About Us
Meaplant Innovation
Our story is one of continuous evolution, driven by a passion to make it easy for everyone, everywhere to grow their own plants.
Dr. Caterina ALLERA, in her experience as a researcher in the field of soilless cultivation at CREA (Italian Council for Research in Agriculture), has explored various cultivation techniques in natural and artificial substrates which are of great interest due to their greater productivity compared to traditional cultivations on the soil.
The result of her research led her to consider that the complexity of using these cultivation systems is essentially due to the interaction between the cultivation substrate and the nutrient solution supplied to the plants.
The currently used substrates retain the water and mineral salts by absorbing it within their porous matrix. This creates a risk of substrate salinization, making the control of nutrient availability extremely complex. In addition, the moisture retained inside the porous matrix favors the conditions for the formation of fungal diseases that involve the use of sterilization plants.
From these considerations was born the idea behind MEAPLANT innovation, that of imagining a cultivation substrate capable of retaining droplets of nutrient solution without absorbing them inside and thus eliminating the complexity of the soilless cultivation techniques in substrate, currently used .
How can we create a substrate that can retain water without absorbing it? The inspiration of the droplets of water suspended after the rain on nature’s elements provided the solution: So was born the new substrate of MEAPLANT Innovation.
CATERINA ALLERA
Biologa ricercatrice
Innovative Cultivation System
The complexity of Nature in simplicity of MEAPLANT CULTIVATION SYSTEM
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The drops of water, supplied by an irrigation system, are suspended on a lattice of threads forming our innovative cultivation substrate, as you can look on a spider’web after the rain. The drops are completely available for the plant’ roots without accumulation of mineral salts inside the substrate.
- User-friendly - you add only water and mineral salts.
- Water saving up to 90%.
- No need of herbicides and pesticides.
- Can be assembled and disassembled everywhere.
- Built with light and recyclable materials.
- usable outdoors.
- It allows you to grow plants with different needs together.
MEAPLANT INNOVATION is the only system that allows you to cultivate a real vegetable garden for everyone, everywhere, due to its simplicity of use: it is only necessary to periodically add water and mineral salts into the tank and turn on the irrigation timer, without any particular checks and wait for the plant growth. MEAPLANT can also be an important solution to guarantee food safety in arid areas, with water scarcity and also in large metropolises due to their vulnerability in case of emergency.
Many phenomena in Nature involve trapped drops of water: the formation of dew drops on a spider’s web, the capture of drops of water on the spines of cacti or the movement of droplets on plant fibres. These phenomena have been studied and explored for various technological applications: from microfluidics for medical and electronic equipment, to harvest nets of the water drops from fog in the desert areas. MEAPLANT’s innovation for the first time in history has applied these physical principles to make soilless cultivation simple, efficient and suitable for everyone.
Our cultivation substrate is made up of a mesh of threads made with materials for food use which are hydrophobic and chemically inert. The drops of water and mineral salts, supplied by an irrigation system, remain suspended on the threads due to the balance that it is established between the surface tension of the drops and their weight.
the videos below show how the drops supplied by an irrigation system are captured by a mesh of interwoven threads as happens in our growing substrate. When the drops increase in mass and become greater than the surface tension resistance force, they precipitate inside the tank.
Simulation Acknowledgements
Flow Science is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA – Inc. 683 Harkle Road.
MEAPLANT MAKES EASY SOILLESS CULTIVATION FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE
COMPARISON WITH CURRENT SYSTEMS
- MEAPLANT is an universal cultivation closed loop system, in which it is possible to grow all the plants usually grown in different systems of soilless cultivation and additional plants that are not usually grown in soilless: vines, citrus fruits, apples, currants, already tested in our system.
- MEAPLANT allows the cultivation also in open air because the plants are rooted as in the natural soil and there is no risk of root asphyxiation in the event of heavy rain: usable on balconies, terraces, roofs, green walls, urban outdoor spaces and in the countryside.
