Vertical Crop Growing System

About

About Saturn Bioponics’ award-winning vertical growing system, the Saturn Grower, extends crop growth vertically, minimising the resources needed and increasing both the types of land suitable for crop production and crop productivity. The Saturn Grower system delivers up to a 3.5 yield increase, lower costs of production and reduced fungicide use. This means more profit per m², more consistently, more easily.   Features Leading to Increased Profits Yield increase Labour and operating cost reduction (fast, easy planting and harvesting) Optimal water and nutrient use efficiency Reduction/elimination of fungal disease in the root-zone = no more soil sterilisation Clean crop Extended growing season The Saturn Grower system is ‘price competitive’ against horizontal growing systems and offers a significantly shorter payback period.   How It Works The Saturn Grower vertical system requires no existing mechanisation systems or processes and is easy-to-operate with automated irrigation and fertigation. The recirculating system enables minimum water and nutrient use, as well as no polluting run-off. As the use of available light is optimised there is minimal requirement for artificial light. It provides an improved working environment, producing clean crops with easy, upright planting and harvesting. The system is modular and robust, making it extensively adaptable to the requirements of the crop and operational environment.   Where Can it be Used? The fully scalable system can be installed in new or existing polytunnels, glasshouses or other covered areas, as sole equipment or in conjunction with other systems. Any size of system can be set-up, from 100 to 10,000+ square metres. The system is suitable for a range of climates, from cool/temperate to arid. It can be installed in tunnels, glasshouses or shadehouses and only requires natural light. Ground type irrelevant – brownfield or greenfield – it can be built to any size and requires no existing mechanisation systems or processes. The Saturn Grower is patented in key markets worldwide.   Which Crops are Suitable? A range of crops are suitable, but the benefits are especially significant for low level crops where the use of vertical space significantly increases crop density, making the available land much more productive. Currently, successfully trialled crops are: Lettuce & leafy salads Pak choi and other brassicas Strawberries Herbs and edible ornamentals Please visit our crops page: http://www.saturnbioponics.com/crops/ for detailed information on the economics of producing these crops in the Saturn Grower.   Support The grower’s success is our success. Saturn Bioponics provide equipment, know-how, training and support. In conjunction with our hardware, we provide you the tools needed to be successful in its operation. We have built an intimate, detailed understanding of how variables affect crop growth in the system, over 5 years of intense research and development. These include: water, nutrient, substrate, root and shoot zone temperature, light. Saturn Bioponics will work with the grower to optimise the system’s productivity in their particular environment and growing conditions.