Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Home Kits Allows To Grow All Kinds of Plants
If you're the green-fingered type, then Altifarm's latest addition to its indoor garden range—the PicoMax—will be of interest. The brand has just launched its crowdfunding campaign
If you're the green-fingered type, then Altifarm's latest addition to its indoor garden range—the PicoMax—will be of interest. The brand has just launched its crowdfunding campaign.
Growing your own flowers, plants, fruit, and vegetables can be a laborious process for many. Plants die easily without the correct care and attention, and busy lifestyles mean we can't always get out in the garden and tend to a vegetable patch or flower bed. Thankfully, Altifarm has the answer. After successfully launching its palm-sized Pico indoor garden via a well-received 2020 crowdfunding campaign, the brand is back with the latest in its range; the PicoMax.
What is the PicoMax indoor garden?
Essentially, PicoMax is an indoor planter that automatically waters your plants and provides them with exactly the right amount of light to ensure rapid growth and an abundance of greenery.
Altifarm has designed the PicoMax to water your flowers automatically and provide them with the correct amount of light to encourage rapid and abundant growth.
It does this using an irrigation system attached to the base of the planter, along with full-spectrum white LEDs (plus specific red and blue wavelengths) on telescopic arms above the planter. Telescopic, to allow you to move them up as your plants or vegetables grow.
Using its own Real-Time Clock (RTC) powered by a button cell (the first of its kind among its indoor garden peers), and a rechargeable battery pack that lasts up to four days, you can pretty much leave your plants to their own devices and just watch as they grow.
Read the complete article at www.makeuseof.com.
Publication date: Wed 26 May 2021
This Indoor Garden Will Feed You Greens Year-Round
The plants grow out of coffee-pod-like earth nuggets and the whole system is designed for minimal interaction. The Smart Soil pods contain calibrated dirt and nutrients and the system waters the plants automatically
May 11, 2021
Click & Grow 25 is the latest project by former orchestra conductor Mattias Lepp who felt that the idea of indoor gardens—essentially, a farmer’s market in a box—would be just the tool for staving off future food shortages. His company, founded in 2009, raised $11 million in 2018 to develop new materials and hardware technologies for indoor gardens. Now, he and the Click & Grow team are taking the tools they used to build large-scale gardens and bringing them into the home.
Lepp calls his tech “hyper-local farming,” and he claims that what he and his team created is entirely unique.
“We’re the only ones in both vertical farming and smaller indoor growing device segment who have figured out how to provide the future of sustainable food while being profitable and having a global reach,” he said. “Compared to big vertical farms we’ve looked at what’s the real problem of vitamin-rich foods like leafy greens—it’s the overly long supply chains that produce waste, nutritional degradation, and transport emissions. The greens from vertical farms still go through the traditional food supply chain, albeit they’re fresher, cleaner, and come from a more local urban farm, they sit in stores, get moved around and half go to waste in a dark corner of a fridge. Unlike vertical farms, we’ve taken a step out of the traditional supply chain and figured out the only sustainable solution, both in terms of nature and business, and that is growing food at the place of consumption.”
Photo: Click & Grow
The Click & Grow 25, which is currently available through Kickstarter, costs $399 for early birds and consists of a frame, containers, and lights. The plants grow out of coffee-pod-like earth nuggets and the whole system is designed for minimal interaction. The Smart Soil pods contain calibrated dirt and nutrients and the system waters the plants automatically.
Lepp’s goal was to make the system as small and simple as possible.
“In 2018 we looked at the numbers and figured out that a family of 4 could feasibly grow a fifth of their food plate in expendable living space, on just 80 square feet of wall at home, for example,” he said. “The idea went through different experiments and prototypes through the years, mainly focusing on how to integrate a garden of this size into even a small New York City apartment and into anyone’s busy lifestyle with its ease of use.”
The team plans to ship in February 2022, and there are a number of permutations of the garden product, which you can stack them against a wall for maximum usage of space. An app will tell you when you add water and when your greens are ready to nosh.
The product is already fully funded to the tune of more than $227,000 and counting, and it looks like just the thing for folks who might need to feed a hungry family or just a hungry rabbit.
John Biggs is a writer from Ohio who lives in Brooklyn. He likes books, watches, and his dog. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo. Signal: +16468270591 Telegram: @johnbiggs
Lead photo: Photo: Click & Grow
VIDEO: Ottawa Startup Plantaform Hopes To Harvest Profits From Indoor Gardening Technology
Ottawa biotech startup Plantaform's system, dubbed Rejuvenate, uses a concept called fogponics to grow herbs and leafy vegetables indoors
Ottawa biotech startup Plantaform's system, dubbed Rejuvenate, uses a concept called fogponics to grow herbs and leafy vegetables indoors.
A Carleton University business grad says his new startup is planting the seeds of a flourishing global horticulture enterprise with a soil-free system that grows herbs and leafy vegetables in a container small enough to sit on a kitchen countertop.
Alberto Aguilar launched fledgeling biotech startup Plantaform last spring with longtime friend Kiwa Lang, an industrial designer who attended high school with Aguilar in Dubai and now lives in Australia.
Lang was looking for sustainable alternatives to traditional horticulture and discovered a concept called fogponics, a technique pioneered by NASA that nourishes plants with nutrient-enriched water vapour rather than soil. He immediately reached out to his old pal, and a truly international startup was born.
“It’s extremely efficient,” Aguilar says of the technology, explaining that it uses 95 per cent less water than traditional soil-based horticulture operations.
Unlike more well-established hydroponics systems, Plantaform’s product – dubbed Rejuvenate – doesn’t submerge plant roots in water. Rather, it circulates a fine mist loaded with nutrients throughout an egg-shaped device roughly 60 centimetres high by 60 centimetres wide.
The high-tech indoor garden can grow up to 15 plants at a time, ranging from herbs such as basil and oregano to leafy greens including lettuce and kale.
35-day growing cycle
Customers set the proper lighting and nutrient mix on a smartphone app. Aguilar says the system can effectively run itself for up to three weeks before the water supply needs to be replenished, and it takes roughly 35 days to harvest a crop from the time seeds are “planted” in the device.
Plantaform’s own growth path has been a little rockier.
Backed by about $100,000 in funding from the founders’ family and friends as well as investors in Aguilar’s previous startups, the company stumbled out of the gate early last year.
The initial design for Rejuvenate failed, and it’s taken about half a dozen iterations to get the concept just right. In addition, Aguilar notes ruefully, the firm’s original team “collapsed” after several employees quit last summer because the founders couldn’t afford to pay them full-time salaries.
Supply-chain disruptions
Meanwhile, the pandemic wreaked havoc with the startup’s supply chain, forcing Aguilar and Co. to abandon foreign suppliers in China and elsewhere and manufacture the bulk of the components for the prototypes in their own homes on 3D printers.