- In the current soiless cultivation systems the roots are rooted weakly or not rooted because the roots grow inside perlite, pumice, zeolite, rock wool, coconut coir, etc. which are inconsistent materials, or grow in water (Hydroponics), or in air (Aeroponics).In these systems plants can not withstand the elements and are usually used only in protected environments, as inside the greenhouses or inside buildings equipped with artificial lighting systems (vertical farming).This means high costs of these cultivation systems.
- MEAPLANT hasn't risks of asphyxia of the roots.The substrate never becomes saturated with water because the water is drained and always leaves empty spaces rich in oxygen. The absence of micropores, present instead in current substrates, also prevents the formation of fungi and bacteria; futhermore this substrate is bacteriostatic and doesn't need of special disinfections.
- In hydroponics the roots are in water not respecting the physiology of the plants which are therefore weaker and subject to fungi and bacteria. Complex disinfection and oxygenation management systems of the recirculating water and nutrient solution are required. It is possible to cultivate only plants which have a short cultivation cycle such as: salads, spinach, basil, parsley, strawberries. In AEROPONICS the roots are in the air and do not respect the physiology of the plant which is therefore weaker and subject to fungi and bacteria. This system is very vulnerable as with the roots in the air, it is enough for just one irrigation cycle to fail to lose the entire crop.
- MEAPLANT growing medium does not absorb salinity. The nutrient solution supplied by the irrigation system is the same as that present at the roots because the solution is not modified by the salts previously absorbed by the substrate. Therefore it is not necessary to carry out continuous checks on the supplied and drained solution. The substrate does not have to be washed and an exhausted solution is not generated which should be poured into the environment . It only needs to add water and mineral salts based on the consumption of the cultivated plants.
- In closed loop systems with the current substrates, which absorb salinity, it is necessary to wash the substrate to increase the duration of the recirculating solution with a frequency that can reach once a week. If the substrate is not washed, the frequency of replacement of the nutrient solution, with its spillage into the environment, can reach once every 4 days. Due to these frequent washings of the substrate the plants are subject to stress due to sudden changes in salinity. It is very complex to calculate the concentration of mineral salts at the roots because the solution provided is altered by the salinity present in the substrate. For this reason, continuous checks on the salinity of the supplied and drained solution are necessary.
- Irrigation management in MEAPLANT is easy, no need to measure the drainage quantity. The water droplets provided by the irrigation system remain suspended on the substrate's threads mesh. When the suspended droplets increase their mass, they come off the threads by gravity and fall into the tank to be ricirculeted. The risk of over-irrigation is completely eliminated. There are no risks of root asphyxiation because the substrate is always well oxygenated as it never becomes saturated with water. Therefore it does not require particular skills in choosing the duration and frequency of irrigation. For example, you can increase the frequency of irrigation during the hottest hours of the day without the risk of overwatering or increasing the salinity in the substrate.
- MEAPLANT allows the simultaneous cultivation of plants with different water needs, watermelons can be grown together with succulents with the same irrigation cycle.
- In current soilless cultivation systems, in substrate, hydrponics and aeroponics, it is possible to simultaneously grow only one species of plant which must be grown with a specific nutrient solution and a specific irrigation cycle.
- In MEAPLANT cultivation substrate all the droplets are available for the roots, the water potential is equal to 0. The roots do not have to do any work because there is no absorption force exerted by the medium as instead happens in current substrates.
- MEAPLANT's substrate minimizes water loss due to evaporation using the same strategy as the cactus. The speed of absorption of water drops by the roots is greater than evaporation due to the hydrophobic-hydrophilic gradient that is established between the substrate and the roots.(Kiwoong Kim et al (2017). Hydraulic Strategy of Cactus. Frontiers in Plant Science vol.8.
- MEAPLANT's cultivation substrate is made of recyclable materials or biomaterials for food use.
- Current cultivation substrate, for e.g. perlite, pumice, zeolite, rock wool, coconut coir, etc., are not recyclable and for some, particular attention must be paid in use and disposal.
