SOIL & MEDIA PROCESSING
Every grower knows just how important soil is to the growing process. Getting things just right is essential. Soil processing can be hard, messy, laborious, and time consuming.
In today’s industry, competitive growers understand that using soil processing equipment has growing benefits like cost/labor savings, custom blending, better product quality, uniformity and a increased yield.
In this edition of Let’s Talk About, we are going to examine the company Logitec Plus and the benefits of using soil processing equipment. Logitec Plus was founded in the Netherlands in 1998 and is one of the major suppliers in horticultural equipment world-wide. Logitec Plus manufactures industry leading big-bale dosage bunkers, coco mills, mixing lines along with complete soil handling systems.
DB-40 – Big Bale Dosage Bunker
To reduce rising transport costs a process was developed in which peat moss was compressed into big-bales. This process compacted the peat by 50% which allowed twice as much peat to be shipped in every truck load. This became a huge cost savings to growers but also created a problem. They needed a way to expand the peat to return it to a usable form.
The DB-40 is an automatic processor for Big Bales. It was developed to return the substrate back to its original volume before it was compressed. With thousands of DB-40s in use around the World, the Logitec Plus DB-40 has become the North American standard in big-bale processing.
The benefits of using the DB-40, especially for smaller growers is the cost/savings from labor reduction as well as savings from bulk pricing. The DB-40 makes things easier & cleaner with no hard labor involved. The quick return on investment and the reliability of the DB-40 make it a clear choice for every grower.
The DB-40 is available with extension plates for the processing of even the tallest big-bales.
Advantages of the DB-40:
- Movable with pallet jack
- Suitable for all sizes Big-Bale
- Maximum big-bale volume output
- Available in all common voltages
- Low depreciation
- Suitable for all types of filling machines
- No loss of structure
- Single or double watering bar available
- Easy to set up and use
- Minimal Maintenance
- Durable Design
- Adjustable wooler to control how the peat is processed
Coco Coir Mill – Processing Coco Coir
Coco Coir has become increasingly popular among growers because of its ability to retain water while still allowing for exceptional drainage and airflow. Like peat, coco coir is shipped in a compressed form to reduce transportation costs. Mark van der Zande from Logitec Plus states: “Processing the coir to get it back to its original structure and volume is underestimated by many. It’s an art form that requires a delicate process so that the fibre structure of the coir is not damaged.”
In general the method to restore coir blocks to their natural state was to place the blocks on the ground and spray them with water. This method requires a lot of space and also subjects the coco coir to potential diseases.
Logitec Plus has developed a coco mill coir processing system that gently expands the blocks using a water tumbling feature. This process returns the coir to its natural fluffy state without doing any damage to the media fibres. Once the coir is restored the media is discharged directly from the coco mill. No water waste or mess.
The Coco Mill is available in two different size models: The CM100 & the larger CM200. The CM-200 can take full pallets of coir blocks and easily bring them back to their original state.
Advantages of the Coco Coir Mill:
- Product can be loaded directly from the shipping pallet
- Decreased risk of cross-contamination or diseases
- Material is moisturized before being loosened which helps maintain the structure of the coir material
- Adjustable moisture
- Ease of use / reliability
- No dust forming
- Low water usage by recycling back into the coir mill
- The Coir mill processing line can be operated with one person
- Possibility to add additives to the coir and mix inline using Logitec’s soil mixing components
- Full Service, parts and support available within North America
Logitec Plus Mixing Lines
It is important that substrate is perfectly suited to the crop being grown. Mixing everything together to achieve this can also be a very tedious and labor intensive task. The Logitec Plus mixing line is a portable solution that allows for the proper mixing of growing medium with various additives that are pre determined by the grower for the specific crops that they are growing.
The mixing drum will mix everything together without damaging the structure or compacting the peat. The Logitec Plus solution features special mixing plates that results in a fluffy mix allowing for the greater absorption of water.
The Logitec Plus mixing systems come in various sizes. The smallest system is able to handle about 15m3 per hour, while the largest system is able to process 90m3 per hour. Custom mixing designs as well as turn-key soil handling solutions are also available.
The Logitec Plus mixing system is equipped with a touchscreen software system that allows growers to save and recall preset recipes for various line mixes. This precision dosing system is a huge time saver and a unique growing advantage for growers.
Advantages of the Mixing Line:
- Perfectly mixed substrates
- Accurate dosing
- Just-in-time production
- High quality / reliable
- Savings on raw materials and additives
- Easy to program recipes which can be stored into memory
- Possibility to add soil delivery line to feed multiple fillers
In todays economy, automation plays such an important role and has become the industry standard. Proper soil handling lays the foundation for growing a quality product. As a grower you can depend on the quality of Logitec Plus products as they assist you in producing higher yields and reducing labor costs and shortages.
Soil processing is only one small part of horticulture automation. This newsletter series was created to give you an insight into automation solutions and how growers are using this equipment to grow their business. Please join us in the next edition of our Let’s Talk About Series as we focus on another North American grower and their story.
At Bellpark Horticulture, we are proud to be able to offer our customers quality horticulture solutions like Logitec Plus Soil & Media Processing Equipment. For more information on Logitec Plus, please contact your Bellpark Horticulture sales representative or visit our website at http://www.bellparkhorticulture.com.
