Choosing the right technology for an intensive greenhouse operation
Source: HD.com
Sensors, monitoring systems, software platforms, automation and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly accessible to growers. "The first question should be: 'What is currently limiting the performance or profitability of the operation?'" If water availability is the priority, accurate irrigation and drainage monitoring may provide a better return.
I have always believed that good technology should ultimately simplify greenhouse management, even if the technology behind it is sophisticated." This is one of the aspects Stroot particularly appreciates in his work with INTA, whose approach, he explains, is not simply to add more equipment, sensors and screens to a greenhouse, but to integrate different functions so that managing the entire operation becomes easier for the grower. A grower may have one system for climate control, another for irrigation, different sensors for crop monitoring, a separate energy management platform and another application for data analysis.
A grower should ask what information a system can receive and provide, which communication protocols it supports and whether it can integrate with equipment already installed in the greenhouse." Stroot acknowledges that there is a balance between remaining independent from a particular supplier and benefiting from a properly integrated system, and again points to INTA as an interesting example of this approach. "A system that saves 5% of water but requires the grower to spend significantly more time interpreting data may not be the best solution.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
