"Towards The Green Revolution"

2017

Marco Tidona works as a software developer. A coincidence led him to become acquainted with the Urban Farming scene in New York. Now Tidona aponix - a vertical cultivation system for horticulture - is launching on the market, which should bring production and consumer closer together. TASPO Online spoke with the resourceful entrepreneur.

How to design a vertical cultivation system for horticulture as a software developer?

When in 1999 the Neue Markt and the Internet really started, I became a service provider. Today, I am again ready to start a new market, but this time with a product for the Vertical Urban Farming sector. In 2014, I placed an aquaponic circuit with 4,000 liters of water and 100 tilapia in private, underestimating the amount of plants that would have been necessary to balance the ever-higher concentration of nitrate in the plant.

At this time there was no simultaneously affordable, usable and vertically flexible solution on the young urban farming market. On top of that, I spent one day in New York City by chance and got an unprecedented insight into the state of the urban farming scene and the farming operations. After seeing more professional production sites and looking at the existing value chains from cultivation to harvesting through logistics to consumption by the consumer, I soon realized that we are heading towards a green revolution more purposefully.

What is the difference between aponix and common vertical systems?

There are several differences and specifically vertical systems are very different. Each system has its own strengths and weaknesses, which should be looked at and compared against one another before purchase. In case of doubt, we recommend that you first carry out a practical test. The mission of aponix is o simplify the cultivation of hyperlocal edible plants in 3D. A) for the commercial user of an urban farm with lean processes, b) the ambitious hobby grower and c) the "prosumers" - the consumers who produce some of their own food and, if necessary, have no garden.

The height and thus the number of planting areas of the tonne superstructures are variable. The barrels are constructed from similar lego-like components with different plant adapters. No fixed installations such as tables or rack systems are required. Everything is mobile, modular and scalable. In principle one can understand the system of aponix as a kit, with which one can configure many different urban solutions. In the summer, additional elements are added that can be used to assemble substrate-based tonnages, which can then be used as a raised-bed alternative for the balcony or also as a gray-water filter. We show these examples on our website.

How are the plants supplied with nutrients? How many plants fit into such a system?

In the earthless version one can work with mineral or organic fertilizer - hydroponics or aquaponics. In the summer, additional parts are added, with which one can build a ground-based version. For the groundless version, we usually sell the variant with a height of 12 ring segments. Each ring segment provides 12 2-inch mesh head racks, thus accommodating 144 herb or salad plants. A tonne has a diameter of 57 centimeters.

The height of the barrels can be changed at any time. Irrigation by means of sprinkler and gravity works independently of the height always over a lid. It is possible to combine several tonnes into a production line and manage the reservoir centrally or operate a single tonne.

What is the advantage for horticultural companies using this system?

If we want to move the production closer to the end user (= hyperlocal) in order to get the average 1,500 "food miles" in the existing value chain to zero and thus offer the end user significantly more diversity, freshness and nutrients, the mounting surfaces become significantly. In decentralized distributed urban micro-farms, it will be important to operate cultural areas of less than 1,000 square meters profitably.

This is only possible with a high plant density and a competitive offer. The freshness, sustainability of the production and the absence of herbicides / pesticides will, among other things, be the key for the mature consumer to pay a small extra charge compared to the standard merchandise from the supermarket and the discounters. It feeds on the highest nutrient level and with the greatest pleasure.

What about the renaming process during the project phase? Was the conflict with another product from the same industry or a "foreign" industry?

Originally we had called ourselves 'ponix' in the prototype phase and had a fish symbol around the logo. Shortly thereafter, a company from Austria came onto the market with the name 'Ponix Systems'. Since in most cases alphabetical sorting is carried out, we have made the renaming easy here, and a 'a' has been hanged, and from the fish on the occasion a lying "infinite 8" is made as a sign for the upcoming Circular Economy.
 

Created by TASPO Online