But the plucky grow-op persevered, overhauling its development staff and bringing on veteran Ottawa-based engineer Georges Hamoush as chief operating officer. Plantaform eventually signed a Chinese contractor to manufacture most of the components, which will be assembled locally at Stittsville’s L-D Tool & Die.
If all goes according to plan, the first units will be shipped to customers this fall – and Aguilar plans to personally deliver as many as he can.
“We’ve made a lot of mistakes, but you know what? We’re not giving up,” says the budding biotech magnate, who grew up in Barcelona, spent some of his teenage years in Dubai and moved to Ottawa in 2014 to finish high school at Lisgar Collegiate before studying international business at Carleton.
"I’m really trying to put Ottawa on the map."
Alberto Aguilar - CEO and co-founder of biotech startup Plantaform
“We’re confident that if we keep trying, it’ll eventually work out.”
The 24-year-old Aguilar boasts an accomplished entrepreneurial resume. Plantaform is already his third startup, and he earned spots in Invest Ottawa’s pre-accelerator and Ottaw’’s Startup Garage with his previous ventures.
He’s hoping to secure additional seed funding for Plantaform later this year, with an eye to landing a series-A round early in 2022. The company also has its sights set on even bigger markets – it’s currently working with the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, a non-profit organization based near Niagara Falls, on a system to grow cannabis using fogponics technology.
The worldly Aguilar says he’s hoping his venture can elevate his adopted hometown on the international biotech stage.
“I’m really trying to put Ottawa on the map,” he says. “We want to go global.”
This Indoor Vertical Farm Relies On Hydroponics To Grow Crops Anywhere During Any Season!
Hydroponic vertical farming is a form of farming that ditches the need for soil, substituting in different root-supporting materials like peat moss or Rockwool, allowing plants to grow in nutrient-rich water
Since 2013, the Green Concept Award has functioned as a platform for networking and been awarded to designers who have made globally sustainable and innovative products. The awards recognize products already on the market or in their conceptual stages that stand out for their design, innovation, and commitment to sustainability. Each year, the Green Concept Award jury members finalize a pre-selection list before awarding the winning product with the year’s title. One of the products on 2021’s pre-selection list is Farmhouse, a hydroponic vertical farm conceptualized by designers at Kingston University’s School of Art.
Hydroponic vertical farming is a form of farming that ditches the need for soil, substituting in different root-supporting materials like peat moss or Rockwool, allowing plants to grow in nutrient-rich water. The five-tiered Farmhouse is stocked with trays that contain all the materials necessary for optimal hydro-plant growth, like filtered, nutrient-infused water, oxygen, and root support.
Additionally, the vertical farm comes equipped with bright lights, either LEDs or HIDs, to replace the natural sunlight outdoors so that each plant can receive special lighting according to its own Daily Light Integral (DLI). Hydroponics is a sustainable farming practice for many reasons, but a significant one might be that by tending to a hydroponic farm, like Farmhouse, crops can be grown anywhere, during any time of the year.
The food we eat on a day-to-day basis travels about 1,500 miles before reaching our plate. While picking produce up at the supermarket seems simple, a lot of pollution takes place behind the scenes, all before hitting the shelves. Delivering produce to grocery stores across the globe requires lots of plastic packaging and plenty more fuel for transportation, increasing levels of microplastic and air pollution in the process. The designers behind Farmhouse aim to cut those unsustainable practices by designing a hydroponic farming solution that can be used in any home, during any season.
Designer: Kingston University (Kingston School of Art)
The five shelves of the Farmhouse contain all the necessary materials required for hydroponic farming.
Outfitted with shelves, Farmhouse grows crops using metal trays that guide the plant’s direction of growth.
A water system, filter, and root-support material all work together to help produce crops through hydroponics.
Without the convenience of natural sunlight, hydroponic farming relies on LEDs and HIDs to feed crops with light.
Thanks to a ribbed glass pane and warm color scheme, Farmhouse can fit into any room.
Coming in denim blue, moss green, rose pink, scarlet red, and blonde yellow – the Farmhouse also comes with a simple frame and intuitive build.
A raised top shelf feeds the plants inside the Farmhouse with plenty of airflow and oxygen.
How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week
To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process”
Bowery Farming uses technology to prioritize accessibility and sustainability in their produce growing operations
To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process” says chief science officer Henry Sztul. “Our goal is actually to have as few people walking around our plants as possible.”
Bowery Farming is a network of vertical farms working to reengineer the growing process. Using a system of light and watering technology, Bowery is able to use 95 percent less water than a traditional outdoor farm, zero pesticides and chemicals, and grow food that tastes as good as anyone else’s.
Bowery Farming uses vertical farm-specific seeds that are optimized for flavor instead of insect resistance and durability. Seeds are mechanically pressed into trays of soil, and sent out into growing positions, or racks within the building that have their own lighting and watering systems. Each tray gets its own QR code so that they can be monitored and assigned a customized plan for water and light until they’re ready to be harvested.
Irving Fain, Bowery Farming’s founder and CEO contemplates the prediction from the United Nations that 70 to 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in and around cities in the next 30 years. “Figuring out ‘how do you feed and how do you provide fresh food to urban environments both more efficiently as well as more sustainably?’ is a very important question today, and an even more important question in the years to come.”
Purdue Plant Science Startup Receives NSF Funding to Advance In-Home Greenhouse Technologies
February 8, 2021
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A Purdue University-affiliated startup that designs, distributes and supports direct-to-consumer, in-home greenhouses has won a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant.
The SBIR grant, worth $256,000, is in addition to $50,000 in matching funding from Elevate Ventures to conduct research and development work on multispectral photomorphogenesis in rotary aeroponic cultivation chambers.
Heliponix LLC, founded by Purdue Polytechnic Institute graduates Ivan Ball and Scott Massey, sells the GroPod Smart Garden Appliance. It is a small in-home greenhouse to grow daily servings of Pure Produce from subscription Seed Pods. The dishwasher-sized device fits under a kitchen counter and grows produce year-round, providing consumers with lettuce and other greens that are fresh and pesticide-free.
Heliponix, a Purdue-affiliated startup that designs, distributes and supports direct-to-consumer, in-home greenhouses, has won a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant. (Image provided)
Heliponix LLC, founded by Purdue Polytechnic Institute graduates Ivan Ball and Scott Massey, sells the GroPod Smart Garden Appliance. It is a small in-home greenhouse to grow daily servings of Pure Produce from subscription Seed Pods. The dishwasher-sized device fits under a kitchen counter and grows produce year-round, providing consumers with lettuce and other greens that are fresh and pesticide-free.
