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Boldly Stepping into the Future—Substrates: The Next Generation
Demonstrating Growcoon in the greenhouse.
If the horticulture industry is to grow its products responsibly, effectively, and efficiently using growing media, it must innovate. This is the message that Maan Biobased Products (part of Maan Group) and substrate specialist Klasmann-Deilmann understand well.
Fans of the television franchise Star Trek will be familiar with the concept of replicators. These devices rearranged the molecular structure of matter to magically create all manner of products—such as food, clothing, and tools—seemingly out of “thin air.” Resembling microwaves, they were often seen whizzing up drinks and meals for the spaceships’ crew.
Whilst these replicators are still in the realms of science fiction, the cutting-edge technology that Maan Biobased Products (part of Maan Group) and substrate specialist Klasmann-Deilmann utilise to 3-D print their innovative horticultural products is certainly not a million light years away from this type of futuristic technology.
Nygaia
The latest invention to come out of their fruitful business partnership is named Nygaia, whose cosmic-sounding name means New Mother Earth. Maan Biobased Products and Klasmann-Deilmann hope to introduce Nygaia to the high-end horticulture sector later this year as part of the product’s gradual introduction to the market.
Made from compostable, biodegradable polymers, Nygaia cleverly replicates the properties of peat.
Ted Vollebregt, Klasmann-Deilmann managing director, says: “We at Klasmann-Deilmann and Maan Biobased Products are very excited about this material and have high expectations for this product because it ticks all of the boxes. It has, for example, good uniformity, and it can be produced in an industrial way using plant-based, compostable material.”
Tjeerd de Looze, product/commercial manager for Maan Biobased Products, adds: “If you look at peat, it can do three things very well – it can hold water, it can hold air, and it can hold a plant.
That is what any good substrate basically does. And if either one of these is lacking, it’s not successful. And Nygaia does exactly these three things – it can hold water, it can hold air, and it can hold the plant.”
3-D printing tech
De Looze points out that Maan and Klasmann-Deilmann use their state-of-the-art 3D printing technology to create what he jokingly describes as “organised chaos”—which is, in fact, an intricate mat of criss-crossed, biodegradable, sterile fibres that can be rolled and then cut to the size the grower requires.
Now in its validation phase, growers around the world are trialling Nygaia. The focus has been mainly on hydroponically grown fresh produce crops, such as lettuce and strawberries. However, trials have also taken place on cut flowers and some other ornamental horticulture crops, says de Looze.
He adds: “In general, what we’re seeing is that Nygaia outperforms other artificial growing media, such as Rockwool. And we are seeing no clogging up of the waterways, which can happen in peat-based substrates when soil particles are floating around. This phenomenon can also make water sterilisation more difficult.”
He adds: “We’ve also had feedback that, when the fresh produce is harvested, it’s very clean and not messy as there are no stray soil particles.”
In a few years, the Nygaia team hopes that growers will be able to 3-D print their own Nygaia substrates “on the spot.” De Looze says: “We’re not ready to do this yet, but we want to get to the stage whereby we can supply any grower in any part of the world with a sort of ‘cappuccino machine’ and the ‘ingredients’ with which they can then 3-D print their own mats on their own nursery site.
Then, to eliminate some of the labour-intensive jobs, they automatically roll it and insert it into a tray. This way, you’re significantly reducing your transport costs and reducing your carbon footprint. The extrusion process – where you mix and heat up the material – is energy-intensive, but if that’s done using wind or solar power, your whole carbon footprint comes to a different equation.”
Growcoon.
Growcoon
Nygaia is the first horticultural substrate product to come out of the Klasmann-Deilmann Maan partnership – with the biodegradable plug holder Growcoon being the first invention. Happily, Growcoon will next year be celebrating its tenth anniversary, says de Looze.
“We now sell Growcoon on five continents, and we’re producing up to 500 million Growcoons a year,” says de Looze, who adds that the role of Growcoon could become even greater as and when peat content in growing media is gradually reduced. “Peat is a bit like the glue inside the potting soil. So, when substrates are looser due to a lack of peat, they need something to ‘cocoon’ the root and preserve the transplant.”
Step-by-step approach
Whilst several European countries are aiming to phase out the use of peat in horticultural growing media, the focus in the Netherlands is slightly different. Its plan is to gradually reduce the environmental impact of all substrates in the supply chain.
With this practical aim in mind, a broad Dutch coalition – coordinated by the Dutch Association of Potting Soil and Substrates (VPN) – of industry bodies, government, experts, NGOs, civil society, and community groups signed a covenant in November 2022 and set targets for 2025, 2030, and 2050.
One of the 2025 targets is for organic substrates in the professional horticulture market to consist of 35% renewable raw materials – and for organic substrates in the consumer market to consist of 60% renewable raw materials.
Happily, Vollebregt feels quite confident about this 2025 target because “we are on the way.” He also emphasises that the industry is taking a measured, step-by-step approach to achieving the aims of the covenant. This is in contrast to the situation in the UK, for example, where many key retailers have already banned peat despite the fact that the UK government has yet to legislate its proposed peat ban officially.
Vollebregt says: “Here, members of the industry understand that this [reducing the environmental impact of substrates in the supply chain] is really something that we have to solve together. And they also understand that the availability of renewable raw materials is not enough today to fulfil demand.”
Again, Vollebregt emphasises the importance of taking a step-by-step approach—not least because it can take growers a while to adapt their production regimes to the different requirements of new types of growing media.
Part of this approach is Klasmann-Deilmann and Maan Biobased Products’ gradual introduction of Nygaia – whose creation may well have marked the beginning of the next generation of substrates.
