The greenhouse of the future grows with its surroundings
Source: VFD.com
In Greenhouse in Transition, researchers from the Netherlands and the United States are exploring more sustainable greenhouse designs, more efficient growing systems and ways to connect greenhouses with their surroundings, for example by exchanging water and waste heat with farms and industrial sites. Cameras and sensors, automated climate control and energy-efficient lighting: many Dutch greenhouses are equipped with high-tech systems.
Greenhouse in Transition, a project led by Wageningen University & Research (WUR), therefore takes a broad approach. Our expertise can help improve them, for example by investigating where technology could take over physically demanding or complex tasks." © Shutterstock New greenhouse and growing systems The researchers are not only looking at ways to improve existing systems.
These may not affect plant growth, but it would be a problem if they ended up in food products." Collaboration with the United States Greenhouse in Transition brings together universities, companies and research organizations from the Netherlands and the United States. We can also learn from the way the US deals with extreme weather conditions, which we will face more often in the Netherlands as well." Practical application The aim of the project is not so much to produce a blueprint for the greenhouse of the future, but rather to develop concepts showing what such a greenhouse could look like, Marcelis explains.
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.
