Hydroponics
These are exciting times for leafy greens because hydroponic production is booming around the world.
Rijk Zwaan has been working on varieties that are suitable for indoor growing systems for many years, resulting in a wide range of leafy vegetables that are suitable for all kinds of hydroponic systems: floating rafts, fixed and moving gutter systems (NFT), with and without artificial light, single/multi-layer vertical farms and any other method for growing leafy greens without soil.
Interested in Hydroponics?
Please contact Rijk Zwaan's:
Hydroponics team
Hydroponic-proof varieties
Indoor growing systems are becoming more popular these days. When breeding varieties that can be grown in water, Rijk Zwaan pays attention to aspects such as high yield and efficiency, fast and compact growth, strength against elongation, leaf firmness, attractive colour intensity and good plant health (e.g. tipburn-free). Post-harvest aspects such as ease of processing and packing, on-shelf presentation, shelf life and consumer preferences are also taken into account.
Rijk Zwaan regularly organises demonstration trials at its breeding stations around the world so that visitors can see, cut, touch and taste the varieties for themselves.
Hydroponic services
Rijk Zwaan works in close cooperation with growers, processors, horticultural suppliers, crop consultants and investors to ensure that retailers, foodservice companies and processors receive clean and attractive lettuce-based products in line with their needs.
One example is Salatrio, a retail-ready concept in which three different varieties are grown in the same pot, resulting in a colourful lettuce bouquet on retail shelves and an appealing and tasty lettuce mix for consumers. Meanwhile, with their abundance of equally sized baby leaves, Salanova® lettuce varieties form the ideal basis for ‘living lettuce’ plants in consumer kitchens.
Last but not least, thanks to Salanova Teenleaf, machine-harvestable hydroponically grown lettuces have now become a reality. Moreover, other leafy greens besides lettuces can be planted at the same density as Teenleaf in order to create salad mixes.
Hydroponics video
Every Hydroponic project is unique. Watch the video of the highly automated greenhouse of one of our Belgian partners. We look forward meeting you soon.