Podcast | Hortibiz: How Autonomous Growing is Transforming Greenhouse Work
In a recent radio interview with Hortibiz, Laurens van der Spek, COO and Co-founder of Blue Radix, shared how Autonomous Growing is reshaping the daily life of growers and helping them meet the increasing demands of modern horticulture. Blue Radix’s Crop Controller offers growers a new sense of control in the greenhouse, using AI to continuously manage and optimize the greenhouse conditions.
Passion for plants & algorithms
Blue Radix is not only a specialist in AI technology, but also deeply understands the unique circumstances and challenges that growers around the world face. We smartly implement this in dept green knowledge in everything that we do from Product Development to Service, to achieve the best result for growers worldwide. Employees Geert van der Wel, Jan Hanemaaijer and Pantelis Kleanthidis each tell from their own position how their horticulture background contributes to optimizing and realizing growers’ unique crop strategies with AI.
The Valley discovers the added value of autonomous growing
For a long time, cultivation manager Martijn van der Giessen of The Valley thought that Autonomous Growing was only something for growers outside the Netherlands. But since his introduction to Crop Controller from Blue Radix, he knows better. Although he is still discovering the system, his confidence has grown rapidly. “With Crop Controller, I have more time for other important things in the greenhouse.”
“I can now delve more into the analysis of the data”
Tom de Jong, manager at the Dinteloord location of Van Duijn de Jong shares about his experience with Crop Controller.
Autonomous Growing: a new and better way of being in control
Letting go of control is never easy—especially when it comes to something as critical as growing crops. For growers, every decision, might feel personal, a result of years of experience and intuition. The idea of handing over these decisions to AI technology might feel like taking a leap into the unknown. Yet, as the CEA industry evolves, more and more growers are discovering the benefits of autonomous growing. By taking over the execution of repetitive daily greenhouse tasks like steering the climate computer, growers optimize operations, increase yields, and free up valuable time. Allowing them to focus on other strategic decisions and enjoy a better work-life balance.
Finka: ‘Crop Controller makes work much easier’
Rojas started using Crop Controller in the Spring of 2024. “As a company, we are always innovating and we want to try selected new technologies, and developments. That’s why we decided to work with Blue Radix at Finka Incubados. We have been working with various intelligent systems throughout the company, so we can compare them and find out what works best for our situation.”
“AI takes care of routine tasks so we can focus on strategy”
As Bionatur adopts Blue Radix’s Crop Controller, the company is not just leveraging advanced technology but also the personal touch of Autonomous Greenhouse Managers. In this conversation, we explore their insights on how the combination of innovative AI solutions and the expertise of Autonomous Greenhouse Managers is transforming greenhouse management at Bionatur.
Autonomous Growing is here to stay within Agrigar
There are around 150 employees working here, but I never really have the time to visit them and see and hear how things are going. This is where Autonomous Growing offers a solution. If I don’t have to spend so much time setting and adjusting the climate computer, I can focus more on the people and the crop.” Agrigar therefore decided to start with a six-month trial period.