T E C H N I C A L
Limitless Possibilities
01 03 05 07
/ INTRODUCTION
P ROJECT / URBAN GROW
GOING TO EXTREMES HYDROPONICS IN / THE FUTURE
/ TECHNICAL
02 04 06 08
WHY DO WE NEED TO FARM / VERTICALLY?
V-FARM IN / RESTAURANTS
WHAT CAN YOU GROW / IN A V-FARM?
/ CONTACT
01 / INTRODUCTION INTRODUCING V-FARM – A REVOLUTIONARY VERTICAL FARMING SOLUTION FROM HYDROGARDEN V-Farm is a fully controllable, vertical farming concept which is completely bespoke to your needs. Whether you have a restaurant kitchen in Canada, a warehouse in Hong Kong or even a station in space, a V-Farm can be developed to work for you! The concept has been developed with a patented modular structure of mobile racks fitted with gully trays so that it can be completely tailored to fit the available space. The system uses the latest hydroponic technology along with tailored LED lighting and bespoke ventilation equipment in order to be adaptable to most environments. This versatile system is non crop-specific, allowing it to be adapted for growing a wide variety of fruit, salad greens and vegetables. The environment can be fully controlled using market-leading Autogrow Intelligrow systems via PC, tablet or smartphone and is a truly sustainable growing solution fit for the 21st Century. V-Farm is the latest in a number of ground-breaking innovations in urban agriculture from HydroGarden, a leading European manufacturer and distributor of hydroponic equipment with a deserved reputation for product innovation. Established in 1996, the company develops and manufactures at its UK headquarters in Coventry as well as distributing world-leading brands across the globe servicing retailers, commercial growers and research organisations. A growing company, it has representatives in the EU, Asia, the US and Australia and has exciting plans for further expansion.
“THE V-FARM IS AN EXCELLENT SYSTEM FOR DEMONSTRATING THE CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART IN HYDROPONICS.WE HAVE SEARCHED FOR DEMONSTRATOR AND RESEARCH SYSTEMS AND THE V-FARM IS, IN OUR OPINION, THE BEST, MOST COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTION AVAILABLE. IN ADDITION TO OUR RESEARCH USE, THE VYDROFARM WILL PROVIDE A GREAT FOCAL POINT FOR ENGAGEMENT EVENTS.” IAIN YOUNG PHD FSB – INSTITUTE OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY AND INSTITUTE OF RISK AND UNCERTAINTY, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL
02 / WHY DO WE NEED TO FARM VERTICALLY? HydroGarden believes that vertical farming is the future and that V-Farm can go some way in helping to alleviate the ever-increasing demand for food that faces us. It will provide food security and allow countries that have poor growing conditions to produce their own food source and provide fresh fruit and vegetables locally all year round. It can be installed in very remote locations - for example, near or within the Arctic Circle, where otherwise everything would have to be trucked or flown in and where fresh produce is very hard to keep. Indoor farming could also help to utilise redundant buildings and warehousing in cities bringing high value production closer to consumers. As well as reducing food miles, the systems use 90% less water than conventional systems, use no pesticides and achieve much higher rates of growth, meaning the overall environmental footprint is very low. A completely controlled growing environment means that growing can take place in warm or cold climates, 24 hours a day. And beyond this planet, increasingly lengthy space missions mean that scientists are investing huge resources in trying to find a way for astronauts to grow their own food both in space and, incredibly, on faraway planets.
“It has been estimated that the global population will expand by 3 billion people by 2050 and that 80% of the earth’s population will live in urban centres. With these statistics it would require an area about 20% more than the size of Brazil to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are today.”*
*Source: Dickinson Despommier - The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century.
