Most UK growers aren’t working in brand-new glasshouses. In our report earlier this month, a peer-reviewed study found that more than 70% of the UK’s commercial greenhouse estate is over 40 years old. (Link this to your greenhouse renewal article.) UK company Saturn Bioponics is betting that many of those growers want to upgrade gradually rather than rebuild.
“Around 70% of UK glasshouses are over 40 years old, and it’s the same in many countries,” CEO Alex Fisher told HortiDaily.
One job at a time
Saturn describes itself as a growing systems integrator. Its Optimizer range takes the control logic from its full CultivaTech platform and splits it into single-job controllers, so a grower can automate one task at a time:
- Vent Optimizer, with four levels, from timed and remote control up to sensor-based alerts
- Heating Optimizer, which manages burner run times and efficiency
- Fertigation Optimizer, which automates multi-channel feeding and dosing
“Automation is just allowing a manual process to run automatically,” Fisher said. He argues that growers don’t need perfection to see a return: “Getting 90% of the way costs a bit of money, 95% costs a lot, and 100% is astronomical.”
For small and medium growers, he said, reliability matters most: “Small and medium growers can’t afford an experiment, so it has to work straight out of the box.”
Turning data into decisions
Saturn also offers FarmIntel, a business intelligence platform that flags issues as red, amber or green and ranks problems by how much they cost. The company says it plans to add optional AI-driven analysis. But Fisher is clear about where the decisions sit: “AI isn’t a grower. It’s powerful for gathering and interpreting data so you can decide faster, but the decisions stay with the human.”
The company says it has 15 years’ experience and more than 100 projects behind it, with partners including Kaneya in Asia and Idromeccanica Lucchini in Europe. It reports a 25–30% fuel reduction at one production site in Japan.
Why it matters
The study we reported on argued that replacing the UK’s ageing glass will take years of policy change and investment. In the meantime, step-by-step automation of the glasshouses growers already have is a practical way to save fuel, labour and time now, without waiting for a rebuild.
Find out more at https://www.saturnbioponics.com
Image Credit: Saturn Bioponics
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