As a leader in tunable horticultural research lighting systems, the Lighting Enabled Systems and Applications (LESA) Center of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is working with Heliponix to provide research-grade, multi-spectral, tunable LED modules and associated programmable control systems compatible with Heliponix’s rotary chamber.
These modules are based on the LESA Center’s TIGER horticulture research lighting modules and will provide the research flexibility needed in Phase I to optimize the LED illumination impact on plant growth variables in leafy greens including biomass, crop yield, nutritional content and energy efficiency.
“NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,” said Andrea Belz, division director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. “With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”
Massey said, “In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic’s disruptive force on produce cultivation and recurring food safety recalls, there’s an urgent need to democratize cultivation to establish food sovereignty. We are incredibly thankful for the backing of the National Science Foundation, Purdue University, Elevate Ventures and the countless Hoosiers who have supported our pursuit to grow to become the world’s largest farm through our connected, smart garden appliances known as GroPods without owning a single acre of land.”
Once a small business gains a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $256,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II grant (up to $1 million). Small businesses with Phase II grants are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investment or sales.
Startups or entrepreneurs who submit a three-page project pitch will know within three weeks if they meet the program’s objectives to support innovative technologies that show promise of commercial and/or societal impact and involve a level of technical risk. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. Learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF.
About the Lighting Enabled Systems & Applications (LESA) Center
The LESA Center is a graduated National Science Foundation engineering research center, with matching fund support from the New York State Empire Development Corporation and corporate membership. LESA is an interdisciplinary, multi-university center developing “Systems that Think.” It is dedicated to developing autonomous intelligent systems to address modern challenges in the connected environment and is housed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. To learn more, visit https://lesa.rpi.edu.
About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America’s first technological research university. Rensselaer encompasses five schools, 32 research centers, more than 145 academic programs and a dynamic community made up of more than 7,600 students and over 100,000 living alumni. Rensselaer faculty and alumni include more than 145 National Academy members, six members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, six National Medal of Technology winners, five National Medal of Science winners, and a Nobel Prize winner in physics. With nearly 200 years of experience advancing scientific and technological knowledge, Rensselaer remains focused on addressing global challenges with a spirit of ingenuity and collaboration. To learn more, visit www.rpi.edu.
About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs
America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.75 million to support research and development, helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.
Writer: Chris Adam, cladam@prf.org
Source: Scott Massey, scott@GroPod.io
How Vertical Farming Will Shape The Post Pandemic Food Supply Chain
We're building for a future where modular vertical farming solutions are an accessible means of food production in urban areas. By modular vertical farming solution, we are referring to turnkey grow systems from the size of a shipping container down to a household appliance.
We're building for a future where modular vertical farming solutions are an accessible means of food production in urban areas. By modular vertical farming solution, we are referring to turnkey grow systems from the size of a shipping container down to a household appliance.
Q&A with Alexander Olesen, Co-Founder | Babylon Micro-Farms
Tell us about yourselves and Babylon Micro-Farms.
While still taking full course loads at the University of Virginia, we were actively involved in the Social Entrepreneur Program, a reflection of our values and determination to incubate a socially good company. Our original vision of starting an environmentally responsible company to provide fresh food to refugees living in camps by building hydroponic farms was put to the test when logistical realities of adequate power supply and access to clean water forced them to put that aspect of the business on hold. We became determined to develop a technology-based solution reducing the cost, complexity, and infrastructure requirements to grow fresh food. This technology is the backbone of Babylon’s platform today, the R&D has taken a dedicated effort for over 4 years. Our commitment to building Babylon into a successful company required an unforeseen amount of perseverance and we ran into a few issues along the way. We're now a team of 23 people working tirelessly towards the same goal of creating an integrated platform for modular vertical farming. It's inspiring to work alongside so many talented people and it's so rewarding to see how well our products are being received in the market and we're just getting started.
How have your customers' priorities shifted due to the pandemic?
Our institutional customers, predominantly from the education, healthcare, hospitality, and senior living spaces, have had a completely different set of priorities since the advent of COVID. We have been amazed at their complete commitment to their people - staff, students, patients, residents, and visitors. They were required to do an incredibly hard, fast pivot to safeguard the safety of the people they are responsible for and to and have done an outstanding job. Schools had to close their doors and learn how to operate virtually, hospitals were hit hard and continue to be, and the hospitality industry will take some time to recover. Senior living community residents have been the most vulnerable to the pandemic and the protocols that were put in place almost instantly have saved many lives. We are proud of how our partners responded to the ongoing public health crisis and that in the midst of all the challenges we continued to be able to supply them with fresh food, despite the lockdowns and quarantines. Our remote management system enabled us to make sure at least one thing stayed consistent for our partners during a difficult time for them.
How do you feel urban farming, and specifically modular indoor farming, addresses these new problems and priorities?
1. Supply chain resiliency - We provide peace of mind that fresh produce is being grown there on-site.
2. Reduced Food waste - Our customers love harvesting highly-perishable produce as needed and not having to waste anything
3. Improved Nutrition - We have much higher quality produce that is free from pesticides and it's helping our customers improve their diets.
How has the pandemic shaped the trajectory of indoor farming?
The pandemic has focused a very bright light on the frailty of our food systems and supply chain. The growth of the indoor farming industry has been rapidly escalating as a result, as demonstrated by the enormous sums being raised by companies that are actively involved in addressing the vulnerabilities and trying to ensure a safer, more sustainable, and hopefully a more equitable food system for the future.
Why is Babylon’s software platform important to the industry? How is it different from what’s out there today?
We're solving a very different set of problems to most people in this industry. We're building for a future where modular vertical farming solutions are an accessible means of food production in urban areas. By modular vertical farming solution, we are referring to turnkey grow systems typically from the size of a shipping container down to a household appliance. We do not compete with the large industrial growers at all. Most companies in this emerging segment are focused on creating configurations of hydroponic systems to optimize specific markets, aesthetics, or certain crop varieties, etc. There's nothing wrong with that and it's exciting to see all the innovation. However, our firm belief is that there is not a one size fits all solution to this market and that every modular vertical farming solution shares the same scalability challenges. These are the challenges we are trying to address through our remote management platform. The platform enables us to control semi-automated hydroponic systems through the cloud and aggregate the data from all the farms in our fleet. We combine this with an automated inventory fulfillment system that enables us to prepare and ship consumables to our customers while they interact with their farm through a simple app. The software infrastructure we are developing creates a superior user experience for the end consumer and provides data analysis that is critical to scaling support for a distributed network of vertical farms. In this way, we seek to be an enabling platform that can help grow the market for modular vertical farming solutions as an accessible alternative to large scale, capital intensive, commercial growers.