“V-FARM IS THE NEXT STEP IN URBAN FARMING. IT PROVIDES AN EXCEPTIONALLY COMPACT, HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE SYSTEM USING LEADING LED TECHNOLOGY. THIS SYSTEM CAN TRANSFORM SMALL, UNDERUSED URBAN SPACES INTO THE FARMS OF THE FUTURE. HYDROGARDEN’S V-FARM IS ALLOWING US TO DEVELOP OUR FARMS AT A RATE THAT WOULDN’T BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY OTHER SYSTEM OR TECHNOLOGY CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO US.” DR. PAUL MYERS - MANAGING DIRECTOR, FARM URBAN
03 / PROJECT URBAN GROW HydroGarden has built a centre of excellence for urban agriculture utilising the various patented V-Farm systems in its manufacturing headquarters in Coventry - named Project Urban Grow. Project Urban Grow is a test, training and show facility to demonstrate what is possible with the V-Farm system and comprises of a main, fully controlled growing chamber, a research chamber and a smaller restaurant/food retail chamber showing the available possibilities. The V-Farm systems demonstrated utilise the hydroponic methods of NFT, where a thin layer of nutrient solution runs along the base of a gully direct to plant roots, and Flood and Drain, where the plants have periods of irrigation but are not sitting in solution. The research chamber has a footprint of 24m2 but utilises a growing area of 55m² by layering the hydroponic growing system. This system can produce almost 2,000 lettuces in 28 days. Inside the unit are 3 adjustable V-Farm 5205 NFT racks each with a growing area of just over 18m². The whole system is on our patented moving 'Rack on Rail' solution which maximises the growing area by closing up the aisles, thus saving space & maximising light while still allowing the room to be harvested easily. The systems have been rigorously trialled by growing multiple crops (salad leaf, herbs, mizuna, pak choi, strawberries and selected root crops) under varying growing conditions. Differing combinations of V-Farm Seed specifically developed by HydroGarden for growing under LED, crop-specific nutrients and additives together with variations to the growing environment have demonstrated the degree of control that this system can achieve. High quality Valoya & Spectron LED lighting has also been installed alongside other technical controls to ensure optimum energy efficiency and economy. All lettuces that have been grown in the Urban Grow trials have been donated to a grateful local charity - the elephants at Twycross Zoo!
PROJECT URBAN GROW The Numbers
Everything stacks up
20% HIG HER R
GRO WT H
ATE S OF
CROPS PER YEAR
90% LESS WATER THAN CONVENTIONAL SYSTEMS
PESTICIDES
5 GULLEYS PER LAYER
1,965
3 MOVEABLE RACKS
PLANTS PER MONTH*
4
LAYERS *DATA REFERS TO TRIALS UNDERTAKEN IN URBAN GROW SYSTEM PICTURED IN SECTION 1
Impressive statistics indeed and due to the scalability of V-Farm the number of layers and racks that can be built into a bespoke project are only restricted by the available space. More layers, more racks, equals more produce.
Limitless Possibilities
03 / PROJECT URBAN GROW CONTINUED TOTAL CONTROL The whole environment is controlled by a 24 volt Autogrow Multi system which features a modular construction to facilitate maintenance. As well as heating and cooling, CO2 is supplied from bottles and can be set to dose at different times. The daylight regime is one of the parameters being tested in trials and is fully customisable. The unit is covered by CCTV cameras and the control panel can send alert messages to a mobile phone or other remote device when environmental parameters fall outside expected levels. Such remote management is another advantage for the system in situations such as remote oil fields where horticultural expertise may be lacking.
SPECIALLY DEVELOPED LIGHTING SOLUTION V-Farm utilises high quality, commercial grade Valoya & Spectron LED lighting units that are built to exacting standards in order to offer a long and stable service life. Whilst LED lighting is significantly cooler running than HID or even fluorescent lighting, an optimal temperature must be maintained within the unit to ensure a consistent quality of light in both overall output and spectrum. The majority of LED luminaires available achieve this by means of cooling fans, which can be both noisy and prone to failures. The LED units utilised by V-Farm manage to maintain a stable internal temperature without the use of fans by having more than adequate heat sink capabilities. This ensures not only a very stable light source, but also goes a long way to providing a long life span (>50,000 hours). The V-Farm lighting systems have a very high ingress protection rating (IP) due partly to the patented V-Farm waterproof lamp socket, allowing easy cleaning of the system between crops, which makes them perfectly suited for use in schools and research facilities that require a higher level of safety.
“WHEN I VISITED HYDROGARDEN TO SEE THE PROJECT IN ACTION I WAS VERY IMPRESSED. IT’S GREAT TO SEE HOW FAR HYDROPONICS HAS COME AND WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO KEEPING IN TOUCH ABOUT FUTURE PROJECTS. IT’S EVEN BETTER WHEN OUR ANIMALS GET TREATS AS A RESULT!” JULIAN CHAPMAN – TEAM LEADER OF LARGE MAMMALS, TWYCROSS ZOO
04 / V -FARM IN RESTAURANTS & FOOD RETAIL With an ever-increasing consumer demand for fresher foods and unique flavours, a growing number of restaurants and F&B retailers have added hydroponic systems to their premises. In the basement, in the roofspace, even in the restaurant or salad/juice bar itself – anywhere there’s a space that can be utilised to grow microgreens, herbs, edible flowers, etc.
V-FARM IS AN IDEAL SOLUTION Its scalability is perfect for restaurant designers. It can be designed to fit almost any area and the potential benefits are considerable. The concept has a number of key selling points. Not only will it save on ingredient costs and delivery, it offers increased crop nutrition as the crop is harvested at point of use and can become an exciting talking point, setting restaurants apart in a highly competitive market. The V-Farm 5207 is ideal for this purpose, being simple to use and offering Flood and Drain and NFT options to cover production of high value micro greens, baby leaf & leafy salad crops. Initially adopted in some of the best fine dining establishments, the fruits of hydroponic gardening are now filtering down to more casual restaurants. So, whilst customers are poring over the menu, some key ingredients are, literally, still growing a few feet away. You can’t get much fresher than that!
