The last few years have seen Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) expand beyond mainstay crops. Leafy greens and high-wire crops remain the stars, but diversification is the buzzword for new and existing farms. A recent industry survey reported microgreens are experiencing steady growth among CEA farmers seeking new revenue streams.
If you’re one of those growers or plan to be, we have some advice: Take a close look at OASIS® AeroSubstrates™ microgreens sheets and OASIS® Hydroponic Fertilizer 16-4-17. Short and simple, this microgreens duo delivers an exceptional cultivation experience with results to match.
From moisture retention to germination and growth, our engineered low-carbon-footprint microgreen substrates help lift microcrops to their full potential — fast, simple and super clean. You can lower production costs, improve microgreen quality, and gain a competitive edge at market. It’s a new kind of cultivation experience, from start to end.
Precision. Even in Short Crop Cycles.
By definition, microgreens have crop cycles less than 21 days, but many varieties harvest in half that time. When every day can represent one-tenth of your crop cycle, every aspect of cultivation gains importance.
From enhanced moisture retention and nutrient uptake to cleanliness at every step, OASIS® AeroSubstrates™ microgreens sheets excel. Precision growers can exert maximum influence, ensuring microgreens reach peak performance in their brief lifespan.
Designed for precision hydroponics, like all OASIS® AeroSubstrates™, our plain, undibbled microgreens sheets are optimized, beginning with thickness and water holding capacity that eliminates the need for daily maintenance. OASIS® AeroMax™ targets maximum air porosity, moderate climates and lower water demand. OASIS® AeroSelect™ offers higher water holding capacity for warmer climates and higher water demand.
We understand the size, shape and form of your ideal microgreens substrate may be totally unique to your operation. We’re ready to respond with substrate customizations tailored to your production needs.
Whatever food-safe OASIS® AeroSubstrates™ product suits your program, you can expect uniform germination, easy and rapid root penetration, and unrestricted microgreen growth. Free of pests and pathogens, our engineered substrates deliver structural stability, uncompromised air-to-water ratios, and maximum precision throughout microgreens production.
Results. Maximized From Day 1.
When we talk about our substrate performance, it’s based on hands-on experience from our in-house research and trials in the field. While our engineered substrates deliver superior results, they’re even more impressive paired with OASIS® Hydroponic Fertilizer 16-4-17.
Some camps hold that microgreens require few or no inputs, but we suggest there’s a difference between minimum requirements and exceptional performance.
More than a decade ago, research by Vijay Rapaka, Ph.D., now our Director of Global Grower Operations and Research, identified a gap in nutrient requirements between seeding and germination with hydroponic lettuce. He notes that microgreens, like lettuce, are a crop where time, space and efficiency are critical to grower success.
At a time when most growers advised withholding nutrients until after germination, Dr. Rapaka and Cari Peters, Ph.D., formulator and managing partner at JR Peters / Jack’s Fertilizers, discovered that seedlings benefit most when the radicle emerges to readily available nutrients, not a nutrient gap. That discovery spurred the development of OASIS® Hydroponic Fertilizer 16-4-17 and our unwavering recommendation for nutrients from Day 1.
In on-site microgreens trials at our RI&D greenhouse, our Product Application Specialist Sarah Miller reports OASIS® AeroSubstrates™ microgreens sheets “far outperformed” competing bio-based nonwovens or felt pads: “Our substrate held moisture better, had more uniform germination, and faster growth.”
As evidenced by microgreen crops like the one in the image below, every day counts toward superior, substantial growth.
Cleanliness. Translated to Sales.
One factor driving CEA interest in microgreens is their growing popularity with health-conscious consumers. Years of ongoing research at the USDA’s United States Horticultural Research Laboratory confirms the health benefits of these small but mighty crops, including vitamin and carotenoid levels about five times that of their mature versions.
While nutritional value is a central selling point as growers look to microgreens as a viable commercial crop at scale, it’s not the only factor impacting sales and profitability.
Appearance, quality and convenience rank high on the list of drivers for consumers and growers alike. The cleanliness of microcrops grown in our engineered substrates can be a differentiator for your farm — from enhanced food safety to reduced labor costs to increased sales. From our perspective, clamshells filled with vibrant super-clean microgreens, uncontaminated by remnant soil, win at market every time.
If you’re still growing in loose fill, you and your customers are in for a treat. As Sarah reminds us, “Growing in our substrate leads to a cleaner, easier harvest compared to loose fill, which tends to stick to the crop and make a mess.”
With precision hydroponic OASIS® AeroSubstrates™ microgreen sheets and OASIS® Hydroponic Fertilizer 16-4-17, you can have faster, cleaner times to harvest and faster, cleaner harvesting times, too. For automated or manual operations, our low-carbon-footprint engineered hydroponic substrates keep your microgreen production fast, simple and super clean.
Whether your next crop is microgreens or something else, we’re here to help solve your problems and help you excel. We’re Oasis Grower Solutions. Reach out to us at +1 (855) 585-4769 or [email protected].