What is Babylon’s vision for the future?
See above. We envision a world where controlled environment crop cultivation becomes the predominant source of major highly-perishable produce categories, such as, leafy greens, herbs, vine crops, berries, etc.. As the market grows we need modular vertical farming solutions that are accessible and can scale more easily than the large scale, capital intensive, commercial operations that dominate the headlines today. These solutions are not mutually exclusive and we need both in order to reform our food system. New technologies and new business models are making modular vertical farms viable. We're aiming to be the platform that drives this segment forward.
About Alexander Olesen
Alexander Olesen, CEO, and Co-founder of Babylon has embraced and excelled at every opportunity he has encountered, from academic challenges to bootstrapping his second company, Babylon Micro-Farms, at the age of just 21 while still taking a full course load at the University of Virginia. Originally from England, Alexander relocated to attend the University and was actively involved in the Social Entrepreneur Program, a reflection of his values and determination to incubate a socially good company. The original research into the technology that became the basis for Babylon's success was based on research to provide low-cost food systems for refugees. He maintains the vision for the company and is an expert at managing people and bringing on partners and investors.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow
This Modular Hydroponics System Will Give You Fresh Vegetables Year-Round
If you want to enjoy fresh home-grown produce while also adding some greenery to your home, then consider the hydroponics system made by Rise Gardens
Rise Gardens Makes Growing Food
Easy With Its simple Setup And Handy App.
December 18, 2020
Hank Adams (Rise Gardens)
If you want to enjoy fresh home-grown produce while also adding some greenery to your home, then consider the hydroponics system made by Rise Gardens. This clever system grows more than 60 types of vegetables and herbs, including beets, eggplant, peas, green beans, celery, cucumbers, different variations of peppers and tomatoes, as well as rooted plants and microgreens. These can be grown anywhere in a home, thanks to built-in LED lights.
This is the only modular system on the market, which means you can buy whatever size you want and keep adding to it if you need more room to grow food. It can be built up to three tiers high, and those tiers can be set at different heights to accommodate plants of different sizes. A smaller countertop-sized Personal Garden is available for those who don't want to take up floor space with the Family Gardens.
Each of the levels holds a lot of plants. A company representative told Treehugger, "The single unit can hold up to 36 plants, and the largest unit can hold up to 108 (compared to competitors that can only hold a maximum of 30 plants). The Personal Garden can even hold up to 12 plants on its own."
Hydroponics may be a fancy-sounding word, but Rise Gardens has made the process incredibly simple. It takes only 45 minutes to assemble your garden (which is made of coated wood, not plastic, and makes for a much nicer aesthetic in the home), then you use the WiFi-enabled function to connect to an app on your smartphone that will tell you exactly what your plants need. (This step is optional.) Plant the seed pods provided by Rise Gardens by putting them into holes in the tray, then add water and plug in the system. Eventually, you'll add liquid nutrients, as well.
Hank Adams (Rise Gardens)
Rise Gardens assures that the plants will flourish in water. Through hydroponics, plants can grow larger than in soil because "they don’t have to work as hard to obtain nutrients. The plant doesn’t require an extensive root system, allowing more growth above ground." They also grow 25-30% faster, thanks to that direct contact with nutrients, and they require less water due to reduced evaporation and runoff.
While Rise Gardens does admit that soil-grown produce is more nutritious ("There is no way to compete with the power of sunlight and good soil, it's just the best"), keep in mind that the produce you buy at a store is usually picked unripe and transported from far away, which causes it to lose nutrients anyway. It could also be sprayed with pesticides, so you are still ahead by growing your own hydroponically. Plus, it's beautiful and convenient to have these vegetables flourishing in your own home.
Hank Adams (Rise Gardens)
The app is an interesting added feature, telling you exactly what your plants need at any given moment – whether they're low on water, how far along their growth is, if you should tweak their nutrient plan, etc. It also lets you set a schedule for the lights.
Rise Gardens is worth checking out for anyone interested in gardening. It's too late now for Christmas ordering, but units will deliver in early January – a little something to brighten a long, dark winter and add a satisfying crunch to your salad plate.
New Technology To Speed Discovery of Sustainable Crop Solutions For Farmers
Terramera announced the launch of six custom, state-of-the-art plant growth chambers. Many crop protection products fail in the field because labs and greenhouses do not accurately replicate real-world conditions
Terramera announced the launch of six custom, state-of-the-art plant growth chambers. Many crop protection products fail in the field because labs and greenhouses do not accurately replicate real-world conditions. Each chamber offers precise control over temperature (ranging from 5 to 40 degrees Celsius), humidity, and light to simulate many possible field conditions, from cool nights and morning mists to desert and subtropical conditions, and will be outfitted with a Terramera-built automation system for end-to-end integration.
Automation will enable experiments to run entirely without human intervention including watering, spraying, nutrient dosing, and imaging of the plants throughout their lifecycle, dramatically accelerating data collection for product performance and increasing accuracy with Terramera’s industry-leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) platform.
“Customized growth chambers allow us to simulate weather to study disease and insect infestations with integrated treatment and imaging systems in one automated system -- replicated six times for parallel studies,” said Annett Rozek, Terramera Chief Scientific Officer. “This is as close as we can get to real-world conditions in a research environment and will deliver solutions as rapidly and efficiently as possible.”
The new growth chambers bring Terramera’s total to 12 and are part of a larger technological scale-up for the company, which also brought a new liquid handling robot on board. Terramera’s own machine learning (ML) model named the robot, “Enzing,” which is integrated into Terramera’s fully automated in-vitro screening and data analysis pipeline. The robot has already enabled Terramera’s largest in-vitro screening project yet, testing the company’s Actigate library against numerous plant disease pathogens.
“This marks an exciting milestone for Terramera and a step-change in the industry by adding a new, essential capacity,” said Karn Manhas, Terramera Founder, and CEO. “Simulated environment studies are the missing link between controlled environments like the lab or greenhouse and field trials since many products fail because lab and greenhouse conditions are too different from the outside world on a farm. This technology increases our throughput, allowing us to predict outcomes more accurately, allowing us to quickly scale our knowledge and technologies to make farming healthier, more sustainable and productive while turning back the clock on climate change.”
For more information:
Terramera
www.terramera.com
4 Dec 2020
Want To Eat Healthy? Try Growing Lettuce On Your Kitchen Counter
After years of trying to grow vegetables in my shady backyard, I have finally given up. Feeling the need once again to grow veggies, I invested in a small hydroponic system for my kitchen
BY SHEAH RARBACK
SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD
NOVEMBER 20, 2020
After years of trying to grow vegetables in my shady backyard, I have finally given up. Feeling the need once again to grow veggies, I invested in a small hydroponic system for my kitchen.
