South Korea: Smart farms opens doors to visitors
The startup company, established in 2014, is growing romaine lettuce in one of three refurbished shipping containers that it calls “Planty Cubes” in Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu, in northern Seoul.
The lettuces are grown in “pickcells,” 125-cubic-centimeter plastic pots filled with water-soaked decomposable sponge. The plants were at various stages of development ― from one week to maturity.
Hundreds of pickcells in three rows on five tiers filled each cube, spanning 27.6 square meters. Each row was under an LED tube that produces different colored light. The tubes are turned on and off and the color changes using the company's smartphone app.
Next to the lower cube is another that the company kept closed to visitors. CEO Leo Kim said an experiment in growing strawberries was going on there.
Read more at The Korea Times (Ko Dong-hwan)