Though Trutina, Gremon Systems’ smart greenhouse monitoring platform is popular amongst vegetable and fruit producers – the system is also capable of enhancing flower crop as well. In China, at Breasion Rose, the system is used for optimizing irrigation so roses can produce the best quality flowers.
Breasion’s story
Gremon Systems’ Chinese partner - Tickrise, remembers when they first visited the project: “Roses are the most difficult flowers to grow among all cut flower species, so I chose to grow roses. Take the most challenging task, or never do it!” - said Mr. Wu Qian, the founder of Breasion. Gremon’s partner couldn’t help but be curious about why he had such confidence.
As it turned out, Mr. Wu Qian decided to transition to the flower cultivation industry, at the peak of his career as a financial professional. Though this step can be also treated as a quite romantic move, in fact, Mr. Wu Qian is actually a very “practical” person. He wanted to transform classic rose harvesting into a scientifically grounded, high-tech process. Today, his dream has already become reality:
“Our product positioning is to compete with imported goods, primarily targeting the high-end domestic market. What I aim for is to ensure that every ray of light, every drop of fertilizer, and every molecule of carbon dioxide can be fully absorbed by the plants to achieve higher quality,” says Wu Qian.
Briefly about the Breasion greenhouses
Located in Qujing, 100 kilometers from Kunming, this 10.5 ha farm includes several intelligent connected greenhouses, where nearly a hundred varieties of roses are cultivated.
The greenhouses of Breasion were constructed following Dutch greenhouse standards, utilizing advanced equipment such as environmental control systems from the Netherlands, fertilization and irrigation systems from Israel, light scattering films from Japan, shading and insulation screens from Sweden, and carbon dioxide supplementation systems from Germany, achieving comprehensive automation control over light, temperature, humidity, irrigation, and carbon dioxide.
Introducing Trutina to rose cultivation
After several years of production, he had already refined the layout of greenhouse cultivation management equipment. Yet, he realized that there was a significant missing piece in his existing setup: monitoring and analyzing crop physiological data. As a result, he had been searching for advanced devices in this field, and found the Trutina Plant Monitoring Systems which made a successful debut in the domestic flower industry.
Trutina plant monitoring systems specializes in monitoring, analyzing, and decision support for greenhouse crop data, by combining multiple intelligent sensors with a cloud-based data analysis platform. It performs real-time data collection every 5 seconds, such as substrate weight, light exposure, EC (Electrical Conductivity), and calculates crucial data such as irrigation volume, evaporation efficiency, substrate moisture loss rate, and so on. This helps growers develop better irrigation strategies to balance crops between vegetative growth and generative growth, aiding to reach the full production potential of crops in terms of yield and quality.
Mr. Wu Qian revealed, “I have been following Trutina plant monitoring systems for a long time and highly appreciate its professionalism. Therefore, during the IPM Shanghai in April this year, after visiting the TickRise booth and deep discussions with their experts, we reached an intention to cooperate immediately.”
A customized system for custom needs
In fact, the Trutina plant monitoring systems in the Breasion Rose Greenhouse is a highly customized version - which is different from its standard editions, tailored for tomato, blueberry, strawberry, and more.
In response to the specific cultivation scenario of Breasion and the definite requirements of Mr. Wu Qian, TickRise’s experts together with Gremon’s engineers, specially added substrate sensors and other materials on top of the standard strawberry edition after many communications and adaptive designs, creating a unique edition, customized for flowers.
The design of this Trutina special edition primarily stems from Mr. Wu Qian’s strong demand for managing the root systems environment and irrigation strategy. The additional substrate sensors, along with the use of irrigation & drain sensors, provide a wealth of data, including irrigation & drain volume and VWC, ΔEC (difference in EC) and substrate EC, irrigation & drain temperature and substrate temperature, offering comprehensive monitoring of root growth.
Combined with light exposure and weight data, it systematically observes the variations in water demand throughout the day and differences in water absorption rates at different times, providing ample data support for fine-tuned irrigation strategy management.
Blossoming results in only one month
After introducing Trutina, the owners witnessed both cost savings and root improvement in quite a short time.
“Trutina truly didn’t disappoint me. Previously, our farm already had the most comprehensive sensors and equipment in the domestic agricultural industry. With the arrival of Trutina plant monitoring systems, we can now access real-time data on root activity, allowing us to improve our irrigation strategy more accurately. After one month of use, we found that we saved 15.9% on fertilizers, which not only saved costs but also significantly improved the root system. This provides us with more confidence in safeguarding and enhancing the quality of our flowers” Mr. Wu Qian further stated.
He added: “What attracted me to choose Trutina was not only its professionalism but also the efficient communication, service and support from the TickRise team, helping me quickly grasp the significance of Trutina’s data indicators and effectively deliver value to actual production.”
He indicated, the next step is to explore more possibilities for utilizing Trutina data, such as achieving automatic adjustment of irrigation strategy. This is another improvement he is looking forward to.
A vision to come true
In Mr. Wu Qian’s vision, the act of “growing flowers” blends the romantic scent of roses and practical crop management, resulting in a unique and natural fusion. Either breaking or maintaining romantic ideals about “growing flowers”, it requires a scientifically rigorous and modern agricultural management approach.
“The reason for choosing to grow roses is not only because rose cultivation is challenging, but also because the current domestic cultivation methods are generally outdated, with ample room for improvement. It is well-suited to explore and break through the bottlenecks in flower cultivation, especially cut flowers, to enhance the quality and competitiveness. Breasion pursues ultimate quality and is less concerned about quantity.”
Fully customizable dashboard
Personalize your dashboard to create a unique and customized appearance that aligns perfectly with your preferences and requirements.
Users of Trutina get a detailed dashboard full of useful data to get instant feedback about the current state of their plants, so they can optimize the irrigation and efficiently control the growth.
The system provides a comprehensive graphical interface as well - thanks to the visualization, users can understand how the measured values change over time and can compare different periods much easier.
Learn more about the technology
Trutina is developed by Gremon Systems, an innovative EU-based team that is one of the global market leaders in manufacturing plant monitoring systems for greenhouses. Its dedicated hardware and data analytics software are based on plant weight measurement with the scope to help farmers reach a healthier root system, better yield and less consumption of water and fertilizers. Learn more about the technology: gremonsystems.com/products/trutina/blueberry-professional-edition/
Let’s talk about your greenhouse
Is there anything in common with you and the greenhouse described above? Do you have problems with creating the best irrigation strategy, increasing your yield and having better control over your plants? Trutina can help: don’t hesitate to book a free consultation with one of our experts and talk about the possibilities: gremonsystems.com/contact-us/