The global demand for healthy, safe, fresh, and local produce has been rapidly increasing. Among many things, it requires nutritious produce and a sustainable approach to cultivation. Sustainability can be defined in several ways, but an Important one is reduction of the carbon footprint and/or use of resources such as water and fertilizers. As water scarcity is becoming more pronounced and soils turn more saline, optimal use of water is required as well as reducing emissions into the environment becomes a necessity and a daily task for growing businesses. Horticultural approaches offer a wide variety of applicable cultivation systems, of which substrate choice is leading in water and fertilizer use efficiency.
Cultiwool stone wool is a natural product manufactured from rocks such as basalt and anorthosite. Both raw materials are plentiful on the earth and are inexhaustible due to volcanic eruptions continuously resupplying the consumed amount. The basaltic rock is melted with 1,600°C (2,912°F) into a liquid substance. From this liquid substance, fibres are spun by high tech fiberizing machines where a binder is added and collected on a belt to form a blanket.
By adjusting the amount of pressure, fibre diameter can be controlled and by adjusting the speed of the belt the density of the media is adjusted. The blanket is cooled down in a furnace with different temperature compartments and different airflows where the stone wool get the firmness and final quality. The blanket is cut into large boards and the basis of the different stone wool substrates is born. From this basis we produce our plugs, blocks and slabs, amongst other products.
Cultiwool stone wool offers essential benefits. This product is clean and hygienic, therefore, no need to disinfect it or process it in any way. You can start your crop uniform and consistently across all plants. All plants have the same amount of nutrient solution available in the substrate. This means that the water use efficiency is higher while the amount of needed fertilizers decreases as the grower can easily recycle and re-use drain water in his growing facility. It not only saves money for the grower, as less nutrients has to be applied but also increases sustainability as it reduces the footprint. Not less important, the advantage of giving all plants the same exact amount of water and nutrients results in crop uniformity, which is crucial for the cultivation processes to maintain high-quality production and good yield.
Scheme of a closed system with reuse of drain water after disinfection. Source: International Potash Institute
On this website you will find more information about our stone wool substrates and instructions for optimum use! If you have any question, remark, or request, please feel free to contact us here, or via our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
In professional greenhouse horticulture, growers often perform side-by-side trials to evaluate which substrate best supports their crop and cultivation strategy. A well-designed trial improves decision-making and helps identify the most efficient and reliable solution for consistent production.
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There are many aspects affecting the decision of which substrate to use, among these crop types and cultivation stages. Similarly to the way soil mixtures can be amended and customized, so are stone wool products tailor-made for the cultivation of a specific variety of crops. Stone wool can be manufactured in such a way that the density and orientation of the molten rock fibers determine the moisture holding capacity, air-filled porosity, and moisture gradient within the blocks.
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From a young age, we were taught not to try to fit a square into a circle. Child games utilizing different shapes emphasized this even more with specific shaped objects only fitting in the same shaped hole. And thus comes one of the most common stone wool questions we get. Why do people use a square propagation plug (AO) when the hole in the block is round? Well, there are a couple of different reasons why one might choose to use either a square Cultiwool plug (AO) or a round Cultiwool plug (i.e., macroplug). This article will elaborate on these reasons;