Forgotten Cultivation Beds: A Small Apocalypse of the Plant Factory

Hello everyone! I’m Shohei.
This column is written mainly based on my field experience.
After being on site for over 10 years, there are truly many things that happen. I’m writing about things I remember, as they come to mind.
Well, please read it casually, like “Oh, so that’s how other factories are.”

The End of an Ordinary Experiment… Or So It Should Have Been

“No human being with perfect preparation exists in this world”—This truth I learned from a green, slimy swamp.

While gazing contentedly at the checklist I pulled out from the pocket of my lab coat, I made a small fist pump. Today’s experiment went well. The data showed results as expected, and I should be able to hold my head high at tomorrow’s meeting.

“Alright, let’s clean up and go home.”

I mechanically went through the usual procedure—draining the Nutrient solution, turning off the LEDs, cleaning the cultivation beds. With my tired brain, all I could think about was going home and opening a beer. While checking off each item on the checklist with a pencil, I was humming the melody of “There’s Always Tomorrow.”

Final confirmation. I wish I could show my past self the confident expression I had at that moment when I thought, “Perfect!”

Time Passes, the Swamp Grows

About a month later. Swamped with other projects, I hadn’t set foot in this lab. With a new experiment schedule written on the calendar, I finally opened the door.

“Huh? Is that… a smell?”

A warm humidity that stung my nose and a somewhat sickly sweet odor of decay. The moment I stepped into the room, I realized something was wrong. When I looked up—

“No… it can’t be…”

From the topmost cultivation bed, a faint green light was leaking out. As I approached, the green “presence” grew stronger. It was as if a small swamp spirit had been born.

“Welcome to the World of Creatures”

Nervously approaching the bed and peering in, I instinctively stepped back.

“Whoa!”

What spread before my eyes was no longer something that could be called a Nutrient solution, but an ecosystem from another dimension. On the surface of the eerie liquid—a mixture of green and brown—small bubbles were rising and popping. Bathed in the light of the LED, a slimy green film covered the water’s surface, looking like the habitat of a “swamp monster” from a B-grade horror movie.

“Is this… a small universe I’ve created?”

When I lightly touched the surface with my finger, the membrane broke with a slippery sensation, releasing an even more intense smell of decay. I couldn’t help but let out a “Ugh.”

“I can’t tell anyone about this…”

Heroic(?) Cleaning Operation

I had no choice but to solve my own mistake. Clearly, flushing it down the drain would cause pipe blockages. The only option was… manual labor.

I brought rubber gloves, garbage bags, and, just in case, a mask from the office. When a colleague asked, “What are you doing?” I vaguely answered, “Just a small experiment.” My expression at that time must have been suspiciously obvious.

With equipment ready, the operation began.

“Now, where should I start…”

Trying to scoop with a net, the algae would slip away, and when trying to grab it with my hands, it would escape between my fingers along with the liquid. It was like wrestling with slime.

“In that case…”

I boldly plunged both hands in and grabbed a mass of algae. The slimy sensation and the “squelch squelch” sound told the story of this miserable situation.

Lessons and Reflection (and Secret Pride?)

After an hour of fierce battle, I finally removed most of the algae and scrubbed off the slime from the inside of the bed. My sweat-soaked lab coat was dotted with several green stains.

“No human being with perfect preparation exists in this world”—This truth I learned from a green, slimy swamp.

And I secretly thought,
“But maybe creating such a magnificent ecosystem in just one month is, in a way, kind of amazing…?”

Though it was a shameful failure as a plant factory manager, it might have been an interesting phenomenon for a nature lover.

From now on, I decided to check the checklist “twice”—and this “swamp adventure” would quietly become a legend, as a funny story for new employee training.

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