Southern European agriculture is moving through a quiet transition toward rigorous measurement and precise control of crop parameters. Bluelab, the New Zealand company that has spent more than twenty five years developing tools to monitor pH, electrical conductivity, temperature and humidity in hydroponics, substrates and soil, has now entered the Spanish market at a moment when demand is rising for solutions that can anticipate problems and keep crops from Almeria vegetables to Huelva berries and Granada and Malaga subtropicals growing in optimal conditions.
© Bluelab
"Measurement is the fastest way to anticipate any issue", explains Enrique Soriano, Bluelab representative for Spain. "Growers have relied on experience for decades and that has value, but precise measurement lets you correct deficiencies earlier, avoid nutritional blockages and make sure the plant gets what it needs at every growth stage".
© Bluelab
Compact meters, monitors and controllers
Bluelab arrives with a catalog structured into four product families: pens, meters, monitors and controllers. "Among the meters we highlight daily use pocket tools like the pH Pen and the Conductivity Pen, designed for quick and reliable readings in nutrient solutions. They are water resistant and feature backlit displays designed for greenhouses and demanding environments".
A standout among them is the Bluelab OnePen, a three in one meter that measures pH, conductivity and temperature with a pH accuracy of 0.01. It incorporates titanium electrodes and a replaceable pH, conductivity and temperature probe, and it connects via Bluetooth to Edenic, the remote monitoring platform that centralizes data, sends alerts and turns readings into actionable information in real time.
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The catalog also includes tools aimed at those who work directly in soil or substrate. "One of the most requested products in Spain is the Pulse Meter, a sensor with two stainless steel probes of twenty centimeters that measures moisture, conductivity and temperature in soil or substrate with a single click".
"This is the product distributors in Almeria ask for the most", Soriano notes, "because it shows what is really happening in the root zone without relying on extractors or slow lab analyses". To measure pH directly in soil, Bluelab also offers dedicated probes and meters such as the Soil pH Pen, which eliminates the need to prepare slurries or intermediate solutions thanks to its auger style cap with a KCl reservoir.
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For monitors and controllers, the most popular among growers is the Guardian Monitor WiFi, which supervises pH, conductivity and temperature in real time both on the device screen and on a mobile device through Edenic. It provides continuous readings of the critical parameters in the irrigation tank and triggers alarms when values go outside the defined ranges. For growers looking for a higher level of automation, Bluelab offers the pH Controller WiFi, which automatically adjusts pH through a built in peristaltic pump, and especially the Pro Controller, the most advanced system in the range, capable of automating nutrient dosing and pH correction in tanks that feed hydroponic or recirculation systems.
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"The Pro Controller connects to Bluelab PeriPod, which uses medical grade peristaltic pumps for precise dosing inspired by Japanese quality standards. This allows dosing of up to twelve nutrients with the aim of simplifying tank management so the grower can focus on other tasks", Soriano explains.
"We want to work with professional horticulture, but also with berry and subtropical crops"
Although the company's roots are strongly linked to hydroponics and crops like cannabis, where Bluelab is a market leader in the United States, the brand enters Spain with a wide scope. "We want to diversify and work with professional horticulture, especially in Almeria, Murcia and Huelva", Soriano says, noting that the system performs equally well in traditional soil, organic substrates or coco and that the team is already testing solutions across different production types. "There is growing interest in berries and subtropicals like mango and avocado, where water and drainage management requires increasing precision".
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The implementation strategy in Spain will rely on medium and large distributors, a key point for the company. "Bluelab has also opened a logistics center in the Netherlands that reduces delivery times and makes it easier to source spare parts such as probes, electrodes and calibration solutions so distributors and growers can work without interruptions".
"The devices are robust and the interface is designed so anyone can use them: simple buttons, clear values and direct connectivity with the mobile. We want to make sure each plant receives exactly what it needs, and we want to make that process easy in a sector where water and nutrient control has become a decisive factor for profitability."
© BluelabFor more information:
Bluelab
[email protected]
https://eu.bluelab.com
