“With Open Tops, we are drastically reducing labor requirements and costs in blueberry cultivation”

In just a few days, Amsterdam will become the horticultural technology capital with the hosting of Green Tech, to be held from June 10 to 12. Companies from around the world will bring their products and latest innovations in intensive greenhouse agriculture to the event and prove that this is one of the most cutting-edge sectors at the moment. Pelemix, a company specializing in coco coir-based substrates, and which was at Infoagro Almería a few weeks ago, will also attend, and it will be presenting one of its most innovative solutions for berry cultivation: Open Tops.

"Our Open Tops are a solution for blueberry cultivation that replaces traditional rigid plastic pots with a ready-to-use, compressed Open Tops in bags offering fast setup, uniformity, and labor savings—ideal for commercial, high-efficiency growing. In contrast, pots with substrate mixes offer customization but require more labor. Our Open Tops are attractive for their consistency, cleanliness, compatibility with automated irrigation systems, and additional savings in freight and logistics costs, as they arrive compressed and take up significantly less space during transport and storage. The plastic material it may be used for more than 12 consecutive years," says Tomer Koren, VP Global Sales & Marketing at Pelemix.

"With this format, designed specifically for blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and even fruit trees, we want to offer an efficient and sustainable cultivation solution. It contains a lot less plastic than conventional pots and also facilitates cultivation and saves costs."

Since they contain compressed substrate, which expands simply by adding water, Open Tops drastically reduces the need for labor. "With the use of Open Tops, you do away with the tasks of preparing the substrate and filling the pots, as well as with the process of disinfecting the pots or containers with each growing cycle change. Added to these cost savings is the contribution of coco coir, which provides optimal drainage and uniform distribution of nutrients, which translates into faster root development and earlier harvests."

Pelemix offers customized Open Tops formats, with custom volumes from 3.5 to 50 liters, adaptable to the type of plant to be grown, and substrates manufactured to order based on particular climate conditions and customer needs. In this regard, not only the mixture can be customized, but also the drainage and holes.

"The substrates can be customized in all our formats, such as the grow bags for hydroponic strawberry cultivation," says Tomer. "And we are achieving very good results. Many hydroponic strawberry growers in Spain and Morocco have saved their crops this year from the impact of the constant rainfall thanks to the control they've had over the moisture by growing in coco coir substrate."

Present in 5 continents
Pelemix substrates are already used by berry producers in the main production areas across 5 continents. "We have customers in over 30 countries which include Peru, Mexico, Morocco, Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Korea,. The customization of our substrates allows them to be used in all climates, with the properties that all producers are looking for: uniformity in the expanded substrate and electrical conductivity. Also, our plastics offer options for different climate zones. For example, we have black grow bags for strawberries, to help root growth in cold climates, and white grow bags, designed for warm climates."

"Moreover, we want to provide the best possible service to producers, so each bag of substrate sold has a QR code that growers can use to contact an advisor from our team directly with any questions or queries. It's not just about selling the product, but about supporting our customers to help them achieve the best yields and productivity," says Tomer.

"At Pelemix, part of a large Canadian Group, we have seven plants around the world——to be able to offer high-quality substrates that meet the most important standards and certifications to producers worldwide. Anyone interested in our solutions can visit us at Green Tech at stand 5341, where we will be happy to assist you."