The results are rewarding. It is small but there are edibles there. In addition to herbs, I have a robust little lettuce garden. People often think of lettuce as a low-nutrient food. And that would be wrong.
I am growing Parris Island lettuce, which is in the same family as romaine lettuce. One ounce of this lettuce provides 11% daily requirement of immunity-boosting vitamin C. Romaine also has 10% of the daily requirement of folate, which can help heart health and allergic responses to name just two benefits.
And that one ounce of romaine has 5 calories and 49% of vitamin A requirement. Romaine is for more than just a Caesar salad.
I am also growing Marvel of Four Seasons Lettuce. This is from the family of butter lettuce, also called Boston or Bibb lettuce. The flavor is soft and sweet. Vitamin A is the most abundant nutrient in this type of lettuce. In addition to vitamins and minerals, all varieties of lettuce have phytonutrients.
As a general rule, the darker the color of the lettuce, the greater the nutrition. So romaine contains more nutrients than iceberg. I have had so many clients tell me they don’t eat vegetables but when I would ask if they eat salad, they said yes.
For many people, salads might be the easiest way to reach the goal of 5 cups of vegetables and fruits each day. A spring mix blend provides a variety of greens and nutrients and the ability to easily make an interesting salad. Salad is a terrific base for nutritious add-ons. Throw on pumpkin seeds for fiber and magnesium, quinoa for added protein, or sunflower seeds for a hit of vitamin E.
Lead photo: Sheah Rarback’s small hydroponic system in her kitchen grows beautiful lettuce and herbs. SHEAH RARBACK
Sheah Rarback MS, RDN is a registered dietitian nutritionist in private practice in Miami.
COVID-19, Agriculture Re-Awakened
The COVID-19 Pandemic is a current reality that is forcing the global population to reassess affected industries, and plan a future that will be less dependent on the weak links in our current supply chain facing unprecedented disruptions
The COVID-19 Pandemic is a current reality that is forcing the global population to reassess affected industries, and plan a future that will be less dependent on the weak links in our current supply chain facing unprecedented disruptions. Travel restrictions imposed to limit the virus’s spread have resulted in migrant laborer shortages to harvest produce as mentioned in Essential, but Unprotected.
Leafy green vegetables will be the first affected due to their early spring harvest, while already facing consumer scrutiny over food safety concerns for being highly prone to foodborne diseases when grown outdoors. To make matters worse, these vegetables are a critical part of a nutritious diet needed to support the immune systems of people fighting off viral infections. With many resorting to nonperishable foods and little exercise, there will likely be a spike in obesity which statistically makes the virus even deadlier.
Social distancing and self quarantining have become daily routines for nearly everyone in the US. The concept of decentralized agricultural production, or more commonly known as indoor gardening, enables people to grow safe and nutritious produce within their homes to minimize exposure from crowded grocery stores while shopping for highly perishable goods that require frequent visits.
Gardening has the benefit of educating children who are out of school about agriculture and technology. It also improves the psychological well being of the individuals by being around aesthetically pleasing plants as well as improving indoor air quality according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Over the past few years, we’ve seen e-commerce aggressively challenge brick and mortar stores across industries. Despite this market trend, the food and grocery industries still heavily rely on in-store experiences, led by big-box chains such as Walmart, Target, and Costco.
This is attributed to the high perishability of produce, two-thirds of which are grown in California which requires an extensive supply chain and energy-intensive refrigeration sections to constantly account for losses. However, in recent times, the value proposition of grocery delivery has seen a meteoric rise in response to consumer viral transmission fears. This is true for one such company, Heliponix, which has built their own direct-to-consumer supply chain for growing food that has been unphased by current events.
Heliponix© provides consumers with the GroPod© Smart Garden Appliance with a Seed Pod™ subscription that could be described as "Keurig for food." Their automated, hydroponic hardware combined with smart, cloud software allows anyone to become a farmer regardless of their climate, space, or existing knowledge of agriculture. Consumers enjoy Pure Produce™ that is better for their health, and the environment by reducing water consumption and food waste through local production while maintaining social distancing. Keeping the plants alive until the moment of consumption will maximize the nutritional content and taste for the user.
Co-Founder and CEO, Scott Massey stated, “We have experienced an explosion of inquiries in light of the pandemic from consumers who want control of their own produce supply. Consumers want food that tastes better, while being healthier for them from a trusted source. The GroPod makes them self-sufficient in production from our convenient seed pod subscription, and automated appliance that doesn’t require agricultural knowledge. Not only is it environmentally sustainable by avoiding the harmful pollutants of industrial agriculture, but it is also financially sustainable for the consumer who will generate a profit from the premium quality produce when all hardware, subscription, and even negligible water and energy costs are accounted for.”
Massey then went on to say, “Our company had a unique founding while my Co-Founder, Ivan Ball and I were both undergraduate students at Purdue University. We met while working as coworkers and worked as research engineers on a NASA funded project to design targeted LEDs to grow food on the ISS (International Space Station) under Dr. Cary Mitchell. We became familiar with many leading experts in this growing industry destined for mass adoption and were very fortunate to receive our first pre-seed and seed investments from Purdue Ventures Ag-celerator fund which focuses on innovations within the AgBioScience realm. I view the adoption of the distributed farming model as inevitable as global food output needs to increase by 70% as we exceed 9 billion people in 2050 according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), but we’re not making anymore farmland. Vertical, indoor agriculture is the most viable solution, however, energy, labor, and facility infrastructure are the most expensive costs resulting in low margins. This is why we chose a direct-to-consumer model; to decentralize the facility into consumer appliances, developed a more energy-efficient design, and are not dependent on labor to plant/harvest/process the crops since they are grown directly at the point of consumption, the household.”
Ivan Ball explains, “We are now deep into the fourth industrial revolution with blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and IoT connecting everything in our homes to our phones. Development of these systems will provide the architecture we need to begin connecting biological organisms to our digital world.” Computer vision and machine learning are the tools needed to understand a plant's response to a given environment and enable our automated device to adapt the environment to a plant’s preference in real-time. Additionally, a user will be able to input their preferred taste preference of a plant, for example, a “sweeter basil”, so that their GroPod can cultivate a garden of plants with a personalized taste. Already we are seeing indoor vertical farming move closer to people by growing it directly in the grocery stores. This trend from dirt to fork is compared to the ice industry of highly perishable goods being decentralized and produced within the home. It is our goal to decentralize agriculture to eliminate food waste, save water, reduce energy consumption, and become the world’s largest farming company without owning a single acre of land.
Heliponix, LLC recently won the Leyton International Startup Sustainability Challenge which landed them a booth within Eureka Park at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2020 in Las Vegas. They received a phenomenal amount of press from the likes of The Associated Press among others.
