FAQs

General

We have delivered multiple vertical farming systems in the USA, Canada, Middle East and Western Europe.

AVF+ vertical farming performs best when the local growing conditions (climate, fertile land and available water) are not ideal for growing quality crops. In other words; placed inside a warehouse or large building, and can be established anywhere in the world.

With vertical farming you practice the art of growing crops vertically. It includes controlled environment agriculture, which aims to maximize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics (we only do hydroponics). On the grounds that any kind of building, anywhere in the world, can be converted to an indoor vertical environment.

With automated vertical farming you’ll need less arable land, water, substrate and labor. Beyond that, you can earn your return on investment in 3-5 years depending on your business case.  

The right business plan, cultivation knowledge, the right team and initial investment.

Although vertical farming has a higher investment compared to other growing methods, operational costs are lowered by using more automated processing. Due to the earning and production capacity, the systems can have a faster return on investment compared to traditional growing systems.

More of a challenge than a disadvantage, but vertical farms need a stable electricity and water connection. By having a good connection, you already start with a solid foundation. This ensures your AVF+ system is safe against potential problems in the future.

Yes, you can! Just not with our systems, we focus on large production systems. This also means that the junior 15m² is not suited for domestic use.

Among customers of vertically grown products are: supermarket chains, restaurants, wholesale stores, grocers, markets, hotels, food processing, schools and aviation industry.

At Artechno Growsystems we've made vertical farming achievable without having to be an expert on plant growth. Having some knowledge on how plants grow does help. We provide training before you start with the production in your AVF+ vertical farm.

Vertical farms can scale from as small as 15m² with AVF+ Junior, all the way up to (multiple) thousands meters of growing area with the AVF+ Compacts.

Crops

Our system is suited for many varieties of plants, our main focus crops are: lettuce, microgreens, herbs & leafy greens. In the near future, strawberries (soft fruits) and young plants will be added to our portfolio.

Crops that are popular in the local market, grow fast and have a high sales price, perform well in automated vertical farms.

A crop can grow to maturity in as little as 12 days in a vertical farm and up to 45 days for slow growing crops. On average crops will be inside a vertical farm for about 30 days.

The most profitable crop is market dependent and determined by local supply and demand, sales price and popularity. This varies per continent and/or country.

For detailed information about our crop output, please contact our vertical farming consultants. We are happy to present a fair business case based on our yield numbers.

Sustainability

Yes, you can! To revolutionize vertical farming, we highly recommend using green energy. Unfortunately, we do not offer solar panels just yet.

In terms of resources, vertical farming is definitely sustainable. Despite the fact that a vertical farm requires a relatively large amount of energy, this can be generated from sustainable sources. Therefore, in optimal conditions, a vertical farm can be CO₂ neutral while in operation.

Vertical farming is definitely able to produce organically. However, the organic certification depends on regional and national law.

Why wouldn’t it be? We provide all essential nutrients, water, light, and climate for the plant to grow to its optimal ability.

No, that is not necessary. Our AVF+ is built in such a way that insects can’t enter the growing cells.

                                                                                                                                            Service/Support

We currently do not provide any financial services for the purchase or leasing of vertical farming equipment. This might change in the near future.

Yes we do! The purchase of an AVF+ System comes with a general and technical training where you learn how to work with AVF+ equipment. This also includes agronomy training.

To guarantee that our AVF+ systems are installed and commissioned correctly, we provide our own personnel.

After purchase, we offer the following services: training (including commissioning, agronomy), warranty, spare parts, support in case of malfunctions and repairs, maintenance, agronomy support.

By the purchase of an AVF+ System, there is always a standard training in agronomy and support included. Things as spare parts, warranty and maintenance schedules are also standard services we provide. Other services can be provided individually or periodically in consultation with the services department, such as crop data analysis and advice for the best crop recipe. The last mentioned, are entirely depending on the service agreement that the client agrees with Artechno Growsystems.

For our AVF+ systems, we do not have established distributors or partners yet.

