by adminLETTUS GROW & VERTICALLY URBAN PARTNER TO LIGHT UP CONTAINER FARMS
LettUs Grow have partnered with light provider, Vertically Urban, to use their ultra-slim Horti-Blade LED light into DROP & GROW container farms.
DROP & GROW container farms are vertical farming systems inside a shipping container. This modular solution allows growers to pilot test their business plan, create perfect environmental conditions for different crops by using multiple containers and scale up their operation as their business grows.
LettUs Grow’s container farms use aeroponic technology, an irrigation system that uses no soil. Instead, water and nutrients are provided using a mist, created using ultrasonic technology.
Within an indoor farm, natural light is substituted for an artificial source, the most energy-efficient being LED-based. Using artificial light allows growers to control light intensity, photoperiod & colour spectrum – so plants can be given exactly what they need, when they need it. Choosing the correct LED luminaires within controlled environment agriculture is crucial, both for plant growth performance and energy efficiency.
Last year, in internal trials conducted by placement PhD students, LettUs Grow found that Vertically Urban’s Horti-Blade outperformed other options. They found that it is:
More efficient – using less energy to produce higher light intensities and producing more yield per kWh used.
More flexible – being dimmable and adjustable depending on crops grown
And promotes better growth – the light is more evenly distributed across beds, reducing edge effects, increased yields and promoted leaf growth rather than stem.
“We’re very excited to be partnering with this great UK provider. By collaborating with the best industry players & integrating the latest technologies, we can make sure our DROP & GROW container farms are always at the forefront of innovation in the controlled environment agriculture industry,” said Ben Crowther, Chief Technical Officer at LettUs Grow.
Andrew Littler, Vertically Urban’s CEO, added “DROP & GROW is precisely the kind of application we had in mind when designing Horti-Blade, so we’re excited to have been chosen by LettUs Grow as their lighting partner for the project. We can’t wait to see the project continue to flourish and look forward to playing our part in the company’s future growth.”