“OUR COMPANY WAS SET UP TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR RESTAURANTS AND CATERERS TO SOURCE SALAD LOCALLY. HYDROGARDEN’S VERTICAL FARMING SOLUTION MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO REDUCE FOOD MILES TO ZERO - AND WHAT’S MORE, CROPS CAN BE EASILY GROWN ALL YEAR ROUND.” DR IAN TENNANT - LOCAL ROOTS LIMITED
05 / G OING TO EXTREMES – HYDROPONICS IN THE FUTURE Deserts, the Arctic, outer space - Mars? The challenge of providing fresh fruit and vegetables to people who live and work in inhospitable climates is one that man is already embracing. Water shortages, transport costs - think of the logistics involved in keeping workers in polar exploration sites supplied with fresh produce all year round – and the extreme temperatures and conditions that make conventional agriculture impossible are all reasons why hydroponic growing is becoming more and more commonplace in these areas.
HydroGarden is already collaborating with developers in Norway, Serbia and Sweden, planning exciting, large-scale VydroFarm installations in cold climate locations. Beyond our planet, the scientists at NASA know that hydroponics will play an important role in the future of space exploration and the challenge of how to best equip a manned spacecraft for deep space travel. Looking even further ahead, speculation has it that humans will be on Mars by the mid-2030’s. Such missions are likely to be one-way and as it would be impossible to send enough food to last the astronauts a lifetime, they will need to grow their own produce.
V-Farm will soon be playing an important part in the provision of locally-grown, high-quality, fresh produce in inhospitable climates. As for Mars? For now, that’s for the future.
“WHILST AT FIRST GLANCE GROWING INSIDE CLOSED ENVIRONMENTS, INDEPENDENT FROM THE NATURAL SUNLIGHT, MAY APPEAR COUNTER PRODUCTIVE, IN EXTREME TEMPERATURE CLIMATES IT IS THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL, NOT THE LIGHT COSTS THAT ARE CRITICAL. ADDED TO THIS, HUMIDITY CONTROL IN SUCH CLIMATES IS OFTEN EVEN MORE DIFFICULT THAN TEMPERATURE CONTROL, LEADING TO POOR YIELD PERFORMANCES COMPARED TO MORE MODERATE CLIMATES WHERE LIGHT LEVELS WOULD BE SEEN AS LESS FAVOURABLE...
...IN AN INSULATED, HIGHLY ENERGY-EFFICIENT GROWING SPACE THE V-FARM SYSTEM ENABLES OPTIMAL, PRECISE GROWING CONDITIONS TO BE MAINTAINED AT ALL TIMES, IRRELEVANT OF THE OUTSIDE WEATHER CONDITIONS. ONCE YOU ARE INSIDE THE UNIT, YOU COULD BE IN AN ARCTIC SCIENCE RESEARCH STATION OR A SAHARAN DESERT OIL FIELD OPERATION. YOU - AND MOST CRITICALLY THE PLANTS – WOULD HAVE NO IDEA. THEY ARE IN PLANT HEAVEN, AND WILL REWARD YOU ACCORDINGLY WITH THE BEST POSSIBLE PRODUCE FOR YIELD, QUALITY AND FLAVOUR.” DR PHILLIP LEE - EVOLVE GROWING SOLUTIONS
06 / WHAT CAN YOU GROW IN A V-FARM?
Lettuce (Cos, Little Gem, Butter Head)
Baby leaf
Basil
Spinach
Pak Choi
Edible flowers
Microgreens
Strawberries
...and much more.
Mizuna
07 / TECHNICAL Standard builds The five standard V-Farm builds shown on the following pages are made from top quality materials and assembled by HydroGarden’s experts in Coventry.
All V-Farm systems offer: • Height adjustable lighting • Height adjustable gulleys • Top quality Food Grade materials • Fast cleaning between crops • Full mobility.
VF 5205
FEATURES • 4 layers of SG50 NFT gully • 5 gullies per layer, 158 plant stations at 200mm centres, 632 plants per rack • Growing area 3.88m2 per layer or 15.52m2 per rack • 20 x L18 LED’s per layer • Runs on 4 tracks • Suitable for multiple racks in a protected environment. External measurements: 6050 x 970 x 2300mm
VF 5207
FEATURES • 1300mm SG50 NFT gullies, 5 wide and 4 layers • 132 plant sites at 200mm centres • Growing area 680 x 1300mm • 16 x L18 LED’s per layer • 80 litre nutrient tank with pump • Four wheels (two lockable) for easy movement • Light timer to alter day length • Suitable for multiple racks in a protected environment.