Yes, that's possible. In that case, we will provide you with technical training that focuses on the maintenance of the AVF+ products. Once you have successfully completed it, you will be able to perform your own maintenance using the maintenance schedules and other information we provide.

Growing

Yes, we create, and provide growing recipes for crops to use in your AVF+ systems. If there is no recipe available, we can do research and create a growing recipe for you.

Vertical farming has no special requirements for seeds; seeds can be purchased from well-established seed suppliers. A rule of thumb is that higher quality seeds often grow faster, germinate better and are more consistent.

Vertical farming can use many different types of substrates in the form of plugs, loose material, slits, blocks or slabs.

In vertical farming, we distinguish between full-field, plug and pot seeding.

Growing plants on larger surfaces in high seed densities.

Growing on specially designed plugs for individual plants.

Growing herbs in pots with about 20 seedlings a pot.

You need all 15 macro- and micronutrients essential for the plant's development. We’ll provide you with a nutrients list.

We transport the plants in trays. The trays are placed inside a bench and the benches are going into the vertical farming system and are transported through the process by automated conveyor belt and junctions.

The bench is a transportation vehicle for trays, guiding them through the system.

In our vertical farming systems we use a hydroponic irrigation principle to give each bench with plants water at a preset time, interval and volume.

The climate is automatically controlled by our FarmOS software, you set the perfect climate and the system takes over.

In order to grow the perfect crops, you’ll need the right; temperture, humidity, nutrients, lighting, EC (electrical conductivity), PH, substrate, airflow, irrigation and CO2.

Product

Research & development cell for developing crop recipes for indoor vertical farming.

Fully automated growing cell for medium to larger crop production.

(Multiple) growing cell(s) with processing equipment, whether this is with or without automation.

We use Signify lights (Phillips), available in standard and dynamic lighting.

For AVF+ products, this differs depending on size. If you add automation, you can build up to 10,000m² total.

Of course, this depends on the configuration; for about 1,000m² of growing area, you need approximately 200m² footprint for just the growing cell. This excludes everything else you need for crop production. Altogether, you'll need a footprint of about 1,000 to 1,500m².

We recommend working with a minimum height of 12 meters to get the most out of your building. For example, a warehouse but a simple sandwich panel building is also possible.

In short: electricity, water, internet, water supply, enough height, space for process equipment, enclosed building, and air-conditioned for a proper working temperature.

We believe crops deserve only the best. Therefore, we like to use ebb & flow in our vertical farming system. Eb and flow is effective, simple, and flexible.

No, for many practical reasons, this is not possible.

We aim for 6-12 months; this does depend on the configuration and is calculated from the time of order to commissioning.

When working on location, we can assemble an AVF+ growing cell in 2-3 months; all other equipment may take longer.

In theory, we deliver worldwide, although we see that the following regions have the most potential for our AVF+ system: Western Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, North America, East Asia, and Oceania.

Please contact us for available factory visits.

Our products are engineered with an operational lifetime of 10 to 15 years. After these years, we expect some components to wear out, and our service department can easily replace these components.

Yes, we deliver turn-key products, which means you are ready to go after the delivery of your AVF+ product.

We offer adaptive automation, where you can choose between manual, semi-automated, fully automated, or a combination. These options are available for seeding, transplanting, growing, washing, transport and packaging.

Sure! You may expand the Factory to your future wishes.

The most extensive AVF+ Factory configuration has ten cells with fully automated process equipment, do you want to go bigger? Remember that you’ll need additional processing equipment to handle the internal logistics.

Profitability

We strive for a profitable business case at all times. Factors involved are sales price per kg of the crop, electricity costs, labor costs, building size, etc.

Depending on different factors such as the price of crops, supply & demand, and market, we often see your investment paid back within 3 to 5 years.

Supplies

You can buy your seeds from seed companies or wholesalers. Some companies even have specialized selections for Controlled Environmental Agriculture (CEA). For more information, please contact us for the right fit.

Substrates can be purchased from large substrate companies or wholesalers. It does depend on which substrate you need. Please contact us for the right fit.

Solid and liquid fertilizers can be bought from fertilizer suppliers or wholesalers. For more information, please contact us for the right fit.