Kennedy: Vertical farming expected to grow worldwide | The Daily Gazette SECTIONS And the future may not need any soil, either. Vertical farming, as it’s known, is a take on the greenhouse, where plants are grown indoors under carefully controlled conditions year-round. There are no pests (and hence no need for pesticides). Specially selected arrays of the light spectrum sub for the sun, and nutrients are delivered with water, eliminating the need for dirt. At such a “smart farm,” growing conditions can be monitored in real time, and adjustments made as needed. The rate of growth also can be quickened, producing a crop in a third to half the usual time.