Hello everyone! I’m Shohei.
This column is about what I felt and experienced at a plant factory in Japan.
When you’ve been in the field for over 10 years, a lot of things happen. I write freely about what I remember.
Please feel free to read it while thinking, “Wow, that’s how Japanese plant factories work.”
What happened in an environment with constant humidity of 100%
This is a story about a visit to a certain producer’s plant factory.
At that time, I was in charge of improving the facility and visited the site for the first time to check on the situation. After a brief greeting and an explanation of the system and equipment, we were guided by the person in charge and finally entered the cultivation room.
The first thing I felt when I entered the cultivation room was
“It’s so hot…!”
The moment I stepped into the room, I felt the highest humidity I’ve ever experienced, but what surprised me even more was my feet. Picha Picha, Picha Picha. I looked and saw a puddle of water on the floor. Rather, it can be said to be submerged in water.
“What happened to the water on this floor?”
When I asked about it, I was told that there was apparently condensed water on the wall.
Indeed, the walls were covered with a large amount of condensation. Moreover, it seems that this condition occurs because there is no function to drain the water that collects on the floor.
I see…. As I looked around the room, thinking that I should start with the drainage, I discovered an unusual crop. A single shaft extends from the urethane, and several small leaves surround it. The shape resembles a carrot leaf, but no matter how you look at it, it’s different.
“No, wait… Ah!”
I realized that it was a grouper. This is lettuce. The internodes were abnormally elongated, probably the result of a long tree, but I couldn’t tell at first glance.
If you listen carefully, you will hear that the humidity in the cultivation room is always 100%. This was causing a large amount of condensation.
It turned out that the place where the strange-looking lettuce was located had a weak amount of light, so it looked like that.
It seems that dehumidification had not been considered important at that facility until then, as there were no dehumidifiers installed and the air conditioner did not have a dehumidifying function.
Fortunately, we had multiple air conditioners installed, so we quickly lowered the humidity by running both cooling and heating at the same time.
After that, we installed a dehumidifier, which stabilized the humidity and improved the condition of the crops and the problem of condensation. The experience of witnessing the highest humidity environment made me realize the importance of humidity management.
This column was published in a collection of know-how to improve on-site skills.
This column is included in the Plant Factory Know-How Collection below.
This know-how collection is packed with useful tips to help you increase profitability, regardless of the specifications or equipment on-site.
This is a must-read for those operating plant factories or indoor farms. Implement the know-how to increase profitability.
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