Source: Minnesota Historical Society/Getty Images. A poster from the Minneapolis Defense Council urged planting.
However novel the GroPod Smart Garden Appliance’s innovative design improves efficiencies, the concept of consumers growing their own food has been accomplished before. A similar mass, consumer gardening experiment was successfully orchestrated in 1943 when war-time Victory Gardens produced close to 40 percent of the country’s fresh vegetables, from about 20 million gardens in homes, schools, and community gardens. Our dependence on grocery stores will be greatly reduced by consuming produce directly from the source of a personal farm. Perhaps people may re-adopt the agrarian lifestyles of our ancestors through these automated farming appliances at a consumer level in the new gig economy.
Peloton Meets Greengrocer: Farmshelf Launches Home Version of Indoor Farming System
The latest high-tech offering: a fully-automated indoor farm for greens and herbs, all housed within a sleek case the size of a bookshelf
John Jannarone
IPO-Edge.com April 28, 2020
From Peloton Interactive Inc. to Netflix, Inc., companies offering at-home technologies to keep people busy, healthy, and entertained during the lockdown have thrived. The latest high-tech offering: a fully-automated indoor farm for greens and herbs, all housed within a sleek case the size of a bookshelf.
Farmshelf, which currently sells a professional device popular with celebrity chefs like José Andrés, has launched Farmshelf Home, a slightly smaller version designed specifically for home use. Farmshelf Home, which is available for pre-order, features a remotely-controlled hydroponic system and an app that monitors the miniature crop with cameras and sensors. Everything from hydration to airflow to nutrients are controlled by the machine, with owners simply needing to occasionally refill water and harvest plants.
“Our mission has always been to make it easy for people to grow their own food where they live, work, and eat. We started where they work and eat at restaurants and corporate cafes, now we are coming to the home,” said Andrew Shearer, founder, and CEO of Farmshelf. “Giving people the opportunity to harvest food as it’s needed will not only elevate the idea of ‘farm to table but help reduce the ongoing cycle of food waste.”
Farmshelf Home is truly the first of its kind. While other contraptions exist such as a tabletop system from The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, they are relatively small. Farmshelf Home produces enough to cover a meaningful part of a weekly shopping list: a sample harvest includes 8 heads of lettuce, 8 bunches of herbs, and 8 bunches of greens.
View photos
“The food we eat was not designed to ship 1500 miles,” Mr. Shearer said. “We are going from shipping food miles to shipping food a few feet. It really changes the equation.”
Users can choose from a diverse menu of over 40 different herbs, leafy greens, and edible flowers. Choices include staples like romaine lettuce along with more exotic plants such as shiso and viola flowers.
The system also reduces food waste because users simply trim whatever ingredients they need for a meal. Farmshelf estimates the system, which sells for $4,950 on pre-order and has a $35 monthly fee for seeds and other essentials, can save users up to $2,500 a year in grocery bills.
The system also has advantages over normal gardening. Thanks to the controlled atmosphere and technology, plants grow three times as fast and need 90% less water. There’s also no need for pesticides or herbicides, meaning users technically can eat greens without washing them.
While away from home, users can keep an eye on their plants through the mobile app. It features live camera views and sends alerts for needs such as a water refill.
The success of the professional model suggests Farmshelf Home will be a hit. Farmshelf is very popular with superstar chefs like Mr. Andrés, who actually has a professional version in his own home. He recently tweeted a video of one of his Farmshelf units, raving about romaine lettuce.
Farmshelf also serves large groups of diners at schools and corporate cafeterias. American Express Company, for instance, uses multiple Farmshelf systems to serve 3,000 people per day.
To date, Farmshelf has raised over $8 million privately. Mr. Shearer said the company may seek more capital in the future as it continues to grow.
Contact:
John Jannarone, Editor-in-Chief
editor@IPO-Edge.com
Farmshelf Unveils Its First Consumer-Facing Vertical Farming Unit
Farmshelf, the vertical farming company best known for outfitting restaurants with its high-tech indoor farms, today unveiled its first-ever consumer-facing product, according to a company press release
Farmshelf, the vertical farming company best known for outfitting restaurants with its high-tech indoor farms, today unveiled its first-ever consumer-facing product, according to a company press release.
Dubbed Farmshelf Home, the new product is similar to the company’s commercial model championed by high-profile chefs like José Andrés. It’s roughly the size of a bookcase and uses a combination of sensors, cameras, software, and custom LEDs to automatically deliver the correct levels of water, light, and nutrients to each plant growing in the farm.
For the average consumer, that means once the farm arrives, it’s a matter of plugging it into a wall, connecting it to wifi, setting seeds in pods, then remotely monitoring the hydroponic system from a corresponding smartphone app.
Farmshelf Home is available to pre-order through the company’s website. Though it ain’t cheap: the company lists the “exclusive pre-order price” at $4,950, while the standard retail price will be set at $6,450. There is a $100 deposit (applied to the price and also refundable) as well as a monthly $35 fee that covers seed pods, nutrients, and access to the Farmshelf software for monitoring plants. At the moment, those interested only need to hand over the deposit to sign up for a pre-order. According to the fine print, there is no firm delivery date yet.
Three months ago, I would have called the high price point a deterrent for most people. Certainly, the average American family won’t be purchasing a Farmshelf anytime soon.
But those in higher income brackets may. A global pandemic has revealed just how out of whack our food supply chain is and what happens when people panic shop in droves and grocery stores can’t keep up, factors that might justify the price point for some folks. The Spoon’s Publisher Michael Wolf pointed out recently that “As the coronavirus has forced all of us to think more about our food supply, some consumers have gone beyond just buying a little extra food to store away. Now they are thinking about how we could ensure access to food independent of breakdowns in the system.”
Now we have to see whether consumers will pay thousands of dollars to ensure that independence. More at-home vertical farming companies were coming to market even before the pandemic, with large appliance makers like Samsung, LG, and Miele announcing high-tech gardens meant for your kitchen or living room. They range in price from the hundreds to the thousands, though not quite as high as Farmshelf.
Currently, Farmshelf is in a number of restaurants and hotels, including NYC chain Tender Greens, Marriott Marquis Times Square, and the Condé Nast offices. Angel network she1K syndicated an early-stage investment in the company at the end of last year.
