concern that the waterfall in the middle of the green walls and the basins would interfere with the plant material. However, the water is treated with bromine and doesn’t affect the green wall plantings.
The irrigation system in the property’s striking green wall installations reduces some plant maintenance.
