"Usually, the roots of the lettuce plant turn somewhat brown towards the end of cultivation, but not here"

With plenty of know-how about growing media under his belt, plus hands-on experience in indoor lettuce cultivation and sales for various propagators, Sjoerd Ypma is taking on a new challenge. He's joining Tebarex as the person responsible for developing the company's market presence in the United Kingdom. Expanding Tebarex's involvement in lettuce cultivation and further strengthening its position in this sector is also high on his agenda.

As Sjoerd explains, the growing medium is a key part of any cultivation setup. In lettuce, however, the connection between the medium and water technology is especially close. "Over the past few years, Tebarex has completed several lettuce projects," says Sjoerd, "including systems based on DWC (Deep Water Culture) and MGS (Mobile Gutter System)."

Thanet Lettuce
Recently, Sjoerd and his colleague Daan Boekestijn traveled to England to visit clients, one of whom was Thanet Lettuce. After acquiring an existing greenhouse, Thanet decided to renovate it and implement several improvements—most importantly, optimizing the water quality of their DWC system. The goal wasn't to sterilize everything, but to achieve a healthy biological balance. With the addition of ozone units, a reverse osmosis installation, and a cloth filter, the team made great progress in that direction.

To complete the system, they introduced nano-bubbles. In this setup, oxygen gas is added in the irrigation unit, after which the oxygen-rich water flows into the pond. Aerators then ensure the oxygen is evenly distributed. "The results are impressive," Sjoerd says. "Normally, lettuce roots start to turn a little brown toward the end of the crop cycle, but not here. We saw beautiful, shiny white roots, and even the fine root hairs looked fresh and healthy. The water quality is now spot-on."

Thanet Growers
Another project Sjoerd and Daan visited was Thanet Growers, where a brand-new six-hectare greenhouse is currently being built for tomato production. This new development takes up the final available plot on the site, known as TG7. For this project, Tebarex is responsible for the entire water-technical and electrical installation (AVS), as well as the sound system, emergency power supply, and grow-light installation. Alongside the six conventional greenhouses already operating at this location, a new AVS greenhouse, short for Active Ventilation System—is now being added. The construction work itself is carried out entirely by local contractors who are already familiar with Tebarex systems.

Because the entire project has been engineered in 3D by Tebarex, including all layouts for water, electrical systems, heating, lighting, and rainwater drainage, the company can easily supervise the installation remotely. With just an iPad in hand, Tebarex experts can guide the local teams step by step, explaining exactly how to carry out the assembly down to the smallest details.

For more information:
Sjoerd Ypma
Tebarex B.V.
Jogchem van der Houtweg 4
2678 AG, De Lier
Tel.: +31 (0)85 483 2179
Mob.: +31 (0)6 868 184 67
[email protected]
www.tebarex.com