Tags: AG TECH BUSINESS OF FOOD FEATURED FOODTECH MODERN FARMER SMART GARDEN
US - Indiana - In-House Greenhouses See Growing Interest During COVID-19 Pandemic
A Purdue University-affiliated startup that designs, distributes, and supports direct-to-consumer, in-home greenhouses is seeing increased interest for its innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic
A Purdue University-affiliated startup that designs, distributes, and supports direct-to-consumer, in-home greenhouses is seeing increased interest for its innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heliponix LLC, founded by Purdue Polytechnic Institute graduates Ivan Ball and Scott Massey, sells the GroPod Smart Garden Appliance. It is a small in-home greenhouse to grow daily servings of Pure Produce from subscription Seed Pods. The dishwasher-sized device is priced at $1,995, fits under a kitchen counter, and grows produce year-round, providing consumers with lettuce and other greens that are fresh and pesticide-free.
Heliponix, a Purdue University-affiliated startup that designs, distributes, and supports in-home greenhouses, is seeing increased interest for its innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Image provided)“We have experienced an explosion of inquiries in light of the pandemic from consumers who want control of their own produce supply,” Massey said. “Consumers want food that tastes better while being healthier for them from a trusted source to maintain a strong immune system.”Heliponix, a startup from Purdue Foundry’s Startup Class of 2017, presented at the Consumer Electronics Show this year in Las Vegas.“
We are now deep into the fourth industrial revolution with blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and Internet of Things connecting everything in our homes to our phones,” Ball said. “Development of these systems will provide the architecture we need to begin connecting biological organisms to our digital world.”
Computer vision and machine learning are the tools needed to understand a plant's response to a given environment and enable Heliponix’s automated device to adapt the environment to a plant’s preference in real-time.
Massey and Ball met while working as student research engineers on a NASA-funded project at Purdue, which contributed to the efforts to grow food on the International Space Station under Cary Mitchell, a professor of horticulture. They received their first preseed and seed investments from the Purdue Ag-celerator, which was founded jointly by Purdue Ventures, Purdue Foundry and Purdue’s College of Agriculture in 2015.
Source: Purdue University (Chris Adam)
Co-Founder And CEO of Heliponix, LLC Scott Massey Will Be Speaking About The Future of Food At The University of Michigan Tech Expo Sponsored by Google on March 13
Co-Founder and CEO of Heliponix, LLC Scott Massey will be speaking about the Future of Food at the University of Michigan Tech Expo sponsored by Google on March 13.
He will be speaking in a panel discussion with Rachel Konrad of Impossible Foods. A GroPod will also be on display to learn about its functionality from Scott in-person!
Heliponix© provides consumers with the GroPod©, a smart garden appliance with a Seed Pod™ subscription, monthly shipments of organic certified seeds of your choice in pre-formulated pods. Our automated, hydroponic hardware combined with smart, cloud software allows anyone to become a farmer regardless of their climate, space, or existing knowledge of agriculture.
Users enjoy Pure Produce™ that is better for their health, and the environment by reducing water consumption and food waste through local production. It grows vegetables produce 3X faster than soil farming methods, a 500X more efficient use of land, using 95% less water without the use of pesticides.
This accelerated growth rate, spanned over 60 planting ports, equates to the user having a head of leafy greens of their choice, every single day. Co-Founders, Scott Massey and Ivan Ball previously designed a hydroponic growth chamber at the Purdue University Horticulture College on a NASA funded research study for future space colonies; the long term goal of this NASA R&D initiative was to grow food in future space colonies.
Check out their new GroPod© product demo video and recent coverage by The Associated Press while we were at CES.
Scott Massey earned his 2017 B.S. at Purdue University in Mechanical Engineering Technology and Certificate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Scott exited a career as an engineer in the oil and natural gas industry to become a research engineer at the Purdue University Horticulture College. It was there Scott assisted in the design of a NASA funded, automated hydroponic plant growth chamber with the ultimate goal of sustainably grown food in space colonies under Dr. Cary Mitchell.
This inspired him to found Heliponix© (formerly Hydro Grow LLC) his senior year backed by Purdue Ventures Ag-celerator agricultural/biological Engineering Research Fund and Elevate Ventures.
Today the company employs several engineers and is expanding their network of GroPods deployed in the market which has been named the "Indiana's Best New Tech Product" by TechPoint through the Mira Award and "The People's Choice Award" by IFT (Institute of Food Technologists) through the Food Disruption Challenge. Scott continues to advise the Department of State through the Mandela Washington Fellowship on several aquaponic and hydroponic farms across Africa to fight food insecurity in the developing world.
Miele Commitment To Vertical Agriculture At Home
Miele continues with its commitment to acquire or participate in new projects to diversify its business and redefine the experience in the field of cooking, with the purchase of Agrilution assets
02/14/2020
Miele continues with its commitment to acquire or participate in new projects to diversify its business and redefine the experience in the field of cooking, with the purchase of Agrilution assets . This young company of German origin has opted to offer vertical agriculture solutions, which many experts have defined as the future of greenhouses, in the home itself.
This type of agriculture, which is based on aeroponics (a technology that does not require land, sun, or water) makes plants grow based on the humidity and heat of artificial light. Its domestic use means having a kind of standard refrigerator, which offers the perfect growing conditions, with minimal care and an extra design contribution both in the kitchen and in the living room.
In the words of Maximilian Lössl, founder of Agrilution together with Philipp Wagner, "our domestic greenhouse provides fresher lettuce, herbs, and micro vegetables directly on the table."
Agrilution's home greenhouses allow fresh, aromatic and nutrient-rich sprouts, herbs and micro vegetables to be enjoyed at home throughout the year, through a self-contained ecosystem with simple seed coatings, regulated lighting, and a controlled microclimate, as well as automatic irrigation.
The first crop can be harvested one to three weeks after commissioning.
To establish a comparison that clearly illustrates its effectiveness, a lettuce grown in the field requires up to 120 liters of water to grow and that volume is sufficient to supply an entire Plantcube throughout the year.
The Booming Indoor Gardening Movement
LG’s indoor farm appliance is an example of how a built-in, columned indoor garden using lighting, temperature and water control can change the way consumers obtain their kitchen ingredients
Sarah Buckley
22/01/2020
The booming indoor gardening movement, prominently explored at CES 2020 earlier this year, is allowing consumers to grow their greens indoors, all year-round.
LG’s indoor farm appliance is an example of how a built-in, columned indoor garden using lighting, temperature and water control can change the way consumers obtain their kitchen ingredients.
LG’s offering of all-in-one seed packages and a growth monitoring app makes the one-stop-shop capable of feeding a family of four with home-grown produce.
The appliance replicates optimal outdoor conditions by matching the temperature inside the insulated cabinet to the time of day.
The LED lights, air circulation, and wick-based water management system allows the produce to quickly grow, alongside the automated gardening solution’s non-circulating water supply technology.
The core technology, which evenly distributes the precise water required for the plant’s to healthily flourish, prevents algae and odors for a hygienic, green enclosure.
