Vertical farming or city farming is a hot trend. Consumers love fresh food produced locally. Investors love the new business opportunities. But where do you start and what do you need to succeed? Signify has been in city farming from the start. With our extensive lighting know-how and plant expertise, here is our vertical farming recipe for growth to help you make a flying start.
Understanding how to grow plants indoors
When thinking about how to start vertical farming, many investors expect they can simply pick a crop to grow, buy a building, plug in some grow lights and start planting. Actually, the process starts by understanding how to grow plants indoors. Once you know that, you can decide what crops to grow, what kind of facility to choose and the vertical farming technology and vertical farming lighting that you need. Find out more in our blog.
Picking the right plants to grow indoors
The easiest plants to grow indoors are lettuce, herbs and microgreens, and a lot of indoor vertical farming companies are focused on these crops. There are other crops that can be grown indoors, including berries, aubergines, peppers and grains. At our GrowWise Centre, our experts study the types of plants that can be grown and the conditions needed to optimise plant growth in vertical farming facilities. For inspiration, read about four remarkable results that you can achieve with dynamic LED grow lights in a vertical farm.
Grow with the pros
Dynamic lighting allows you to have the flexibility to choose the crops and change the lights whenever you want to. With dynamic lighting, you can grow various crops in the same facility, and you will be able to steer the colour and intensity of the light so that you can develop your light recipes. Dynamic lighting also gives you the opportunity to predict the harvest time and get your crops at the time that you want. Read more about the remarkable results with dynamic lighting in our blog.
GrowWise Center
At the Philips GrowWise Research Centre, our experts study the conditions needed to optimise plant growth. This includes the effect that different types of vertical farming lighting, climate systems, nutrition, irrigation, sensors and data collection can have on plant health and quality. It enables us to develop growth recipes for vertical farmers that will produce specific characteristics and create healthier plants with higher yields.
GreenPower LED production module
A vertical farming lighting module for multi-layer cultivation of herbs and leafy greens. Includes the ideal light recipe for higher yield, better quality, higher propagation success rates and year-round production. A dynamic version allows you to individually adjust the LED colours and light intensities.
GrowWise Control System
This vertical farming lighting control system is an easy way to create and run custom light recipes to meet the needs of specific crops and improve quality and productivity. Can be used with the GreenPower LED production module Dynamic.
Vertical farming blogs
Want to control nitrate levels in leafy greens?
By growing leafy greens under LED grow lights in an indoor vertical growing environment, researchers discovered that they could decrease or increase nitrate levels in the plants.
The role of sensors and data collection in a successful vertical farm
Sensors and data play a pivotal role in vertical farming and they’re ready to transform the future of vertical farming. It is all because sensors enable us to monitor these growth conditions, recognise anomalies and identify problems as early as possible.
Sun-free yet summer sweet strawberries build the case for a vertical farm
The latest trials from Philips GrowWise Center have yielded sweeter strawberries in a vertical farm that has no daylight.
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Events
IPM- International Plant Fair
Essen, 24-27 January
Fruit Logistica
Berlin, 8-10 February
Indoor Ag-Con
Las Vegas, 27-28 February
Blog
How to build a successful vertical farm
Here are a few key lessons learned from city farming expert Roel Janssen on successful vertical farm projects.