External measurements: 1500 x 880 x 2350mm
VF 5208
FEATURES • 5 layers • 10 x SG50 NFT gullies per layer • 236 plants per layer or 1180 per rack • Growing area 5.76m2 per layer or 28.8m2 per rack • 24 x L30 LED’s per layer • Runs on 4 tracks • Suitable for large scale controlled environment buildings.
External measurements: 4270 x 1690 x 2900mm
System shown without LED's fitted
VF 5210 Propagation Rack
FEATURES • 20 x LED propagation tubes • Six wheels (four lockable) for easy movement • Growing area 1260 x 560mm • 10 x 1260 x 555mm trays • 40 x 60 cell trays – total plants 2,400. 14 days growing • Light timer to alter day length.
External measurements: 2750 x 630 x 2800mm
VF 5213 Trolley
FEATURES • Seven trays and seven layers, tray size 1260 x 560mm • Four wheels (two lockable) for easy movement • 28 x 60 cell trays – total plants 1,680 • Suitable for the transportation of plug plants from Propagation area to Growing area. External measurements: 1555 x 644 x 1710mm
V-Farm has been installed in selected institutions to universal acclaim. Here are some of the comments from those involved: PROFESSOR MARK GILLOTT, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM “We are delighted to be working with HydroGarden on this exciting and timely project. This is a great opportunity to investigate the energy and building integration issues associated with moving food production into our cities. We see this as part of a potential solution for ensuring global food security in a world with an expanding population and increased pressure on land use and resources.”
IAIN YOUNG, OF THE INSTITUTE OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY AND INSTITUTE OF RISK AND UNCERTAINTY, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL “V-Farm is an excellent system for demonstrating current state-of-the-art innovation in hydroponics. We have searched for demonstrator and research systems and V-Farm is, in our opinion, the best, most cost-effective solution available. In addition to our research use, our V-Farm will provide a great focal point at our engagement events.”
JULES BAGNOLI, FOUNDER OF REFARMING LTD AND LECTURER IN FOOD BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY “The ultra-low energy V-Farm helps us grow locally. It’s the first commercially available, plug and play hydroponic farm that runs off the same electricity as a small domestic appliance. This hyperlocal approach reduces our transport fuel costs and emissions. Bringing food production closer to the kitchen at Home of Honest Coffee will help them to give back to the community and serve even fresher, tasty and nutritious food. It’s also providing business start-ups for ex-offenders to get their lives back on track and the many creatives who are benefitting from having such an inspirational venue in their local community. We are planning to introduce more V-Farms to similar kitchen environments in the Manchester area in the coming months. If there are small businesses and restaurants that share our ethos of sustainability and are interested in talking to us we’d love to hear from them.”
Limitless Possibilities When we say that V-Farm has ‘Limitless Possibilities’ we mean it – so if your need is for something different, that’s no problem for our engineers. Just contact us and we’ll be happy to hear your bespoke requirements and design the perfect solution.
V-Farm is a patented system
“THIS IS A GREAT HYDROPONIC SYSTEM FOR GROWING LEAFY VEGETABLES UNDER LED LIGHT. IT IS A SIMPLE SYSTEM, BUT IS EFFICIENT FOR PLANT GROWTH. THE ROOTS ARE CONSTANTLY FED BY THE FRESH NUTRIENT SOLUTION, RESULTING IN FAST ROOT GROWTH, HIGH YIELD AND HIGH QUALITY CROPS.” CHUNGUI LU - HEAD OF CENTRE FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
“WE’RE CONVINCED THAT WE’RE ONLY BEGINNING TO SEE THE POTENTIAL FOR VERTICAL FARMING AND V-FARM IS A GREAT PLACE TO START. WE ARE CONTINUING WITH EXTENSIVE TRIALS ON DIFFERENT PROCESSES TO SEE WHERE WE CAN TAKE IT NEXT, THE CONTINUED RAPID ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY MEAN THAT THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.” STEPHEN FRY
08 / CONTACT
Contact Stephen Fry, our Commercial Sales Manager, about your V-Farm project via email
STEPHEN.F@HYDROGARDEN.CO.UK or phone
+44(0) 2476 608 097 +44(0) 7980 932 424 V-FARM.CO.UK @V_FarmHG
@v_farm
facebook.com/V.FarmHG
V - F A R M . C O . U K
V-Farm is a patented system. Designed and manufactured by HydroGarden. 2 Progress Way, Binley, Coventry, CV3 2NT, UK Tel: 024 7660 8097 Email: stephen.f@hydrogarden.co.uk