Growing a range of crops with Advanced Aeroponics™
Advanced Aeroponics™ is not just for leafy greens; it’s a versatile solution that drives productivity, efficiency, and sustainability for a diverse range of crops across glasshouses and vertical farms. Our patented ultrasonic technology delivers a nutrient-dense mist directly to plant roots. This soilless cultivation method is proven to boost yields by over 20% and increase growth rates compared to hydroponics.
Advanced Aeroponics™ vs hydroponics
The key difference lies in superior root oxygenation. By suspending roots in air and feeding them a mist, our system provides the high oxygen levels plants need to thrive:
• Our research with Wageningen University Research (WUR) shows that aeroponics prodvides 75% less aerenchyma formation (air channels formed when oxygen is limited) compared to hydroponically grown plants.
• Growing media remains much drier with aeroponics, reducing disease risk, unlike flooded hydroponic methods.
• The system irrigates the roots without flooding the canopy, resulting in a drier leaf canopy and longer potential shelf-life for leafy crops.
• Aeroponics uses less water and fertiliser than typical hydroponic methods.
Crop varieties
Leafy greens & herbs
Aeroponics is ideal for rapid, high-density growing that maximises quality.
• Leafy greens: Spinach, Lettuce, Watercress, Rocket/Arugula, Amaranth, Chard, Kale, Mustard, Pak choi, Mizuna, Shiso and more
• Herbs: Basil, Coriander, Parsley, Chives, Dill, Mint and more
Micro greens & shoots
Fast-growing crops that benefit from the system's precision irrigation.
• Broccoli (green), Fennel, Garlic chives, Leek, Radish (sangria),
• Shoots: Pea shoots, Sunflower shoots.
R&D / Propagation
We are continually trialling new crops and propagation methods with partners.
• Strawberry root stock, Tomatoes, Medicinal Cannabis, Tree whips (forestry/fruit), Onions, other vine crops and more
Crop spotlight: Lettuce
• Our Aeroponic Rolling Benches™ beat a client’s highest yield target of 150kg/m²/year, achieving an average of 173/kg/m²/year (15% uplift).
• Improved lettuce quality, including leaves that were drier than those grown on hydroponic benches, offering a considerable advantage to shelf-life.
• Soilless growing enables the removal of peat and avoids growing media contamination.
Crop spotlight: Watercress
Our trial with a 4th-generation UK watercress grower aimed to increase out-of-season production in a vertical farming environment.
• The trial achieved a crop yield of 1.45kg/m² in 14 days under lights. This is a 52% increase over the client's target yield of 1.4kg/m² in 21-24 days.
• The growing time was reduced by one-third, increasing the annual number of crop cycles from 17 to 26 per year.
• Further optimisation at our research centre achieved average yields of 2kg/m² in 14 days, representing an effective annual yield increase of 114% compared to the initial client target.
Crop spotlight: Spinach
Trials evaluated the performance of Sun Angel spinach against a client's existing hydroponic setup, tackling common challenges like disease and bolting.
• Advanced Aeroponics increased client yields by over 38% versus the client's hydroponic target, achieving 70kg/m²/year.
• Healthy spinach roots were maintained throughout the trial, indicating increased plant resilience to normal fungal pathogens due to increased root zone oxygenation.
• The trial observed very minimal bolting, a significant improvement over the client's historical hydroponic experiences with this variety.
Propgation spotlight: Strawberry
Our trials focused on enhancing productivity, efficiency, and sustainability by applying aeroponics during the critical propagation phase.
• The growing period for tissue culture mother plants to produce tips (daughter plants) was significantly reduced to just 2 weeks, a reduction of over 50% from the traditional 4-6 weeks.
• The second stage of propagation, where a tip becomes an established strawberry plant, was reduced to just 5 weeks using aeroponics, cutting the traditional time by over 4 months (from 5-6 months).
• Plant loss decreased from a high of 20-30% to just 5% with aeroponic propagation.
Propagation spotlight: Tomato
We partnered with UK commercial greenhouse growers La Serra to improve the propagation of tomato plants, aiming to extend their nine-month harvesting season.
• Transplants that cultivated from seed in Advanced Aeroponics™, exhibited significantly better root development compared to conventionally propagated plants.
• Results suggest that aeroponic technology reduces plant propagation time, which could lead to an increased number of harvests per year and earlier first harvest for greenhouse growers.
Would you like to speak to our team directly?
Reach out to Oscar, if you’d like to explore how Advanced Aeroponics can support your commerical growing operations.