Much like LG, n.thing, a South Korean agriculture start-up has developed ‘planty cube’ which is an automated vertical farming system, to a more elaborate effect – allowing consumers to maintain crops from anywhere, at any time.
Cubes, blocks, cells – the hydroponic farm, presented in a shipping container, has each square evenly stacked with rows of shelves of plants.
A computerized system controls the environment by monitoring the plants’ health, adjusting the environment accordingly.
These alternatives to glasshouse production are presenting solutions to production, health, convenience, pollution, water-use, but most notably, are finally brought to the consumer’s arena.
The Humble Veggie Patch Just Went Hi-Tech
Growing vegetables and herbs is set to get a whole lot easier with big tech companies creating indoor 'vertical farms'
Forget battling insects and having to remember to water your veggie patch, growing herbs and vegetables at home is set to become hi-tech with new indoor farms.
by Tanya French
9th Jan 2020
Growing vegetables and herbs is set to get a whole lot easier with big tech companies creating indoor 'vertical farms'.
Samsung and LG have both spruiked their answer to the humble vegetable patch - creating indoor gardening appliances that enable people to have their own veggie garden, even if they don't have a backyard.
Samsung's Chef Garden technology integrates with its next-generation Family Hub refrigerator and automatically regulates light wavelengths to enable users to grow and enjoy fresh, pesticide-free fruit and vegetables all year round.
Samsung's vertical farm.
"There is a growing interest in healthy food," said Samsung LED technology centre's Chohui Kim.
"Horticulture LED is playing a key role in vertical farming and indoor crop cultivation, and we are looking to expand its applications in various fields."
The indoor farm integrates with the Family Hub fridge.
While Samsung's offering can easily fit into an existing kitchen, LG's version needs to be in-built into new or renovated kitchens.
The LG vertical farm consists of 24 pods which all have seeds and fertiliser in-built.
The machine recognises the amount of light and water it requires for optimum growth.
The farm - which takes 4-6 weeks to grow - will produce enough leafy vegetables to feed a family of four.
LG’s vertical farm solution. Photo: Tanya French
There's no word yet on when the technology will be available in Australia or what it will cost but an LG spokeswoman said it was 'very high end and part of a bigger kitchen solution'.
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Kitchens Get Smarter At CES Tech Show, Not Yet In Many Homes
Tell your refrigerator about your dietary preferences and it'll concoct a recipe plan for the coming week, sending a shopping list to your smartphone when it notices you've run out of the right ingredients
By MATT O'BRIEN and JOSEPH PISANI
Associated Press
JANUARY 8, 2020
LAS VEGAS — Tell your refrigerator about your dietary preferences and it'll concoct a recipe plan for the coming week, sending a shopping list to your smartphone when it notices you've run out of the right ingredients.
Counter-top robotic arms help chop veggies. Artificially intelligent oven cameras and internet-connected meat thermometers keep track of what's cooking. And then — voila! — a stove-top camera can show off your culinary creations on Instagram.
These are some of the new "smart kitchen" tech features on display this week at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas. Appliance-makers are competing with one another to show off futuristic kitchen innovations they hope might resonate with younger consumers, knowing that once these appliances squeeze themselves into a home, they could stay for a while.
Just don't expect to get much help at your local Home Depot anytime soon. There's also the challenge of getting consumers interested and keeping up with rapid changes in technology.
"The problem is that refrigerators are 10-year devices," said food technology analyst Michael Wolf, who hosts a podcast on smart kitchens. "The sales personnel haven't really asked about smart features and consumers really aren't asking for them."
That hasn't stopped big appliance-makers like Samsung, LG Electronics, GE Appliances, Whirlpool and Bosch from trying to reinvent the kitchen around internet connectivity.
Their mission: Appeal to consumers who are comfortable with smartphone apps. Target consumers include those looking to discover new step-by-step digital cooking instructions and consider themselves foodies even if they're not necessarily expert chefs with a lot of free time.
"Food and food culture is just really one of the dominant things that Millennials and 'Gen Z' put on their social media," Wolf said.
GE Appliances added a third, AI-powered oven camera to its Kitchen Hub system, which includes a 27-inch touch screen for interacting with friends and family or tuning into Netflix or Spotify while a watchful computer helps make sure you don't burn dinner.
Bosch is using its partnership with startup Chefling to send recipe commands to appliances such as refrigerators, which have cameras inside to keep track of inventory. Bosch is one of several companies using computer vision inside refrigerators to recognize items and how long they've been sitting there.
Whirlpool unveiled its Yummly smart thermometer, which can be pierced into a raw chicken. As your meal roasts, your phone will get alerts when the thermometer reaches the right temperature. Later this year, the $129 thermometer will also be able to follow recipes on the Yummly app and automatically adjust the temperature of Whirlpool's smart ovens.
LG showed off an entire "smart" restaurant at its CES booth, complete with a robot to cook and make coffee, one to greet customers and a tabletop robot to take orders. The rounded, expressive robots are part of LG's CLOi line announced at CES in 2018. The South Korean company debuted the cooking Chefbot robot in November at a restaurant in Seoul.
Samsung also emphasized an artificial intelligence-laden kitchen that could help plan meals and monitor nutrition. The company also has a robotic kitchen aid — Bot Chef — a mechanical arm that can chop, whisk, stir and otherwise help prepare food.
As with all internet-connected home devices, some of them raise privacy and security concerns. The devices record audio and video as they listen for your cooking commands and watch from your stove-top or from behind the milk cartons. Hackers could spy inside homes if the apps or devices have security flaws, as many do.
But even if appliance-makers are able to address those risks, some experts say they're still focusing too much on what's technologically possible and not on the improvements in the food experience that consumers might actually want.
"It fits the old school way they've been thinking about this — that every year or two they update the physical models," said Frank Gillett, a tech analyst for Forrester Research. "They're not thinking in terms of outcomes, which are meals. How do you shift the thinking from delivering the best stove to giving people the meal experience they want to have?"
Gillett predicts big structural changes in the food tech industry in the coming years. One far-out possibility: subscription services enabling consumers to commit to a favored supermarket, tech company or other provider. This company would deliver groceries and help run the appliances that work with its system.
Wolf is not as excited by all these AI-enabled bells and whistles as he is about other food tech innovations such as indoor hydroponics, the practice of growing plants without soil.
A few big appliance-makers like LG are now experimenting with indoor gardening technology. Previously, the products were confined to startups like Indiana-based GroPod, which showed off a prototype that can sustain 60 plants that just need water and small nutrient pods.
But none of these smart appliance features and hydroponic gadgetry have taken off with consumers as much as simpler kitchen tech innovations that sit on counters and don't need internet connections.
"Two counter-top appliances have become mainstream: Instant Pot and air fryers," Wolf said. "Five years ago, no one was using those."