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Against the backdrop of the accelerating market transformation from low-tech to high-tech strawberry production, initial results from an innovative trial demonstrate the excellent compatibility between F1 hybrid strawberry seeds and Grodan stone wool solutions.
In the era of advanced technology and increasing consumer awareness, the modern greenhouse is not just a place of production but a true laboratory of innovation and an ecological bastion of food safety. Growers, who just decades ago focused mainly on efficiency and fighting plant diseases and pests, now face a completely new challenge: how to produce fruits and vegetables without chemical crop protection residues, while meeting the market’s ever-growing expectations?
Besides helping growers to achieve their sustainability goals, efficient water management plays a crucial role in maintaining plant health. Realising or steering towards a certain drain volume or drain percentage per day should not be your goal. Instead, the goal should be optimising your irrigation strategy to provide your crop with precisely the amount of water and nutrients it needs. This will ensure the development of a strong and healthy root system, leading to consistently good plant growth, fruit quality and a higher total production. Grodan’s Andrew Lee explains how.
Since 2022, a limited number of high-tech greenhouse pepper growers worldwide have faced a rapid and severe form of wilting that posed a threat to crop production. This has left growers searching for answers. In response, Grodan funded rigorous, independent research, collaborating with a wide range of industry partners to analyse all potential contributing factors. Findings to date currently point to a specific isolate of the pathogenic fungus Fusarium as the cause. Today in the Netherlands and Belgium the isolate it is referred to as Fusarium oxysporum radicis capsici (FORC). In Canada it is referred to as Fusarium Oxysporum Species Complex (FOSC). It is highly pathogenic and specific to peppers. Initial scientific reports also show that wilting caused by the Fusarium isolate can occur in both stone wool and organic substrates.
Brussels, Belgium, June 24, 2025 – As part of the EU Green Week 2025, Grodan organised a workshop on ‘Circular solutions in horticulture. How sustainable production and efficient operations work hand in hand’. The event explored how circular approaches can support more efficient and sustainable horticultural practices across Europe.
In comparison to other high-tech crops grown commercially, much less research has been done into cultivating lettuce on stone wool. At Grodan, we are keen to help increase the availability of science-based information by conducting lettuce trials with respected partners.
We are a global leader in the supply of innovative stone wool substrate solutions for the professional horticultural based on Precision Growing principles.