Leafy Hydroponic Summit 2026: The complexity of setting up and operating a successful facility
Source: VFD.com
Leafy Hydroponic Summit 2026: The complexity of setting up and operating a successful facility Thanks! Leafy Hydroponic Summit 2026: The complexity of setting up and operating a successful facility The secret to a successful commercial leafy hydroponics project lies in thinking ahead.
If there's one lesson to be learned from the Leafy Hydroponic Summit 2026, this was it. Similarly, Niels Jacobs (Light4Food, and, since last week, also System4Food) detailed the transition to fully automated floating systems that can reach yields of 110 kg per square meter through high-density propagation stages.
Showcasing their latest nursery automation novelties, Matteo Ricci and Andrea Bocchini from Urbinati unveiled the "Argus" module, which uses AI and vision to automatically replace non-compliant seedlings, and the "Artemis" seeder, capable of 2,000 trays per hour. Sustainability was addressed by Thijs Kapteijns of N2 Applied, who presented a local nitrogen cycle that uses plasma technology to produce nitric acid and liquid calcium nitrate directly on-site using renewable electricity.
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.
