“I think we're in a very interesting period in greenhouse horticulture right now"
Source: VFD.com
The Improvement Center runs to roughly one hectare across 27 greenhouse compartments, the biggest of which are 1,000 square metres, while the smaller ones are 150 to 250 square metres. With them, we try to replace more or less the important part of what the grower does, and make more decisions based on data rather than what we call 'green fingers' in the Netherlands." © Wesley Francis | VerticalFarmDaily.com © Wesley Francis | VerticalFarmDaily.com Maarten Hermus from InnovationQuarter chats with participants in line for the hygiene lock before entering the greenhouse area How companies arrive at Delphy Most projects arrive through HIC.
Comparing robot-recorded weights against a sample weighed by hand will show whether the data is accurate enough to monitor an entire greenhouse for patterns, a dip in one area potentially flagging an irrigation or photosynthesis issue worth investigating. For this crop, they've flattened the temperature swing to a steady level over 24 hours, by tuning the point at which the material changes phase: it turns solid as it cools, and liquid again as it heats." Early tests at a Westland grower found up to 50% energy savings.
We'd hoped maybe every two or three days would be enough, so you'd need fewer robots per hectare, but it turns out you need to run it daily, something Arugga can hopefully improve, so we could halve the number of robots needed." The energy benefit was concrete: "We managed to keep the screens 12% more closed than without the robot. Open days build on that: a winter tomato event walked growers through the LED lighting trials and the pollination robot in person, and a similar afternoon for the heat battery brought growers in to talk directly with the researchers and with Thermeleon about the system's benefits.
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.
